From observer to participant

December 14, 2015 12:21 am | Updated March 25, 2016 11:57 am IST

Architect Louis Kahn’s statement —“the sun never knew how beautiful it was until it fell on the wall of a building”— took an expansive and comforting meaning for the citizens of Chennai after the deluge. The sun has been out in full splendour for a week now. My last column (“ > Reporting during a deluge” , December 7) was about a form of fusion between the citizenry and journalism that was taking place in Tamil Nadu where the breach of distance did not undermine the quality of information, but infused it with a sense of participation. It elicited an interesting response from one of the readers. “The spirit of the city and the fortitude of citizens are synonyms for failure of the state. It really indicates absence of government in providing timely rescue and rehabilitation during a calamity. Shouldn’t the newspaper focus on this dereliction of the state rather than talk about the fortitude of citizens, which is necessarily an act of survival,” he asked.

Looking closely at The Hindu ’s coverage of Chennai rains and its aftermath, it is very clear that the newspaper did cover the failure of the state machinery in detail. An article titled “ > A wrong call that sank Chennai ” (December 10) had detailed data analysis that showed how the decision to conservatively hold storage, despite early warnings from various meteorological agencies about heavy rainfall in the offing in late November and early December, exacerbated the disaster that followed. The story, “ > We destroyed unique flood carriage systems: Expert ” (December 9), established how Chennai’s current woes are the result of a “man-made disaster.” There was a field report, >Caste raises its ugly head in calamity ” (December 10) that explained how divisions between the Dalits and the Other Backward Classes have affected flood relief initiatives. The list is endless.

The focus of the newspaper was not only on what was missing but also on what was happening. This was where the citizenry comes to play a big role. “ > The prohibitive cost of rebuilding one’s life ” (December 13) was a poignant marriage between info-graphics and reportage that brought out the difficulties in coping with this disaster. The newspaper realised that the need of the hour was to energise the citizenry in their efforts to minimise the hardship and find some solace. It blended its reportage as well as its activism to create an ambience of hope rather than breeding debilitating cynicism.

The Hindu has launched India for Chennai ( > #IndiaforChennai ), a national editorial campaign to collect funds and relief materials to help the city through this traumatic period. The Editor of The Hindu , Malini Parthasarathy, in her announcement, said, “The recent floods have left Chennai and its neighbouring districts devastated and debilitated. We have received numerous calls and messages from readers of The Hindu nationwide, eager to do their bit to mitigate the suffering of the affected people. #IndiaforChennai was born as a result of our readers’ desire to reach out to the city.”

Readers were asked to send their contribution to The Hindu ’s offices in two centres: Mumbai ( The Hindu , Kasturi Buildings, Jamshedji Tata Road, Churchgate, Mumbai — 400020) and New Delhi ( The Hindu , 3rd floor, Milap Bhawan, 8-A, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi — 110002). Cheques in the name of Shreyas, a charitable trust governed by The Hindu , can be sent to these offices. All contributions are exempt under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act. The request for the relief materials was a general appeal but a specific request. The newspaper explained, based on the reports from the field, that the thousands of people who have been rendered homeless in Chennai are seeking new clothes, footwear (chappals), towels, plastic mats, undergarments, candles, toothbrushes, mosquito coils, repellents, thin blankets, bed sheets, school bags, notebooks and stationery. The appeal also explicitly asked the readers not to send any consumables or second-hand goods.

TwitterIndia is partnering with The Hindu to spread the message and to co-ordinate the logistics of this initiative. Dr. Parthasarathy added, “We will publish the names of donors contributing more than Rs. 2000 in our columns, and online.”

Readers of The Hindu Group from Tamil Nadu, Bengaluru and Hyderabad have reached out to help over 1,20,000 families across Chennai and Cuddalore through the ‘Chennai Rising’ initiative. Nearly 16,000 boxes carrying approximately 75 tonnes of supplies have been sent in. Over 1,000 readers have also been volunteering to distribute these crucial supplies to those who have been affected, by using a door-to-door system to identify specific needs and channel help to people in the area, including remote locations. “The money collected by The Hindu Group would be used for three distinct purposes: grants to people who seek support, to partner NGOs working in the areas of health and education, and for rebuilding and rehabilitation. For instance, in the case of education, the focus is on school supplies, notebooks, stationery and uniforms,” said Rajiv Lochan, CEO and Managing Director of Kasturi and Sons Ltd, the publishing company of this newspaper.

The idea behind the last two columns is not a self-congratulatory mission but an earnest attempt to share the complex thinking that goes in the newsroom and the boardroom of a newspaper during a crisis. The shift from being an observer on behalf of the readers to a direct participant in providing relief becomes not only acceptable, but an inevitable one.

readerseditor@thehindu.co.in

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