Island Fever

10

They call it cruise control. I call it the jump cut. One year and still counting the dead, the media in India went ga-ga over stories of hope from the tsunami-ravaged areas. We heaped on lingering support to one of the greatest shows of human solidarity, but forgot those who clutched on to hope, as the waves came from nowhere to change their life. And still, a roof over their heads remains a distant dream. For a place called the "emerald isles," Rs 821 crore was earmarked for relief and rehabilitation in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, post Tsunami. For a population of 5 lakhs, the amount was enough to put the cats in the cradle and the silver spoon in the little boy blue's dream. But what happened in reality shows why even one of the greatest tragedies mankind has ever witnessed failed to move India....