The October afternoon sun cast a warm, golden glow over their village, a perfect day for napping. Santa was doing just that, lounging peacefully on a charpoy, a half-empty glass of chai resting on the table beside him.
This tranquility was shattered by Banta, who burst into the courtyard, waving the day’s newspaper like a flag of victory.
“Santa, oye, Santa!”
“Wake up from your slumber!”
“History is being made!” Banta exclaimed, his face beaming with the thrill of a fresh discovery.
“I was just reading about the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction tomorrow.”
“And the theme this year is magnificent!”
“It is ‘Fund Resilly-Ants Not Disasters‘!”
Santa opened one eye, then slowly sat up, a pained expression on his face.
“Firstly, Banta,” he said with the weariness of a man who had had this conversation a thousand times, “it’s Re-si-li-ence.”
“It has nothing to do with silly, six-legged insects.”
“And secondly, must you shout?”
“The neighbourhood dogs think there’s an emergency.”
“But there is an emergency!”
“An emergency of preparedness!” Banta declared, completely missing the sarcasm.
He puffed out his chest.
“And I, Banta Singh, am already prepared!”
“I have my own disaster-proof plan.”
“I have taken my entire life’s savings, sealed them in my mother’s old steel trunk, and buried them six feet deep behind the cowshed.”
“Let the floods come!”
“Let the earthquakes shake!”
“My funds will be safe!”
Santa stared at his friend, then slowly put his head in his hands.
“Banta, my dear, misguided friend,” he groaned.
“That is not a disaster plan.”
“That is an invitation for every mongoose and ambitious rat in a ten-kilometer radius to become a millionaire.”
“The theme—Fund Resilience, Not Disasters—means you invest your money to prevent the damage before it happens, not just hide your cash to count your losses after your house has been washed away.”
A slow, dangerous light of misunderstanding dawned in Banta’s eyes.
“Oho! I see now!”
“It is a brilliant, revolutionary idea!”
“So, instead of wasting our money on boring walls and workshops, we should fund something that makes us truly resilient to fear… we should fund a massive, village-wide, ‘Resilient Disco‘ party!”
He stood up and began to demonstrate his theory with a series of clumsy but enthusiastic Bhangra moves.
“Imagine it, Santa!”
“The ground starts to shake, the earthquake alarm is wailing, but are we scared?”
“No! DJ Banta drops the beat!”
“The whole village starts dancing!”
“The earthquake will get so confused by our joyous defiance, it will pack its bags and go home!”
“Banta-ji,” Santa said, his voice flat as a chapati.
“An earthquake is a tectonic shift, not a sensitive artist who gets stage fright.”
“It does not RSVP.”
“It just shows up and shakes things up.” He stood up and grabbed Banta’s arm.
“Come on.”
“I just came back from a community workshop on this, funded by a real resilience grant.”
“Let’s go on a little walk, and you can show me how your brilliant theories would work in the real world.”
संता – बंता की इस जुगलबन्दी से आज हमने क्या सीखा:-
- प्रतिक्रियात्मक या फिर अग्रसक्रिय / Reactive vs. Proactive: आपदा सुरक्षा के लिये प्रतिक्रियात्मक कार्यवाही की अपेक्षा अग्रसक्रिय हो कर सुरक्षा में निवेश करना आवश्यक हैं / The story introduces the core theme by contrasting Banta’s reactive plan (hiding money for after the disaster) with the principle of proactive investment in prevention.
- प्रतिरोध्यता की समझ / Understanding Resilience: प्रतिरोध्यता का तत्पर्य आपदा उपरान्त पुनर्प्राप्ति से कहीं ज्यादा सामुचित व प्रभावी तैयारी कर आपदा के प्रभावों व आपदा जनित क्षति को यथासम्भव कम करना हैं / Resilience is not about bouncing back from a disaster, but about having the inherent strength and preparedness to withstand it in the first place, thereby reducing the damage.
- जागरूकता पहला कदम / Awareness is the First Step: शिक्षा व जागरूकता आपदा प्रतिरोध्य समुदाय के विकास की पहली सीढ़ी हैं / Santa’s attendance at a community workshop highlights that education and awareness are the foundational pillars of building a resilient community.
- आपदाये अप्रत्याशित होती है / Disasters are Unpredictable: आपदा कोई पूर्वनियोजित कार्यक्रम नहीं हैं – आपदाये हमेशा ही अचानक व अप्रत्याशित होती है / The humorous idea of a “resilient disco” underscores a serious point: disasters are not planned events. These are sudden, chaotic, and cannot be “danced away.”
संता – बंता की यह जुगलबन्दी आपको कैसी लगी, कृपया हमें जरुर बताये
व
इस जुगलबन्दी को बेहतर बनाने के लिये अपने सुझाव अवश्य दें।
हमें हमेशा की तरह आपके सुझावों, प्रतिक्रियाओं व कटाक्षो का बेसब्री से इंतजार रहता हैं और सच मानिये इसी के आधार पर हम अपने आप में, अपनी सोच व रचनात्मकता में सुधार करने को प्रेरित होते हैं।
सो अच्छा – बुरा जैसा आपको महसूस हुवा हो, कमेंट जरुर करते रहें।
Leave a Reply