Wednesday, April 18, 2007

The VTech shootout

A lot has been said about the shootout in all possible media. What happened is a totally unfortunate event and the loss of so many lives is definitely an irreparable damage. I can only say the families of the deceased are not alone in this moment of grief. They are not alone. The whole world is praying - with them, for them.

The list of victims is out. As tvu mentions in his latest post, please do take some time and read the list. The list at least serves as a snapshot of what a mindless act of an individual can do to the harmless world. The shattered dreams, the broken hopes, the lives that ended before they began and the books that never saw the last chapter!!! Reading the list was my way to pay my respects!!!

You can register your condolences, thoughts or prayers, in this memorial site maintained by the university.

As a closing note, i would like to quote these words from the speech given by award-winning Tennessee poet and Virginia Tech professor Nikki Giovanni, during the prayer service conducted in the Cassell Coliseum at Virginia Tech today:

"
We do not understand this tragedy. We know we did not deserve it but neither does a child in Africa dying of AIDS, neither do the invisible children walking the night to avoid being captured by a rogue army. Neither does the baby elephant watching his community be devastated for ivory; neither does the Appalachian infant killed in the middle of the night in his crib in the home his father built with his own hands being run over by a boulder because the land was destabilized. No one deserves a tragedy..."

The transcript of the speech is present here.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

i just read the list before i read this . i looked at every photo closely . it is so heartbreaking , i felt such grief that it was like losing someone i knew personally.
and in a way we all did know them .. they were just like us .
i am angry that these wonderful people were snatched away .
at the same time this has happened before and its time something is done to prevent it.
Sanaa

Ganja Turtle said...

That was an outstanding post with aptly placed pointers...am borrowing your links.

At such times, many things become meaningless. Maybe thats why we need a poet to remind us of what matters and what shouldnt...amen.

rungee582 said...

Nice post. It is amazing that this terrible event has captured so much emotion from around the world.