Standing in aid for Kerala

Kerala is witnessing nature’s fury like never before. All hell broke loose since the South-West Monsoon hit the state on May 29. Spanning over two months, there seems little respite from the unprecedented floods and landslides. A cry for help from all over God’s Own Country is ringing even as  many proactive young citizens have come out and joined hands to raise in funds and essentials to contribute towards the many donation drives in aid of the residents stranded in Kerala. We take a deeper look...

“We’ve helped rescue camps at Aluva, Pathanamthitta, Kuthiran and Chalakudy by sending rugs, sweaters, power banks, plates, chairs, paragon slippers, buckets and mugs. I’m a member of an NGO called Sai Seva, which has been the channel for these donations.  Our vehicle went till the boundary of Kuthiran and delivered it to the local collector,” begins Dr Karan M Pai, a city based psychologist.

While donations of any kind are altruistic, Vishnu Ramamkrishnan, a 24-year old data scientist of Malayali origin believes one needs to be mindful of the things they send. “When the floods happened earlier this month, my family sent basic supplies, such as food that doesn’t need to be cooked and is high on energy through a truck my locality hired. Mostly people blindly donate I think the organisations on the ground should have a framework to inform the rest of the donors what is needed so that there’s some uniformity in what’s being made available. I think it’s necessary for us to understand what’s needed before we send random things so essentials such as biscuits, clothing and blankets is what’s best suggested.”

With many proactive youngsters taking up the onus of spreading awareness and fueling donation drives; social media has been put to incredible use, this time around. Safa Saifudeen, a decision scientist, says, “I bought sanitary napkins, Dettol, toothbrushes for a collection point at MK Retail in Kadugodi, and used UPI to transfer money to the Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund. But most importantly, I’ll be talking to a few people who are coordinating to send a truck from near HSR on Sunday with essentials, they’re short on baby food and undergarments, so I’ll be heading out on Saturday or sending money. On twitter, some incredible efforts were made to collate all rescue requests and volunteer lists, so I’m glad the virtual networking spaces are being put to good use.”

As the angst mounts, Vishnu shares the plight of friends and relatives back home, “So things got bad about last night, I was taking to my friends and relatives here. Most of them mentioned that their family stayed back because they have livestock and wanted to wait it out. But, it got a little too late, and things are looking very grim for residents there, but thankfully mobile networks are relatively intact.” For those who want to help, do check the veracity of the organisation before doing so.