Making the best out of the worst!

" Our life experiences teach us more than the words do"

One such thought provoking incident to the people in Chennai( a city in India), happened during the second week of December. On 12 December 2016, the state government declared holiday to all the sectors, since the meteorological department predicted a cyclone that was about to hit the Bay of Bengal. This was just another holiday to the people in Chennai until they saw the wrath of the cyclone Vardah. This cyclone Vardah ( meaning red rose) , due to which holiday was announced, was supposed to be a reason to rejoice and relax at home. But the very same cyclone taught a big lesson to the Chennaites.


Many of them already knew that it would be a holiday the next day (monday) on the eve of The Vardah day itself and were ready to enjoy the extended weekend. On the day of the storm, it rained cats and dogs since morning and they admired the rain with a hot cup of coffee. It was around 9 am when the power supply was shut down all over the city due to heavy rain. The rain turned wild and the breeze transformed to storm, with the speed of 87 miles per hour. Many people had not seen such a fierce storm in their lives. The trees began to revolve around themselves that they looked like they were belly-dancing.

The storm was so wild that various regions of the city experienced landfall. All the shops remained closed throughout the day. Just three hours of Vardah's visit to the city brought the entire city to a standstill. Trees, as old as 30 years ,uprooted and fell. Almost every street was blocked due to the fallen trees. It was in the evening when vardah waved a goodbye and the rains became mild. However , the entire city was drenched in predicament.

The electricity could not be supplied due to the mess the cyclone had created. They could not charge their mobiles or laptops. Dear ones could not be contacted as there was no network reception. There was no access to television, internet or computer. They valued each and every drop of the melted wax, since there were not many candles at home. They valued every particle of food they ate since they didn't know when the shops would reopen. They also valued every drop of water left. The vardah day ended with the expectations that things would soon fall into places. However, there was no power supply for the next couple of days. People had to sustain themselves with the minimum resources available at home.

They spent the entire day with the family and the neighbours. They started singing and dancing to kill time. They also listened to the stories of their parents. They spent the whole day without gadgets. All the members of the family ate together. They followed " early to bed , early to rise" for the first time. It felt like living in medieval India to them. This was a lifetime experience to the chennaites though the city was thrown out of gear.

Finally, power supply was given after three days and things became normal.