Someone turned to me the other day and said with great philosophical finality, “Well, it was his karma, no?” The statement was in reference to a young student who had plunged to his death as a footbridge gave way in his town.
Karma? Really?
Not poor maintenance? Not substandard cables imported from someplace where “testing” means seeing if it bends before it breaks? Not a corrupt official whose only daily exercise is carrying cash from his car to his bedroom?
You see, karma is fast becoming the most overused excuse for criminal negligence.
The bridge collapses? Karma.
A flight crashes? Karma.
Floods kill hundreds in low-lying slums? Karma, of course.
It’s almost like our national insurance policy for failure—signed by God, sealed with incense, and delivered with temple bells ringing.
Let’s not forget that karma was never meant to be a cloak to cover up incompetence. It’s not a divine scapegoat we unleash every time a manhole swallows a biker. “Must’ve been written in his stars,” we say, eyes skyward, as our gaze conveniently avoids the gaping hole below.
Excuse me. That manhole was supposed to have a cover.
Let’s take a closer look at all the recent catastrophes—collapsed flyovers, airplane that crashed and killed almost all onboard, trains that derail as regularly as some politicians switch parties.
Is that all karma?
Or is it that the cement was mixed with more air than gravel? That the inspectors passed it after being passed a fat envelope? That budgets for safety were rerouted to someone’s third farmhouse?
And then we say, “God did it.”
No, my friend. God didn’t design that bridge. God didn’t rubber-stamp the corrupt tender. God didn’t overlook the climate report that warned of this very flood.
What God does do is show up after the catastrophe. Through selfless rescue workers. In the compassionate neighbor who carries a stranger’s child to safety. In the trembling voice of a mother who, having lost everything, still says, “I believe He will see me through.”
That is where God is. Not behind the disaster, but in the healing during and after.
And if karma had anything to do with it, I daresay it would be knocking at the doors of those who allowed the disaster to happen—the lazy, the greedy, the power-happy, and the apathetic.
So no, let’s not blame karma. Let’s blame corner-cutting contractors, blind regulators, corrupt officials and ignorant leaders. Let’s not shrug and say “it was written,” but roll up our sleeves and rewrite the script.
Because the next catastrophe isn’t fated—it’s being manufactured even as we speak. In files not audited, bridges not checked, weather warnings ignored, and flimsy infrastructure projects meant to impress voters!”
So catch the real culprits. Hold them accountable. And stop blaming karma—because innocent lives don’t deserve divine blame for human failure…!