Vivek Kant is cross trained in both systems design engineering and cognitive/behavioural sciences. His research interests are human factors, human machine interaction design and human systems integration in complex sociotechnical systems.
Shreyas Vernekar earned his master’s degree in communication design from the esteemed Industrial Design Centre at IIT Bombay, marking a pivotal step in his journey as a professional UX Designer. His journey began with a love for traditional art, which eventually evolved into a mastery of digital illustrations, driven by an urge to tell compelling stories.
The Literature Times: The book focuses on examining the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami from both geological and human dimensions. How did you approach the research to ensure a comprehensive understanding of this multifaceted event?
Authors:
Our primary source for the 2004 Tsunami was a collection of newspaper clippings from December 27, 2004, to March 31, 2005, curated by Prof. Pankaj Sekhsaria from IIT Bombay, which he very kindly shared with us. He was actively involved as an environmental activist with the Andaman Islands. He has also published several books and other media regarding this region. These clippings served as our initial window to the past, providing insights into the dynamics. Over several months, we conducted research on the scientific and historical context, analysing data from various sources such as research papers, articles, and journals. Understanding the tribal population of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands posed challenges due to limited information, but we gained deeper insights into their resilient lives through these sources. This allowed us to comprehend the impact this disaster had on all fronts.
The Literature Times: As authors, what role did you play in shaping the narrative and structure of the book, especially in presenting the human dimensions of the disaster?
Authors:
As authors, we studied the sources, identifying various incidents that shaped the course of this disaster. Using empathy maps, we mapped these incidents, quotes and created distinct groups that would later become the chapters in this book. These chapters are multi-phonic in nature, encompassing the opinions and thoughts of most stakeholders, which were thoroughly researched, identified, and to a certain extent, incorporated into the book.
Throughout the process, there were multiple instances where it was crucial to portray social dynamics between islanders, tribals, and outsiders in their raw form, without any prevailing prejudice. With a background in human aspects, emotions, and rationale analysis, we applied these skills to research and analyse the incidents to clarify the findings further enough to be comprehended in this book.
The Literature Times: Can you discuss any specific case studies or real-world examples featured in the book that highlight the interplay between natural forces and human responses during the Indian Ocean Tsunami?
Authors:
We’ve got one special case study which made us realize that we know very less about the world we live in. This is an incident involving the Jarawa tribes, when the Tsunami struck, the entire world’s focus suddenly shifted to these isolated tribes. The common sentiment was one of dread at the potential loss of such an important anthropological culture to nature’s wrath. A tribe that had supposedly survived for close to 50-60 thousand years seemed at risk due to this unfortunate tragedy.
However, the ground reality painted a different picture. The Jarawas not only survived despite their small numbers but also demonstrated remarkable resilience. The community, often perceived as away from mainstream populations of our country, proved to be much more prepared to face the tsunami. Contrary to global expectations, the Jarawas climbed coconut trees with their children and patiently waited until the seas receded. Their safety was attributed to ancestral knowledge, which helped them build a disaster memory having their own set of survival tactics.
The Literature Times: How do you envision educators incorporating the book into their curriculum to enhance students’ understanding of disaster management, considering its relevance for both scientific and social science disciplines?
Authors:
A disaster despite being a traumatic experience for many directly or indirectly affected, is filled with numerous clues and lessons on how to be better equipped to face such events. As an educator, studying disasters would enable students to comprehend and incorporate disaster memory. Disasters materialize when hazards strike vulnerable systems. Learning about these incidents in depth would guide future academicians or students toward ideas and thoughts about building a collective memory and constructing a figurative shield around the world, building a resilient system.
The Literature Times: In your collaboration, what aspects of the research process did you find most intriguing or challenging, and how did you overcome those challenges?
Authors:
Our main challenge was mapping the insights together and creating a synchronous narrative that could effectively communicate our findings. We acknowledge that we had to omit a considerable amount of content, each of which could have formed its own chapter or even a book. This did feel bad at the start, but as the book progressed, we were able to truly appreciate this decision.
Our primary focus was to strike the right balance between engaging narratives, disaster management theories, disaster mapping and representation of multi-phonic thoughts. With this goal in mind, both of us worked diligently, doubling down on these topics and refining ideas to curate this book. It covers pivotal events, our analysis, and presents them to readers. For example, we covered the disaster from the viewpoint of the Pressure-And-Release model, which allowed us to comprehend the disaster from a more academic viewpoint without trivializing the challenges of the events as they unfolded.
The Literature Times: The book aims to raise awareness about vulnerability and resilience in disaster management. What key takeaways do you hope readers will gain from the human dimensions explored in the book?
Authors:
For the primary takeaway from this book, we hope the readers have a renewed understanding, prompting a shift in how we perceive disasters. We hope that they understand the necessity for a proactive stance in building disaster resilience. This is balanced throughout the book using an academic viewpoint as well as a narrative supported by images.
The book also endeavors to cultivate cultural sensitivity, encouraging them to reflect on the diverse communities we share our planet with. The people of A&N Islands are Indians too, and disasters such as these try to bring to the fore their plight in a rapidly changing world order. This may inspire individuals and communities to actively contribute to and learn from a shared reservoir of experiences.
The Literature Times: Can you share your perspective on the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, in addressing the complex issues surrounding disasters?
Authors:
Encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration is crucial, especially when dealing with such a complex topic as discussed in this book. There’s a unique richness that comes from having different sets of eyes look at these interplaying processes. Vivek’s forte in systems design, research methodology, experience in human factors, sociotechnical systems, and training in the sociology of technology and disaster, added another multiple layers to the book. As a designer, Shreyas’ perspective involves identifying stories, narratives, understanding interpersonal relationships, and crafting engaging and important narratives within this intricate system. If multiple specialists who are directly involved in planning and preparing for future disasters lend their views towards this curation, we would be able to create content that is rich with interdisciplinary collaboration. It would assist us in capturing and analysing events that might have been missed by our untrained eyes.
The Literature Times: Looking forward, how do you see the book contributing to ongoing discussions and advancements in the field of disaster studies, and are there potential follow-up projects or areas of research that you find particularly promising?
Authors:
The key idea is to learn from disasters so that prevention and resilience can be improved in the future. Just like the Indian Ocean Tsunami, which exposed vulnerabilities in our system, many disasters have ended up shaping the current system. With accessible accounts of these events available to us years after their occurrence, we can examine them from all angles: analysing the system before the event, during the recovery process, and multiple years after. Such information, readily available, will greatly benefit the field of Disaster Studies, as a collective disaster memory would help us avoid repeating mistakes or oversights when creating a disaster-proof system.
Other events, like the Vishakhapatnam gas leak, Gujarat Earthquakes, and many others, can be similarly analysed with content easily accessible to the public. This approach reinforces our idea of building a resilient future for Indians. Study of the ancestral knowledge and ancestral resilience among the tribes of Andaman and Nicobar would be interesting, as these tribes survived successfully in this seismically active area for so long, I’m hopeful that we would be able to learn more about India’s vast geography and how the local tribes have adapted to survive here.
