The bells of peace

It’s been a hietus from reading for almost 3 years. It’s only when my wife Shruti opened an account with Wilmington public library, I was pulled back  in the world that I used to love so much. I was looking for a book that wasn’t much on page count and something that would inherently attract me. While grazing through history book row I spotted ‘Bells of Nagasaki‘ by Takashi Nagai. Being from library it was a battered copy of hundred something pages and was looking out to be promising candidate for my renewed conquest into literary world.

Just to have the taste of things to come, I started reading the introduction of book and by the time I finished it, I was all welled up inside. William Johnston, who translated the original Japanese masterpiece gave A very fitting start to this saga of human survival. He introduced Mr. Nagai as a radiologist in the radiology department of Nagasaki Medical College Hospital. The introduction itself was very heart touching in a sense that it briefly outlined transition of Dr. Nagai from a man of science to the Saint of peace.

        I brought the book to home and started reading it whenever I could spare few minutes of the day. The book started with narration by Dr. Nagai. Author presented the backdrop of Nagasaki at the end of World War II, where hope of winning the war was swiftly dwindling and each siren of air raid was then just a routine exercise of trained minds. On the fateful day of 9 August 1945, at around 11am the second atomic bomb that was ever used in human civilization struck Nagasaki. At the time of the atomic bombing, Dr. Nagai was working in The college. He received a serious injury to his head but joined the rest of the surviving medical staff immediately after he regained his consciousness. From this moment, we embark upon a journey from the point of view of a peace ambassador.  The book goes into the details of the actual events on that dark day, the aftermath and the relief work that was undertaken as the help pours over from over the world. Anyone who is going through the rough times, this book will serve as a lamp post to pass through the darkest of the times.