It was such a wonderful and amazing trip that I made to the lively island of Hong Kong barely two months back. The busy life reminded me of mine in New Delhi until a few years ago. Particularly, the MTR rides are so similar to the metro rides in my native capital city. But what makes Hong Kong truly different and unique is its amazing combination of natural beauty, urban aesthetics and traditional values. Yes, these three elements are so uniquely tied to create this beautiful autonomous island territory of China.
It is really crushing me right now to see the devastating images of the island hit by the Super Typhoon Mangkhut - the terror of the nature that almost went on crushing the Philippines, South and Mainland China. Yesterday was a terrible Sunday for most in that island. I would like to share a few memories of the island city before and after the typhoon. I enjoyed the shores of the island. But when I saw the roaring waves in yesterday's typhoon images, I felt the havoc so close to my heart. There are hundreds of thousands of residents and tourists stuck there, are advised to stay home and their hotels until the typhoon calms. I can't believe a few weeks back I was standing at the Victoria Harbor enjoying the breathtaking view.
I remember visiting the serene Tai O - the fishing village near Lantau Island. I had quite an experience in the fishing village back then. The day I visited the place was not a sunny day. Once I decided to take a small boat ride to witness the endangered pink dolphins there, a sudden downpour quickly turned into a hailstorm. Our boat got almost stranded in the middle of nowhere. It was only water and wind that we could visibly see beside the co-passengers. I was quite scared to witness the havoc nature did for that short span. It was enough to scare me as I don't know how to swim, and coincidentally, neither did any of my co-passengers on that boat. At one point, the hailstorm caught us in a jiffy as the boat had no choice but to stop where it is. Gradually, we could no longer see anything around us except haze. It went on for almost half an hour. Fortunately, nothing happened to us. We could not see any pink dolphins that day. But I'm sure each of the 14 passengers on that boat will remember our boat ride and that hailstorm for a long time. Right now, they must be reminiscing the same as I do. The entire fishing village is built on stilted houses. Only small motorbikes and bicycles can be used for commuting there. The high waves already walked up to their lanes and houses. It must be a 'walk' of terror for the dwellers.
Strolling around the hustles and bustles of Hong Kong feels so much like home. Not that I like noise, but I do feel homely when a place or a person gives me that sense of warmth home usually gives us. To me, Hong Kong gave me the same feeling. In fact, I do get that most of the time wherever I go. Maybe, I am learning to become more compassionate and easily adaptable to a new place or environment. It sounds good that way! The markets in Hong Kong is something I really liked. To be honest, I truly enjoyed shopping there, mostly because I got what I usually look for. At least for me, this island is a perfect shopping destination that I would like to come back again. And it's only a 4-hours flight from my current place. The noisy and lively markets at Mong Kok are now witnessing fallen trees on the main roads and lanes, broken glasses everywhere. I found some horrifying videos on Instagram yesterday showing the typhoon sweeping people off and away.
The roads in Hong Kong this morning wear a devastated look after the typhoon rips through the island along with other parts of China. High rises with shattered glasses, debris on the roads washed away by the waves. It's the same lively island I visited weeks ago. Not just this typhoon, there are hurricanes hovering over and drenching parts of the world right now. Talk about the floods in Assam and Kerala, Hurricane Florence in South and North Carolina. We need to understand and respond to nature's fury now. She has waited with so much patience for us to balance things up. But we haven't realized anything and kept on destroying her to our own profit and convenience. We still are doing it and maybe will do so for some more time until we are left with no choice but to destroy ourselves. The big question is: Nature has been warning us all this while. When are we going to answer it responsibly?
P.S. Hurricane Helene is moving to the UK now. Stay alert and stay safe everyone.
