#KeralaFloods: Why Being a Young Person in Kerala is the Best Feeling in the World Right Now.
Looking back at the most devastating deluge of the century, here’s a personal account of what I saw.
It was on August 15 that I realized the intensity of the problem that lay before us. Having never anticipated such a situation, it took me some time to let it sink in that Kerala was actually going through a disaster like never before.
There was no way the rain was stopping. My phone buzzed with the messages pouring in, some asking if I was safe, and some, updates of the flood situation. I was scared, worried, anxious and nervous. We had to move after receiving warning from the local authorities, so we packed up and left. The night we left, I was crying. I didn’t know what would happen.
I felt weak and tired from all the worrying. I thought all I could do was pray.
But hey, wasn’t I wrong?
Today is the 23rd of August. 8 days after that night. I am back home. Back to my life. But something about me feels changed.
The last few days have changed a lot of things about us. All of us. In the days following August 15, I saw almost everyone in my contact list become operators and volunteers of relief camps, or remote members of rescue teams, serving as the valuable connects between the rescue teams out there and those who were stranded.
Some were coordinating rescue missions from as far as Delhi.
Some, who had their flights re-booked due to the closed airport made the situation useful to avail relief for Kerala from there.
Some, who couldn’t sacrifice sleep a bit were awake all night calling up people who needed help, reassuring them that help was on the way.
The guy who would update memes on his story now posted life saving measures and worked in redistribution of resources for relief.
Kerala was taken by surprise when the calamity struck, but the level of maturity and concern exhibited by my friends swept me off my feet. We had always thought of ourselves as a bunch of young people who were totally scared of adulting.
But when the time came, we didn’t ask for help.
We didn’t ask for permission.
We just knew that we were there. And that we were going to help.
The growth from lazy couch potatoes to actively spearheading communications for getting help was quick, efficient and most importantly, gratifying. The first step in this case was getting help for people who were stranded on islands formed by the quickly rising water. Help can be of two kinds in this case: Rescue or relief. In some cases, where the family was stuck somewhere in the heavy current, rescue wouldn’t work out due to the risk involved, and they would be supplied food and water via airdrop provided the water level was somewhat safe.
I know this because I was one of those people who were calling up the gentlemen in uniforms, directing them to places where we received SOS calls from. It was difficult to take up that position at the beginning. To volunteer. Calling up people was never my thing. But the fact that youngsters all over Kerala were united to provide information about lost/missing/isolated people only made me stronger.
And here’s a lovely gift I’m sharing with you: a heartwarming message from a girl who got rescued.
Isn’t this what we live for? This text gave me a fresh perspective of life and has kindled a special friendship between us.
The young tech community of Kerala rushed to action as two extremely valuable tools were created to handle the disaster: keralarescue.in and the Tachyon SOS App. Developers from everywhere joined hands to do what they had always wanted to: Innovate to save lives.
While rescue operations still continued, thousands of homes were destroyed across Ernakulam (being my district) and all the remaining districts. To accommodate the homeless, a number of relief camps were opened in schools and colleges across the state.
My friends set up a camp at our college and began welcoming people from everywhere. Volunteers rushed from nearby hostels and gathered relief supplies. They were handling total strangers with care and concern, reaching out for help and effectively putting in place a communication system for meeting their immediate requirements.
When did we grow up?
When did we become so responsible?
When did we learn how to just keep our cool and work on saving lives?
I just have no idea.
From the moment we realized that we were in a position to save those who needed our help, we were all running in the same direction. We had only one destination before us. The safety of our people.
When SOS calls started coming from all kinds of people, we forgot that we had priorities like food and a good night’s sleep. Nobody cared about anything else. We forgot our fears. We forgot reservations. We forgot who we were and what we had pretended to be until the day before. That’s when we realized that we’re human first and the instinct to look out for others is what drives us forward.
That is why, today, I am glad that this situation made us all rise to the occasion, wear a cape, and realize where our true allegiance lies.
Humanity won.
But this isn’t all. As residents of the camp start leaving and things start returning to normal, I can’t help but yearn for this change, this awakening, to remain strong and irreversible. Because now that we know what we’re truly capable of, I hope there’s no going back.
There will be no going back, as I see it. Colleges are already working on projects to repair household appliances that have been damaged in the flood. The young engineering community is also engaged in rewiring of buildings and visual screening of building strength and stability. Another project is Afterflood.in, a portal that provides detailed instructions on how to deal with everything from your damaged refrigerator to a car submerged in the flood, complete with a chatbot.
Moreover, people are writing, drawing and making memes (that’s a given!) about their experiences in the time of this crisis. Here’s an answer on Quora written by Athul Raj that totally captured my heart. People all over the world have been brought closer to Kerala to resonate with our feelings through these works of art.
