Kallar (Nagapattinam): For 24-year-old Anand Kumar, this is familiar territory. He has been going to Kallar village in Nagapattinam for years now. But it's only recently that he's entered the homes of the people there.

On the day that the ocean rose with a viciousness that left many a home devastated, everything changed. Anand was playing volleyball with his friends in this village when the ocean rose up on December 26 last year. With water everywhere, he and his friends ran into the village to help people.

"There were about 20 children bathing in a pool in the village. Their parents were running for cover. We picked them up and tied them to nearby trees. When the tsunami subsided, we took them back to their houses," recalls Anand.

Since that day, life has never been the same in Kallar. The rich businessmen in this Muslim dominated village never mixed with the fisher folk but now they are so grateful to Anand and his friends that short of falling at his feet, they do everything to welcome him and people from other villages into their homes.

Even village elders admit that the tsunami changed their attitude completely. The tsunami didn't do much damage in this village but managed to open the doors and hearts of the people to the other communities.

"It was actually better this way. If the villagers had allowed us into their houses before this, we would not have been able to save so many children," says Anand.

Anand knows that he's brought about a huge change in a village that was content to just let people enter their dargah and not their hearts. But as he says very wisely, it was not he who brought about the change – it was the disaster and disasters can be great social levelers.