I don’t know if you believe in fate, kismet, coincidence, divine intervention, karma, etc. That thought process kicks in for me after an event like the recent Air India plane crash. I think of the passengers and how none of them knew they were 30 seconds away from sudden death after the plane lifted off. Oh I think we all have that quiet thought when we fly that we’re sitting in a tube weighing hundreds of thousands of pounds that will cruise along if all goes right at 7 miles up. The reason plane crashes garner so much attention is because of how seldom they happen and the amount of victims involved. If there’s any comfort in this Air India crash and comfort I know isn’t really the right word, but there was no time for the passengers to really digest what was happening before they died instantly, some comfort, I guess. There will probably be stories that usually follow disasters like this where some passengers were booked on another flight but ended up on this one or the passenger who missed the plane for whatever reason or as Leslie reported passengers talking about being on the plane right before it was bound for London and commenting about how on their flight the video screens weren’t working. So how does that make you feel knowing you were that close to a plane that carried you on its final safe flight? No one really knows the exact moment they’re going to die unless they’re planning their suicide. I’m guessing very few people stop flying after a crash. Yeah driving is much safer. Check this out, in the U.S. there is a car crash roughly every 60 seconds. That translates to about 5.25 million accidents annually. The average person is likely to be involved in 3-4 car accidents during their lifetime. Imagine if there were 5 million plane crashes every year!! And yet just about everybody drives.Hey, 38 people died on the ground from the India crash. You’re on the ground and die from a plane crash! But THE story adjacent to the crash is the ONE person who survived. What are his thoughts today, does he believe in fate, kismet and so on? Two hundred plus people die, you are the only one to walk away….WALK AWAY, that in itself is mind boggling. Gang, we’re all on a thread and the cliche of “live for the moment” rings very loudly after something like the Air India crash. Plus, the survivor’s seat number was 11 A. Instead of wishing someone “good luck” now I will simply say 11 A. I now return to this thing called life where the ending is to be determined, by whom or what who knows.
Gunga, Galunga
Garry