The Monsoons are Coming

zeh`r

as if you have not repeated this enough ......I still have no idea where the government fits into this country or any equation having to do with the country...

why?

in the north it could be the result of tamil factor...what is holding it up in the south? general malaise? corruption? lethargy? or real incompetence?

three cigarettes and a beer can only take one so far...what happens then?

lve

t

Ahem, er, recently a whole bunch of your countrymen were washed away and wiped out by torrential rain in the southwest and a dam breach to boot.Why wouldn`t you be lending a hand to them there folks in your own neck of the woods?.Going by the images on the indian news channels,BBC et alia the people of your country`s southwest looked rather bedraggled and forlorn, clinging to their few possessions, and perching on any high ground they could find desperately seeking help from some quarter.Reading the interacts on chowk, one would come to the conclusion that pakistan is a highly developed nation, with roads like , ahem, Singapore, as another article on this site would have us believe, and other impressive infrastructure.Are the images form your nation`s southwest an aberration of some sort.These people looked desperate and needed help.Doesn`t charity begin at home??.

Great article, Zehra. Keeps the tsunami in our minds. Too often after a big hue and cry, we forget events such as these. Keep them coming.

Its good to read your ``Kaavish`` in helping out the amplifications of ``Silent Tsunami``.

How about looking at this whole picture from a slightly different perspective!

[…-mostly relief workers and those that mix with them. They flock here on Saturday nights for the fried calamari, cheap local liquor, volleyball net, drugs and the sorts of activities the above will lead to.]
Are you sure you guys are setting a good example?

[They were escaping a tsunami they were convinced was coming.]
Maybe, just maybe, EDUCATING the “natives” would be a better start than web-site based matching.

[Our tuk tuk driver told us the story and used this as yet another story to point out how fucked up the government was. Most locals, the ones I have been able to communicate with, feel that way.]
[The government, I can’t say this enough times, is not doing anything.]
Blame the government, of course. And where does the government come from, if not from the people?

[B~tch sessions consist of relief workers sitting around, exchanging one frustration after another. The average time is that of three cigarettes and one Lion Beer per frustration. The way they figure is that it is better than really banging your head repeatedly on some tsunami ravaged rubble. You’ll still wake up with a headache—scars invisible.]
This one really breaks the heart, especially yours!

[Locals will watch and then move in during the week as the shelters come along]
Have you guys tried ASKING the locals to work with you? As in, “teach a person how to fish”?

I had initially felt very positive about your going there with such an open heart! However, I am a little disheartened by all the ranting and raving coming lately, or is all of that just to set up a proper “exit ramp”. Sri Lanka is what it always was! Obviously, the one that you had envisaged is not the one you have encountered - you only had a collision with REALITY. Who promised to you that it WON`T be frustrating? You will leave in a short time, what about the poor souls who have to face that reality forever?!!!

Are you sure you are where you want to be? Wait, don’t answer me, only answer yourself! Are you sure you are even ready for the answer?

If the answer is yes, then it would have been worth it, no matter what else!

Sincerely,
BeeJay

beejay..

never said it wasnt worth it..
i am using thse `diaries` to be a space in which to lay bare all the dirty bad feelings that i have inside me...i do have them. i am human. i knew that in my coming out here, part of it was for selfish reasons. I wanted to feel like I had done something. pure selfishness.
i wish i could really translate the feeling of helplessness sometimes that coems over everyone. i didn`t mean this piece to be a glowing, happy one about fulfilment and all the good happy stories. there is that, there is also this. the stuff people don;t want to talk about.

funny that you use the fishing analogy. i was in the east with a bbc reporter for the alst three days...she was doing a story of the fishermen. they havent worked in three months. when asked if they missed work, they said yes...when asked why they couldn`t do somethign else they looked at her like she was crazy...we are fisherman..we have no other skills they said.

i was part of a celebration today of the forty shelters that are ready today that i helped build...with the people. it was beautiful and gorgeous with plenty of tears from everyone. i haven`t written about this project since it`s not something i struggle with. i write to exorcise my demons and to get all the dirt out of myself. there is plenty of it.

thanks for reading and for your comments.

z.rizvi.

I can`t believe the ineptitude of the Sri Lankans.

On Wednesday (March 30, 2005), they were handing out MORE relief supplies to fishermen in Velankanni, near Nagapattinam. We are talking about large plastic bins the size of trash containers, bags of rice and dhal, mats, blankets, stoves, etc. How many mats and stoves does a displaced person/family need anyway? The excess get back into the stores, sold at rock-bottom prices by the fishermen to pay for whatever else they want, meaning liquor, which unfortunately is not on the lists of the relief organizations.

The government of Pondicherry has cancelled all loans owned by fishermen to government-owned banks.

Boats are being readied and donated up and down the coast by charitable organizations. You see brand-new boats being readied in ``boat-yards`` along the coast.

And people complain that India refused foreign aid!

What we need last and least is all this computer stuff you are talking about.

By the way, I checked out the hotel prices in Sri Lanka from that volunteersrilanka website. Even taking into account the value of the Sri Lankan rupee, the prices are at least 35% higher than in India.

Tell the Sri Lankans to move to India!

harimau,
don`t even make me jealous of how under control india is!!! its insane here...will be writing something about my three day trip out east..hopefully today since i have time to breath today :)

will india welcome the Sl`s with open arms?
:)

z.rizvi.

harimau,
don`t even make me jealous of how under control india is!!! its insane here...will be writing something about my three day trip out east..hopefully today since i have time to breath today :)

will india welcome the Sl`s with open arms?
:)

z.rizvi.

Ref Zehra #10

I think the real reason India has done well is that the administrative structure is still pretty strong. I was told that the District Collector has a discretionary fund of Rs. 1 million that he could spend in an emergency without getting prior clearance from the political authorities (that would be the Chief Minister and the Home Minister of the State) and without going through the usual bidding process. Thus when Nagapattinam got wiped out, the District Collector could hire cranes, trucks, bulldozers, etc., and start work on the clean-up. But they also led from the front. The man on the spot in Nagapattinam was out there hauling bodies from the beach to set an example to his police force. And the army was brought in within three days to help in the recovery efforts.

The problem in India is that the fishermen are being told by the opposition parties to demand complete restitution. The State government plays along because they are not part of the coalition at the Center. Political battles are fought daily through press releases, with the State blaming the Center and pointing the fingers at the Finance Minister and the Prime Minister.

However, compensation in the amount of Rs. 100,000 per life lost has been delivered to the bereaved. This has been matched by the Central government. Orphaned children have been placed in government-run orphanages and adoptions are strongly discouraged for two reasons: pedophiles and the huge sum of money these orphans get when they reach the age of 18. Boys have Rs. 400,000 and girls Rs. 500,000 deposited into bank accounts today; it is not outlandish to think that the money would double or even triple in time.

The NGOs are all over the place, each trying to prove they can do better than the others. That is why 3 months after the tsunami, you find relief supplies still being handed out. We are not talking about stinking rice stored in warehouses for years. We are talking ``Ponni`` brand of rice selling for Rs. 18 a kilo in stores and these guys get 30 or 60 kilo bags per family whenever there is distribution of relief supplies. World Vision distributed electric fans for free in one temporary camp! Oh yes, the temporary camps have free electricity! Tata Relief Committee installed a reverse-osmosis desalination plant at the temporary camp for Keechankuppam in Nagapattinam and the water they produce meets WHO standards, which is better than what the residents of Nagapattinam itself get! Tata is winning bragging rights!

India has sent $35 million to Sri Lanka. I think what Sri Lanka needs is the political will to do something. It seems the Canadian Prime Minister has told Chandrika Kumaratunge that all Canadian aid will flow from the Canadian High Commission and not through the Sri Lankan government. This because the Sri Lankan Tamils in Toronto exerted pressure on the Canadian Prime Minister.

I think the difference is also that there are vastly more resources within India than inside Sri Lanka. Within days, you had people from all over India swarming over coastal Tamil Nadu: we had Sikhs, Bengalis, Gujaratis, Maharashtrians, Kannadigas, etc., camping out among the affected people to provide help. Money as well as food was delivered almost immediately. Five weeks after the tsunami, I couldn`t get a hotel room in Nagapattinam because of the number of volunteers. Rooms within a 50 kilometer radius were all taken.

I don`t know what is happening in the Andamans. I think the situation there may be vastly different just because they are a chain of islands distant from the mainland.

When the Collector of Nagapattinam District visited Sri Lanka (this would be 10 weeks after the tsunami), one local newsmagazine reported that Sri Lanka was still clearing bodies from its Eastern seashore. I don`t know if that is true or not but if true, that is pathetic.

As to welcoming Sri Lankans into India, I think the Sri Lankans have shot themselves in the foot. Even now their Navy is shooting at Indian fishermen from Rameswaram claiming they are fishing in Sri Lankan waters.