HOPES RETURN BUT NIGHTMARE OF DEC 26 REMAINS

THOUSANDS ALONG TN'S COAST REMAIN HAUNTED BY LOSS OF LOVED ONES, LIVELIHOOD, HOMES LEFT BEHIND BY KILLER WAVES THAT FATEFUL MORNING

- ANTONY FERNANDO

The covenant between the sea and seafarers was broken on that day after Christmas. Waves invaded Tamil Nadu's shores, leaving wounds no amount of time could heal. Twenty years later, survivors of the disaster in hamlets that dot the coast still relive the nightmare that claimed close to eight thousand lives in Tamil Nadu.

R Sankar (then 28), hailing from Tharangambadi (Mayiladuthurai district), was working from the Pudukkottai harbour when tragedy struck. At a time when mobile phones were uncommon and few had heard of a tsunami, Sankar learnt of the giant waves hitting the shores from a TV alongside others at the harbour. A few of the men quickly hired a Tata Sumo and started for home. The scenes that unfolded during the journey are still vivid in Sankar's memory: the lines of bodies unending, hundreds of houses shattered like sand castles. Before long, they decided to take a circumnavigatory route to avoid this sight.