By: Klinsa Kurien, Bureau Chief-ICN Kerala
It’s raining monsoons in Kerala. Tear shaped raindrops adorn the lovely blue sky. This reminds me of a beautiful nursery rhyme called “I hear thunder, I hear thunder. Hark, don’t you? Hark don’t you? Pitter Patter rain drops, pitter patter drain drops. I’m wet through, so are you”. It is such a pleasant feeling when rain drops touch the dry and moisture less earth and is a welcome feeling for all the people. The other wise parched earth is filled with water so pure that it seems like crystals.
But my mind goes into a reflective mood, and a heave of sigh of relief that at last Kerala is at its normalcy again. Exactly at this time of the year last year Kerala was in floods. Mother Earth poured out all her fury to God’s own people. Almost seventy percent of the houses were destroyed and people were seen running helter-skelter. Nevertheless, it is the untiring, undettered spirit of the Keralites that helped bring the state back to normalcy.
They could finally rebuild their destroyed houses, find clean water to drink and return back to a life filled with hope. They never did lose faith in God and despite the suffering, promised themselves to stay alert when a warning for a disaster is issued. Most people were in shock for losing their relatives and beautiful homes, but atleast the whole country joined their hands together to help their fellow beings.
Most laudable of all things is that Keralites wore a brave heart with a smile on their faces when the rescue teams came flying to bring them safely back to shore. One Keralite man even offered his back as a wooden plank for people to step onto and reach the rescue boat to camp in a safe place. Even if one is neck deep in trouble it is only that small iota of faith and optimism that makes human life worth living again. Helping each other in times of sorrow and need is a humanitarian act. It strikes a chord of oneness in letter and spirit!
