Disasters- Short Stories, Essays and Anecdotes

True stories with sound basis and the art of communication have eternal appeal to young children and indeed men and women of all age groups. The distilled wisdom of centuries about education is beautifully summed up by Oscar Wilde who said, "Anything worth knowing cannot be taught", and this is certainly truer of disasters, whose origin and subsequent devastation compel us to explore new ways of communication, explore deep science and effective mitigation technologies. Stories about disasters and lessons learnt not only motivate people to go through the pain of bad times with the pleasure of self-learning but also make them experience diverse aspects of disasters; years, decades and centuries after these have occurred, and that too, from the cosy vantage point of safety but with concern and a conscious mind.

It is apt to recall Stephen R. Covey who once said, "Motivation is a fire that burns from within. If someone else tries to light that fire in you, the chances are that it will burn very briefly". In the case of disasters, the stories are generally self-igniting and fascinating because they grow in the womb of disasters themselves, and when captured at the time of convolution and convulsion, these acquire the power to communicate across generations. It is to be realised that narrating captivating stories with context, facts and purpose demand understanding and the art of storytelling is a rare skill that is becoming rarer.

**Contents and Sample Pages**