A WISHBONE, A BACKBONE AND A FUNNY BONE

Pic.: Chetna Shetty

For some days, 18-year-old Ashwin, a student of our on-going PD course, had been persuading me to play in the class a BBC documentary-film titled ‘HIROSHIMA. “Sir, it’s a must watch,” he kept telling me, “I was moved watching it.”

Last morning, I watched it on my computer, and, yes, it was, in deed, very moving. On one side, you feel angry at the blind, adamant and insensitive military chief of Japan.... Even after the dreaded Nazi force of Germany surrendered, Japan refused to... and, all calls and threats from the Allied forces, particularly, America, failed. America had entered the long-drawn Second World-War only after she was provoked by the horrible attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor. And, now, in spite of all the devastation wrought upon Japan, and even though Germany and other nations had surrendered to the Allies, Japan had remained ruthlessly adamant... So, as a last resort, America did what it did: history’s first - and pray it will be the last - atom bomb attack! When you watch the devastation, which now bears its dark name – ‘Holocaust, you wonder, almost your heart frozen: was such an action on America’s part necessary?

Yes, the film prompts you to ask this hard question...

Hiroshima was a city of ordinary people with their ordinary living... The war and the bomb was just forced upon its wonderful people by a handful of adamant men... The city was totally destroyed and its entire population was either horribly wiped out or left to die in a manner unthinkable...

But, at the end of the movie, we see the modern-day Hiroshima... Fresh, prosperous and buzzing with life. People seem extremely happy, confident and optimistic as they go about their daily busy-lives...  Nobody can guess, that barely seventy years ago, the most horrendous devastation had been unleashed upon this city... Nobody seems to be moving about his life bearing in his heart the poison of grudge or revenge... All that one sees is a happy and hopeful people...

Our student, Ashwin, is barely 18! Why does he want me to show this film to the young boys and girls in the class? What is the lesson they are going to learn... yes, after they all are terribly moved?

I do not know...

The same evening, Dr. Sanjay, my doctor friend, had shared a beautiful quote on FB:

“To thrive in life,

you need three bones:

a wishbone,

a backbone and

a funny bone!”

- Reba McEntire

A mighty desire and a mighty determination to succeed... and a mighty ability let go and let God and laugh, at the end of the day!

Is this the moral of the story, dear Ashwin?

Hope, it is...

GERALD D’CUNHA