20 years after the massive Indian Ocean tsunami

The terrible memories of the Asian tsunami of December 26, 2004 may never fade away from the minds of the millions of its victims and the people who worked to provide relief and rehabilitation in the immediate aftermath of the huge tragedy. Fishing boats dumped ashore as piles of broken timber, warships that lay capsized after having been lifted high out of the water and slammed back onto jetties, heavy trucks that had flown away as if made of paper, a strong naval base destroyed beyond what any enemy could have done, thousands of buildings reduced to rubble and a large populace bereft of any emotion, forced to lean on any helping hand that anyone could provide. Selfless response India’s immediate, massive and selfless response which reached help to Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Maldives despite the massive destruction at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and along the coasts of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, was something the world sat up and took notice of. My own Commander in Chief in India, the local Sri Lankan Naval Commander in Chief and the Indian High Commission at Colombo stood like rocks behind us, never ordering anything. Though other countries contributed men and material for work in Sri Lanka, the President of Sri Lanka met only an Indian Navy delegation to personally convey the country’s gratitude.