international moment of zen

klc (chinese colleague)
me (that would be me)

klc : so naveed, how are things are in Pakistan these days.
me : ok. not bad

klc : that is good. so no political problem, assassination (sniggers)
me : not really, things are calm

klc : so after the earthquake how? (singaporean way of asking how are things after the earthquake....i just hate the dangling "how" & "what")
me : people have really come out in support of survivors. local donations are more than international

klc has a blank look

klc : so how is business?
me : well unfortunately or fortunately, the earthquake presents an opportunity for construction, infrastructure, even IT. 1000 schools went down, more than 20000 kids lost their lives. But when the schools are re-built, they would go for IT products. sad though it may seem but life goes on

klc he never knew the extent of the damage, he tries to grapple with the revelation

klc : naveed, you know, we had a favorite cat. it died last year. for whole one week, my wife cried and cried. so yes, loss of life and dear-ones can really be painful