The story “And of Clay are We Created” made me remember about an Earthquake that occurred at Nepal in 2015. I was in New York at the time and I got a call from my aunt at 4A.M and I was shocked to find out that it was one of the strongest one and the buildings near my houses were collapsed. We tried contacting our relatives and friends back in Nepal but we couldn’t reach them due to poor connections and it was terrifying to see historic monuments being collapsed and the news terrified us even more. In the story, the narrator tries her best to contact political leaders to locate the pump and makes appeal to the media, however, there’s no result. After the earthquake, there were many damages, people lost homes, jobs, relatives and the political leaders weren’t really available to provide any help. In fact, many countries had donated money and supplies for the people but the money didn’t reach innocent people who actually needed it. The role of politicians during these crisis weren’t helpful. This crisis made me connect to my own country in a very different way. I was away from home and when I saw the buildings being destroyed and heard the stories from my relatives and friends back home, it made me realize how much I missed and loved Nepal. When I went back after few years, things had changed a lot and there were still many buildings which weren’t repaired and it shows how politicians don’t usually do anything in some countries.
It must have been very difficult to be so far away from home when the earthquake happened. How do you think distance affects your understanding of a tragedy like that? Interesting observations regarding politicians and their promises….