On August 16, Johny Chekkitta received a call for help from flood-hit Pathanamthitta. The 35-year-old and a few of his friends hired a boat, arranged for a jeep and rushed to Chengannur, 150 kilometres from Puthiyathura, a fishing hamlet on the coast of Thiruvananthapuram.
Similarly, 42-year-old Joseph Francis from Poonthura did not dawdle when his church priest sought his help for rescue operations in Venmoni.
These men who brave the seas and the waves every day participated in the rescue operations that saved thousands in the flood-affected districts in Central Kerala last year when the Pampa breached its banks and changed its course, wrecking widespread havoc.
The men steered their boats into the murky waters without any idea of what was awaiting them. Putting their lives at risk, they navigated their boats through the waters that had live electric cables, submerged buildings, poisonous snakes, broken trees and heavy currents. Carrying people on their backs and shoulders, they saved the lives of many marooned in buildings without water and food for days.
Their stories of grit and adventure, which made them the toast of the country, will now be narrated in Rejimon Kuttappan’s soon-to-be-released book Kerala’sHeroic Boatmen . The work is about the fishermen from the 62.5 km-long coastal belt, stretching from Pozhiyoor to Anchuthengu in Thiruvananthapuram, who waded into the troubled waters to rescue those stranded in the flood.
Rejimon Kuttapan
Rejimon was working in West Asia at the time and was involved in the online networking for the rescue. He says many in Pathanamthitta have children who were working in West Asia. He says the children contacted him to help coordinate rescue operations and that was how he first got in touch with the fishermen.
Inspired by their bravery and generosity, Rejimon visited the fishermen post-floods to hear their stories. “I spoke to those residing in Pozhiyoor, Puthiyathura, Valiyathura, Perumathura, Shanghumugham, Vizhinjam, Marianad, Thumpa and Pallithura. I must have spoken to at least 50 fishermen for the book.”
And each one of the fishermen had a story to share of their rescue mission.
“One family, completely drenched in the incessant rain, was stuck on their terrace without any food. We swam to the building, climbed up to the terrace with the help of a rope and rescued them,” recalls Johny.
Joseph still remembers an incident when a group of people his team had rescued were reluctant to permit a pregnant woman and her children to be taken aboard the boat as they feared it would capsize. “We were heading towards the shelter when we spotted the pregnant woman and her young children on the terrace of their house. Some of the rescued members began to protest when we decided to bring them on board the boat. Although they had been saved from the brink of death, these very people were trying to prevent us taking the pregnant woman and children on board.”
- Johny had the innovative idea of covering their rescue operations live on Facebook.
- This helped Leena Susan Mathew who was residing in the US help save her parents who were living in Chengannur. “She messaged us saying we’d just passed her house where her parents were stranded. We turned back and rescued her parents,” says Johny, who had put his phone number on his Facebook account, which allowed many to reach out to him and his team in real time during the rescue work.
- Although months have passed, some of those rescued have stayed in touch with those who saved their lives. For instance, when one of Johny’s teammates died in a bike accident a few months after the flood, Leena came down to Thiruvananthapuram to attend his funeral.
- Rejimon says some of the youngsters in the boats are still in contact with many of the residents they had taken to shelters.
Ignoring their protests, Joseph and his mates rescued the woman and her children and managed to reach the shelter at Venmoni without much ado.
According to Rejimon, Kerala’sHeroic Boatmen has chapters dedicated to each group of fishermen who worked together on the same boat during the rescue mission. “To be honest, writing their tales is a way for me to archive their heroic acts. I didn’t want people to forget their inspirational stories.”
It is estimated that the fisherfolk managed to rescue over 60,000 people during the flood. “If not for them and their boats, the death toll would have gone up. These were men sans any rescue training or rescue equipment. After the water subsided, these men helped in cleaning many towns. What was remarkable was that the men plunged into the rescue operations without any expectation of any remuneration,” says Rejimon, who adds that the government granted a fund to repair the boats that were damaged during the rescue mission.
Kerala’s Heroic Boatmen, published by Speaking Tiger , will reach book stores in July.
