Wayanad: wails and valour

The saviours; and the saved

‘Wayanad’. A sparkling gem of pristine beauty. The green oasis that munificent Mother Nature has

 bestowed on the lap of beautiful Kerala. And, overnight, “Wah Wayanad” has turned into “Oh

 Wayanad”. What was once a metaphor for nature’s wonder and beauty now shudders with shrieks and

 screams of suffering people and sighs and wails of orphaned children giving us goose

 pimples of unspeakable sadness over the havoc. Why then we wouldn’t shed tears of shock and horror

 at the tragic devastation visited upon it this monsoon? A man-made disaster it is, as a renowned

 ecologist Madhav Gadgil has said; aggravated of course by heavy incessant rains. See what the dirty,

 greedy, insane human hand with his axe and spade, chisel and hammer, machines and mechanics has

 wreaked upon this jewel in Kerala’s crown.

Prajeesh: who turned 'god'

Bhavana: the 'super mom'

 

Looking at the whole spectacle, why just you and me, even gods must have sighed and wept. Wept over several happy homes and villages bustling and brimming with life turned overnight into an ugly, desolate theatre of death and destruction. Wept when looking at the dazed and stunned, dishevelled and devastated women and men who have lost their homes, hearths and their loved ones. How tell-tale, evocative and heart-rending is the picture of those horror-struck tribal boys rescued from a cave – stunned and dazed – clinging to their ‘saviours’ in a tight hug lest the ugly claws of death should wrench them away again!

But then lest we sink into the infernal depths of hopelessness and gloom, losing all hope for humankind, Wayanad has stories of valour, sacrifice, service and kindness, empathy and courage too to reaffirm our faith and hope in the triumph of the human spirit. Sparkling, glittering stories of heroes and superheroes, among the ordinary sons and daughters of Kerala who rose above self and turned into very angels to shame ‘death’ and even take it head-on.

Who will not salute that ‘devi’ in human form, Bahavana (and her admirable husband Sajin), who travelled 350 kms? Why? To breast-feed the orphaned children of Wayanad at the cost of her/their own 4-month-old child. With awe and wonder I have gazed too at the brave, smiling young man Prajeesh who turned 'god'. Who dared and defied death and held it at bay.  Who ignored his friends’ desperate pleas. Who undertook perilous sorties in the dead of night in pouring rain and under thundering skies to the hill to retrieve marooned fellow humans – men, women and children – desperate for help and succour, and ferried them to safety in his vehicle. Not once. Not twice. The third time too when ferocious demons of death had run amuck to the extreme. When his friends again begged and cried, “Please don’t,” he said, “No. Dil maange more”. But alas! Neither this braveheart, nor those who he had tried to rescue from the paws of death came back alive. All were devoured by a mountain of sliding debris, fallen trees and ‘truck-sized’ boulders rolling down with gaining speed. Death had the last laugh. But he and his valour, his outstanding courage, his humanity, his divinity will never die. The thoughts of supreme sacrifice of this young Malayali lad will never cease to give us goose pimples of hope yet for humankind. In fact this is just one ‘Prajeesh’ (and another brave soul 'Sarath' whose name too made headlines) the media tells us about. Surely, there must be several other unsung heroes like them both who too staked their lives to save those of others; and also that Mother Teresa of a woman whose motherly bosom gave the orphaned children the nectar of life.

Rightly it is said: “Farishte se behtar hai insaan banana magar usme lagti hai keemat jyada.”

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PS. Almost chapter and verse, the same heart-rending dirge of death has played itself out in my own home state: Rampur in Shimla, Kullu, Kinnaur, Mandi, Lahaul & Spiti, and many other parts.

Is the doomsday nearer than we think?

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