Heroes of Chennai: They are the change they wish to see

Chennai

The floods in Chennai brought to us a strange realisation— no matter how advanced technology could be, nothing can combat the fury of nature. But there is something stronger than even nature’s fury, that is hope, kindness and love. I woke up to a call on November 17 from my friend, who told me that an orphanage home in Velachery was flooded due to the rains and the children had to be relocated.

There were so many hurdles that had to be overcome. Most of the roads were flooded or closed, food and clothing for the children had to be arranged and delivered to them. We had to instantly coordinate arrangements on whatsapp and Facebook groups and arrange volunteers from individual localities to collect the food from the  donors and transport and deliver the same. I remember walking along with my friend Malcolm barefoot in waist-deep water, dragging my bike in Pallikaranai, where another orphanage we were taking care of was situated. From then till now, my volunteers  and I from Give Smiles NGO have managed to carry out rescue operations in various parts of Chennai. Even in the absence of mobile signal, power or Internet, we managed to attend to the need of the victims.

The situation could be brought under control not by blaming the government, but by taking the responsibility on ourselves. These are the times when we don’t wait for the change to happen, but we become the change ourselves. Although we are obliged to thank many individuals, volunteers, donors, officials, public workers etc, we firmly believe that it is the duty of every Indian, every Chennaiite to stand up for his country and for his city. No matter the extent of calamity and the magnitude of the devastation, we must stand by the city and rebuild it into a stronger version of itself.

We are now actively involved in rehabilitating more than 500 children spread across various orphanage homes and government schools and simultaneously continuing to provide them education. We strongly believe that education lays the foundation for building a stronger city and thereby a stronger nation.

If you have an experience to share, as an on-field volunteer during Chennai floods, write to us at contact us. dtnext@dt.co.in with a picture. We will feature your story.