Page 24 - Sealink June 2020
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was as if hell had scored the using the hashtag #HelpBengal where they did sh farming. It water from the nearly Bay of Bengal.
winning goal. Not only were and #Amphan. Quite surprisingly,
was the main livelihood of the Somehow. both these stories struck a
people's homes gutted, they had none of the national news media
family. Whatever happened, the chord. Somewhere, there was a
nowhere to go – there was no food were talking about the carcass of family never ever ran out of food distant link. The gold sh in the bowl
and shelter for them. Hundreds of Bengal – the whole world was too
because the pond had hundreds had died of overeating, and the
people became homeless in a single busy discussing the effects of
of sh of different types. The hundreds of dead sh in the pond
night of nature's fury. They had COVID. Nothing at all seemed to be pond was more precious to them took away with it the food of a family.
named the cyclone AMPHAN. as important. Not even non COVID
that anything else they had. Life is lled with dichotomy; yet. it is
deaths.
They didn't have much. But they entwined in its web of similarity - in
In this scenario, I decided to call my had the pond. She recounted her its unique stories.
domestic help (her name was After two days I received a call
ordeal on the night of the storm.
Pushpa) and ask about her from Pushpa. She was weeping
The family had to escape from
wellbeing. She had been working uncontrollably over the phone. At the house as it was breaking and
with us in Mumbai for many years rst, I though her family had not took refuge in the shelter of the
and had recently retired to her survived #Amphan. After a while
high school. The rst thing that
native place in the Sundarbans. I w h e n s h e r e g a i n e d h e r Pushpa had done the morning
was concerned of her family's composure, she told me that her after was to rush to the pond.
safety. It was difficult to get family was safe. Their house was
The water in the pond was not
through to her whole day as phone own away by the storm and they
visible. The surface was covered
lines were down and the whole of were staying at a high school. with oating sh.
Bengal was out of mobile coverage Hundreds of people, all putting up
due to damaged mobile towers. in whatever places were left intact
I closed my eyes. On one hand
After trying for a while, I gave up or partially intact. They were there was this single gold sh
and hoped that I could get some grieving for the loss of their
oating in my bowl. And on the
news shortly. I became busy in livelihood. Everyone had their
other I imagined the pond.
Mumbai and the next two days were own story to tell. I offered her Quintals and quintals of dead
spent in doing whatever we could to money. She said she needed
sh, oating on the surface of
help people in need in Bengal and supplies not money. And then she
the water which had got
getting the message of their plight told me what was bothering her contaminated with the salt
to the rest of the country. We were the most. The family had a pond
