The 20th Tsunami Memorial Day was observed on Thursday at various places in Puducherry and Karaikal. Lieutenant Governor K. Kailashnathan and Chief Minister N. Rangasamy led the commemoration ceremony held near the Gandhi statue on Beach Road.
As part of the tribute, participants offered milk and flowers into the sea and placed wreaths at the photos of those who lost their lives in the devastating 2004 tsunami. It caused massive destruction in several states, including Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala. In Puducherry, over 100 people lost their lives, and thousands were displaced.
For the original inmates of the Annai Sathya Government Children’s Home at Samandhampettai in Nagapattinam district, however, the anniversary is an opportunity to renew friendships and meet the people who gave them the love and affection that the tsunami had snatched away.
Recently, 40 alumni of the institution who had been among the 128 admitted into the home in 2004, gathered for a reunion with J. Radhakrishnan, Additional Secretary, Co-operation, Food, and Consumer Protection Department and his wife Krithika.