I  left out  some more of the survey in our residential  area which spawns around 20 acres with plenty of open space nestling inside a high rise protective compound wall  immediately after the initial moments of the tragic episode.  When I  went  to have a look around inside our compound I saw around 5 to 6 boats lying inside gatecrashing into the compound wall and one boat was lying in the midst of the broken comound wall itself. One ground floor resident ran into the first floor of the building with family members to save themselves from the on-coming palm-tree high wall of water.He told me having seen a mammoth of wall of blackish water coming swirling in with boats spinning atop them like sticks! the water wall drew back into the sea just as quickly as it came in.  When he came back downstairs he found all the valuable belongings like TV, washing machine, grinder etc., have all been washed away into the sea.

      Only after this I packed up and left.  When I cam back alone after 4 days from my place  I heard more stories. On the fateful morning of December 26 th 2004, people in the coastal town and surrounding villages were going about their activities as usual- fishermen unloading the boats with the fish, people who have come to purchase fish, villagers standing or walking on the  sea-shore. In the beach, normal morning walkers and joggers numbering about 150 were carrying out their morning ritual.  Normally they leave early.  That day being Sunday most of them remained there relaxing. Suddenly the sea waters were coming in at a height into the land in the sea-shore.  Most of them ignored it.  The second wave came at palm-tree high and sea water was coming at a height into the land in the sea-shore.  Most of them ignored it.  The second wave came at palm-tree high and sea water was coming in and in and in. People on the beach and close to the sea were just washed away by the giant wave and the water body. Many in the residential colonies closed to the sea ignored the first signals as the first relatively harmless wave came in.  Those who were watching were aghast at the sight the water coming as a hige body at palm-tree height and OH God the boats on the sea shore and back waters were flying, coming at full speed. Many acted at the very last minute as the waters swelled neck-high swimming to safety.  Even as the boats were hitting the nearby buildings, torn apart ands coming to rest after travelling several metres, thiose who were still at a distance fled running at full clip, climbed to nearby trees tops, first-floor and second floor of the storyed houses nearby and the unlucky ones were still caught and washed away into the ocean and many drowned in their own places and as the Tsunami was upon them in a trice submerging them. Thick mud accompanying the waters made it impossible to withstand as it clogged and choked their lungs leading to instantaneous death.

      Water reached as far as 1 to 2 kms inland  sending panic waves among the residents.  To make matters worse, the  moving wall of water scythed through the weak thatched huts, and buildings shattering them to pieces.  Boats for their part, crashed  into the houses and colonies to demolish the remaining buildings. The incoming wall of water after smashing the interiors of the houses took all valubale household appliances and belongings including hot cash and jewels back into the ocean as they drew back. More than a lakhs a rendered homeless and became refugees in their own country.  Thousands of bodies were lying strewn around in beaches, roads, and thorny bushes. Electricty poles and transformers were uprooted causing a total electricity black-out.

      What is this Tsunami means? It is a japanese word as japan experienced 70% of the hundreds of tsunamis that struck so far. Tsoo means harbour and namee means wave. Thus tsunami meaning harbour wave.

      How Tsunami took shape on  December 26 th.

00.58 GMT - A massive under sea earthquake registering 8.9 erupted close to the island of Sumatra.

     Indonesia is close to the "ring of fire" the area in the pacific ocean where tectonic plates intersect and volcanoes erupt making it vulnerable to quake assualts.  The Australian and Eurasian plates grind together and generate seismic tremors in the region. At 00.50 GMT(at 0759 local time) , a violent rupture occurred on the sea floor along a fault about 1000 kmsa long.  All along this 1000 km stretch the sea floor was shunted vertically up by about 10 metres. This huge shunting of sea water displaced a massive column of overlying water of about hundreds of cubic kilometres generating a massive sea surge/tsunami wave as energy equivalent to several atom bombs was created at the time. This wave speeded across the indian ocean at jet speed.. The killer waves slammed into areas thousands of kilometres apart. Walls of water, tens of metes high, swept into coastal villages, towns and cities in AS MANY AS 12 COUNTRIES.

      My place was the worst to suffer in Tamil Nadu/India with nearly 10,000 hapless people losing their lives. The world's attention was focussed on this small coastal town being already a tourist destination. Relief and medical teams from all over the globe and India descended on the place to embark on a massive-ever  Rescue,Relief andreconstruction operation.

       All that in the next.

       Kandasamy Mohan