\xa0On 27th October, 1999. Prashant went to meet one of his friends who lived in Ersama. The place was eighteen kilometres from his village. In the evening, a super cyclone came. Winds beat against the houses with great fury. There was heavy and continuous rain. Houses and people were washed away against flood. His friend’s house was made of bricks and cement. it was strong enough to survive the wind blowing at 350 km per hour. But one uprooted tree fell on the their house and damaged some part of its roof and walls. To escape the waters rising in the house, Prashant and his friend’s family took range on the roof. For the next two days, Prashant sat huddled with his friend’s family on the rooftop. They froze in the cold and the rain. In the early morning, Prashant saw the destruction caused by the cyclone. There was a sheet of water everywhere. Only pans of cemented houses were still visible. All other houses had been washed away. Even huge trees had fallen. Bloated dead bodies of animals and human beings were floating everywhere.The destruction caused by the cyclone and the waves of the ocean continued for the next thirty-six hours. Two days later, the rain ceased and the rainwater slowly began to recede. Prashant was worried about his fam-tly. He took a long stick and started on the eighteen kilometres long and difficult journey to his village. There was water everywhere. He had to use his stick to locate the road. At places it was waist deep and the progress was slow Sometimes . he lost the road and had to swim. After some distance, he found two friends of his uncle. They decided to move ahead together. They had to push away many human bodies floating on the water. There were also carcasses of dogs, goats and cattle. in every village they passed, they could barely see a house stand-ing. He feared that his family could not have survived the cyclone. At last he reached his village Kalikuda. His heart sank. His house was gone. His family was nowhere. In order to look for his family, Prashant went to the Red Cross shelter. Fortunately his family was alive. They were very glad to see Prashant. He came to know that eighty six lives were lost in his village and all the ninety six houses had been washed away.The cyclone caused a lot of damage in Prashant’s village and surrounding areas. Prashant decided to help his own family and the others. He organised a group of youths. They pressurized the local merchant to give rice for the starving villagers. They burnt a fire and cooked the rice, although it was rotting. His next step was to clean the place of filth, dirt, urine and floating dead bodies. They tended the wounds and fractures of many who had been injured. On tbe fifth day, a military helicopter dropped food. But it did not return. Prashant and others devised a plan to attract the attention of the helicopters. They deputed children to lie there with empty utensils on their stomachs. This was done to communicate to the helicopters that they were hungry. The scheme worked and the helicopters started dropping food regularly.Prashant broughtthe orphaned children and made a shelter for them. He asked the woman to look after them. But he found that women and children were sinking deeper and deeper in their grief. A non-government organization had started a food for work programme. Prashant persuaded them to join it. He engaged other volunteers to help widows start their lives again. The orphaned children were resettled in their own community.Though six months have passed since the cyclone caused a heavy destruction, the widows and orphaned children of the village still seek Prashant in their hour of grief and need.