(This story was first published on 26 December 2017. It has been republished from The Quint’s archives on the anniversary of the deadly tsunami that hit Chennai in 2004.)
26 December 2004
Wails and cries filled the air as everyone was screaming and running away from the shore. No one knew what a tsunami was and they didn't expect that the life-giving sea would change everything forever. The way they look at the ocean would never be the same again.
A number of government agencies and NGOs stepped in to help and most of them now live in pucca houses away from the coast with decent facilities, but every time they hear the roaring waves, their hearts still tremble with fear.
The fear resides in them even today.
“We fear to even look at the sea…even today. I would say don’t come to this town at all. This has been ruined completely. This is like a graveyard but that’s where we are living today.”
Kokila still remembers seeing the dead body of her best friend Sathyavani when she was just 10. Her school was completely ravaged to the ground but today she is serving as a teacher in the same school which has been transformed into one of Tamil Nadu’s finest.
“My sister’s hair was stuck in a tree and she struggled and died. I cried for help – there were so many people around but no one to help. Her dress was torn off. They buried her along with 80 people in a hole. I gave a new dress for her but they told me to get clothes for all, otherwise they cannot dress only my sister. I dropped the saree and ran back home.”
Roja was washed away in the tsunami and somehow managed to swim back to safety. Today, she doesn’t go to the beach as much.
“If that day had been a working day, then all of us would’ve died. When tsunami happened, I wish we had died instead of so many children... because we didn’t know what we would tell the parents of so many children who were killed. Even today, the wails and screams of the parents echo in my ears and I start tearing up.”
R Balu is the principal of Union Middle School of Keechankuppam who resurrected the school from ruins. It is now a smart school with all facilities and approved by the ISO.
“I had returned from the market and I heard that my two nephews who were trying to drag the boat to safety were washed away. We still haven’t got their bodies. Even now my children are going into the sea, I am going to sit here till their return because I am scared.”
Rajamani sells dried fish on the beach near Velankanni Church in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, and has built a house far away from the shore because of her fear of the sea.
“We were standing at the beach with our cameras as the then chief minister Jayalalithaa was going to survey the area on her helicopter. Suddenly someone said there was an earthquake in Indonesia and in half an hour, it will strike our coast. We ran for our lives and found higher ground near the bridge. But the Collector Radhakrishnan just stood strong looking for the helicopter.”
Senthil is a freelance journalist in Nagapattinam and Thiruvarur and has documented the struggles of the fisherfolk after the 2004 tsunami till date.
“We remember their sweet memories. We thank them because if they had been alive, we wouldn't be doing any of this. They sacrificed their lives so that we can prove to be good parents,’” Parameshwaran.
Parameshwaran and his wife Choodamani lost their three children and seven relatives to the tsunami. When they were on the verge of committing suicide, they saw hundreds of children orphaned. They immediately adopted several of them and are living as a family of 34 today.
“The government thinks that by giving 2 lakh rupees, they have compensated our loss. Will that bring my children back to life? Since the tsunami, all us fisherfolk have not made any profits... living on 2 meals a day.”
Latha lost her sister-in-law and mother-in-law and today fears sending her son and husband for fishing everyday.
“Water entered our homes and my mother, brother and nephew died. We have seen rough waters but nothing like that. The word tsunami makes me run.”
Ramu is a fisherman who is still haunted by the tsunami as the people he used to go for fishing with are all dead today. He could never find their dead bodies.
“Everyone got compensation but no one realised people like us, carpenters and electricians, also suffered losses. Our lives are dependant on fishermen, if they are affected where will we get the food from?”
Karthikeyan was working as a carpenter before the 2004 tsunami and after that when everyone switched from wooden boats to steel, he began doing welding work.
“Tsunami came around 9:30am and I was standing on top of the lighthouse. I luckily escaped because I was on higher ground but I saw pilgrims who were at the beach doing the last rites for their loved ones being engulfed in the waves.”
V Chinnasamy works at the lighthouse at Nagapattinam and the stories of his fellow workers killed in the tsunami haunts him till date.
“My father died in the tsunami. My mother couldn’t take care of me. A couple came to me and asked if they could take me home. With nowhere to go, I held on to their hands. When I first entered, there were 16 kids and everyone called each other sister, brother. So it began to feel like home.”
Saravanan was brought to Nambikkai, a children’s home when he was 10. He has forgotten the scars of the past and is currently an MBA graduate working in Coimbatore.
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