Chennai Diary – Cyclone Michaung December 2023 – Poetically Speaking

It was the Cyclone Michaung we were told,
That was going to make it to our threshold,
We were hence in a spot of the blindfold,
About the extent of calamity it would unfold.

We stocked up our groceries just for the need,
And even made sure the taps had no leak,
Drinking water was stored up for about a week,
And we hooked on to news for any kind of lead.

As the lanes, streets and roads started to swell,
Power supply as expected bid us a farewell,
Realisation dawned that it was a relentless spell,
And my entire city drowned in a huge waterwell.

It was dark and cloudy and rained very hard,
The high speed winds kept us on a guard,
Social networking was what we had to discard,
And book reading became the need of my squad.

Myriad trees and homes were badly affected,
Even as people’s lives were completely disrupted,
Helping hands of neighbours thankfully sprouted,
And it proved that humanity has always existed.

The Cyclone almost hit us while doing its duty,
But were somewhat saved as it changed its trajectory,
It was our neighbouring state that bore its fury,
And yet we were left low & wet in this calamity.

Oh what a terrible havoc it created overall…
May God save us and shower grace upon us all.

PS: Great work by Tamil Nadu government in such testing times; thanks to all the administrative people who worked and are still working relentlessly to ensure our safety. We humans are an indomitable force and we have proved it time and again in every calamity.

-Sudha Mukhopadhyay