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In The Wake of The Tsunami
In The Wake of The Tsunami
1/6/2005
Database: Academic Search Premier
Section: Daily Briefing
REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK
When I went to southern India, driven by a simple desire to help, I found devastation and
recovery, cold shoulders and warm hearts
The January morning is sunny, and Madras seems so quiet -- very much the quaint, seaside
south Indian city it is, albeit one that has been growing rapidly over recent years into a
manufacturing hub. Everyone is at work, and the streets are clear, save for the usual spray of
sand blown in from the Indian Ocean beaches, just 500 yards away. Who could guess that a
tsunami recently lashed the city, killing hundreds and leaving thousands homeless?
It has been nine days since the waves hit South Asia, and much has been accomplished in
that time. True, Madras didn't suffer as much damage as the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu
state. Still, the city -- also called Chennai -- has had to recover bodies, clear debris, and get
relief supplies to survivors.
NOW AND FOREVER. I came to Madras from Bombay, eager to help in any way I could. So I
walked along the shoreline, near battered huts and low-storied cement buildings, searching
for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to volunteer with. If I couldn't find one, then I
could at least lend a hand to the many individuals who cook kilos of rice and dal, a kind of
pea soup, in their homes and then package and distribute them.
I'm disappointed. Today, people at the many NGOs that had set up stalls to distribute
provisions wear a forlorn look. A pickup truck with the sign "Oasis Ministries" is loaded with
food, and a tall woman in a bright white silk saree is handing out packets of water and savory
lemon rice and egg. She is Padma Mudaliar, a local who runs an orphanage.
I approach Mudaliar and ask, "Can I help?" Distributing her supplies with military-like
precision, she doesn't look at me but asks "For how long?" I tell her four days. "I can do
whatever you want, even tend the morgue," I offer. She tells me no. "Not for four days, but for
a lifetime of commitment. Otherwise we don't need you." I slink away, crushed.
HIGH AND DRY. Still, Mudaliar has a point. A good chunk of the tsunami-affected population
in India has received the supplies that have been contributed so generously from all over the
world. The work that's left to be done -- rehabilitating people, rebuilding their homes, returning
them to their livelihoods -- requires commitment.
It won't be easy. In the seafront fisherman's slum of Nochikuppam, the long, fiberglass
catamarans that were flung into the residents' flimsy huts are stranded at the side of the road.
Even though the boats are blocking traffic, the fishermen say they won't clear their shattered
craft and ripped fishing nets until the government has assessed the damage, allowing them to
HAVE PEN, WILL TRAVEL. In the office, young men and women are busy assigning jobs and
answering phones. They're clean-cut and educated -- the best of motivated, middle-class
India. AID's top coordinator, Ravi Shanker, an electrical engineer from the elite Indian Institute
of Technology, now teaches at the Institute in Madras. Two doctors from Britain each want to
volunteer a week of their time. "Oh yes," a young woman says to me, "put your name down,
skills, and availability." A well-heeled man from Singapore comes in with containers full of
donated items and money.
AID has something for me to do. Their volunteers are already in place for the distribution of
relief, but they need help in their makeshift offices in Cuddalore and Nagapattinam, the worst
affected areas, to write daily reports on AID and its volunteers. Since I'm a journalist, would I
mind?
Not at all. So I am heading south. I'll start the next day distributing some relief supplies
collected by local citizens, and later, I'll become the equivalent of a minute-keeper at a board
meeting for relief efforts.
~~~~~~~~
By Manjeet Kripalani
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