In Tamil Nadu, even 20 years after the tsunami that struck on the fateful morning of 26 December 2004, the horror of the tragedy still lingers in the minds of those who lost close blood relatives. One of the survivors, Soumya, who was rescued from Nagapattinam district, is now the mother of a child. 6,065 people died in the district during the tsunami.
Like many other children orphaned by the tsunami, Soumya accepted the harsh reality and struggled to survive and recover from the crisis. Soumya was four years old when the tsunami hit. He was later succeeded by Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Dr. J. Radhakrishnan, after which he studied BA in Economics. Radhakrishnan in 2022 Technician K. Got Soumya married with Subhash. In October this year, she became the mother of a baby girl.
Radhakrishnan, currently Additional Chief Secretary of the Cooperative Department, said, “It is very pleasant to see our daughter growing up and becoming a mother. Our family feels blessed.” Meena and Soumya, who were children at the time of the tsunami, are among the 40 children who grew up in the Annai Satya Government Children’s Home.
They came together on December 22, ahead of the 20th anniversary of the tsunami, and celebrated their reunion. One of them, Tamilarasi Vijayabalan, now 35, did her BSc in IT and also holds an MCA degree. She is working as a teacher to look after 100 children at the Annai Satya Government Children’s Home, established after the tsunami.
Located at Samanthanpettai near Nagapattinam, the home now cares for victims of abuse and child marriage. Nearly 50 town panchayats in the six coastal districts of the state namely Kancheepuram, Villupuram, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Kanyakumari and Thoothukudi were affected by the unprecedented devastation caused by the raging waves.
“State government agencies and NGOs helped rebuild houses and restore our livelihoods,” says RMP Rajendra Nattar, president of the Nagapattinam-based National Fishermen Association of India.
