Novelist Says Potential Disaster Victims Should be Taught Emotional Balance

People should be taught how to open up, share and speak about feelings in addition to pragmatic steps detailed in the Obama administration's preparedness plans to face natural disasters, author Chitra Divakaruni said at a Newsmaker press conference Feb. 24.

Citing the recent Haiti earthquake, Divakaruni said disasters are "a part of human existence."

As a volunteer with Hurricane Katrina refugees in Houston in 2005 and as an evacuee as Hurricane Rita rushed toward Houston, she faced these first-hand and wrote about them in a novel.

"When I was volunteering with Hurricane Katrina refugees in 2005, I looked up this phenomena of grace under pressure and then later when Hurricane Rita forced us to evacuate, it became clear how people respond in many different ways," she said.

Her novel, "One Amazing Thing," became relevant as post-earthquake complex situations are presented in Haiti. Divakaruni said, "I think we're seeing a whole spectrum in Haiti of how people are behaving. There's great compassion but there's also the opposite."

Divakaruni, author of 17 books now, including "The Mistress of Spices" and "Sister of My Heart" which have been made into movies, made the point to contemplate asking: "What is that allows us to call upon Grace when we are under deep pressure?"