Let's Be Human!

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Two days back, an Emirates plane from Trivandrum to Dubai crash-landed at the Dubai Airport and caught fire. Soon after this, a video went viral of the chaos inside the flight - people panicking, trying to push their way out and in between this, there were people trying to take out their luggage and laptops from the overhead cabin. This drew lot of flak, with people even stereotyping Asians, Indians and Malayalis, going to the extent of even calling them an 'untameable bunch'.

It's always easy to come up with criticisms or blame others for their actions, but do we realise this could have happened to any of us as well? Do we really know for sure how we would react in case of any emergency? As much as we profess that material goods are not important, we've always been told  over and again about how valuable our expensive mobile phone is, the laptop that carries all our important data including work stuff or the wallet that would have contained the passport and money. We do not know how the human brain would react to an emergency and no one can guess. It is an instant reaction and I'm sure for those grabbing their hand baggage, it was as much a survival instinct as saving their life. 

And if we are blaming them for grabbing baggage and risking other's life, then what about us who are being insensitive and forwarding jokes about the crash? What about us who are making the video viral? Have we thought about the family of the passengers who would be seeing all this and having their heart in their mouth, or those passengers who would rather not relive that moment again? Aren't we being insensitive towards them? Shouldn't our behaviour too be blamed then?

Instead of blaming the human behaviour and tsk-tsking about how people behave in times of a crisis, we should be applauding the efficient rescue system that was in place, we should be whispering a silent prayer for the firefighter who lost his life. There is no right or wrong when it comes to life. People behave in a way that they think is best for them. We do not know how we would have behaved when we see death this close. So let's not judge. Instead, let's be empathetic. Let's be considerate. Let's be kind. Above all, let's be human. That's the need of the hour, more than anything else.