Well, there's a lot being spoken, and lot been done. There's unending debate whether it was poor governance or if the nature by itself has been so furious.
Three days of no power supply, and with constant rains there was nothing to accompany us other than the darkness. To fight my hunger, I slept most of the times. No matter when I woke up, it always looked like it was an evening.
My friends and I managed with what we had, leftovers, biscuits & bananas. On the second day evening dry food supplies at super markets were extinguished. We barely could buy anything. And for what we chose to buy, we had no money left in our wallets. Stores stopped accepting the debit cards & no online or mobile POS were available to order anything. With no power, internet & currency notes, I felt I was left with nothing else to live the life for. The mobile networks failed us all so badly, we couldn't keep our beloved ones informed, although we stayed dry and safe indoors.
The third day, we had to leave our places and leave the city behind. Things were worse in the roads and it took almost an hour to reach a station that usually takes 15 minutes to reach. On the appearance of a mobile signal, the first thing was to inform my parents of my safety and there were emotional exchanges leaving our eyes moist after having not spoken and informed them of our safety. Media had done its best to show the worst areas which left our parents in different cities worried of our state of life. The food poisoning was evident leaving behind upset stomach & a bad headache.
It took nearly two hours to get a ticket. I had to reach my friends place and take shelter, for better food, mobile networks to work and to withdraw cash to feel secure. When I reached at my friends place, there was hot water to bathe and warm food served. It felt as if the dead in me were being woken up back to life. The sense of insecurity is what has left most of people out Chennai without the ability to take courage and face things. All my way to reach my friends house, away from Chennai I happened to witness people walking and wading through waters at knee level, hip level, neck level managing to carry minimal things with them.
I could resonate with their state as I too had to leave with bare minimum clothings and my work laptop to resume work at the earliest possible time. The next two days went witnessing various news channels that showed the live relays of current state and how much people had suffered without water, food, electricity, mobile networks etc. Governments did best, no use blaming them, they are people too, and their lives are affected too. In spite, everyone tried their best to keep up.
My brother & my sister in law left from Bangalore and reached Chennai with a truck load of dry supplies, clothing and napkins. As a person, I knew only them but, there were hundreds of people who choose to be brave and walked out and reached out as many people as possible and helped whoever they could. My brother's family raised funds and have reached out to 700 households. That's just one family reaching out to 700. Looking at the ratio of 1:700 is something great; imagine how many such brave hearts might have been able to help how as many hundreds as possible.
Beyond the fury of nature, beyond what the government could have done or more than anything, there was one force that connected the dots, tied up the broken pieces and made them all stick back as one piece, although a dented one, it still has come back to one. That force which tied back the pieces, helping us to bounce back is humanity. I took shelter for four days at my friends place off Chennai. They are a Christian family who were kind enough and sacrificing their meat diet for all four days to keep me comfortable as I was a vegetarian by diet. Food as I always define, is a personal boundary which is not so easily compromised. Its humanity that kept me alive for those four days. It's humanity that kept thousands of hungry stomachs filled and letting the affected people of Chennai alive,
Most families, my own relatives included have lost a lot of worth to the furious waters. Most families are yet to stabilize and recover. But we all have hopes that have brought back smiles on our faces. We are better than what we were a few days ago Yet, we will rise back to the standards we once were. Thanks for the humanity, thanks for the love that kept us alive.
With brighter hopes, wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Bright & Prosperous New Year.
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