Moving tribute to the resilience of human spirit through love and faith
Religious pilgrims visiting one of the world’s holiest mountains who were among those lost their lives after the glacier collapsed at the Nepal-Tibet border, inspiring Mark Knight’s symbolic tribute
READING LEVEL: ORANGE
Unfortunately by now you will likely have seen the terrifying images of the catastrophic* flash flood in Nepal sweeping all before it and possibly thought that the scenes were just more AI image fakery.
Unfortunately not. The destruction was on such an unbelievable scale and ferocity* that it could have been created by CGI* for a disaster movie.
It revealed the formidable* forces of nature that dwarf us all as humans.
CCTV at the Nepalese and Chinese border checkpoint of Gyirong Town of people fleeing the avalanche of mud, debris and boulders looked like ants running from a garden hose.
We now know the series of events that led to the flash flood peaking at over 12m (40ft) high and travelling at 193km hr, sweeping down the Lhende Khola and Trishuli River valleys was the collapse of a section of a glacier* atop the Langtang Peak.
Water from melting ice caused the glacier section to slip and break off, plunging over a kilometre down the mountain. When it hit the valley floor, the impact caused a seismic* tremor of magnitude* 5.2 that geologists* initially mistook for an earthquake. The heat from the collision melted more ice and created the fast-moving wall of water, mud and rock. As it descended down the valley, it picked up speed and gave towns, villages and workers very little warning. It was an inland tsunami*.
I felt compelled to comment on the aftermath* in my daily cartoon, but what can one really say about a natural disaster on such a scale?
The initial days following the flash flood were not the time to be pointing a finger of blame in a cartoon at possible causes like climate change. Those debates will come, but later.
As the waters receded and rescuers searched for survivors, Nepal and the world tried to process what had happened. Paramount* at this moment was the cost to people, the loss of life and families trying to find missing loved ones.
The tragic irony* of many of those lost was that they were in the area for religious pilgrimages*. Mount Kailash in Tibet is a 6,638m (nearly 22,000ft) high Himalayan peak, considered one of the most holy destinations in the world for Buddhists and Hindus. Thousands of pilgrims pass through Nepal on their way to the border crossing with Tibet at the Gyirong Town immigration centre. I felt I should touch on this sad irony in my cartoon.
To start the drawing, I looked at the scenes of devastation, with remains of only a handful of buildings standing in mud and debris up to the second floor of multi storey dwellings. All else was gone. Previously on my travels to Asia and parts of the world that are Buddhist, I’ve always been struck when I’ve come across a golden Buddha figure. Its gold lustre is breathtaking and the pose of the Buddha is calming, contemplative* and reflective.
In the river valley, I felt that many temples and buddhas would have been washed away in the tumult* along with worshippers. I decided I would draw in one that wasn’t. This praying buddha would represent faith, resilience and respect for those lost. In the drawing, even though the deity* sits a little askew*, brown mud from the avalanche smeared over it, the buddha remains a symbol of the human spirit.
Its golden presence is a beacon of hope for the people of Nepal and Tibet.
POLL
GLOSSARY
- catastrophic: causing sudden and very great harm or destruction
- ferocity: the fierce and violent nature of something
- CGI: computer generated imagery
- formidable: strong and powerful, and therefore difficult to deal with if opposed to you
- glacier: an extremely large mass of ice which moves very slowly, often down a mountain valley
- seismic: relating to or caused by an earthquake
- magnitude: the large size or importance of something
- geologists: specialists in the scientific study of the origin, history, structure and composition of the earth
- tsunami: a very large wave or series of waves – usually forming in the ocean but also in rivers as in this disaster – usually caused by an undersea earthquake, volcanic eruption or landslide
- aftermath: the period that follows an unpleasant event or accident, and the effects that it causes
- paramount: of the greatest importance or significance
- irony: in this context, irony is when something has a different or opposite result from what is expected
- contemplative: a state like meditation, as in related to contemplation
- tumult: chaos, commotion
- deity: a god or goddess
- askew: in or into a position in which something is not straight or level
EXTRA READING
Why landslides lead to flash floods
Farewell tribute to forever friends
Why Colombian builds didn’t hold
QUICK QUIZ
- How high did the flash flood reach and how fast did it travel through the valley?
- Approximately how high is Mount Kailash?
- What is the tragic irony relating to why many of the victims were in the area at the time?
- What did Mark intend his praying buddha to represent in his cartoon of the disaster?
- The tragedy occurred in a border region between which two countries?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Values, identities and actions
Study today’s Mark Knight cartoon and answer the following questions about the work:
What values does this cartoon invite us to think about?
Who is this cartoon speaking about? And who is this work trying to speak to?
What actions might the viewpoint in the cartoon encourage?
Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking
2. Extension
How can cartoonists like Mark Knight encourage or change people’s opinions on a controversial subject or topic?
Do you think his work needs approval before going to print? Explain your answer.
Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking
VCOP ACTIVITY
What happens next?
Imagine this story is part of a series made up of three cartoons. The three cartoons tell the complete story and this article is only Part One. Think about what the rest of the story could be and draw the next two cartoons that tell the story.
Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Visual Arts, Visual Communication Design, Critical and Creative Thinking