Suspended Like Scales: Alumna Aids Tsunami Relief Effort

By: Sindya Narayanaswamy

Sindya Narayanaswamy (CS’02), currently in India participating in a yearlong public service program called Indicorps, was part of a team that spent four days (Jan. 9 - Jan. 12, 2005) in the tsunami ravaged coastal region of Tamil Nadu interacting with villagers, particularly women and children. Arriving in Tamil Nadu less than a month after the tsunami, she and her team witnessed the aftermath of the destruction as well as the extraordinary compassion from people around the world.

As a result of the initial assessment trip, Dream a Dream has committed to a six-month “play therapy” initiative with the children of Pattinacherry. Narayanaswamy has since returned to the affected areas to do additional work. Before traveling to India, Narayanaswamy was a patent examiner for the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office in Arlington, Va.

The following is a personal account of her journey. Her story first appeared in Khabar Magazine (www.khabar.com).

Mission

We left Bangalore around 6 a.m. on the 9th and reached Pondicherry at about 1:30 that afternoon. Pondicherry itself was left untouched by the tsunami (which rose 24 feet above normal tide), because of its 270-year-old rock barrier that served as protection from the waves.

For a moment, it was easy for me to forget the nature of my visit – but the splashing of the waves against the rocks behind me served as a quick reminder.

Upon arriving in Pondicherry, we were directed by AID-India to a nearby town called Killai that had several relief shelters for affected fishing villages including M.G.R. Thittu and Muzhukkuthurai.

Killai

Killai was 45 kilometers from Pondicherry, but due to the unpaved and extremely bumpy dirt roads, it took us over two hours to reach. In Killai, we visited RSS Kalyana Mandap – a wedding hall turned relief shelter for M.G.R. Thittu. In disorganized fashion, people were all around the hall and the stage. Many of the children were wandering about, but most of the adults were either lying down or sitting. Many had lost, vacant, tired looks in their eyes. The mandap was approximately half the size of a typical high school auditorium – and temporary home to approximately 700 people.

We chatted with some young boys. I asked them how they were spending their days. They told me that some of the volunteers were playing cricket and kabbadi (a traditional Indian game that involves ‘tagging’ people while saying ‘kabbadi’) with them. One volunteer told us they were organizing a kabbadi tournament for the children.

After about an hour we headed back to Pondicherry. The next morning, our jeep, one person heavier, (we bumped into an American AID-India volunteer by the name of Brad from New Mexico and offered him a ride) made its way back to RSS Kalyana Mandap. At RSS, a 14-year-old boy named Ramesh was assigned to us to show us around his fishing village, Muzhukkuthurai. Ramesh, though young, and affected himself, had a strong desire to help out.

Muzhukkuthurai was virtually abandoned; most of the villagers were in the relief center in Killai. A few villagers were wandering around the village, sitting in what remained of their homes and attempting to clean or cook a meal. Some talked to us, but many seemed tired and disinterested. Some had eyes that emitted mockery, as if to ask, “Who are you, to come and stare at us? Do you think you can do anything by wandering about like this?”

(Continued …)

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