Notre Dame de Paris, you will always be in our hearts.

Notre Dame de Paris, adieu!

Whenever people die, I rarely weep. Or if I do, it is for those caught up in the grief, or for the tragedy at large. A strong belief that the dead are heading for a better place, or at least an onward stage of their journey, has  always kept me positive. I just shed all those unspent tears in one go at the sight of Notre Dame de Paris! In a world that is crumbling around us owing to our indifference to environmental and social issues, monuments like Notre Dame are symbols of hope. Alas! Notre Dame itself, after almost a thousand years of history, is no more. 

In a way, artworks do go to heaven

Notre Dame is one of a series of great historical losses in the first decades of the 21st century. Notable examples are the Buddhas of Bamyan, blown up by the Taliban in 2001, the destruction of Palmyra by ISIS in 2015 and the fire that devastated the National Museum of Brazil a year ago. 

Of course, in a way, art works do go to heaven. They are in our hearts and we take them with us. But for the moment it is many of us who are going with it, in burning grief. As for me, I feel my tears alone could have put this fire out!