CHENNAI: The tremors and tsunami alerts that hit Chennai were met with little or no response from the fishing community. Having seen and lived through the 2004 tsunami, warnings enabled by science and technology were obsolete to them. To say it simply, they stayed put and stayed calm even as the bustle of government officials and mediapersons reached a crescendo around them.Their reply to questions over why they were not panicking were often punctuated with a simple finger pointed at a scraggly stray dog ambling by the side. “There is a dog. And there are some crows,” said Prabhu, a fisherman, cryptically pointed to the sky. Sensing the lack of comprehension, he explained, “Animals have a better sense about this. They are more intelligent than all those great machines put together. We live by nature and have to listen to it when it speaks,” he said. “Last time, the dogs, goats, cats and crows all fled. So, no matter what we are told, we sense there is no tsunami in the offing,” Prabhu added.Others along the stretch told stories of how the sea was not displaying pre-tsunami characteristics. Since they didn’t see any signs, they would stay put, they said. Meanwhile, those from other communities living in these parts panicked and fled, carrying whatever they could fit in a bag. “Police came and asked us to leave. So we have taken all our belongings and are going to the big road over there. If they don’t let us back in by tonight we will catch a train back home,” said a labourer from Bihar, on behalf of his thirty-something comrades.
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