Nature's Wrath

21.05.2020, 6:00 A.M.-

Its 6 in the morning …The night of 20^th May had been a rough one… The entire morning had gone pretty normal with the usual symptoms of just about any other cyclonic weather, with high speed winds and sporadic rain. But an unusual quietness started setting as evening approached. Just like the 'calm before the storm.'

Since 8 P.M. onwards, the weather deteriorated like anything. The wind speed kept on rising and clocked speeds of about 130 kmph at Ishapore. I stayed for quite for some time in the first floor verandah, looking at the adjacent sports ground. The terrible sound of GI sheet covering the roofs of the galleries flapping and getting blown off marked the beginning of the vicious storm. Soon after, I could hear the sound of trees getting uprooted. And all throughout this time, the heavy rains lashed the surroundings mercilessly, and even the sports ground got submerged with knee- deep water. The mango tree near our garden shook violently, and I had a hunch that it could collapse any moment. 

Even though the wind slowed down at times, the downpour continued. Rainwater started seeping into the house continuously. We shut all the doors and windows, but the storm was so violent that they opened every minute or so. Even a couple of glass panes were broken and water was getting in.

I couldn’t bear this sight for long. The situation started worsening, so I went indoors to my room. I sat on my bed and watched the tempest unleash it’s devastating potential.

I don’t even remember when I fell asleep.

I looked at the front part of the garden through the verandah…A big branch of the mango tree had fallen and there were leaves, twigs everywhere. Mangoes were strewn all around. The papaya tree had bent completely, but still managed to survive..A few broken glass panes were also there.. Rainwater had gushed through the backyard, and there was water overflowing from the drains.

But alas, I hadn’t seen much! When I came downstairs, I could see the colossal damage. I was nearly in tears when I saw the backyard completely wiped out, and the uprooted trees and plants hanging on for a little more time.

Just weeks back, we had barely cleaned the backyard and readied it to spend the summer afternoons there. But all my hopes were now dashed.

This was all that was left of the backyard-

Without any second thoughts, I rushed out and saw a huge tree lying on the main road. I looked at the left and the right, but the roads were nowhere to be seen… Just uprooted mahogany, mango, jackfruit trees. I was totally out of words.

Reaching the main road, I climb across the fallen branches of a mahogany tree. As I touch it’s bark, I thought how bravely it tried to show resilience against the storm. The plush, green leaves didn’t get to live long and could only watch the century-old tree go down. I climbed another branch, and then another. In the corner of a road, I saw a dog looking at me. When I came closer, I could see it’s sad eyes, with the shine gone and fear in it’s place. Even they were perplexed as they hadn’t seen anything like this in their lives, let alone me.

I kept on going, witnessing the catastrophic damage. Many walls broken, cables lying around in a mess, street lights broken, some quarters completely locked in a maze of trees. And there was water logging everywhere… I kept going ahead, till the road diverged into two.. I take the route to the Riverside, hoping that my favorite place in the colony wasn’t damaged.

But no, Amphan didn’t leave a single place untouched. All the lovely flowers were gone. The tall tree inside the Riverside Park, - I called it the “Lightning Tree” when I first came to this colony was split into two. So, there was no place left. Even the Riverside was ruined.

                                                           

The Gunpowder House, with which I was closely attached and wrote my first fiction upon had incurred damages too. On the backside, one of the roofs in the extension had collapsed, and multiple doors broken.

It was too much for me…All this time, I had heard people talking about the cyclone Aila and how it had devastated the state. But this time, I saw something I could never forget. The extent of the damage done was overwhelming. The lockdown, and then this cyclone.… This was a harsh year for starts…

I realized, Aamphan had gone devastating the state and COVID is still spreading. And the bitter fact is, we can’t do anything much to stop it. We are all at the mercy of Mother Nature…. Never before had I felt so lucky to have a roof under my head.

I started going back, climbing the branches of the mahogany trees again. I see some kids carrying sacks filled with mangoes, jackfruits, litchis. The sacks seemed heavier than them, but they took turns carrying the sacks and laughing their hearts out. The branches blocking the roads were being chopped away to make way for movement. While some people were using buckets to take out the rainwater. A cool wind started blowing again…

People will learn to live again. Start afresh…And fight back.. Not immediately, but eventually…

“We shall overcome, we shall overcome someday…”