The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Living testimony to a catastrophe

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Tuesday, Sep 30, 2008
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Kerala - Kochi

Living testimony to a catastrophe

Staff Reporter

— Photo: Vipin Chandran

MESSAGE OF PEACE: Setsuko Thurlow, a survivor of the atom bomb at Hiroshima, in Kochi on Monday.

KOCHI: White flowers, the lilies and the roses, that were stacked at the reception table at the Rama Varma Club, said it all. Peace to all.

The white flowers were the symbolic expressions of a great slogan: No more Hiroshimas and Nagasakis.

The occasion was the reception to Hibakushas, the survivors of the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

At the two cities, a large number of the victims simply “vapourised” in the heat and radiation that the explosion caused.

The 3000 degree Celsius heat generated by the explosion melted down a large number of people who were near the hypocentre.

The six decades that have passed by since the fateful day have taken a toll on most of the survivors in one form or another. For those who didn’t suffer any immediate wounds and burns, worse was in store. In the form of killer diseases that surfaced even decades after the explosion,” says Setsuko Thurlow, a survivor. “My uncle and aunt didn’t suffer any apparent injuries in the explosion. However, they developed purple spots, symptoms of death catching up, in their body and quietly died one by one. Like the thousand others,” she said. “My sister and her son suffered serious burn injuries. They were asking for water every time and we were told not to give water to save them. There were no medicines and doctors and paramedics to support us as they all died. Hospitals were also damaged. We placed sliced cucumbers on their wounds. They survived for four days,” she said.

The military had mobilised the young men and women in the area to support them and tried to whip up nationalism to take the best out of the youth. Nakamshi, a 15-year-old boy was one among them. He skipped the school that day to support the military. They were 2.7 km away from ground zero.

The bomb exploded when Nakamishi and his friends were waiting under a shade for a truck to pick them up.

But the truck came late. And Nakamshi survived. To tell the world about one of the most brutal assaults on mankind. But thousands of others were not as lucky. They perished. “They were turned into charcoal. It is indisputable that I would have also turned into a black corpse that day,” said Mr. Nakamshi to a crowd that gathered to hear the testimony of the survivors.

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