Photo: C.D. Thomas in front of a photograph of his family, who were lost in a landslide 23 years ago.
Report and Photos by Raju.G.Mendez
Amboori (Thiruvananthapuram District ): For the people who live at Amboori, a far-flung village in Thiruvananthapuram district, torrential rain and, landslide has always been a nightmare, ever since the disastrous landslide on a Friday at 8.15 in the night, mercilessly swayed away the lives of 39 people at the blink of an eye, way back in 2001,23 years ago. Among the dead, 22 out of 39 had convened in the house of C.D. Thomas, the only person who survived the destiny, in connection with the betrothal ceremony of his son Binu Thomas.
Broken out from atop the Kurisumala hills, the landslide from a higher plantation area, with no warning signal, except the incessant torrential rain in its full vigor, struck the entire area. Thomas narrated the whole scenario. “While the only brother of my heart, Sebastian, and me, were sitting next to each other both enjoying night meal, sharing pleasantries, and making plans for the betrothal ceremony of my son Binu, there came the descent of everything that I had built up by long years of struggle utilizing my acumen as a businessman”. Extinction of impending dangers that surround us in every moment, is only fictional in the world of realities.
A few moments later, he was amid rubbles and debris, caught and held beneath the heaps of heavy materials and huge rocks, hugging him fiercely, sent heated strikes across the breadth of his shoulders by the falling of concrete beams built by his investment for the construction of his house, his heart throbbing wildly at the reverberating loud noise.
As an enormous boon, taking him by surprise, his head was miraculously and harmlessly kept intact. Thrusting upward, his mouth to his chest, up over the broad columns of his throat, he managed to look around. The more he struggled to release himself from under the debris, the deeper he sank in the mud. Finally, regaining his composure, he yelled at seeking the help of the neighborhoods, vowing to go down to his fellow humans to save his life.
Fortunately, his cry for help did not go in vain. Terrified by seeing all these out through the window panes, the lady in the adjacent house, alerted the people in the area and thus with their timely interventions, he could get his valuable life back that he is enjoying now despite some ailments for which he undergoes medical treatment. After 23 years of the hardships of bearing the pain of the loss of everything, and everyone he had, is now almost back to his old self.
When asked about any message to send across, indelibly engraved inside of him, he was a bit puzzled and reluctant to let it out replying “I’ve no any message to share with anyone and moreover, I’m not the one to give any message to the society. If they really want it, my life after, itself can be considered a message”. The willpower that he had inherited from his forefathers, the ever-glowing fighting spirit that he is bestowed with, is admirable for whatever it is! He is one of a kind he really is!
Despite ailments related to age, his positive mindset to challenge any harsh realities makes him unique; the strength that he has attained by overcoming himself from the clutches of physical harm, mental trauma, and emotional anguish makes him stand out. He went on mincing words sparingly as his intrinsically feathered self-esteem, managed to impart dignity, compelled from within by ruminating on his glorious days foregone! He seemed to burst out when recounting the murky moments flashed through his mind.
Our conversation went softly into the silence that followed, he seemed to shrink, he was down, reminiscing distant murmurs of it all presently. The memories are still vibrant and begin to haunt him, and his own words have struck him inwardly of his emotions. Immediately regaining strength, his body held in relaxed control, a quality of his warriorship and practice, made himself comfortable. Filled with promises, he sighed with relief at the prospect of the rest of his life.
Thomas was an enterprising businessman, a rubber trader in Amboori, at Pachimukku.On that day of the disaster, there were his children, grandchildren, and other immediate relatives who had gathered together jubilantly to attend the auspicious occasion of his son’s betrothal ceremony on the upcoming day. Extinguishing all their expectations, a landslide exploded from Kurisumala and slid down upon the region on a Friday in 2001. at night at 8.15, as a result of the intense rain which was sustained consecutively for a few days in advance.
The neighboring houses of Asokan, Sinu Panicker, and Titus also were wiped off leaving not even a trace of a single brick. As a result of the two-day-long search for the missing people,38 bodies had been recovered. It was only many years later, that the one still missing body also was found out. There were people from Erumely, Kottayam, and Muvattupizha in Central Travancore, who proceeded with the plan to partake in the function, apart from people from Amboori.
Now, C.D. Thomas, an enterprising businessman, married again and lives a fully married life in all its worth, in the same place where his old house had stood up, he erected a new house, despite the haunting memories still lingering. He never wishes to move away from where his own people had to breathe their last!
Further, when queried, by the people while set with all paraphernalia, daring to start construction of his new house, in the same fragile area, still prone to dreadful occurrences, he replied indifferently,” I’ve already suffered the loss of everything., now whatever comes… insensible..!”.
His thoughtfulness, philosophical outlook, and approach to life as a whole are the strength and courage of his guiding spirits now. Moreover, he looked more sagacious and spiritual in the way he spoke.
He, in spite of his considerably tremendous strength, the frailty of a human being, that we all share almost equally, especially when things are beyond one’s capacity, often comes down upon him too, notably when certain particular fluctuations of scenes akin to the tragic moments he had come across, happen to cross his sight like the recent, the most disastrous landslide in Wayanad on 16 July 2024. He switches off the television intentionally when scenes from Wayanadu flash through it so that he shall not be again dragged into the nightmare of the fatal landslide, he himself went through, taking away the lives of his own wife, children, brother, father of three sons, all in one strike of the landslide and buried them beneath the mud, at the blink of an eye.
Thomas was immediately conscious of the shift to the hospital, as his hands unconsciously clenched around the bowl. What had happened to me? was the virtue of ignorance in him, but only until to his help, he was told in a soft-spoken tone by the nurse on duty meticulously taking care of him, that “You have no one been left there in your house” that he came into terms with the reality.
Thomas lost the lives of 22 people, including his wife Leelamma, his son Binu and his daughter Seena. Others who succumbed to death from his family were grandchildren Felix and a baby child, Sebastian his brother along with three sons of Sebastian and some other relatives.
Though comparatively less in the ratio of several deaths, the severity of agony that Thomas had borne in Amboori, assumingly should be much higher in many ways than that of survivors of the Wayanad landslide disaster! This comparison is not meant to belittle the pains of the survivors of the landslide in Wayanad but to enhance their outlook on life and move forward confidently.
Still, he lives on with all the courage and will-power of a warrior on the battlefield of life on earth:! An ideal man for survivors of disasters to emulate. He Moves on.!
