The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Waves have not washed away ambition

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 16, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Waves have not washed away ambition

K. Subramanian

NAGAPATTINAM: "My ambition is to become a lecturer in a college," says Santhakumari, a 27-year-old fisherwoman of the Thoduvai coastal hamlet in Sirkazhi taluk of the tsunami-affected Nagapattinam district, who is doing her doctorate on the "Way of life of fishermen of Nagapattinam district."

When the Collector, J. Radhakrishnan, and his wife visited the temporary shelters at Thoduvai on Thursday to greet the people on Tamil New Year's day, Santhakumari, an inmate, approached the Collector and sought assistance for pursuing her studies.

The Collector held out an assurance that the Government would encourage and extend all possible help to persons such as Santhakumari for pursuing their studies. Talking to The Hindu, Santhakumari said she got married two years ago to Tamilarasan (30), a fisherman of a nearby village. "My hut as well as the huts of my relatives in the Thoduvai coastal hamlet were washed away in the tsunami. We are now staying in the temporary shelters built by the Government in the village. Sometimes, I go to my in-laws house at night and come back to the shelter in the morning."

"My parents, husband and in-laws encourage me in my studies and they are also interested in my future career to become a lecturer in a college and bring fame to the fishermen community. The community is now finding it difficult to lead a normal life as before as the tsunami has completely washed away the huts and other property."

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