Survival Story

"The surgery is scheduled for tomorrow, try to reach by 8".

" Yes doctor, I'll be there" She said as she hung up. The expected call had come through on Christmas Eve, as she sat with her family, revelling in the love and togetherness. They were never big on festivities, but the tragedy of the last festive season had them exposed to the unpredictability and fragility of life. Since then, they never missed an opportunity to get together, create memories and on the beckoning, leave without regrets.

Sipping her wine, she thought of the disaster struck Onam Kerala endured that year. The great deluge did not discriminate the rich and the poor, bleeding and pure, believer and atheist. It struck everyone full force, laid bare their ego and naivete and strengthened their unity. It was an Oxymoronic period, when Kerala lived by the Albert Camus quote " In the midst of winter, I found within me an Invincible summer".

It was then that she got to live the moment she would take to her grave -  the moment when she experienced God, not as a figure to fight over, but as the life in each of her breaths, as the hands that lifted her from the sinking depths of her home, as the hand that led her family to a safe haven, after forgoing their cherished heaven.......

She remembered that day quite well. It was the sixth day since the flooding, caused mostly by the divine tears shed from above, as if they would never stop. She had prayed for good rains in the past punishing summer and it now seemed that the Gods were answering her prayers individually, each of the famed thirty three billion taking individual credit on answering her prayers.

They huddled together in the attic to keep away the cold, cut off from the world, watching their world getting suffocated to death. It was the days of helplessness, misery and hope. There was no food nor water, nor space, nothing. Her family was with the neighbours, all suffering the same fate, all wishing for some turn of events that might mitigate their helplessness.

In the evening on the fifth day, she was startled to find a wetness by her feet. Looking around, she found a minor crack in the concrete that had let in the water. If the water reached the attic now, they realised that their days were numbered. Already, a few in their party had succumbed to fatigue and were waiting their imminent deaths. They spent a sleepless night, though no one spoke, their eyes and faces articulated their trauma that filtered through the calm poise.

Early in the morning, the group heard alert calls from a rescue party. Someone raised alarm and almost instantaneously, heard responses - the furious lapping of paddle against water,the men in the boats arranging eatables, water and oxygen masks.

Then, a face appeared through the missing tile of the roof, " Moley, ningal etra per und?", checking if they could indeed accomodate everyone on the same boat.

Then, a frenzy of activities; lowering of the rope, Martin, their saviour, alighting on to their attic,helping each other get into the boat, him reassuring her broken father -that all was not lost, there was still a hope for recovery,that they would survive, unlike the hundreds who perished with shattered dreams and aspirations, lost loved ones -
Atleast, they were together and Alive - Yes, they would make it through.....
He kept on talking about how he was affected by the Ockhi cyclone, how he lost a finger to infection, his son to the sea, but still he went on, compensating his willpower for his disabilities.

They were then taken to a nearby Relief Camp, where people who they never met were caring for them like their own. There she saw kinship and love bud, she saw once again how Kerala proved she was Hard Mettle. There, she learnt to rise above the petty differences that slowly evolved into the poison that ruined the delicate fabric of Society.
In the aftermath of the disaster, they moved back to their homes, now a relic of their past and a motivator to spur them on to the future. Slowly, they poised themselves on the road to recovery. Yes, their old life was still a long way, but it now seemed Doable, it appeared in their Dreams. Here too, they fared better than most others.
Life was regaining its old rhythm.........



It was then that she came across a message that informed her of Martin's present plight. His kidneys were failing and the family was looking for ways to fund a transplant. They had a donor ready, but the lack of money cast the evil eye on his life.

She was distressed that she couldn't be what he was to her - an unexpected ray of hope that dawned at the right time.
Then, her eyes fell on the Rs 5 lakh cheque
that she won at the Essay Competition organised by the Times of India on Resilience and Recovery. She thought of how her Essay was replete with the hope that she derived from Martin and decided that there was no better receipient for the cash than Him.

Then, it had all been methodical. With her parents' aid, she found no trouble locating Martin in Thiruvananthapuram, of announcing her willingness to sponsor the surgery. With the Hope she gave, Martin's family gave the go-ahead for the surgery.
It was to inform her of this surgery that the Doctor had called her then.

The next day, as she paced the Hospital corridors, talking to the stressed family, praying for the person to whom she owed her present life, she pondered the strange workings of Destiny..
How to term the improbable turn of events that caused her to be miles away from home, praying for a practical stranger was beyond her.
Then, the truth hit her full force - the only reality you pledge yourself to is Humanity, the rest are extensions.


The doctor came out then, informed them of the successful surgery and that one of them could visit once he was moved to the ICU and proceeded inside.
Life went on, unmindful of the impacts it left on people. Now, it is her duty to reconcile with the reality and make the best of what she has been dealt with.......