The journey for hope must begin with a single step, writes Dr. Debipreeta Dutta

July 14: We all have passed through the trauma of the recent flood that has taken a toll over life of thousands in our valley…and the hangover is still on. In such condition, I consider myself a privileged one as we didn’t get affected by flood water, whereas most of my relatives ,friends, colleagues had  to face the rage of the river Barak. Never in my life, had I felt so helpless, as it was impossible to reach any one of them during the hour of need.

Amidst all these came across a news report on the devastating floods by BBC where a lady from Borkhola constituency was narrating the traumatic saga of how she failed to save her husband’s life because of the water logging and even had to wait whole night in “Bhura” (makeshift boat made with banana tree) with the dead body for performing the last rights next day somehow.

The news was so heart wrenching and painful, wasn’t able to come out and somewhere wanted to be with her in whichever way possible, but there was no clue how to reach her. But as it is said that every positive thought is a silent prayer…that  day only came across with a post from Sharmishtha Bhattacharjee, Admin of a closed  woman’s group “Adwitiya”…where she urged upon the members to donate for the lady, whatever possible as most of the members  including herself  was badly  affected by flood. And the request generated an wonderful response even in such a grim situation from the members of Adwitiya. I joined the team of Adwitiya along with Moumita Gupta and  Sampa Banik to visit the lady. Sharmishtha  Bhattacharjee herself couldn’t join, as she was waterlogged till then, but did her best to make it happen.

Two other organizations, viz, Inner wheel  Club and Club Ananya came forward to help the lady with Adwitiya. A total cash amount of Rs. 20,000 was donated by the members of Adwitiya, whereas, Inner Wheel Club donated Rs. 5, 000 and Club Ananya donated Rs. 3,000.

Our team consisted of Moumita Gupta, Sampa Banik, Madhuparna Basak, Sumitra Banik, myself  and two very helpful and cooperative young men Tilak Purkayastha and Joydip Chakraborty along with a local resident who guided us to finally reach the house of Shilu Rani Das, at Chesri at Borkhola constituency of Cachar district.

The journey was quite a difficult one. We had to travel by car, ride a boat and walk through the hazardous muddy terrain. But the difficult way could hardly stand as a bar and what mattered most was the destination for all of us. Finally, when we reached her yard crossing a small bamboo bridge, the signs of devastation was still fresh, water level has receded only a few inches.

We had a talk with the family members and children of the flood victim, Shilu Rani Das. It seems every year during the rainy season, the area become waterlogged and communication becomes very tough for the local residents without a boat. While exchanging her opinion with us, the lady was still repenting for not able to save her husband’s life, for not able to give a quality life to her kids, for not able to provide the basic education of her elder son who is the only earning member now and for many other reasons untold. Sometimes we are left with no options but to remain a silent spectator, and so we listened to her silently because somewhere, we all knew that no word can console her.

The club members handed over the total amount of donation to her. Though the sum was negligible compared to the needs, but still it could bring a smile on her face, a momentary sparkle in the eyes, a slim ray of hope which might help her to fight with the fear of unseen and that smile on her face was what we all wanted.

We won’t be able to stop natural disasters from happening; on the contrary the rapid climate change may increase the frequency and severity of such disasters in future. But we should learn something so that next time we can respond in a better way. It was an unique and unimaginable experience for me, and I am thankful to Sharmishtha Bhattacharjee and Moumita Gupta for making me a part of this.

Dr. Debipreeta Dutta, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Zoology, G.C.College, Silchar.