Not So Plain Crashes

By Pandora Poikilos

It was the Sunscreen Song by Baz Luhrmann in the late 90's that said, 'the real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.'

Tragedies like plane crashes definitely fit the bill often seizing the world by shock and related families by overwhelming grief. There will always be the rush, first - for the black boxes and then - the fault line.

In some cases, after much publicity and pressure, a compensation will be awarded and that brings up ultimately more important questions. What is the value of a human life? How much is the price of grief in this age and time?

Irrelevant of pilot, airline or airport error, who holds the hands of those who have lost their loved ones? Parents will have to do the unnatural act of burying their children, and in the case of the gentleman who has lost 16 members of his family (in the recent Air India - Mangalore crash), a family stands the chance of losing its legacy altogether.

It will be a long time before their lives resemble anything close to 'normal'. The media purposefully highlights their plight at the point of the tragedy. Whose to know what happens beyond that? Everyone forgets the tragedy or simply assume that those affected have healed.

But seriously, do they ever really make it through? How much help do they actually need beyond their monetary needs? So much time and effort is often spent on the mechanics and financial aspects of a plane crash, taking away lessons to prevent from such tragedies again, but who are the watchers for the not so plan factors? Definitely, worth a thought isn't it?