Tsunami in Chennai

The tragedy that struck Chennai on Dec 26th made the Chennaivasis familiar with a new word.Alan Greenspan was recently asked:"What is the neutral rate of interest for the US economy?"He replied:"We have to reach neutrality before we can know the neutral rate."Similarly,one has to experience tsunami to understand what it is.This particular Tsunami (occuring on a Powrnami-the Tamil word for Poornima-this indeed was a double whammy since waves are higher on a fullmoon day) was a Bay equivalent of the SE Asian currency crisis.In the early nineties,SE Asia was short of funds.When funds started pouring in from other regions,countries in SE Asia were delighted.Trouble started when foreign funds started moving back.Likewise,when water flowed copiously into water-starved Chennai,people became excited.When water started receding,loss of lives and property stared us in the face.The dead included the morning-walkers and poor slum children who were playing cricket on the Marina beach.While we mourn the dead,we also become acutely aware of the ephemerality of human life especially when pitted against nature's fury.The tsunami trauma was so deep that some fisherfolk have developed a phobia towards the sea.Long admired for its serene beauty,the Marina is now feared for its ferocity.It is believed that during the 2nd World War,the presiding deity of Triplicane assured the citizens that Chennai would not be invaded by the enemy forces.If nature itself becomes our foe and water the invader ,there cannot be any divine assurance.