Times of crisis draw forth extraordinary qualities from ordinary people, making them super humans. The worst floods in a century in Kerala also witnessed the rise of super heroes, who, together, armed by courage and willpower, came to the rescue of hundreds of flood-affected people. It was that great show of strength that made the people confident and hopeful of revival from the disaster. From little acts of compassion to life-saving decisions, those common men showed how everybody can be a beacon of hope and inspiration.
The much-hailed warriors, who fought the battle with the waters, are around 3,000 bravehearts from the fishermen community across the state. Along with the thousands of Army, Navy and NDRF personnel active on ground, they were involved in round-the-clock rescue operations for several days, most of them without even the precaution of life jackets or fishing boats. When they heard about lakhs of people marooned in their homes, they left their fishing hamlets, leaving their families behind, telling them that they had work to do. Having seen the rough seas and braved the high tides, they believed water could never pose a challenge for them. Clad in lungis and faded Tees, armed with ropes, they took their boats, swam, dived and formed a human chain to rescue the stranded. And when they completed their mission – of saving more than 65,000 people – the coastal warriors were accorded a rousing reception. Again, they did another noble act by donating the government’s monetary assistance to the disaster relief fund. “We don’t need money for saving lives,” they stated.
Erecting temporary bridges, planning meticulous and tricky airlifts, dropping food packets and coordinating communication, the Army, Navy Air Force, Coast Guard, NDRF and police played a huge role in evacuation and rehabilitation. There were chilling incidents – such as Commander Vijay Verma airlifting a heavily-pregnant woman whose wate broke and who delivered a baby half an hour after the rescue, Wg Cdr Prasanth saving a toddler from rooftop in Alappuzha, and Captain P. Rajkumar winching up 26 people in extremely challenging conditions, hovering between trees and in the limits of man and machine. A few days after the rescue of the pregnant woman, Commander Varma spotted message for him and his crew on a rooftop – a large ‘Thanks’ shaped out of bedsheets!
The floods bore witness to endless acts of chivalry from many – like Jaisal K.P. from Malappuram, who had spontaneously got down on all fours becoming a ‘footboard’ for a pregnant woman to board a rescue dinghy. His hunch down gesture invited a lot of praises and emotional messages, but the humble fisherman feels it was a voluntary act to save a life when there were no safety guards or equipment in place.
Then, there were bureaucrats who, unlike their predecessors, walked the talk. With their quick, pragmatic decisions, IAS officers from all the 14 districts were actively involved in dealing with the calamity. Thrissur District Collector in-charge T.V. Anupama, who has been interacting with people and taking necessary action to mitigate their grievances, broke open the locks of the District Bar Council after they refused to let relief materials stored there. Raja Gopal Sunkara, Sub-Collector of Padmanabhapuram, waded through deep waters, transporting people to safety in Kanyakumari.
Prasanth Nair, former Kozhikode Collector, guided an army of volunteers to arrange relief materials while Food Safety Commissioner M.G. Rajamanikyam and Wayanad Sub-Collector N.S.K. Umesh worked on the ground, unloading rice sacks at collection centres. Thiruvananthapuram District Collector K. Vasuki, who was mobilising youth and cheering up volunteers, tirelessly maintained close vigil to collect as many materials as possible for distribution.
The great synergy witnessed between political parties and bureaucracy along with the people was unprecedented. As Vasuki said in her iconic speech, “You are making history, showing the world what Malayalis can do. You are working like soldiers who fought for freedom.”
The list of unsung heroes goes on – the prisoners of the state wh cooked and packed food to be airdropped; the families who cancelled expensive wedding and engagement parties and chose to donate the money for the noble cause; the nameless social media users who, sitting miles away, provided valuable help and service; the volunteers who flocked relief camps to offer any assistance, as manual labour and just listeners for the victims to pour out their heart; the medical professionals, who with no power, consultation rooms or even th required medicines, offered their services to prevent epidemic outbreak and to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxieties among the affected; the thousands of government servants who donated their one-month salary for relief; the electricians plumbers and carpenters who helped people clean their homes of slush and debris from the floods.
These are moments which show how, like the saying goes, something good comes out of every crisis.
