It was the morning of an ordinary day in July when the sky suddenly turned dark, and a rambling sound of heavy rain filled the village. Soon water began to engulf Anu Begum’s house, the place that possessed her lifelong-earned assets. The initial thought that lurked in Anu Begum’s mind was that water would cease. However, what ceased was her hope. Within hours the roads were no longer accessible, and then a gush of water stormed into her house, swapping away the clothes, cooking utensils, rations, beds, and other essentials.
Anu Begum, the resident of Ramu Gaon, stood helplessly as the water reached every nook and cranny of her house. Panic-stricken, she walks out of her house screaming, only to be heard by none. The sole member of the house lost her husband five years ago. With no children, Anu Begum has been wading through the happiness and miseries in the confinement of her house. However, she felt every ounce of loneliness yet again.
Compelled to leave her house, she found refuge in a nearby compound, only to return to the washed-away happiness. The water was still there; it made walking difficult, and she was crushed completely.
Anu Begum looked around her house. Mud covered the floors, walls were damaged, and many of her household belongings had disappeared. The house that had once held her entire life was now almost empty. What created a peril even deeper was that she lacked resources to purchase again.
The resultant floods killed more than 100 people, destroyed 2,700 villages, and displaced 700,000 people across the state. The state government says 1.2 million people were impacted in all, their lives disrupted.
And those who were left were only breathing, for their hearts were swept with devastation. Marooned in the mud outside her house, Anu Begam was one of them. Standing in the wreckage, she shared her ordeal with Miles2Smile.
“I am in great trouble, everything has been washed away,” she reiterated while talking to Miles2Smile.
Her words felt heavy on the heart, but no one spoke a word. We stepped out from her house but were stuck in the wreck, lingering on her pain and lurking on her atrocities. Our night spent heavy on our eyelids; the toss and turn of every sleep was accompanied by the thought of Anu Begum.
As the sun rose, the team found themselves drawn toward her house. But this time not to absorb the quiet but to fill the void. Kitchen essentials, toiletries, bedding, and more were delivered to her. The silence filled in Anu Begum’s house was replaced with peace and stability, and hopes in her life were rejuvenated.
