The Hindu Business Line : A day of black flags and `hands of hope'

A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE: Fishermen in the Foreshore Estate, Chennai, put up black flags and decided not to go out fishing on the first anniversary of the tsunami as a mark of respect to those who died in the disaster. — Bijoy Ghosh

Chennai , Dec. 26

FISHERMEN sit in groups, work on their nets or just remain idle in the shadow of their boats, women sweep the area in front of their houses — these are the usual early morning sights at the Foreshore Estate fishing settlement in the city.

But no boats are at the sea. Black flags are fluttering from the fibreglass catamarans pulled up on the sand, on which a garland and some grains of rice lie to mark the tsunami that struck the coast a year ago.

The fishermen have decided to take the day off to mourn the thousands killed by the giant waves, which had been set off by an earthquake thousands of kilometres to the southeast.

R. Jalendran, a fisherman, recalls the disaster, and says that the fisher folk in every village along the coast have decided to take out a procession and light candles to pay their respects to the dead. M. Sivakumar sits mending a net near a catamaran with the words `hands of hope' painted on it in bright red. The killer waves, a result of an earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale that rocked the Sumatra islands at 6.29 a.m. (IST), wreaked havoc all along the coast, with Tamil Nadu bearing the brunt.

Within hours of the quake, the giant waves had travelled across the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal to swamp Tamil Nadu's coastline and claim over 8,000 lives. The unprecedented disaster bore a foreign name, `tsunami,' which, in the days to come, would become a household word. The State is still recovering from the aftermath of the disaster with thousands awaiting rehabilitation.

Last night, many women had gathered on the Marina beach to lament the dead on the eve of the first anniversary. Some prayed, made offerings to a local deity, hoping that such a disaster will never occur again.

Around the fishermen, who are sitting on the same spot that was a picture of devastation a year ago, are the marks of survival. Most of the boats are new, freshly painted with names of the donors prominently emblazoned on the side. The ropes and nets are still bright showing the original colour — not dull grey of long use. These are signs that life goes on.