Thaindian News

From Indo-Asian News Service
Chennai, Jan 3 (IANS) The landmark Marina beach, battered by the tsunami a week ago, is finally springing back to life - slowly but steadily. Lovers and vendors, morning walkers and children, everyone is returning to the city’s favourite haunt.
For days after the Dec 26 disaster when titanic waves simply overwhelmed the sprawling beach, washing away more than 100 unsuspecting visitors, the place - for the first time in memory - turned ghostly.

It took the dawn of 2005 to give it the first stirring of life. A couple, Radhkrishnan and Malati, came to the beach with their children saying they could not stay away from Marina any longer.

“We have been mourning the tsunami victims for almost a week and did not visit the Marina,” the man said. “But we wanted to get back here to catch the action of the New Year.”

Young lovers Sarvanan and Vedavelli echoed similar sentiments.

“This place is very special to us and we cannot afford to skip it any longer. We met on Marina beach. It is here that I proposed to Vedavelli and she accepted,” said Sarvanan, a software professional.

Though a semblance of normalcy has returned to the Marina, the beach is far from its normal bustling self.

Until Dec 26, a sea of humanity would throng the beach every day. Children would play cricket, fly kites and enjoy horse rides while couples would simply sit on the sand or walk hand in hand.

The Black Sunday changed all that. That was when tsunami swept through Tamil Nadu’s winding coast, leaving a trail of death and destruction, making Marina lose her mirth.

Describing the fateful day, retired bank officer P. Mohan said: “I was on my morning walk when I saw the sea suddenly rise over six feet and come toward the shore with great speed. I was some 500 meters away from the shore and lucky to have escaped.

“Those near the shore were getting washed away. Before I could comprehend what was wrong, I saw everything getting inundated. Right from the lighthouse and forensic science laboratory to police headquarters and All India Radio (across the road), it was water, water, everywhere.”

S. Ramachandran, director of the Institute of Ocean Management at Anna University, says the Marina beach saved densely populated areas of Chennai like Triplicane and Chepuk by blunting the wrath of the tsunami.

Murugan, a shopkeeper, says the tsunami destruction has left behind a phobia of the sea.

Though dark memories hold back some from venturing out to the beach, many are undeterred.

Also, with police putting up roadblocks and warning signs, it seemed the Marina had been abandoned.

Now, it is slowly getting back its admirers.

Muthukumar, a college student, says: “In any case the worst is behind us. Marina is the lifeline of Chennai.”