Tsunami tale

Year - 2004

Date-25/12

Day-Xmas

Venue-MGM Resorts, ECR, Chennai

It was an annual family ritual to pack off for the seaside resort on Xmas eve. That particular year we could no get a cottage on 4th, rather we got the booking on 25th. We set off with joyous abandon, my parents, son and my friend to the renowned MGM resort on the famed East Coast Road(ECR) in Chennai.

After a sumptuous Christmas buffet and the familiar carols we headed back to our rooms to settle into a lazy slumber. We looked forward to waking up late and have a leisure breakfast at the restaurant on the beach..

26/12/2004. 6.30 am

My friend shook me awake having felt some tremor. I remarked it could be some heavy vehicle passing by. At the second tremor she sounded slightly worried wondering if it would be an earthquake or if we would be struck by a tidal wave. I laughed off her fears stating that we would never ever experience a tidal wave in Chennai.. it would take place only in Japan. Thus we carried on back and forth lightly!!

After an hour or so we headed to the restaurant on the beach. My son was already there piling up his plate with yummy food. To our amazement we saw a huge wave, almost to the height of the coconut trees ( beachfront). Not realizing what was in store, we exclaimed at the miracle!.

Within seconds much to our shock we were in knee deep water. Fortunately my son had come running towards us just a few seconds before. It was horrifying to to be surrounded by the slimy, salty ocean waters.Splinters, furniture including TV sets, clothes, whatever the sea could carry was floating all around. The horror sank in. What if the sea kept coming... Cries rent the air. There were children playing in the swimming pool. With the help of the alert staff we helped the children to safety. Perplexed I turned to see my aged parents standing stunned in waist high water. Somehow in that chaos my family and friend stayed together. The resort staff managed to steer us to Hotel reception area which was on a higher level. Several parents and children had been separated and the hotel staffwere doing their best to help everyone. To our dismay we saw one more huge wave crash onto the resort. Still the magnitude of the situation escaped us.

Soon calls poured in from kith and kin asking if we were safe. We saw fisherfolk and multitudes of people on the roads. Still it never occurred that it was an actual Tsunami!

En route we saw the river Cooum gushing loudly and passers by awestruck at the sight. We knew something strange was happening.

Only when we switched on the television sets did we realize the narrow escape we had had! We had indeed been struck by the Tsunami!!!

We had nightmares for almost a week after. Slowly we trudged back to reality. We did lose a few of our belongings at the resort. But it was nothing compared to the disaster faced by so many people. We had been extremely fortunate. But it taught us a valuable lesson. It set us on fire.

My son and I often recollect this incident. We are sure we are on this earth for a sure purpose. We count our blessings a zillion times. We were born again and to this day we live life ,savouring every moment....

'Iron and gold become things of value only after the test of tribulation and fire'