Chennai- You are not alone!
(Chennai is the Capital of India’s Southern state of Tamil Nadu)
The only thing that can fight nature is Humanity!
And guess what- Humanity Wins!
It poured, it poured and it just poured! And what followed was an unprecedented devastation!
Rain gods showed no mercy and the city kept drowning into drenches.
Two weeks of merciless destruction brought Chennai down to its heels.
The Indian Army, The Navy, The Airforce and every department imaginable swung into action, but the sheer scale of Chennai was impossible to manage by a handful few.
What this started was a silent social revolution by an army of citizens and volunteers, drenched in blood, sweat and tears, trying to save a life.
1 Soul Saved, is 1 Life Lived!
Last few days have been heavy on Chennai, but this brought out the best of humanity, which regardless of religion, caste or creed, worked tirelessly to save the city! Being a personal witness to some of these stories, I could not help but write about this experience, and what makes Chennai the city it is.
While Chennai was battling on the ground, the rest of the country was supporting in every possible way. Right from frequent information updates on social media, to contributing money towards relief funds, to leaving their hometowns to join volunteers in Chennai; last few days have been a classic example of humanitarian strength.
While some of these efforts remain unnoticed, here are a few I personally witnessed-
- A senior business leader I personally know has been working with a team of volunteers since the last 6 days to save the city. He is himself in the middle of the action and refuses to leave till the ‘Nature’ loses.
(Link- https://www.facebook.com/rmari.karthikeyan) - A muslim man saved a pregnant hindu woman who was about to deliver, and upon delivery the family named their daughter after the man who saved them.
(Link- https://www.facebook.com/mohamed.yunus.9803) - Few Business Leaders I personally know took it to themselves to coordinate the material purchase across Bangalore over 2 days, running across stores, buying the best possible deals and then loading/unloading the stuff multiple times, till it was finally packed and parcelled.
(Link- https://www.facebook.com/rajesh.ojha.3152)
(Link- https://www.facebook.com/sukhi.aujla.121 - An heavenly soul in the form of a Truck Driver dropped his quote from 15000/- to 10000/- (Covering only expenses) and delivered the goods to Chennai, when most people refused to travel to Chennai.
- Two of my friends took it to task to travel in a Truck full of relief material all the way to Chennai, fearing none and ensuring that everything gets delivered.
(Links- Not Available as yet) - A group of like-minded individuals living in Bangalore and US made sure that there were enough funds, and over 100000/- was collected in a few hours to support the relief efforts.
(Links- Everyone who is not on my facebook.) - And numerous other people who ran into calls day/night to arrange support, logistics, money and material.
If there is one thing this teaches us, it is the concept of ‘Humanity’. While one city suffered, the rest of the country battled. For each life that suffered, there were 10 lives contributing towards relief efforts. For every inch of land that nature took away, there were those laying their lives to create more land.
In this battle of ‘Nature v/s Humans’, if there is something that wins, it is- Humanity!
(While the relief efforts continue, and we eventually get back into our normal lives, I wanted to write this for all those who served humanity, and maybe will be long forgotten once things return to normalcy. For me personally, it will always remind me of those who stood the test of times, and fought like warriors!)
