On March 11, 2011, a massive earthquake in the sea off the east coast of Japan with an epicenter near Miyagi Prefecture triggered a tsunami that flooded large parts of the region Tohoku and cost about 200,000 lives. The monster wave also severely damaged the Fukushima nuclear power plant, causing one of the most devastating nuclear reactor disasters to date and radioactively contaminating a large area around Fukushima. Not only Japan, but the whole world was deeply affected. This event prompted Sandeep Bhagwati to spontaneously write 17 haiku compositions as musical elegies- in memory of the victims, but also as a “meditation on the thin skin of our civilization on this restless planet.” (Bhagwati)
