Posts
It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly’s wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world.
This phenomenon is ironically referred to as the Chaos Theory. What the irony is will be explained later. Interesting though this phenomenon may sound, not to mention also impossible, it is a scientific theory which has been immensely researched on a long time ago. There have been books written on it and movies filmed on the same. What it essentially means is that small variations of the initial conditions of a dynamical system may produce large variations in the long term behavior of the system.
Now if you are still reading this article and not closed the window due to the last sentence that you just read, I would like to elaborate on the reason for me to choose to strain you people with such words.
On 30th November 2006, Mumbai witnessed something that was so destructive that it can surely be figuratively termed as a typhoon. Walls fell, cars cart-wheeled, rickshaws became non existent, glasses shattered, buses demolished, trains burnt and not to mention innumerable people injured and of course the death-count that we will never know. If this can be termed as a typhoon in Mumbai, then the butterfly that fluttered its wings would be 1,288 km away in Kanpur, UP.
We can categorize the damage in two different categories – Superficial and Deep. After all if beauty isn’t only skin deep then why should wounds be different?
One would think that the people inflicting this fury on the commercial capital of the country thought the reason was good enough to cause damage worth CRORES to it. The three trains that were burnt itself caused a damage of Rs. 7 crores to Central Railway. Not to mention they could not run the Deccan Queen the next day too. More than a 100 BEST buses were left damaged. And hundreds of other vehicles were also vandalized. Who is going to pay for it? I guess that is one of the most clichéd question, and now can also be termed as a rhetorical one.
That much for the superficial damage. The deep ones run REALLY deep. Can you imagine how terrified the kids of this city will grow up to? I am not saying this has never happened in this city before. When we were kids we had one of the biggest riots ever in the city. But the difference between then and now is the environment. Then it was something which made the place just go quite. But now there are tens of news channels covering it and running the images repeatedly all day. Kids watch it and don’t know what to make out of the mad people shown on the screen pelting stones at people buses, burning the city and police being shown helpless.
I am thinking what will kids grow up thinking about all this? This can again be termed as another butterfly effect in the true sense, with damage in the long term. Will kids have faith in people? Will they have the confidence to turn to the cops one day? Will the kids growing up in this city be different from those in any other place on earth? Now this can be either good or bad. Kids can become really strong and undoubtedly become adults who are capable of facing everything. Otherwise they can become scared adults. Fearing to board a train or a bus at the slightest doubts.
But there is something in this city that keeps it running. The essence of it will surely be seen again tomorrow which is supposed to be an extremely sensitive day. People will still get up to go to work. They will still try to catch a bus or a train. And if they can’t, they will call friends over and party. But they won’t let this holiday go waste. Maybe our kids also will grow up the same way.
This phenomenon is ironically referred to as the Chaos Theory. What the irony is will be explained later. Interesting though this phenomenon may sound, not to mention also impossible, it is a scientific theory which has been immensely researched on a long time ago. There have been books written on it and movies filmed on the same. What it essentially means is that small variations of the initial conditions of a dynamical system may produce large variations in the long term behavior of the system.
Now if you are still reading this article and not closed the window due to the last sentence that you just read, I would like to elaborate on the reason for me to choose to strain you people with such words.
On 30th November 2006, Mumbai witnessed something that was so destructive that it can surely be figuratively termed as a typhoon. Walls fell, cars cart-wheeled, rickshaws became non existent, glasses shattered, buses demolished, trains burnt and not to mention innumerable people injured and of course the death-count that we will never know. If this can be termed as a typhoon in Mumbai, then the butterfly that fluttered its wings would be 1,288 km away in Kanpur, UP.
We can categorize the damage in two different categories – Superficial and Deep. After all if beauty isn’t only skin deep then why should wounds be different?
One would think that the people inflicting this fury on the commercial capital of the country thought the reason was good enough to cause damage worth CRORES to it. The three trains that were burnt itself caused a damage of Rs. 7 crores to Central Railway. Not to mention they could not run the Deccan Queen the next day too. More than a 100 BEST buses were left damaged. And hundreds of other vehicles were also vandalized. Who is going to pay for it? I guess that is one of the most clichéd question, and now can also be termed as a rhetorical one.
That much for the superficial damage. The deep ones run REALLY deep. Can you imagine how terrified the kids of this city will grow up to? I am not saying this has never happened in this city before. When we were kids we had one of the biggest riots ever in the city. But the difference between then and now is the environment. Then it was something which made the place just go quite. But now there are tens of news channels covering it and running the images repeatedly all day. Kids watch it and don’t know what to make out of the mad people shown on the screen pelting stones at people buses, burning the city and police being shown helpless.
I am thinking what will kids grow up thinking about all this? This can again be termed as another butterfly effect in the true sense, with damage in the long term. Will kids have faith in people? Will they have the confidence to turn to the cops one day? Will the kids growing up in this city be different from those in any other place on earth? Now this can be either good or bad. Kids can become really strong and undoubtedly become adults who are capable of facing everything. Otherwise they can become scared adults. Fearing to board a train or a bus at the slightest doubts.
But there is something in this city that keeps it running. The essence of it will surely be seen again tomorrow which is supposed to be an extremely sensitive day. People will still get up to go to work. They will still try to catch a bus or a train. And if they can’t, they will call friends over and party. But they won’t let this holiday go waste. Maybe our kids also will grow up the same way.
No comments:
Post a Comment