Chapter 1
During the wee hours of July 30th, I woke up to the cries of help! help, which shattered the wet night skies of Mundakkai. The idiomatic expression, raining cats and dogs’, was figuratively being enacted in the streets of Mundakkai.
I saw that the hill was sliding down towards the Iruvanjippuzha River, with a grinding sound as if Kumbha Karan was awakening from his deep slumber. Massive boulders as high as two storied buildings were rolling towards the village, flattening all the layans that came in their way. This was no ordinary landslide – it was a rockslide. People were running helter-skelter. There was utter chaos and confusion everywhere. Nobody had an inkling of what was happening.
I looked with awe at the Sentinel Rock, guardian of the plantations. Wasn’t it supposed to take care of the plantations? But here the plantations had disappeared into a river of mud and sludge, which was snaking its way down to join the Iruvanjippuzha River, whereas the Sentinel Rock just looked on helplessly.
Fright overtook me and I found myself running aimlessly. Ouch! Out of nowhere a small rock hit my head and I was knocked down to the ground unconscious and dead to the world.
