Off-screen heroism

They are heroes in reel life – we have seen them save men and women from danger and help the needy with financial assistance in their larger-than-life screen avatars. But these actors proved that they can be heroes for real when a natural calamity brought Kerala to a virtual standstill a few days ago. The flood waters could do nothing to dampen the spirits of our celebrities who shunned the luxurious confines of their homes and set out to help their brethren by indulging in relief work.

The collection centre of Anbodu Kochi, with Indrajith and Poornima Indrajith at its helm, saw a steady flow of celebrities who sent out a call for essentials, which was acknowledged by truckloads of essentials flowing to the camp from kind-hearted souls. While a section of celebrities slogged day and night to help out with gathering essentials for transit to camps, there was another section that went to the affected places and did relief work on the ground. These are the celebs who saw first- hand the devastation that the floods unleashed as well as the undying spirit of the denizens of Kerala.

Star power

The camp at Thammanam Pallipady MPM Auditorium was started by actors from the industry and co-ordinated by Jayasurya and others. The camp had a lot of actors visiting and helping out in whatever way they could. Actor Sunny Wayne rang in his birthday on August 19 at the camp — not that he remembered it — caught up as he was helping out with the relief work. Sunny has been on the ground for the past six days and he is exhausted but it is a happy exhaustion. He narrates the work he did. “I was planning to go to Wayanad when the floods hit and I tried to reach there in a lorry through broken roads, but the area had become almost isolated.” That was when the epicentre shifted to Ernakulam and the surrounding areas.

Sunny sprang to action with his friends, helping out with boat rescues. In fact, they were amongst the first to help out the affected. He also made sure that food reached camps in Ernakulam and Kozhikode. “How could I sleep in peace when my fellow men and women were fighting for their lives? I went to the affected areas and was part of rescue operations,” he says. Another priority he kept in mind was reaching diesel cans to mobile towers to keep them functioning, “Without effective communication, rescue and relief work would have been hampered,” he states. All the while, he was also posting updates on his social media pages about people who needed rescue as well as the information received from government sources — all verified. He recalls that it started with a message to his mobile at night with a request for help, which he posted. That single message was followed by a deluge of requests for help, which kept him awake throughout the night. He also went live on Facebook, standing in a flooded paddy field at night.

He is happy that his posts could save the lives of hundreds of people and the biggest joy was to see the thanks and updates on his page from the rescued people. He narrates some incidents that made him sad too. “I received a call from an unknown person saying that about 35 girls and 25 boys were reaching Kochi on a KSRTC bus and that they needed a place to stay,” so he arranged with a caretaker for flats in the same complex he stayed in. He also ensured that he picked up the students himself from Vytilla in two Tempo travellers and took them to their place of stay. “That done, the caretaker asked for Rs 17,000, which left me shocked. I gave it to him but told him no good will come to him with that money,” he vehemently says. Sunny is now in Wayanad but is still coordinating with people in relief camps and trying to reach people in isolated places. He shrugs off any heroism on his part and says, “There are a lot of unsung heroes out there!”     

Others come first
Rajeev Pillai proved that his heart was in the right place when he postponed his wedding to help his hometown of Nannoor in Thiruvalla that was swallowed by the mighty waters. Right from August 16, Rajeev has been slogging round the clock, helping people to safety and dragging essentials through flooded areas. Rajeev was assisted by 15 able-bodied men. He recalls, “Initially, when the waters rose we made a boat and asked people to get into it to move them to safety, but they refused! By evening, the levels rose to an alarming high. The mainland is 2km away from the place we stay and I dragged the boat through chest-high, waist-high and even head-high waters.”

He ignored his own safety and says, “There were people who needed to reach the hospital for dialysis and there was a fully pregnant woman whom we could safely rescue. For two days, when the waters were dangerously high, we did not eat or sleep! I didn't even realise how time passed by.” He also ensured that supplies were delivered to the needy at camps and houses.

Rajeev narrates, “Once, with great difficulty, we reached the first floor of a house with residents, with one of us holding onto biscuit packets and wading through neck-deep water. The residents saw the biscuits and said they did not want those and sent us back. All the effort we took to reach there went to waste,” he sadly recounts. The lack of power and connectivity made the situation graver. Finally, he says, “I was lucky to be there at that time. I am no hero, just someone helping out my fellow men!”   

Young Turk Tovino Thomas is another celeb who proved to be a ‘superman’. He physically slogged day in and night, wading through water, rescuing people, delivering essentials to camps, meeting stranded people and requesting them to move to camps. He also opened up his home to the flood victims. He went live intermittently to give out flood and health-related information to his large number of followers. Finally, Tovino had to take tetanus shots for his safety and advised others to do the same too.  

Many other celebs like Jayaram, Rima Kallingal, Parvathy, Aju Varghese, Neeraj Madhav, Asif Ali, Nivin Pauly, Sayanora, Maqbool Salmaan and Aneesh Menon too chipped in to help the affected.  

Coordinated effort
Priyanka Nair was at the forefront of relief activities. With the support of her sister, cousins and friends, she actively volunteered in sending food to relief camps. She says it cannot be termed as an aid as she believes it’s one’s responsibility to help the distressed. “We are all here to serve the people. The ones affected by these floods are our own family. I reached Thiruvananthapuram on the previous day of these happenings. Many of my relatives and friends were stranded in areas like Chengannur and Athani. All thanks to the media and rescue teams. Since I was at home, modes of transportation were suspended, we handed over the food material to collection points and they sent it to the camps,” she says.

She started visiting some camps once the situation calmed down. However, she says the camps in remote areas are facing a shortage of supplies. “For instance, camps in Changanassery and Kozhencherry are still facing issues due to inadequate supply. The main camps are flooded with supplies, but the isolated camps are facing troubles. What we should do is to list the requirements of these camps and arrange accordingly. Many of the collection points have excess material in stock now. This should be sent to camps in isolated areas,” she says. She had visited a camp in Thrikodithanam and says most of the people there belong to Kuttanad. The place has been severely affected by floods and takes good time to recover from it. She believes that the camps of Kuttanad-based people may have to function for longer and the material supply should continue until they are rehabilitated properly.

“I think the material distribution should be more systematic. Transportation was one issue that was troubling us. Since its okay now, we can effectively reach all the camps. The camps at remote areas will run for longer and we should supply the essentials based on their needs. The people of Kerala and NRIs have contributed generously to this cause, we should not waste this. We should serve the people when they are in need,” she adds. She had used social media effectively to help the stranded, ensuring the messages were genuine. She says we should be thankful to rescue teams, people, youngsters, fishermen, media, government officials, MLAs, MPs and everyone who stood for the cause. “We should stand united and keep working for our people. It’s our duty,” she says.

Jumping over hurdles
Vinitha Koshy was one of the persons affected by the floods, as she had to move out of her apartment in Aluva. She was one among the celebrities who was actively involved in relief works.

“The main issue was the uneven distribution in relief camps. The supplies were reaching the main camps easily but the camps in interior areas like Mannar were troubled by the lack of supply. We initially faced these issues, but later all the camps were listed and many volunteers joined us in getting the essentials delivered to these isolated camps.”

In an area in Pathanamthitta, almost 117 families were trapped. She believes that the volunteers who were with her are the real heroes. Commander Arul G. Sabesh, Command Special Operations and Diving Officer, was also with Vinitha and the team for the rescue operations. “The next phase is cleaning and rehabilitation. Our volunteers were undertaking the cleaning process at Muppathadam. But the scarcity of cleaning material is troubling them. The props are not available in shops and I feel the government should find a way to provide these to the volunteers. The camps are now settled and hygiene should be a priority now. After all, the heroes are our people, rescue teams and everyone who took part in this cause,” she says.