Death and devastation have drove Kerala into deep dungeons of despair. Hundreds have lost lives, thousands have lost homes, hopes and everything they held dear. The pleas for help still echo in the air.
But all isn't lost yet. The kind-hearted men and women across the state, and everywhere else, have gone out of their way to provide hope and help to those in distress. Those in relatively safer locations have offered shelter to those who were less lucky. Donations in kind and cash continue to pour in. Young and old alike have volunteered for rescue and relief operations.
Calamity may not always attract kindness, or so it seems. While the state has been battling floods and landslides on one side, it was also forced to fight the callous few who spewed venom, a less than sympathetic 'national media' and the hostile lot who fabricated news.
There were the innocuous many who, with all good intentions, passed on the forwards they received on their WhatsApp groups and saw on Facebook walls—the pleas of people who needed rescue (but may already have been rescued) and of those willing to offer food and other materials (these may have already been collected). While these may have caused some confusion, there were the noxious few who spread messages that caused immense panic. Some of these rumours included false reports of cracks on Mullaperiyar dam, reports of scarcity of fuel and imminent statewide power outage. These 'news' forwards did their part to further panic.
Much more grievous were the hate messages spread around. While some chest-thumping, puny-brained Sanghitards (pardon my expression, you morons, but you earned it) asked people in Kerala to be grateful for the help "India" is offering and asked "mallus" to realise that Kerala needs to turn to "Indian Union" when tragedy befalls, others pinned the blame on the food habits of Keralites. Your love for beef caused it, they said.
There was a gentleman who borrowed from Proverbs 16:18 and blamed the pride of a band of people who “forgot their blessing” and invited the wrath of nature. “It rained and rained...till they fell to their knees and remembered that they were once blessed; and the sea said, it's time to learn to walk in the rain again,” he so painstakingly penned, when his fellow-humans were trying to be of some help. Bravo, my friend, and thanks for reminding us of our many flaws when we really didn't need it. I salute your sense of probity.
And then there were those who refused to see beyond religions. While one man asked people to donate to organisations helping only Hindus, there were others who credited the deluge to Lord Ayyappa who was upset that the government and the liberal lot in the state were fighting for the rights of women to enter Sabarimala temple. Will there come a day when better sense prevail over your sordid souls? I am less than hopeful.
My friends and fellowmen in newsrooms across the 'national media', you deigned to swoop down on the state only after the customary but belated cameo from the prime minister. There were tributes to a deceased leader (he deserves it, I agree) and other trivial things and panel discussions on possibly everything under the north Indian sun. The same newsrooms that dotted on every move of the rescue teams that were trying to save a coach and 12 kids of a football team who were trapped in a Thai cave and had hordes of panellists chundering their expertise, had little time and resources to report the pleas of those trapped in their own homes and marooned in their own hometowns. Was the bravado of the fearless folks who waded into the adverse waters to rescue their friends, neighbours and strangers not worthy of a good 'bite' in your prime time?
Or maybe you find only our 'winks' amusing enough and not our worries.
And those few who realised that the state is staring at a devastation of gigantic proportions, decided to react with 'highly creative' cartoons and 'inventive' headlines (no, we are not the drowned country of any god). Was a bit of empathy too much to ask for?
We are a resilient lot. Despite all the hate, neglect and fabrications, we shall arise. For, this too shall pass.