It was just another of those lazy Sunday mornings . a picture perfect day in Eindhoven. Ambling to the kitchen, I found my French housemate finishing up his rather late breakfast.
Delen
The news was on in the living room, and he was just cleaning up the mess he routinely created. “Oh, there’s been a pretty big earthquake somewhere in Asia,” he said, noticing my presence. At the time, I had no way of grasping the significance of what he was so casually saying. But I soon came to know . it wasn’t just ‘someplace in Asia’… that was my hometown being shown on TV! The year was 2004, and it was a day after Christmas. A tsunami had hit, erasing entire communities in Southeast Asia. According to news reports, the destructive tidal wave had left incalculable numbers dead, and countless more missing or homeless. Although a year has passed, I still can’t get over the emotions I went through. It leaves a horrible sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when your hometown is all over a ‘breaking news piece’. It’s further exacerbated as it takes a while before you can get through to your family to check if they even survived. Anyone who has been through such an experience would tell you that it’s very traumatic to say the least. You’re engulfed in feelings of fear, concern, sorrow, utter helplessness and guilt. It can weigh even more heavily as you have to get back to work the very next day and pretend that it’s just another normal day. In my own experience, most of my colleagues weren’t at all aware of the fact that I was going through a torrid experience. Even when some of them came to know, they were clueless on how to react, as they just couldn’t relate to the emotions I was going through.
An earthquake in Pakistan, bomb blasts or floods in India, and such, just become news items here. While most of us sympathize with those affected on the other side of the globe, we rarely lose sleep over it. But some of us are scarred by it forever. There are no words to describe the agony one goes through on receiving bad news from home while studying or working abroad. You even start to question whether you have deserted your loved ones by not being by their side during their time of need. It’s a morbid experience being delivered over long distance.
What can you do if you find yourself at the receiving end of such an experience? In spite of having had to face the situation on a couple of occasions, I still have no idea whatsoever how to deal with it. While there is no escaping the harsh reality accompanying bad news, I would invite, beg and implore anyone . especially from the Psychology cell within the SFC – to suggest practical measures to cope and recover from such an experience: Please write to Delta.
Ramesh Chidambaram uit India was MSc-student micro-electronica aan de TU Delft.
It was just another of those lazy Sunday mornings . a picture perfect day in Eindhoven. Ambling to the kitchen, I found my French housemate finishing up his rather late breakfast. The news was on in the living room, and he was just cleaning up the mess he routinely created. “Oh, there’s been a pretty big earthquake somewhere in Asia,” he said, noticing my presence. At the time, I had no way of grasping the significance of what he was so casually saying. But I soon came to know . it wasn’t just ‘someplace in Asia’… that was my hometown being shown on TV! The year was 2004, and it was a day after Christmas. A tsunami had hit, erasing entire communities in Southeast Asia. According to news reports, the destructive tidal wave had left incalculable numbers dead, and countless more missing or homeless. Although a year has passed, I still can’t get over the emotions I went through. It leaves a horrible sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when your hometown is all over a ‘breaking news piece’. It’s further exacerbated as it takes a while before you can get through to your family to check if they even survived. Anyone who has been through such an experience would tell you that it’s very traumatic to say the least. You’re engulfed in feelings of fear, concern, sorrow, utter helplessness and guilt. It can weigh even more heavily as you have to get back to work the very next day and pretend that it’s just another normal day. In my own experience, most of my colleagues weren’t at all aware of the fact that I was going through a torrid experience. Even when some of them came to know, they were clueless on how to react, as they just couldn’t relate to the emotions I was going through.
An earthquake in Pakistan, bomb blasts or floods in India, and such, just become news items here. While most of us sympathize with those affected on the other side of the globe, we rarely lose sleep over it. But some of us are scarred by it forever. There are no words to describe the agony one goes through on receiving bad news from home while studying or working abroad. You even start to question whether you have deserted your loved ones by not being by their side during their time of need. It’s a morbid experience being delivered over long distance.
What can you do if you find yourself at the receiving end of such an experience? In spite of having had to face the situation on a couple of occasions, I still have no idea whatsoever how to deal with it. While there is no escaping the harsh reality accompanying bad news, I would invite, beg and implore anyone . especially from the Psychology cell within the SFC – to suggest practical measures to cope and recover from such an experience: Please write to Delta.
Ramesh Chidambaram uit India was MSc-student micro-electronica aan de TU Delft.
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