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| Dt 5/5/2019, Bhubaneshwar, Photo Courtesy: The Indian Express |
The year was 1999 and I remember a cyclone
was about to hit Odisha. I was only a child, but I have vivid memories of the
panic my state had gone through back then. Being from Nabarangpur that is very
far from coastal Odisha nothing much I could feel, but I strongly remember the
aftermath. I was creating a habit to read newspapers regularly and I strongly
believe that was never the right time to do so. Seeing news was not less than
any horror movie. Flashes I remember still crackles my spine with chills. I understood
the depth of the wrath and I saw people in my small-town going bananas over the
disaster. I remember jeeps with loudspeakers asking for donations and the long
queue of families to donate whatever they could. I saw people who needed
donation were the one most eager to donate from the crowd. People donated
blankets, shawls, mufflers, sweaters, and carpets. They also had a big donation
box where people would put whatever they had in their pockets. In nearby
temples rigorous Havans/Yagya happened where I saw passionate priests chanting
their lungs out in order to reach the almighty. The whole globe came forward to
bail Odisha out of the situation. Corners in Bhubaneshwar would still discuss
the darkest days of the state. I really prayed for this to be the first and
last cyclone hit any place, yet again after 20 long years, I got to witness
even a worse one.
Fani! The super cyclone whose wrath has
pushed Odisha 20 years back landed on Puri with a speed of 215KMPH and the
disguised god of destruction kept on dancing on the holiest place that is the
belief of every Odia family. Bhubaneshwar, the capital city is back to 90s with
a loss estimated more than a billion till now. From flying trees to flying
vehicles, demolished architectures to ruined monuments, terrified public to
neglected animals, the temple city saw it all. During this time all
connectivity lost. No mobile network, no electricity, no water, a twelve-hour
lock up for all staying in the affected place. The cyclone tore the city apart
and wrath finished dreams of millions in a few hours. It wasn`t less than a
horrifying situation for people to witness the darkest hour in their lifetime.
The whining of wind, breaking of glasses, screaming of infants and most
importantly the sound of their own heartbeats; they heard everything in the
time frame. All they could do is to remember their only belief Lord Jagannath,
who himself was busy defeating the wrath of the cyclone.
Many seniors say, 99 Cyclone was the
cruelest punishment ever given to Odisha. I believe so as more than ten
thousand people lost their lives and around a million got affected majorly. It
was the new Chief Minister Naveen Pattnaik who came into charge and tackled the
situation with his zero political experience. He might have zero knowledge in
politics but was already a great human. His work was praised by many veteran
leaders across the globe. He kept on doing the greater deeds and never realized
he was about to complete 19 years as Odisha`s chief minister this year. On the
contrary, it has been two decades but still, the wound of Odisha is not healed
yet. We fought bravely when Phailin, Hudhud came. But the effect was very less
compared to what cyclone Fani caused. Devastation happened but we never bowed
down to the tragedy and kept our head held high. We never realized mother
nature keeps punishing her strongest child. Fani came and we have faced it too.
A record number of evacuations happened in less than 24 hours. The state
government has set an example for the whole world to see how to tackle such
situations. Shelters got created and he never allowed a repeat of 99 cyclones.
Lives lost but the death toll is still in double digit. The biggest gift all
Odias have is unity. All are tied with a single thread in the name of Lord
Jagannath and believe it or not that is the proudest thing for anyone born in
the place.
The picture of the no.1 smart city is not at
all pretty at the moment. Imagining about Puri is unthinkable right now. There
are uprooted trees everywhere, shattered slums, destroyed properties, and havoc
in people. They are struggling for basic needs such as electricity and drinking
water. In this hour of need, other neighboring states came forward and joined
hands with our government to make Odisha get back to its own feet. Workers
working in insane speed to provide reliefs and provide help. Odisha, whose rich
cultural heritage is dented now needs support from their own people the most.
It is believed that an unwanted curse triggers if you leave your homeland to
achieve career aspirations. But when people stay outside, they learn and
realize most about the duty towards their homeland. You remember your home
first then your mother when you stay outside. At this DARKEST HOUR, our state
is relying on us, the daughters and sons to make it rise and shine again. We
always have believed in such humility as this is something that we get to learn
on a very early stage being Odias. Let’s not bow down to a tragedy that has
dented our desire to become a prosperous state. We overcame 1999 Super cyclone
together; we must overcome from this one now.
Let’s join hands and contribute to our
chief minister`s relief fund (https://cmrfodisha.gov.in/). You can simply click
on “Cyclone Donation” or the payment can be done through other Android/IOS apps
like Paytm/Google Pay/Phone Pe etc. Contribution cannot be restricted to
monetary donation only, share about it as much as you can through various
platforms. Come forward and let the phoenix rise from its ashes. Jai
Jagannath.
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