Fear, despair wipe out Pongal fervour

The usual pomp is absent in tsunami-hit coastal hamlets of TN, as most of them continue to mourn their dead.

It is that time of the year when people of Tamil Nadu celebrate the bounteous crops in the fields.

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But this year's Pongal festival has been overshadowed by the December 26 tsunami. The usual pomp is absent from the festival, especially in the tsunami-hit coastal hamlets, as most of them continue to mourn the dead.

A year ago, Anjamma, a fisherwoman, spent an extravagant Rs 3,000 on new clothes for her family to celebrate Pongal, the annual local harvest festival.

This year, the 45-year-old jostles with more than 100 impatient people near a village temple, waiting her turn for clothes and utensils being handed out by a charity to help tsunami survivors on the eve of Friday's Pongal.

Anjamma's in-laws and three of her four children were killed and her house destroyed by the tsunami.

The fisherwoman, like dozens of others in her village who lost their dear ones, is not sure if she will ever be able to rejoice on the biggest festival of the year.