From mother to daughter: pain of an Indian family continues 15 years after tsunami

Record ID: 1448955

  • Title: From mother to daughter: pain of an Indian family continues 15 years after tsunami
  • Date: 17th December 2019
  • Summary: SERUTHUR VILLAGE, NAGAPATTINAM, TAMIL NADU, INDIA (RECENT - DECEMBER 2019) (REUTERS) SILHOUETTE OF A FISHERMAN LOOKING AT THE SEA SEA WAVES SHORE WHERE TSUNAMI DESTROYED SARANYA AND HER FAMILY'S HOUSE CHILDREN GOING TO SCHOOL AND WOMEN SITTING ON ROADSIDE MAN RIDING A BULLOCK-CART LOADED WITH SAND SCHOOL CHILDREN WALKING MOHAN'S LEGS WALKING SARANYA AND BROTHER MOHAN ENTERING HOUSE SARANYA PRAYING
  • Embargoed: 31st December 2019 09:32
  • Keywords: 2004 Disaster India Nagapattinam Seruthur Tamil Nadu Tsunami earthquake sea
  • Location: SERUTHUR, NAGAPATTINAM, TAMIL NADU, INDIA
  • City: SERUTHUR, NAGAPATTINAM, TAMIL NADU, INDIA
  • Country: India
  • Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Earthquakes/Volcanoes/Tsunami,Editors' Choice
  • Reuters ID: LVA002BAI3NLZ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The deadly tsunami waves that killed some 230,000 and left a trail of death and destruction on the coastal belt of several countries including India, continue to haunt the survivors 15 years after the tragedy.
    In southern India, Nagapattinam town alone accounted for nearly 6,000 deaths, mostly families of fishermen living just metres away from the sea shore.
    One of the survivors was Saranya, a 9-year-old girl, the only sibling out of five to survived together with her mother Lakshmi and fisherman father Kolandavelu in Seruthur village of Nagapattinam.
    After the initial bouts of shock and depression, her mother Lakshmi started slowly rebuilding their lives - with some monetary help from the government and new found joy with the birth of daughter Reena and son Mohan.
    But the pain of the loss and the sudden wealth accrued from government compensation for their dead children turned her husband Kolandavelu into an alcoholic and the birth of a son with physical disabilities also weighed on the family financially.
    While Kolandavelu blew the money on alcohol to drown his sorrows, Lakshmi kept palming off her jewellery and valuables to keep the family running, including expensive physiotherapy and treatment for her handicapped son.
    But her death two years ago brought the responsibility of running the house and taking care of her teenaged sister and brother on the frail shoulders of Saranya.
    Now 24, married and pregnant, Saranya continues to live through the pain of the trauma and the suffering, shuffling between two homes - her husband's and her parental house to take care of her siblings and provide food for them.
    Reuters has been following up on her and her family's life over the past 15 years.
    Saranya says her father's inability to come to terms with the family's loss and reckless drinking with the compensation money has cost them dearly.
    "I lost my mother two years ago and ever since life has become really difficult," Saranya said at her parent's barren house, adding what keeps her worried all the time is the fate of her two siblings -- the marriage prospects of her sister and what will her disabled brother's future hold.
    Losing his children, particularly his two sons, hit Kolandavelu hard and sent him spiralling into depression. After the tsunami he claimed to have suffered from symptoms of a mysterious illness that he thought was caused by the waves. He used to regularly complain of issues like injuries to his hands and legs, as he continued to drink heavily.
    But Kolandavelu's problem is not unique, said psychologists, as many survivors struggling to cope with the trauma and losses saw their psychological problems manifesting in physical symptoms.
    Now he has resumed going to the sea for fishing, but rarely contributes to running the house. He was away at sea when Reuters last visited the family home, leaving the two youngest Reena and Mohan to their own devices in an empty house.
    (Production: Bhushan Kumar, Sunil Kataria)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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