THE TITANIC DISASTER RECALLED

FROM SAMPATH’S DESK

 15/4/2012

   


   




THE TITANIC DISASTER RECALLED

14/15 April 1912

  

An interesting feature ‘A Titanic Tribute a century thence’ appeared in ‘The Hindu’ dated 15.4.2012 containing a replication of the news report published in the same newspaper on 22.4.1912 which contained an account of a survivor of the famous yet heart-breaking and spine-chilling Titanic episode with the caption ‘When the Titanic sank'.

 

I share below my response written on 15.4.2012 to that feature:

 

The extracts from THE HINDU's Editorial dated 18.4.1912, besides moving the readers to tears, kicked and transported them back to April 1912 - exactly a century ago - triggering goosebumps in them. The feature took the readers into heart-throbbing with awe, thrill, captivating sensations, and excitement through the mind-cracking minute-to-minute account of the one of the worst marine disasters and tragedies the world had ever witnessed, thanks to the author who painstakingly ferreted them out from the colossal of rich archives of the daily and got the main portions of the tearful story published. 

 

The presentation is so excellent and cogent and the narrations sufficiently illustrative that a reader is able to visualize the poignant event - minute by minute, whether one was on the fateful spot or not - and correlate and synchronize them with the much-followed movie ‘TITANIC’ - which, in all, made for an interesting and absorbing read. Truly, the reader is able to gauge the reality of the ‘difficult-to-forget’, forlorn and melancholic episode on that fateful day, a century ago, as if the event had taken place just minutes back and recounted immediately. The feature gives the reader such a feel. A great piece indeed!

 

Certain happenings narrated viz. Captain Smith acting most heroically to the end, men allowing women and children to be saved first by dispatching them in rescue boats, the fact that millionaires perished while the relatively poor survived, that the icy terrain was strewn with frozen dead bodies like a carcass, the Captain of the vessel keeping up his solemn role up to the hilt upholding strict discipline, control and restraint in prioritization in rescue operations, a woman refusing to part with her husband when asked to do so and finally perished  along with her husband, etc. are  moving, tear-jerking, and nerve-rattling, to say the least.

It is a great re-creation done to perfection of a past historic event. Kudos to ‘The Hindu’ Archives Department!" 

Besides being baffled and bewildered, people were all agog to know "How did the 'Unsinkable' Titanic Sink?


Thank you,

 

R.SAMPATH

15.4.2012 / 4.12.2021

Comments

  1. Unknown5 December 2021 at 08:43

    The titanic tragedy will never be forgotten. -- Aravindan --

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

KAVIGNAR (TAMIL POET) VAALI

Image
FROM SAMPATH’S DESK:         KAVIGNAR (TAMIL POET) VAALI ( வாலிப கவிஞர் வாலி) 29 October 1931-18 July 2013       Vaali Sir (T.S.RANGARAJAN) – born in Srirangam, Trichy, Tamil Nadu - was a great legendary Tamil-poet-cum-lyricist with a gift of the gab and pen, who had to his credit more than 15000 film songs and a host of other literary works, He was a contemporary of Kannadasan. His songs were thought-provoking, conscience-stirring, awareness-generating and highly inspiring. Yes, with his departure, a great saga of an eventful career of a distinguished lyricist spanning more than five decades has come to an end. The poetic circles, and the literary and tinsel worlds have become poorer by his passing. Transcending barriers including generations, he had offered something for everyone belonging to both old and new generations to remember and cherish forever. Vaali made his humble beginning, as is the wont with every writer, with a devoti...
Read more

THIRUMURUGA KRIPANANDA VARIYAR - திருமுருக கிருபானந்த வாரியார்

Image
  FROM SAMPATH’S DESK:       THIRUMURUGA KRIPANANDA VARIYAR திருமுருக கிருபானந்த வாரியார் (25 August 1906 - 7 November 1993)   THIRUMURUGA KRIPANANDA VARIYAR was born on 25.8.1906 in Kangeyanallur near Vellore, Tamil Nadu.   He sowed divinity in the minds of the common man and words contemplated upon were humorously conveyed by him so as to grip the minds of his audience. He was affectionately and reverently called VARIYAR SWAMIGAL by people.   He had no formal education. However, he was brought up by his father himself at home giving him core divine knowledge and wisdom. Swamigal learned Tamil literature, grammar, and music, especially playing Veena. At age 8 itself, he had to his credit many poems in ‘Venba’ style. By age 12, he learned by heart at least 10000 hymns, mostly devotional numbers.   During my boyhood days in Triplicane, I used to go to his divine and spiritual discourses. Tamil language and devotional hymns...
Read more

FEATHERS OF POSITIVE PHILOSOPHY!

Image
From Sampath’s Desk :     FEATHERS OF POSITIVE PHILOSOPHY!     The concept of ‘philosophy’ used here is about the empirical aspects of life such as - how to find joy and happiness generally and to keep ourselves cool and unperturbed, clothed with feathers of positive philosophy in the face of ordeals and distress. Again, on the one side, it is about feeling self-joy, and on the other, a solace-seeking exercise during trials and tribulations. Some tips have been attempted here.   If you happen to be rich in wealth and affluent, think that God has given you the extra wealth and money for helping others. The best way to find joy and happiness is to make others happy by charity without expecting anything in return much less gratitude. It is only the possessor of wealth who should be actually grateful to God for providing him/her the opportunity to help the needy. It is of course easier said than done, but the real joy lies in giving and in going to the succo...
Read more