One of the interesting piece of writing I read last year was generated by Indian Actress Preity Zinta. OK, I don't particularly feel either way about her. She could be a genius misunderstood or a bimbo for all I know or care about. But somehow BBC deemed her worthy of writing a column for them.So, the interesting part was generated by her, but not written by her. She wrote an artice about her experience in being in Thailand when the Tsunami happened. She was stranded, and decided on Day 2 or 3 after the Tsunami to conquer her fear of water by going straight into it.
You can read her article using this link.
Now here are the comments:
"Preity, your honesty confounds me, yet I appreciate it. Nevertheless, I still find it shocking how you took the unnecessary risk of spending 8 days on a yacht in the middle of the tempestuous sea. If, you had to risk your life you could have done it by helping all those people around you who were in dire in need and at the brink of death. Maeesha, Philadelphia, US"
"I'm appalled at the article you wrote. Mostly because all you do is list off all the fun things you managed to do whilst others are suffering! I'm glad you had fun in Thailand taking kickboxing lessons and going on a cruise for 4 days while over 300,000 people were in the midst of dying. Rather than pitch in and lend a hand with your "celebrity" status, it's good you got to have a nice diving experience and a moment of reflection on the fragility of life whilst diving.
And the comments go on and on.
I thought of this article when I tried to restart my normal life after the physical attack. The easier part was getting on with my life. Well, maybe not that easy if every time I'm in a taxi or inthe dark, I find myself extra alert to the point of paranoia. Two nghts ago, I was in my friend Karim's car, and at the gas pump, I shuddered just seeing someone approach the car from the corner of the eye. As if my spider sense is now on overdrive.
But the interesting part was the response of the people around me about my attack. So far, the comments received could be categorized into one of the following:
- How come you're still going out in the dark?
- It's great that the eye was saved, could've been worse
- How come you tried to protest? you should've given them all you had
- Why aren't you more careful about your surroundings?
- How come you didn't report this to the police?
The last question really threw me off. Someone actually said that because I didn't report to the police, now there is no record, no action will be taken, and the miscreants will continue as usual, and I just suffered in vain. As if I needed to suffer so that the rest of country could go out in peace at night.
Kinda like how Will Smith's character needed to die in Six Degrees of Separation so that Stockard Channing could rekindle her marriage.
I guess now I know what Preity Zinta must've felt like.
P.S. The pic was taken at PM Lounge before Paul's departure. I darkened the pic a bit, so that the scar is not visible that much. I guess I have my vanity after all.
