Certainly! Here’s a summary of the chapter “Weathering the Storm in Ersama” and the answers to the questions provided within the sources, explained with emojis for easier understanding.
Summary of “Weathering the Storm in Ersama” 🌧️🏡🤝#
The story “Weathering the Storm in Ersama” details the harrowing experience of a young man named Prashant during and after a super cyclone that struck coastal Orissa on 27 October 1999. Prashant, who was visiting a friend in Ersama, 18 kilometres from his village, became marooned on the roof of his friend’s brick and mortar house when the storm hit.
The cyclone brought winds of 350 km per hour and incessant rain, uprooting ancient trees and washing away people and houses. The water level in his friend’s house reached neck-deep. Prashant and his friend’s family took refuge on the roof for two days, enduring the cold and constant rain. They survived by consuming tender coconuts from two trees that had fallen on their roof, which was a “blessing in disguise”. During this time, Prashant was consumed by the thought of whether his own family had survived.
After two days, as the rain ceased and waters receded, Prashant decided to return to his village, Kalikuda. His journey was fraught with danger, as he had to wade through waist-deep floodwaters, using a stick to find the road, and often having to swim. He witnessed macabre scenes of human and animal carcasses floating in the water and barely any houses still standing. He was sure his family couldn’t have survived.
Upon reaching Kalikuda, he found only remnants of his home. He went to the Red Cross shelter and miraculously found his maternal grandmother and then his entire extended family.
Seeing the desperate situation at the shelter, Prashant, who was only nineteen, decided to take on a leadership role. He organised youths and elders to pressure a merchant for rice, successfully bringing food to the 2500 people in the shelter. He also organised a team to clean the shelter of filth and carcasses and tend to the injured. When military helicopters dropped food, he organised children to lie in the sand with empty utensils on their stomachs to signal their hunger, ensuring regular food drops thereafter.
Prashant also focused on the orphaned children, setting up a polythene sheet shelter for them. He mobilised women to look after them and convinced women to join a food-for-work programme. He organised sports events, like cricket, for the children to help them heal. Crucially, Prashant’s group resisted the government’s plan to set up institutions for orphans and widows, arguing that children would grow up without love and widows would suffer stigma. Instead, they advocated for resettling orphans within their own community in new foster families, possibly with childless widows. Six months later, Prashant’s own “wounded spirit” had healed because he had dedicated himself to helping others.
Answers to the Questions 🤔#
Here are the answers to the questions based on the sources:
What havoc has the super cyclone wreaked in the life of the people of Orissa? 🌀💔 The super cyclone wreaked immense havoc, causing widespread destruction.
- Winds of 350 km per hour beat against houses, and heavy, incessant rain filled the darkness.
- Ancient trees were uprooted and crashed to the earth.
- People and houses were swiftly washed away.
- The angry waters swirled into homes, reaching neck-deep.
- The storm caused a “raging, deadly, brown sheet of water” to cover everything, with only fractured cement houses remaining in some places.
- Bloated animal carcasses and human corpses floated in every direction.
- Many houses were completely destroyed; for example, in Prashant’s village, all ninety-six houses were washed away.
- Eighty-six lives were lost in Prashant’s village alone.
- The cyclone led to widespread hunger and grief among the survivors.
How has Prashant, a teenager, been able to help the people of his village? 🦸♂️🤝 Prashant, at just nineteen years old, displayed remarkable leadership and helped his village in several ways:
- Organising Food Distribution: He formed a group of youths and elders to pressure a merchant to release his stock of rice, ensuring food for the entire shelter.
- Sanitation and First Aid: He organised a team of youth volunteers to clean the shelter of filth, urine, vomit, and floating carcasses, and to tend to the wounds and fractures of the injured.
- Signalling for Aid: He deputed children to lie in the sand with empty utensils on their stomachs to signal to passing military helicopters that they were hungry, which led to regular food drops.
- Caring for Orphans: He brought orphaned children together and set up a polythene sheet shelter for them.
- Mobilising Women: He persuaded women to participate in a food-for-work programme started by an NGO.
- Promoting Well-being: He organised sports events, including cricket, for the children to help them cope with their grief.
- Advocating for Community Care: He and other volunteers successfully resisted the government’s plan for institutionalizing orphans and widows, advocating for their resettlement within their own community and foster families.
How have the people of the community helped one another? What role do the women of Kalikuda play during these days? 🏘️💖👩👩👧👦 The community demonstrated strong mutual support in the aftermath of the cyclone:
- Shared Survival: Initially, Prashant’s friend’s family shared their shelter on the roof, and the fallen coconut trees provided sustenance for them all.
- Collective Journey: On his way back, Prashant joined two friends of his uncle, and they moved together through the floodwaters.
- Family Reunions: At the Red Cross shelter, Prashant’s extended family quickly gathered around him, hugging him in relief.
- Collective Action for Food: A group of youths and elders, organised by Prashant, jointly pressured the merchant for rice, which they then cooked and shared.
- Community Care for Children: Women were mobilised to look after the orphaned children, while men secured food and materials for the shelter.
- Mutual Healing: Prashant and other volunteers engaged in helping the widows and children to pick up the broken pieces of their lives.
- Alternative Care Models: The community resisted external plans for institutions, proposing foster families within their own community for orphans and childless widows.
The women of Kalikuda played a crucial role:
- They were mobilised by Prashant to look after the large number of orphaned children.
- They were persuaded to start working in the food-for-work programme, which helped in their own recovery from grief.
Why do Prashant and other volunteers resist the plan to set up institutions for orphans and widows? What alternatives do they consider? 🤔🚫🏠 Prashant and other volunteers resisted the government’s initial plan to set up institutions for orphans and widows because they believed:
- Lack of Love: In such institutions, children would grow up without love.
- Stigma and Loneliness: Widows would suffer from stigma and loneliness.
The alternatives they considered and advocated for were:
- Community Resettlement: Orphans should be resettled within their own community.
- New Foster Families: This resettlement would possibly involve new foster families made up of childless widows and children without adult care, providing a loving and supportive environment.