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Monday, 3 January 2005  
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Time for soul-searching

Distress and disaster very often activates the innate creativity of mankind. Faced by cruel, overwhelming calamities, the more insightful and sage among us rise to heights of wisdom and knowledge which prove a resplendent guiding light for the rest of society.

President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, for instance, has quite rightly of late, pointed to the humbling impact of the tsunami tragedy.

Not only is mankind compelled to recognize the extent of his vulnerability and finiteness in the face of the furies of Nature, but he is also made to realise that the whole of humanity is one and indivisible.

President Kumaratunga has repeatedly referred to these insights over the past few days and the same thoughts resonated in her New Year message to the country.

We hope these insights would lead to a spell of soul-searching by all in this country, for, they need to be made part and parcel of the "received wisdom" which has guided our communities over the centuries.

In post-independence Sri Lanka in particular, squabbling and venomous back-biting among our communities has been the order of the day.

The scramble for power among these groups very soon reduced Sri Lanka to a battered, war-torn land. Ruling elites and the dominant social strata tragically failed to realise the finitude of man's existence - a truth which is central to the doctrine of most of our religions.

In the quest for material advancement and self-aggrandizement, social groups of this country have failed to realise that "life is but a walking shadow" and that "it is a tale told by an Idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Ironically, although these thoughts are dinned into the popular consciousness from religious daises, pulpits and even public platforms, it has taken the worst natural disaster so far, in this country, for both the rulers and ruled to realise that they are only momentary phenomenon who need to come together in a spirit of humility and charitableness to work towards the common good - disregarding all man-made barriers, such as, caste, creed, religion and community.

We believe the President's New Year message is a striking Moment of Truth which needs to be reflected on by all.

However, there is already a lurking fear that Sri Lankans would be "back in their strides," in a few days' time when the tsunami horror "wears off". In other words, Lankans would be back to Lotus-eating, a pastime they are notorious for. If this happens, this would be a greater tragedy than the evil waves of December 26 which devoured all before them.

It is our hope that the whole of Lanka would rise to the challenges of the moment and work in a spirit of unity and self-sacrificial love for the good of all. In fact that disaster could be considered the proverbial "blessing in disguise" if it teaches all Lankans to forget the enmities of the past and pool all their resources and strength to restore our land to normalcy.

Deep Impact

We are now seening the full impact of one of the most dreaded natural phenomena - the tsunamis, triggered by a massive earthquake. The death toll Asia-wide is still rising. An earthquake occurs within the Earth, but there is a far more dangerous extra-terrestrial threat to our planet.

As graphically conveyed in the hit films Armageddon and Deep Impact, a wayward asteroid that collides with the Earth can cause far more destruction and even extinguish all life forms on Earth.

The tidal waves generated by such an impact would virtually submerge cities far inland. This is the popular explanation for the extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago. And it can happen again.

From time to time, we hear alarming reports of the Earth's imminent death as a result of an asteroid collision. These reports of Earth's death tend to be exaggerated, because scientists usually get the asteroid path incorrectly. Various dates have been given for such a cataclysmic event - 2017 and now, 2029.

Fortunately, NASA has ruled out the chance that the recently discovered asteroid, believed to be about 1,300 feet long, could hit Earth in 2029. Last week, asteroid 2004 MN4 had been given a small chance of impacting Earth, based on observations in June and again this month.

New pictures from March allowed scientists to refine the asteroid's projected trajectory and "an Earth impact on April 13, 2029 can now be ruled out," NASA said. Scientists have also ruled out an impact with the moon.

We have to watch the skies constantly to detect such bodies which may pose a danger to the Earth. Even a relatively small celestial body could destroy a substantial part of the Earth regardless of whether it falls into the ocean or dry land.

The fallout of the impact could blacken the skies, preventing sunlight from coming in and subsequently killing off plant and animal life.

With today's technology, can we do anything to prevent such an impact? Several spaceprobes have already trailed behind and landed on small-scale heavenly bodies, so sending an explosives-laden robot to blast the space rock and send it on a different trajectory should be possible, in theory.

We do not know whether this would be successful in practice. In the meantime, scientists around the world must scan the heavens for any sign of objects that might eventually embrace the Earth, unleashing a torrent of destruction never ever seen before. Unceasing vigilance will be mankind's key to survival.

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