Last week my sister Adina's friend Ran posted a blog entry from Sri Lanka, where he was enjoying a surfing holiday. I was a bit jealous. I'm invited to the wedding of my friends Helena and Manu in India next month (in Rajasthan - far away from the current devastation) and I've been complaining for weeks about being unable to afford the trip.

I'm not jealous of Ran anymore. Just worried.

Officials say as many as 4,500 people are known to have died in Sri Lanka, one of the most severely hit nations, and that perhaps 500,000 are homeless.

I keep checking his blog, hoping to read "I'm back in Hong Kong [where he lives with his wife, Delian], everything's fine."

Or words to that effect.

What an unbelievable tragedy. I cannot even imagine the terror of seeing a 5-metre high wave approaching me, nor the grief of all those thousands of people who have lost loved ones, their homes and their livelihoods. It's staggering.

UPDATE: Ran and Delian are okay. (see comment from my sister for details). Phew.