KOCHI: George Mani raised his hands in helplessness. “The water has entered my home in Alappuzha,” says this staff member of a club in Kochi. “They called me frantically, my wife and mother. My son is working in the Gulf. I told them to put one bed on top of the other and sit there.
I am unable to go there because there is no transport.” But what if the water rises? “I don’t know,” he says, shaking his head. “All the people in the area are in the same position. They have all called for help and are waiting.” Panic. Fear. Anger.Frustration.
These are the emotions swirling through the hearts of 3.5 crore Keralites as an unprecedented and non-stop rain has pulverised the State. There is only one conversation everywhere: What is the progress of the water, let loose by the opening of the shutters of 35 dams? Where is it going? Will it head in our direction? Earlier, we would look with a beaming sense of happiness when it rained, now there is terror in our eyes at its fierce force.
The psychological blow is intense, not to mention the financial calamity. As people come to terms with the deaths of their dear ones lost to a sudden landslide, as houses, in which huge investments are done, vanish in the blink of an eye and businessmen ponder the loss of their valuable products, all swamped by water, more water and finally, too much water. Will Kerala recover? Only Time will tell.