N. Raghuraman's column: Our response to experiences determines the way of life

This was the daily rule, he would stand there for a while and watch the waves crashing against the shore. The waves at the Velankanni beach in Nagapattinam district, 330 km from Chennai, are very gentle. They come, and touch their feet like snow. He wants to ask the waves, 'Why were you so aggressive that day?' but he doesn't ask. Because they know the waves won't respond. But he never forgets how badly the tsunami on December 26, 2004 affected this beach. S. Selvamani, 58, who had been a fishing worker for 40 years, lost six members of his family that day, including his father and elder brother. He was shocked to see his family drowning in the sea. At least once a day, that scene of that day comes back to his memory. In the summer of 1997, P. Antony Franklin Jayaraj, a 27-year-old social worker from the same Velankanni, saw how strong waves swept away three tourists. The family members were crying near their dead bodies, this scene affected them very badly. He still wonders if he could have been saved if he had been there on time. What did they both do when life made them experience like this? Antony started a 'Catamaran' i.e. a boat with two oars and some fishermen 'Helping Hands'. After the tsunami, Selvamani also joined them. Almost all the members of his group start the day by fishing at 3 a.m. and are on shore for lifeguard duty until 6 p.m. after selling in the market by 9 p.m. Now, even the coastal security forces call 'Helping Hands' as the first response team in case of an emergency. In September last year, more than a million people visited the Velankanni Shrine Basilica. Velankanni is crowded during Christmas, Easter, New Year and the annual St. Mary's Nativity Festival. That's when Helping Hands remains a big support, especially when thousands of people come to the beach every day. Far away from this place, there is a 21-year-old girl who has made the country proud with her game. She also never forgets her simple background in the rural areas of Bundelkhand. His coach knew that his father had lost his police job and police quarters in the Madhya Pradesh government. In such a situation, he came forward to fulfill his dream. Her coach Rajiv Bilthare enrolled the girl in torn clothes and simple shoes in his SAI Cricket Academy in Chhatarpur in 2017. Since Rajiv knew that the girl's family had nothing, he not only waived the coaching fees but also gave her shoes and uniforms. I also bought cricket gear for them. He vividly remembers how when he gave him Rs 1600 to buy cricket spikes, his face lit up and he said that 'my dream has come true'. Just a week ago, during his fourth one-day international, he took 6 wickets for 52 runs in bowling. This helped India win by 13 runs against England and win the series. Kranti Gaur may be an eighth-grade dropout, but in charity, she is ahead of many educated people. The star of the Indian women's team provides premium spike shoes to budding women cricketers for free and wants that no girl with talent should be left behind just because of poverty. Fishermen know the value of their lives because they put their lives on the line at sea every morning. And sports celebrities understand how the right tools can help them achieve stardom in sports. The bottom line is that life gives all of us different experiences. Our reaction to those experiences determines the course of our future lives.