Mindscapes of a deluge

It was raining cats and dogs, while I was comfortably placed under the luxury that a Kerala villa house lavishes, sipping on green tea, sifting through the morning newspaper as a radio played in the background, which had PM Modi addressing the nation on the occasion of India’s 72nd Independence Day.

Unlike any other Independence Day that had flag hoisting ceremonies in various schools and kids waving miniature flags across streets, the situation in Kerala had been grim with incessant rains lashing across the state for almost a week. The heavy rains storms had forced the State Government to release water from the Idukki dam, with the first of the flood gate opening on August 9 after a gap of 26 years. On the following day all five gates too opened up, for the first time in its history.

The Idukki Dam is one of the highest arch reservoirs in Asia, constructed across the Periyar river, and is a headline-grabber known for its notoriety as an apocalypse creator in the making, in case the dam collapses. Most people in Kerala are familiar with a widely shared animation video of the doomsday scenario that is possible from any damage to the aging dam. The video highlights few districts in Kerala that could be completely submerged in a matter of hours, and this fear plays around with the minds of most Malayalis.

All day long the TV at my house had been running news of various flood relief activities taking place in few districts of Kerala, where people had been displaced after floodwater entered their houses. My house happens to be around 3 kms from the Periyar river, which is also the longest and largest river, flowing over 244 km across Kerala.

That afternoon, as the news flashed of evacuation activities taking place around my town, with Government officials helping evacuate people in the vicinity of 500 metres from the river, my thoughts fell for the safety that the 3 km distance from the river so provided. For once, the dream of a river-front living unveiled a hidden peril, as I heaved a sigh of relief at being sufficiently distanced from the river side.

River Periyar

The Periyar is not just a source of the State’s drinking water and hydel power, it also plays the role of a sacred river (Dakshina Ganges), the final destination of departed souls, an inspiration to many Malayali writers and poets who have lavished praise on its cultural confluence, identifying it with the cradle of Kerala civilization. The famous poet Vayalar Rama Varma took to Periyar as his muse for the musical description of a movie, and each time a Malayali hums those lyrics, “Periyaree, Periyaree, Parvatha Nirayude Panineere” (Periyar, the fragrant essence of the mountains), its a soulful treat to his ears.

Located on the banks of the Periyar river, around 20 kms from Ernakulam, is the town of Aluva where I reside, famous for the Shiva temple on the sand bank of the river, and the Aluva Palace that directly faces the temple on the opposite side. The sand bank is the festive venue of Shivaratri (Night of Shiva) for the Malayalis and hence called Aluva Shivaratri Manal Puram (land with sand).

This Shiva temple is unique in that the Shivalinga here is not enshrined within a temple structure and rises out of the sand bank. Legend has it that after Lord Parasurama, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, installed the Lingam and built a temple here, it got destroyed in a flood. Lord Shiva then asked for no temple structure to be built around the Lingam.

Every monsoon season bears witness to the Shivalinga getting submerged with the rising water level. For the people living around here, the intensity of the rains is gauged by the flooded look that Aluva Shivaratri Manalpuram wore, with the sinking temple region as a benchmark of the water level that Periyar had touched. With this monsoon lasting longer than usual, the temple region was nowhere to be seen as the river engulfed the bank and slowly overflowed into the neighboring town area.

By evening, few phone calls from friends and family alerting that the river had flooded much more than anticipated and had gained entry into the town region leaving many people stranded and awaiting rescue. With no communication from Government authorities on the situation of the area my family was residing, I assumed that the region might not be greatly affected owing to the distance from the river bank. The rains continued the heavy downpour with the storm still raging strong. There was a feeling of unrest all around.

The time was past midnight and as I looked out of my house, there were lights turned on from the houses across the neighborhood, as if expecting something to happen. It was still raining, but no sign of flood water. Another hour went by, and then the electricity went off, turning the whole place pitch dark. Showing the torch light through the window across the verandah, I noticed buckets that had been placed near the well outside were now drifting freely above a feet of water across the house.

The question of whether the place would be flooded was instantly answered. The only other doubt was how high the water level would reach. It was just a matter of time, before water seeped in, first from the sewage area of the bathrooms. Centipedes came crawling from the sewage, the stink was overbearing, with no other option and a bit of hesitancy, went through to place the foot over the filthy water. The plan was to wait until dawn to evacuate.

Most messages shared on social media and other news platforms urged people to evacuate immediately and not to solely depend on the rescue efforts. Those families living in double storey houses perched themselves onto the top floor, taking with them drinking water and food to last couple days. While I observed the floodwater increasing almost a foot every hour, I knew it would be a risk to stay any further and got set to walk through it.

The sunrise brought with it a sight I had seen only on media outlets. There was no road to be seen, just 3-4 feet of water everywhere. With the rain taking a short break from the downpour, an eerie sense of silence crept in. As the water level inside the house had reached knee deep, the level outside had reached waist high, just as my family took to the road wading through the water. Fortunately for us, we got out in the nick of time and were able to make it via road to a relative’s place which had not been affected.

Superheroes arise

Kerala floods witnessed a unique rescue operation that saw fishermen from villages volunteering and leading by example, in what might be discussed in future as a case study within disaster management. 

With the rising water levels and strong currents exerted by the flood waters, these fishermen took to deploying double-engine boats with skilled swimmers, setting up own control room and coordinating with the district administration, Disaster Management Team, Indian Coast Guard and police in the flood affected region.

This display of courage and enthusiasm from the fishermen community inspired the local youth to assist the sea-farers by guiding the rescue activities across terrains unfamiliar to them and answering SOS calls. The new-gen selfie crazed punks who are usually mocked by old-timers for their ‘freaken’ attitude and ‘weirdo’ hairstyles, too rose to the occasion and had got busy ferrying older people, woman and children in makeshift floating vessels. They never really cared about the acknowledgement or gratitude and got back into their laid-back ways sooner.

The migrant workers too sprung into action, showing solidarity and joining volunteer teams without any second thoughts. Why, even the routinely brash trade union workers, some with the shades of red that they so proudly wore in their minds, too found a progressive seed of change as they embraced their counterpart saffron, white and green factions in the resurgence of similar interests.

Good samaritans thus came together from all walks of life. Be it saving victims from the jaws of death, setting up relief camps, and reaching food and clothes to those who found themselves homeless in the impact of the floods. Kerala reinvented itself.

The aftermath and resurrection

According to Hindu mythology, Kerala was created by Lord Parasurama after he threw his axe across the sea to create a new land for his devotees to live peacefully. That’s probably why Kerala is popularly known as ‘God’s own country’. If one does not go by myth, then its logical to believe Kerala’s nickname to have originated from the beauty that is exudes naturally, along with a culture and tradition as old as divine providence itself.

Over the years as tourists thronged spots around Idukki, Wayanad, Kuttanad and other areas where nature is best experienced, hospitality industry thrived subsequently and grew at a scale disregarding ecological balance. The culmination of plastic wastes, land encroachment, frequent landslides, climate change are all a direct consequence.

Nature does have its way of getting even, as the floodwater ravaged through land encroached around rivers, with the rivers less forgiving capturing back lost grounds. Cheruthoni river, which had turned into a narrow canal with plastic debris, post flood expanded into a proper river, water turning transparent with a green tinge, washing away the plastic debris dumped into the river by the resorts around.

The floodwaters started receding as soon the Arabian Sea accepted the excess that the river had brought. However, backwaters still had trouble deviating the increased water level, as places like Kuttanad had houses continuing to be marooned in the middle of lake and paddy fields.

Nevertheless, the Kuttanadan community is so used to living around water, where a person owns a portion of paddy land with a small house in the middle of lake, without any geographical boundary, as interdependency is ingrained in their ways of life. Paradoxically, the lack of development like roads and connectivity kept them together even through nature’s fury.

With losses to means of livelihood, from the small mobile shop owners and lottery vendors whose establishments got washed away to the farmers whose fruits of toil were damaged to the larger business owners operating on a credit basis, the path to resurrection lies in the unity of helping hands combined with hope. 

There is a learning from every experience, as farmers found out what varieties of vegetation survived the water onslaught. For example, banana varieties like njalipoovan and palayankodan survived, while many others perished.

Staring past dilapidated houses, the struggle to resurrect livelihood and to continue treading a familiar path lost due to nature’s fury, a sense of calmness duly comes when the numbness of tragedy subsides. One has to be inspired with a renewed purpose and energy, to excel at any cost, empowering both the mind and the spirit.

Much before the well-to-do Kerala of today, there was also a time in the mid-1960s when Kerala was neck-deep in poverty, with around 72.8% of the people living below the poverty line. That’s when the political leaders of yesteryears successfully fought for land reforms and brought ownership to the tillers of the land. Soon after this period, in the late-1960s and early-1970s saw people migrating to the Gulf, after mobilizing funds by pledging lands in search of job-opportunities.

There was no looking back since then, and Kerala shed its impoverished image to transform itself into a society that had begun to develop a taste for finer things in life. Today, the Kerala society is replete with resource in the form of educated people working outside Kerala and bringing precious foreign remittance accounting for 35% of the economy. While this has also brought about a sense of economic disparity among people struggling to making ends meet.

Every cloud has a silver lining. Flood-battered Kerala came to realize the importance of a society that was fast losing its ethos to self-aggrandizement. When people irrespective of caste, creed, religion, political outlook come together for the common cause of helping each other overcome the loss of material possessions and livelihood, a leveller both at social and communal level will gain in prominence.

As Krishna explains in the Bhagawat Gita,

 “Whatever happened, happened for the good. Whatever is happening, is happening for the good. Whatever will happen, will also happen for the good.”

While wondering what good a deluge had done to me, I came across a note that I had earlier placed on the refrigerator. After the floodwater had receded and the fallen refrigerator was lifted, I found this mud-stained note ‘Declutter’ that had remained intact.

Being a fan of Ikea-like Scandinavian minimalism in home decor, I felt the housing infrastructure in Kerala does have a need to reassess its mindset, work towards a sustainable living with minimalistic approach and gleefully let go of possessions that block vital energy flowing within.

Another invaluable insight regarding the Truth also came into light:

“The Truth that one so earnestly seeks, is just a reminder that nothing in life is permanent.”