The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Administration, aid workers are new gods for them

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 09, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Administration, aid workers are new gods for them

By Ramya Kannan

CUDDALORE, JAN. 8. In the revised pantheon of the coastal district of Cuddalore ravaged by the tsunami, there are two new gods: The district administration and aid workers.

The fisherfolk have come to revere groups who were once total strangers. As their once-violent grief settles like invisible dust on their shoulders, they turn to the more mundane aspects of living.

That means food to eat, water to drink, clothes to wear and a roof over their heads. People who provide them these comforts have become larger-than-life heroes for the survivors.

Collector lauded

Perhaps, the Cuddalore Collector, Gagandeep Singh Bedi, gets the loudest applause. "Our Collector is like God. Write that down. Let every one know that the people of Devanampattinam are not thankless," says 91-year-old L.T. Vishwanathan, who has lived all his life in the village. He claims that he has never encountered the kind of generosity as that which came in the wake of the tsunami.

Others sitting around him, holding cards distributed by World Vision, a non-governmental organisation, agree. "The Collector, the Chief Minister, the army, the NGOs — we owe them a lot," says C. Subramani, a fisherman who is among the few lucky survivors after having been hit by a huge wave. He has no doubt that it is because of the relief that is pouring into the district that he has survived.

Especially at Devanampattinam, adopted by film actor Vivek Oberoi, his family and guru, Swami Chiddanand Saraswathi. The villagers have not seen a single movie the actor has starred in, but in them he has his biggest fan following. Having organised relief measures in coordination with the district administration, he and his team have built 200 temporary structures for people and promised to join in construction of permanent houses. At Pudukuppam, the tsunami swept away more than 100 persons to their graves. In the village, hardly a few hundred metres away from the sea, nearly everyone has lost a family member. Despite that, they gather on the streets to talk about how the Collector came to their town "three or four times."

M. Govindasamy Muthiapillai says, his bare chest swelling with pride, "everybody has helped us. The people from the Jamaath even carried the corpses!"

At Muzhukkuthurai, again, there are words of praise for restoration of electricity and the setting up of a police outpost to ensure against vandalism. The same story in another part of the district: at Thalanguda, a premature claim filed for insurance is promptly sanctioned. The Life Insurance Corporation officials have dispensed with their formalities and in a week,handed over a cheque for over Rs.60,000 to the family of the deceased.

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