I recall being asked this question a long time ago - "What are the
three things that you would like to take if you were ever stranded on a
deserted island?"
So I would rather rephrase the question as– “If there was an earthquake warning in your area what are the three things that you would take with you? I wonder what the responses would be – would someone still be romantic or would everyone be plain practical?
By virtue of being hypothetical this question affords a wide range of responses-
I don’t remember my own at that time but what I do remember is that I made a
mental note to read Robinson Crusoe
once again to be better prepared the next time around. This question I was told
was doing the rounds at interviews back then.
Coming to think of it - there can only be three broad categories of
responses.
- Be the hopeless romantic and quote Omar Khayyam
–"A book of verses underneath the bough
A flask of wine, a loaf of bread and thou
Beside me singing in the wilderness
And wilderness is paradise now.”
(Obviously Khayyam has more than three choices but well…)OR - Be very practical and say that take a box of
matches, a pocket knife and a music player and other variants that ensure a comfortable
stay and an early rescue.OR
- not take anything at all and rough it out much like Tom Hanks in Cast away.
This question might perhaps not caught me off guard had I been exposed then
to explorations of the subject in Hollywood films such as The Edge or the
television series Lost. The early episodes of Lost presented a
thrilling and dare I say credible lesson on survival. (I am pretty sure that
there are several other films on the subject that I can’t recall at the
moment!)
But over the last few years and as recently as last week we have had a spate
of unfortunate earthquakes all around us. And earthquakes and tsunami’s have
this uncanny habit of arriving at very short notice- So instead of travelling
to that hypothetical island all we
have to do is to be mentally prepared for an event closer to home!
So I would rather rephrase the question as– “If there was an earthquake warning in your area what are the three things that you would take with you? I wonder what the responses would be – would someone still be romantic or would everyone be plain practical?
What is your take?
