Coconut water

I wanted to tell you about affection. In its simplest, unalloyed and spontaneous form. When you go with a desire to listen, talk, empathise and help, you can experience it, village after village.

"Your good guest-treat him like God" said the great sage Valluvar. And I was experiencing it here. Coconut water, cool drinks ("dei, saarukku cool drink vaangiyaada"), tea, coffee, biscuits -- the people won't let you go without having something. And when you have a plan to visit many places in one day, you can conveniently skip breakfast,lunch and dinner!

Faith and light

(Photo: left: Baby Janani in Venpurusham village [the black dots on her face are put by her mother to ward off evil eye], right: the sun sets in Paramankeni)

Cuddalore Periya Kuppam

In Cuddalore Periya Kuppam, the children loved to see their photos on a huge screen -(since we didn't have a proper screen, we borrowed a dhoti (veshti) which is a long white wrap around cloth that the men wear in South India). They were so enthusiastic about learning with computers and a projector!

Fish n crows

Saw this during the street play. The crows were very enthusiastic and patient in trying to get a piece of the fish that the woman was cutting for dinner.

Of boats and engines

Some three kilometres from Kovalam Beach near Chennai lies Chemmanjeri kuppam. Another typical fishermen village. Almost same scenes I would later witness in other kuppams --- an Amman temple (village Deity), a small Government school (A,B,C,D and 'ua,aaa,yi, yeee' scribbled all over the walls with chalkpiece and charcoal), a narrow tar road leading to the sea, some coconut trees, thatched huts (with palm leaves) some small concrete houses built by the Fisheries department of the Tamilnadu Government as part of a phased housing Scheme, some good houses that stand testimony to the money from good catches, the fiber boats, the catamarans [tree trunks shaved off and tied together to make a boat] and of course the remains [garbage, plastic bags, damaged houses that remain as a heap of bricks] of the tsunami. I have come here to see the night school run in the government school building. Compared to other places, Chemmanjeri is lucky - the children do not have to travel much to school. It is right here. While walking inside the school building, I am reminded of Sadraskuppam where around 55 children huddle below one light bulb to finish their lessons and homework.

While I walk towards the sea, Chandran, a local fisherman starts walking with me too. This is another thing that I noticed in most kuppams.You just cannot walk around alone, clicking photographs and taking notes, even if you want to, someone will definitely come to you, stick with you till you leave. Yes, they will tell all the stories BT to AT (Before Tsunami to After Tsunami) and some more behind-the-screen stories, but won't let you take notes alone. So, here is Chandran who tells me that their houses might look good, but their foundation is weak because the tsunami waters have gone down and weakened it. So, they want new houses, but would still prefer to keep the old ones (same story, again!). Double benefit, I think, but choose to remain silent and just nod. Four new boats gifted by CRDS have been delivered today and they quietly lie on the beach sands. The talk turns to making boats now. "Normally, when they pour the foam into the reenforcements in the fiber boat, it needs 7 or 8 days to settle and strengthen, but the boat makers now are just letting it stay for 2 or 3 days for obvious reasons - they want to make more boats in less time." "Does this compromise on quality or it doesn't make a big difference?" I ask him wondering at the boat's light weight body and strikingly vibrant colors. "Don't know, can't say till we put it to the actual test by taking it into the sea".

One of the well-known actors of Tamil cinema, Prakash Raj, lives here in a huge bungalow, close to the sea. Chandran notices me looking at the house. "It is Prakash Raj's. He was of good help on the day of the Tsunami. He made arrangements to give us rice and lentils for two days, but he went to a safer place the next day." Probably, this gave the actor a chance to repay the love and sympathy the villagers showered when his child died last year after accidentally falling off the roof of his home.

BT AT or is it BS AS?

(Photo right: a new catamaran ready to touch the waters of the Bay of Bengal Sea @ Meyyurkuppam, near Kalpakkam. The Amman temple straight ahead was 'untouched' by the tsunami, say the people)

There are small, energetic boys (the Muthus, Murugans and Kumars) who are eager to tell me details of their life violently demarcated by the killer waves. That is when this thought struck me. Just as we denote normal years as A.D or B.C, almost everyone here talks in terms of B.T and A.T (Before Tsunami and After Tsunami)

While discussing plans for building concrete houses, we tell them that there is a new requirement from the Government - every family has to take a photograph in front of their home/land, whatever condition it may be in. This will be documented and serve as an evidence in case any disputes arise after building the houses. Later, when the houses are completed, they will have to take another photograph in front of their new home and submit it to the respective NGO. This request immediately brings a subtle but noticeable gloom among the fishermen. It becomes our duty, then, to explain that all this is for their good. "Development", we tell them, "has to be scientific, and not knee-jerk or haphazard". One guy, whose house is the best in the village, (unaffected by the tsunami) is worried - "If you see that my house looks good in the photo, will you cancel my name from the shelter list, or will you still build a home in the excess land I have?". Clever question indeed. If we said yes, that would mean, inside his compound, he gets another home, in 325 sq feet, at no cost. He could use it for any other purpose, while still living in his original home. "We will talk to the Government on this example and let you know".

A roof above

Providing permanent shelter to people is one of the five-point agendas. The scale of destruction in the coastal villages from Chennai to Kalpakkam may not be as much as Nagapattinam or Kadaloor, but then one visit to places like Paramankeni and Angaalamman kuppam (named after the village Goddess - Angaalamman Kuppam means small village in Tamil) shows that the people cannot rebuild their lives on their own. The people need the Government and NGOs' funds and expertise to get back to their 'normal life'. In Tamilnadu's villages, you cannot just walk in and start a development project. They have their chosen people - mostly elders - to sit and talk about issues pertaining to the village. This is called 'Panchaayat'. Today, we are visiting 11 Kuppams that have been adopted by CRDS for Shelter work. Sitting and talking to them about reconstruction efforts is a essential but tiring task.

There are people with straight requests, hidden agendas, greed oozing through her let-me-get-whatever-I can-from-these-people-eyes. One woman, of the last category comes to us wearing a see-we-are-so-poor-and-we-are-dying look on her face while we are just about to leave after a loooong discussion on housing issues. "When are you going to give us more rice and paruppu (lentil)? It is so tough", she asks. Seven months after Tsunami, she still wants the Government and NGO to give her everyday bread (or rice!). Annoyed, but still wanting to give an answer that doesn't hurt much, the Project manager tells her, "Ennama ippadi kekkareenga, boat, engine, net ellam koduthome, ippo arisi paruppum kodukkanumna mudiyuma, meen pudichu pozhainga, adukku udavarom. Poytu varom" (We have given you boats, engines and nets.So, please use them to earn your livelihood. For that, we will support you, not by giving rice and lentil)