Chennai as we all know is cut off from the world due to rains caused by a low pressure belt over the Bay of Bengal. During Diwali also it had rained there a lot. My mom and her friend wanted to visit Chennai, their bookings were done, but we had to cancel due to the situation there.
But again after a gap of around one week, it rained there and disrupted everything. Continuous showers led to water logging and people were stranded in their offices and homes with no electricity, food, water. Excess water was released from the rivers into city parts and that worsened the situation. Air force and the Navy were deployed to help the people and they did a great job as always.
As fellow Indians, we all rushed to help Chennai. People formed groups on Facebook and whtsapp and co-ordinated with each other to send help in form of medicines, food items, clothes, blankets and what not. People took their own cars loaded with this stuff to help unknown people and this shows our true spirit. No matter how much we fight in name of religion, caste, status, we always come together to help each other in crisis.
We ladies in my society have a group on whtsapp and we decided to do our bit in sending stuff to Chennai. One lady took the responsibility of gathering things from the residents and I took the responsibility to help it reach to a common point from where it will go ahead to Chennai. My car was fully loaded with the stuff and people contributed generously in form of clothes, medicines, blankets, food items, water, milk etc. Yesterday evening we handed over the stuff to a lady in our premises, who arranged for a tempo to take stuff from the whole campus in which my society is located. And that tempo further was unloaded into a truck and that truck left for Chennai in the morning. What wonderful human chain this was! I have never seen or met that lady who arranged this stuff. I have not even met many of the ladies in my society who contributed, but we all had a common aim, a noble thought that our stuff should reach the people in need.
We have no visibility on what happened to the help we sent to Chennai. I am hopeful that it will reach people and will be of some help to them in this moment of need. I read somewhere on Facebook that people had ATM cards, but couldn't go to withdraw money. They had smart phones, but no electricity to charge it. They had cars, but no petrol to run it. Human help (which no ATM or smart phone can replace) came in all sizes and packets and from unknown places and people and this is what counts and will help us sustain as a human race, I think.
We as a country seriously need to think about the planning and haphazard development that is happening in cities. Today it was Chennai, tomorrow it can be anywhere else in India. In the name of urbanization, we create lot more problems for ourselves and then the Mother Nature retaliates in form of floods and earthquakes and global warming. Let's all commit ourselves to do our bit in making this earth a better and beautiful place for our next generations.
But again after a gap of around one week, it rained there and disrupted everything. Continuous showers led to water logging and people were stranded in their offices and homes with no electricity, food, water. Excess water was released from the rivers into city parts and that worsened the situation. Air force and the Navy were deployed to help the people and they did a great job as always.
As fellow Indians, we all rushed to help Chennai. People formed groups on Facebook and whtsapp and co-ordinated with each other to send help in form of medicines, food items, clothes, blankets and what not. People took their own cars loaded with this stuff to help unknown people and this shows our true spirit. No matter how much we fight in name of religion, caste, status, we always come together to help each other in crisis.
We ladies in my society have a group on whtsapp and we decided to do our bit in sending stuff to Chennai. One lady took the responsibility of gathering things from the residents and I took the responsibility to help it reach to a common point from where it will go ahead to Chennai. My car was fully loaded with the stuff and people contributed generously in form of clothes, medicines, blankets, food items, water, milk etc. Yesterday evening we handed over the stuff to a lady in our premises, who arranged for a tempo to take stuff from the whole campus in which my society is located. And that tempo further was unloaded into a truck and that truck left for Chennai in the morning. What wonderful human chain this was! I have never seen or met that lady who arranged this stuff. I have not even met many of the ladies in my society who contributed, but we all had a common aim, a noble thought that our stuff should reach the people in need.
We have no visibility on what happened to the help we sent to Chennai. I am hopeful that it will reach people and will be of some help to them in this moment of need. I read somewhere on Facebook that people had ATM cards, but couldn't go to withdraw money. They had smart phones, but no electricity to charge it. They had cars, but no petrol to run it. Human help (which no ATM or smart phone can replace) came in all sizes and packets and from unknown places and people and this is what counts and will help us sustain as a human race, I think.
We as a country seriously need to think about the planning and haphazard development that is happening in cities. Today it was Chennai, tomorrow it can be anywhere else in India. In the name of urbanization, we create lot more problems for ourselves and then the Mother Nature retaliates in form of floods and earthquakes and global warming. Let's all commit ourselves to do our bit in making this earth a better and beautiful place for our next generations.
Kudos to you and other ladies of your society to do your bit of service. I am hopeful that the help will reach the needy.
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