English instructor Koshu Jagasia points out her native state of Gujarat, India on a map of south Asia.  Gujarat was rocked by a monster quake Jan. 26 and hundreds of aftershocks are still shaking western India.

By Dave Msseemmaa
Associate Editor

Helpless.

That’s the feeling you get when hundreds of thousands of people are injured, left homeless, or even killed by disaster and there’s no way to help.

That feeling is magnified when some of those people are family and friends.

English instructor Koshu Jagasia knows the feeling well. She lived 30 years in Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat, India where a powerful earthquake killed thousands and left at least a million homeless on January 26.

"The umbilical cord is still connected," says Jagasia with her hands clasped together, talking about her connection with India. "It’s part of me and there’s nothing I can do to help it."

Jagasia said she is very lucky because her family in Ahmedabad is alright. The friends who she has gotten a hold of were also okay, but many others weren’t so lucky.

"I got an email from a lady I know whose family in Morvi had zero survivors," she said. "Zero."

That is just one sad story from a place where there are millions more just like it.

"My heart bleeds to think of all those people," Jagasia says with a lost tone in her Hindi accent. "Who’s feeding them? Who’s taking care of them? First they are losing their homes, then they’re losing their families and everything they know."

Jagasia told a story about Chicagoan Samir Pathak, who called his brother’s cell phone in Ahmedabad just before the quake hit. His brother stayed on the line while rushing out of the building he was in and Samir got to hear the whole thing. Samir (check out www.SamirPathak.com) left Chicago for India in early February to help out the reconstruction process.

Among the worst damaged in the quake were public buildings like schools and hospitals. The Indian government is under attack from people who say the state did not build sturdy structures.

Developers are also criticized for building shabby high rises too quickly. Many casualties were in high rises which folded like an accordion onto those in the lower floors.

Jagasia said most of her friends in Gujarat are in the middle-class and lived in better, more solid homes. The old houses were often constructed better than the newer ones by builders who weren’t in a hurry and used higher quality materials.

One natural disaster Jagasia lived through while living in India was a flood, which disabled Gujarat and shut down all businesses for a week.

"There was no drinking water for a while," said Jagasia. "Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink."

She said the government was overwhelmed and could not take care of everybody right away.

The same seems to be true with this disaster. No help had come to the crippled town of Bhachau 37 hours after the quake, said a Reuters report. Of the 35,000 residents of this rural town, over 10,000 had died before help arrived.

Jagasia pointed out a poster in her office. The colorful poster, with the divine Krishna descending into a battle scene, said in Hindi script anytime people abuse dharma, I will come to Earth.  Jagasia explained that Hindus believe that if people fail their dharma, nature can respond with a disaster.

The English instructor owns a house in Ahmedabad. She said a friend who takes care of it hasn’t been able to get to the house to see if there is damage.

Jagasia said she has mixed feelings about her house in India.

"On one hand, I want my house to be okay. But on the other hand, I’m thankful for what I have – life, a home. There are times when people are cold and they die right there on the pavement, but I’m okay.

"Still, I feel helpless."

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