SAST Wingees

India Trip Report

I was in India during the month of December 2004, and yes I did feel the tremor at 6:30 am when my bed shook for about 45 seconds, which was more than any quake that I have felt in No.Cal. I saw people rushing away from the shores (santhome) while I was visiting a doctor near my home in R.A Puram. There was utter panic that morning. Adding to the chaos was the Central govt. predicting tsunamis the next day, and there was even some prediction of earthquakes :). Even educated folks fell for the earthquake trap, and I heard that people actually stayed out of their offices and homes for more than 2 hours the second day. Tragically, first day, a lady picked up her kids and drove towards the Marina (open space) to be safe from the earthquake only to face the tsunami. I was terribly unimpressed with the news coverage, particuarly Jaya and SUN TV politicizing the whole issue. Of course, Center and State govts. were involved in the blame game about lack of coordination etc. On the whole coverage by NDTV was pretty decent, though they also cribbed a lot about lack of coordination with respect to distribution of relief funds and items. What amazed me was the readiness of organizations such as Banyan etc. who jumped into the fray immediately to help the needy. Of course, a whole bunch of volunteers jumped into to help them. For example, my cousin drove the whole night to cuddalore (on behalf of banyan) to distribute medicines. It is organizations such as this that will really be able to help the needy without any bias. I believe that both the center and state govt. should butt out of the whole scene atleast in T.Nadu and Pondicherry) and let such organizations handle the relief measures. Indian Red cross could be the central agency to coordianate the efforts. A&N is a more difficualt proposition considering the number of people affected, and the area impacted. Looks like the army is doing a decent job in A&N. Otherwise, had a pleasant trip with a few temple visits (Trichy, Kollur, coimbatore etc.). I will try and send a separate report on my Kollur trip if anyone is interested .. particularly the wonderful job being done by temples such as Dharmasthala, Udupi etc. in feeding the devotees. I had dinner at Dharmasthala and lunch at the Udupi temples. I was very impressed with how they maintained a very clean kitchen and serving area, and still was able to serve thousands of devotee’s everyday. Fell sick the last week (dengue fever) and had to postopone the departure. Feeling homesick right now and really miss all the pampering 🙂