In a series of articles, I have posted on
the tragedy that befell on that black Sunday 26th Dec 2004 – devastation and
loss of life caused by . ‘tsunami’ (from
Japanese – a harbour wave) - the deadliest natural disasters in human
history killing at least 290,000 in 14 countries bordering the Indian Ocean . Having seen such a colossal sorrow at
close, we had the burning urge to do something more, at Chennai, then at
Cuddalore…. Here is something on SYMA relief activity at Nagai.
In a short time after the ghastly event, the
dispossessed were already looking at the
possibility of resuming lives, thanks to the kind hearted souls of this wonderful
motherland and due to the concerted relief
operations of the Govt. the stock taking of the loss is still not complete.
However, despite the encouraging statistics, the fear of the people inhabiting
the coastal hamlets was hard to miss – and we at SYMA felt it our responsibility
to the society in doing something to allay the hardships.
In our previous visit we had entrusted some
relief material at Tirunagari. The material that we had handed over at
Thirunagari was distributed to the affected people of Mealmoovarkarai,
Madathukuppam and Naickerkuppam near Sirkazhi. It was the
efforts of Sri Embar T.
Srinivasan who deserved appreciation from us. Continuing with our relief
support, we distributed rice packets (5
kg each) to 27 persons belonging to Ayodhya Kuppam in Chennai. We also distributed
50 mattresses / bed sheets to the affected people of Srinivasapuram in Foreshore
estate. 2000 note books / 1500 pens / 250 slates / 180 Geometry boxes were
distributed to school children of Tiruvengadu, Naangur, Poompuhar and nearby.
This was also coordinated by Embar T. Srinivasan.
At that time, the coastal line lay battered
by nature’s fury and the hamlets lying close bore the brunt. It was similar
pathetic story of lost life, property and shattered peace every where. Agricultural
lands had been damaged; people lost not only their savings but more preciously
their livelihood. The villages were slowly
limping back towards normality and more than a month after the occurence also
affected people were still living in temporary sheds in torrid conditions. Nagapattinam had taken the worst battering with heavy loss
of life, the relief operations were hampered by washed-out roads, damage to
connecting bridge etc.,
This time as we prepared ourselves for the
relief operations at Nagapattinam and around it was Shri A Kuppuswamy, Dy. Commissioner
who deserved appreciation for allocating his living place to our association – turning
a la virtual camp for more than a week. Before embarking on Nagapattinam visit,
all the procured material was stored, and the packing operations were on here. On
the day of visit Dr. Padmavathi, Psychiatrist, visited us for a counseling
session to all our volunteers. This provided a rare insight to the gory story
and a human side, which we were not aware of. Dr. Padmavathi emphasized that those visiting should not get
carried away by the melancholy. What those affected really needed, besides
relief materials was soothing words and a feeling that there is somebody caring
for. She advised that the visits should not be whirlwind stopover at places
distributing material, instead, we should select and go to one or two places,
reach out to those affected, talk to them and stay with them for a while.
Patient hearing to their heartrending stories itself will placate them in a
great manner. To some extent, we were able to adhere to this.
The SYMA team started in the night of 14.1.2005 in a
convoy of two cars, one van and two lorries. The material had been carefully
packed and placed in the lorry by the volunteers who had endeavoured for nearly
week. Our Volunteers definitely deserve generous appreciation for the manner in
which they dedicated themselves to the
cause uncaring for the self and keeping away from the family too. Just as the trip to Cuddalore was enabled by
Mangal Tirth Bala, we were aided and accompanied in this trip by “The
Confederation of All India Stenographers Association – Postal Employees Union
(thanks to our own R Kannan); Sri Madhwa Siddantha Onnahini (SMSO) providing 100 blankets. Many well wishers had provided
rice in bags. We carried with us 400 sets, each consisting of Stove, blanket,
Lungi, utensil sets, mattress, 5 kgs of rice and small packets of hairoil,
toothpaste, soap and detergent.
At Nagapattinam, Mr P Gangadharan was a
perfect host; he had already identified the places, accompanied us and helped
in coordinating distribution of relief material to the agricultural families
affected. We are thankful to Mr.Gangadharan and his family members for
providing accommodation and food to our 25 volunteers. We met the District
Collector Mr. J. Radhakrishnan who has been doing a great job in organising
relief for those affected. He is a real hero, fearless, effective, humane and
extremely dedicated. He continues to inspire us and on a later day was our
Chief Guest in a SYMA function too.
We reached out to the villages of
Naaluvedapatti and Vellapallam where the sea water had played havoc to the lives and properties.
These tiny hamlets are around 30 kms away from Nagapattinam and for the
nearbest bus stop, the inhabitants will have to walk nearly 3.5 km. The most affected
area in Naaluvedapatti being Ulaganathan theru and Gounder theru while at
Vellapallam, vivasaya theru and meenavar colony were very badly affected.
We must make a mention of the hospitality
shown by the affected people even in the time of distress. They insisted and
provided tender coconuts to all of us and took us around to the affected
places. We started distributing the materials with small prayer invoking the
blessings of Lord Parthasarathy. We returned with a heavy heart on seeing the
difficulties of the people, praying that such a calamity should never fall
again in our land. We had a some sense
of satisfaction in playing a small role as a social service organisation.
~ and we had another small part after
villages limped back to normal – this time at Poompuhar – which will appear in
a separate post.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
Secretary, SYMA.
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