Are we a fatalistic nation or is it just me?

Over the past couple of years I have been dabbling with survival training. This started off with my annual pilgrimages to Ladakh when friends used to accompany me to check out the beautiful geography. Almost none of them had any idea of high altitude travel and its many dangers and I had to undertake a short programme preparing them for the journey. Since then the programme has become more organised and structured and today there are Courses on urban emergencies, wilderness survival, multitasking gear and equipment, ropes and knots, first aid, etc.

People are increasingly heading out for adventurous holidays, be it rafting, trekking, high altitude hiking, mountain biking, etc. There is a certain allure about the unknown, something special about sleeping in a tent, Nature is a wonderful canvas and many people are heading out to savour its wonders.

Then there are those who travel on pilgrimage. Often, these pilgrimage destinations are in remote locations, tucked away in the folds of the country, visited by the ardent and the pious. Getting there is an adventure by itself, the infrastructure is limited. Many of these destinations are a page from the past, far removed from the expected amenities and comforts of the city.

And then there is Mother Nature herself, beautiful and benevolent at most times, but unleashing her terrifying fury when anger hits her. India is prone to natural disasters of many kinds, all over the country and throughout the year. Floods, landslides, mudslides, cloud bursts, avalanches, dust storms, sand storms, cyclones, tidal waves, tsunamis, you name it and we have it.

In each and every situation named above – holidays, pilgrimages and calamities, there is a distinct possibility that something might go horribly wrong. Disoriented by the trees and engrossed in the wonders of the forest, it is easy to get lost and not be able to get back to camp. A sprained ankle is not too far away, walking among strewn rocks and loose gravel. The Kedarnath tragedy demonstrated how devastating life can be when faced with a natural disaster.

When I meet with people soliciting their participation in learning the basics of survival, I am amazed at the responses.

“Nothings gonna happen.”

“What use is it to learn these things? If something has to happen, it will.”

“When will I ever need to use these fancy knots?”

“We are hiking from hotel to hotel. Why do I need to learn how to make camp?”

And then we are a religious lot. Our culture has taught us to believe in the lives we have lived in the past and the lives that are still to be lived in the future. This is so ingrained in our psyche that we fail to be prepared for THIS life that we are living. Any untoward possibility is laid to rest on the doors of destiny. “If it has to happen, it will,” I hear them say. Some are more vocal about this sentiment, while others more philosophical.

Personally, I do not understand this sentiment at all. These skills are not only important to learn, but are extremely interesting. Imagine being able to light a fire by rubbing sticks together. Or using a condom to hunt for game. Or taking apart a length of cord and going fishing with it. Turning a trashed plastic sheet into a hammock. Telling the time by using a compass. Making a sundial. All these are extremely interesting things to know.

And then there is first aid. One common refrain (maybe hope) is that bad things cannot and will not happen to us. Tragedy is explained away as something that was imminent. People suffer from heart attacks all the time. And it is hitting people across the age range now. If and when something does happen to someone in the family, panic sets in, there is a mad rush to get a vehicle, the constant honking all the way through crowded streets to reach the nearest hospital, the victim declared dead on arrival. The post tragedy conversation is very similar across these instances. “He started feeling uneasy, sat down (or fell down) and became unconscious. We did not know what to do. By the time we got to hospital, he had passed away. At least he did not suffer.”

My question is, “Did he really need to die? If it was a heart attack, could someone have administered CPR?” Any CPR is better than no CPR. If the person has stopped breathing, could someone have given some rescue breaths? In one sentence DID THE PERSON REALLY NEED TO DIE? Maybe he would still have died, but even the possibility of life was negated because no one did anything about it and left it to fate, destiny, God, et al. Obviously the hospital could not do anything because he was “brought dead”.

Same thing with choking. A happy evening meal can quickly turn into a problem with food stuck in the throat. All one has is a couple of minutes before the victim asphyxiates to death. Is there time to rush to the hospital? Is there someone who knows how to administer the Heimlich Manoeuvre? Again, no. Can the person be saved? Yes. Do we want to learn how to help a choking victim? Unfortunately, no.

India has the highest number of fatalities from road accidents in the world. Often people do not die from the accident itself. They die of shock, they die from excessive bleeding, they die of cardiac arrests. Unfortunately, some die by choking on their own blood or vomit. All someone has to do is to either stop the bleeding or put the victim in the recovery position to drain any fluid out from the mouth or apply pressure to stop the bleeding.

People on the street are sometimes extremely helpful to victims. Not so much towards road accident victims, but more towards victims of a bomb blast for instance. India is a frequent recipient of visits from violent terrorism and people get affected. Moments later there are reports of casualties and the more the casualties, the bigger the news. But do so many people really need to die? Unnecessarily in my mind. Let us take most bomb blasts. Most injuries are of the lower limb, nasty at times resulting in a lot of bleeding. The victims panic and go into shock. The well wishers flag down vehicles and the victim is rushed off to a hospital. Why can’t the well wishers reassure the victim, apply a tourniquet, clear the airway in case of any obstruction, and THEN flag down a vehicle for evacuation to hospital. Otherwise the victim will succumb en route to the hospital due to the combination of panic and blood loss.

Family members will blame the system, the Government, people from across State boundaries, global policies and find justification for the question “Why him?”

In case of road accident fatalities, relatives will again blame not only the system, the Police, the authorities, the hospital and everyone else, but also the passers by. “He was lying on the road for two hours and no one came forward to help.” My question to them is, “Would you stop to help a victim if you came across one?” We all know the answer and the justifications for it.

Why do we have to be so fatalistic in our approach to life? We just have no interest in acquiring knowledge of the interesting kind and the kind that can save lives – ours, our loved one’s, our fellow citizen’s.

Talking of the survival courses, there are no other facilities that offer this kind of course in India. While there are survival courses coming out of the gills in almost every State in the United States. People from across the world congratulate me on the School. 90% of the copies of the book I published was bought by people in the Western world.

We as a community are just not interested in our own safety and would happily leave it to the State machinery or to God. Sadly, such is life in this wonderful country we call India.