We keep grousing about what life doesn’t offer us, but in the cacophony of our wishes, we often disregard the worth of living. If you feel life is cruel to you, the pain of Nepal will make you thank your lucky stars.

It was April 25 when a 7.9 temblor razed Nepal to the hilt, leaving a trail of massive destruction. Buildings were knocked down to pieces, neighborhoods were reduced to rubble and cities turned into a cremation ground. The magnitude of the ravage was unexpectedly high with scores of people trapped for days in the debris. The news soon magnetized the world’s attention and various countries, primarily India, promptly came to the rescue of the Himalayan nation and launched large-scale relief operations to contain the damage and distress.
The death toll in Nepal has climbed above 5,000 and death reports are continuously pouring in adding to the miseries of the people around the world.

At a time when Nepal is flailing in front of the might and power of the nature, the tech world stands united in grief. Several applications are activated and launched in the aftermath of the colossal tragedy. The web biggies, Facebook and Google are praised heavily for their empathetic efforts in locating the missing.

Facebook’s ‘Safety Check’, which was launched last year in October, is playing a praiseworthy role in helping the distraught relatives to know the whereabouts of the beloved ones in Nepal. People from all the quake-hit regions are using the feature and marking them ‘safe’, much to the relief of their flustered relatives. The feature was activated soon after the catastrophic earthquake had struck Nepal. Since then, it has solaced many families. The idea of app development came when the calamitous Tsunami has wreaked havoc in Japan.

“Safety Check is our way of helping our community during natural disasters and gives you an easy and simple way to say you’re safe and check on all your friends and family in one place,” Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerbergsaid in a post.

‘Safety Check’ feature allows an individual to check the number of safe and the affected ones with the relevant information. The feature acts as a database from where the information regarding the missing ones can be procured and families can trace the lost ones. It is divided into two sections –‘‘I’’m looking for someone’’ and “I have information about someone”.

Similarly, Google’s ‘Person Finder’ is fighting tooth and nail to allay the worries of the families. Launched in the backdrop of the Haiti Earthquake in 2010, the application allows anyone to search or provide information about the affected ones. Users can upload pictures into the database for clarity. The International Committee of the Red Cross, or ICRC is the pioneering organization which first unveiled an online platform to find the calamity-hit persons.

Showing concern for the ill-fated Nepalese, Facebook has announced ‘One-Click’ donation mechanism to facilitate the relief efforts. Users can see a message in the feed section, inviting donations to a non-profit undertaking, International Medical Corps, so as to offer urgent medical care to the victims. Even, Apple is encouraging the App Store customers to come ahead and support the dismayed Nepalese by offering donations to the American Red Cross through iTunes. Users can contribute anything from $5 to $200.

These are the times when we feel gratitude for the excellent connectivity the social tools offer. These are the times when the true spirit of humanity comes alive.Nepal, the world is with you.