It is not often that a public tragedy touches a personal chord. More so if you are a weather beaten top cop who has seen myriad stories of grief and disillusionment devolve into nothing. Yet, the unusual, maybe, even rare thing did happen with A.K. Singh, a seasoned cop who has been at the helm of the forces in places like Goa, Puducherry, Arunachal Pradesh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It so happened that he happened to be posted at the islands when the tsunami struck. It sent life into a tailspin for everyone involved. And left in its wake a tale of unprecedented loss of life and property. Singh, as the Superintendent of Police at that time, found himself with unenviable task of trying to rescue people, rehabilitate them. He had to motive his team to put the public life ahead of personal life. For long days and nights, many helpless men and women, were rescued from the jaws of death.
The experience left an indelible mark on the cop's heart. Yet in the subsequent years he went about his business as usual! It was as if tsunami was a bad dream that was mercifully over. But experiences such as tsunami only recede to the back-burner; they never ever go away completely. So it was with Singh. Some five years after dealing with public loss in Andamans, tragedy struck his own life. His daughter, on the brink of big things in life, passed away in a train accident in Jaipur at the age of 18. Worse, it happened on Children’s day, leaving the father almost inconsolable. That is when he summoned inner reservoirs of strength to pen together the tsunami story in the form of a book “Disaster and Tsunami Management”. Almost inevitably, he has dedicated the book to his daughter, Sonal.
Nature’s fury
Today when he speaks of Sonal, it is hard to understand that he is professionally a tough cop who is now Joint Commissioner of Police in New Delhi. He speaks only as a father. “A brown belt in karate and an enthusiastic badminton player, Sonal was a keen athlete. She was an avid reader....Her infectious smile, her everlasting energy levels...,” he goes on.
It is only then that one understands that “the book is an emotional attempt to narrate how the earthquake and tsunami took a toll on the Andaman and Nicobar islands on December 26, 2004”. Singh had never imagined “such a horrible nature with corpses of men, women and children, uprooted trees and devastated buildings all around. With no hope of life, survivors immediately wanted to leave the islands. There was chaos and panic everywhere but we maintained our cool. I took charge of the situation with initially the least available manpower and resources. We had to cremate hundreds of bodies, make our way through the destroyed forests to rescue and rehabilitate the victims of nature's fury.”
Mission accomplished. Singh went on with his life. Then Sonal met with an accident. And his heart went out to those who too had lost their children in the tsunami. Result? A nearly 400 page book that is a practical study and guide to tsunami management. That is okay, but what can't be as easily managed is a personal loss. That is where nature with its relentless momentum of time, acts as a healer.
