When the fishing boat started to shudder off Kanyakumari coast, 49-year-old V Xavier never took it seriously. A veteran fisherman that he is, Xavier immersed himself in dragging the fishing net hoping for a good catch.
But moments later, he sensed that there was something unusual in the way their boat got tossed here and there on the tides. So did his fellow fishermen I Joy, 34, Varuvel Pillai, 58 and Amalraj, 32 from Rayumanthurai in Kanyakumari in the south Indian State of Tamil Nadu.
Even as the four looked up at each other in shock, a giant wave hit the boat. The next moment they realised that all the four were in the sea. The boat had capsized.
They battled the rough sea, strong winds and hunger pangs for nearly three days clinging on to the capsized boat without food, water or sleep. Three of them were rescued only on February 3, by a Sri Lankan fishing boat. Varuvel had died on the second day.
Xavier, Amalraj and Joy who arrived at Madurai airport from Sri Lanka on Friday are yet to emerge from the shock. “It was around 2.30am on January 31. I was getting ready to drag the net when the sea got rough. Since rough seas and strong winds are usual phenomenon, I thought that soon everything would be normal. But it continued for more than an hour and in an unexpected moment the boat capsized throwing all of us into the sea,” said Xavier.
Amalraj says that it was a like a rebirth. “There was no one around for miles. It was dark and cold everywhere. We hoped that some fishing boat would soon come by our way. But our wait went from one hour to 10 hours. Then I thought by the end of the day we would be rescued. But night fell and no one came,” recollects Amalraj.
The next day too went by waiting for help. The four started drinking the sea water to quench the thirst. “These four days were the longest in my life. Every second seemed to be an epoch. Some boats did pass that way. We would wave our shirts in that direction, but they would not notice,” said Joy.
Lack of food and water started taking the toll on Varuvel. His body weakened and Varuvel started crying for water. “We could not console him. We tried to give him hope. But after a while Varuvel could not continue the fight and gave up,” Joy said.
Xavier, Joy and Amalraj too fell unconscious often, but tied themselves to the boat to prevent going adrift. “The ray of hope came when we spotted a tiny object on the horizon on the afternoon of January 3. All our eyes were fixed on it. Hoping that it could be a vessel, we gathered our strength and started waving a cloth. Our hope was not in vain,” Amalraj said.
The Sri Lankan boat came closer and rescued them. The Lankan fishermen took them to Negumbu coast on February 5 where they were treated before being sent to Madurai. “We were moved by the hospitality of the Sri Lankan fishermen. We owe our second life to them,” said Xavier.
2013 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.