Memorable Moments And Heroic DeedsThe heroic deeds of the unsung heroes during the calamities are infrequently recognized. Well, it is true that on the one hand they never expect any reward for themselves on the other, rest of the world does not have the time to pause and watch these sacrifices. S.I. has tried to catch some such incidents to understand these heroic deeds and to appreciate them. In reverence SI bows to them. Sewa Bharati Tamil Nadu volunteers Valavan and Shastri saved 78 persons from the jaws of death while they were engaged in relief work in Nagore, Nagapattinam District on Dec. 26, 2004 the day of Tsunami.
At Kilinjalmedu near Karaikkal (Pondichery Union Territory), Gnanasekaran, a well experienced volunteer made several trips into the turbulent sea and carried 2 persons every time back to shore. In this manner, he saved the lives of 25 persons. In the same place, Ganesh and Arulmurugan climbed on to a boat that was being tossed by the waves, rowed into the sea and brought ashore 6 people who were struggling for their life. At a place near Kalpakkam, where river Palaru meets the sea, the force of the current was the dangerous. Volunteers Ramesh and Mekkavan found two persons being snatched away by the receding rush of sea water; they managed to rescue both after a hard struggle. Thus, volunteers saved the lives of a total of 114 persons all along the Tamil Nadu coastline. Paramankeni (Kanchipuram District): Various organisations and individuals had dumped relief material in this costal village. The villagers found that blankets were sufficient for requirement. They decided to pass them on to other needy people. They carried the bundles of blankets and distributed them among the worse affected men and women residing there. At Neelangarai, a fishing village in South Chennai coast, Sewa Bharati team went round distributing food packets on the evening of the day when Tsunami struck. The residents of the place requested the team to serve food to the residents of the adjacent village where no relief had reached by that time. They told that they had taken food but their neighbours were hungry". In Aiyambakkam, a hamlet situated on the Cuddalore-Chidambaram route, volunteers distributed relief material. They also met families who had lost their near and dear and consoled them. But the villagers told that they were particularly sad because they were not in a position even to provide refreshments to them who had taken the trouble of coming to share their grief." Thirvottriyur (Northern Chennai): Tsunami afflicted people from many fishing hamlets in northern Chennai in need of relief materials were requested by the volunteers of Sewa Bharati to fall in line and be seated which they followed with pleasure. A piece of camphor and matchbox were distributed to each of them. All of them were requested by the volunteers to light the camphor and pray to the Almighty to bestow peace to their departed dear ones. The effect was simply inexplicable in words. A deep silence that prevailed for few minutes clearly made those present there feel and experience the current of profound emotions that was running in the hearts of each and every Tsunami affected person. Soon after, when volunteers asked the people whether some of them could come forward to join the relief and rehabilitation activities, they raised their hands as a sign of their readiness. Thereupon, 3 men and 3 women were selected as volunteers for every hamlet. Thus the beneficiaries were turned in to the benefactors- probably the best example of charity. Chinnanur (Salem District): Sewa Bharati volunteers residing in interior districts provided the most essential relief material collected from door to door. Volunteers of Chinnanur found an old woman who was dressed in rags approaching the cart loaded with relief material collected from the village. One young volunteer, who thought that she was asking for alms, told her to go away. But, to his astonishment, the old lady extended her arm holding a tiny cloth bag (surukku pai) containing some cash from her own precious savings. She was, in fact, offering all her savings for the sake of the suffering sons and daughters. Ambattur (Chennai): The management, staff faculty members and students of Saraswati Matriculation School decided to cancel the annual day celebrations and donate Rs. 30,000/- to the relief and rehabilitation work of Sewa Bharati Tamilnadu. The representative of the school who came to Sewa Bharati office at Chetpet, Chennai, to hand over the cheque, was so impressed by the sincere and systematic efforts of Sewa Bharati that he made, additionally, a personal contribution of Rs 10,000 on the spot. Avalurpet (Vellore District): Several coastal villages in Tamil Nadu hit by Tsunami left behind many children as orphans. Volunteers started finding out shelters to take care of these hapless kids. Raja Desingu School is one of them where few orphaned kids could stay for study. The volunteers learnt that the school was already home to a few orphans. But the newcomers were also received there with a warm welcome in the spirit Sewa by the school management. A district level functionary of the Congress Party in Northern Chennai found Sewa Bharati Volunteers successfully inspiring even the Tsunami hit people to shoulder the relief and rehabilitation work. That made him feel about hundreds of such volunteers who were volunteering at one of the 15 relief camps run by Sewa Bharati Tamil Nadu, for two days at their own expenses. He had gone to the camp, in fact, meeting his grandmother who had volunteered to join others in distributing clothes received from the public.
Tsunami Rehabilitation Initiative
By the efforts of Sewa Bharati Tamilnadu, seven eminent Hindu spiritual groups including the All India Movement for Sewa (AIM for Sewa) of Swami Dayananda Sarawati, the Ramakrisha Mutt, The Art of Living (AoL) team of Sri Sri Ravishankar, Yoga followers of Shri Jaggi Vasudev, devotees and volunteers of Mata Amritananadamayi Mission Trust, etc, came together, formed Tsunami Rehabilitation Initiative (TRI) and started working in unison.
