#phailin

Amid this destruction people were quick to help each other – and me, even though I was doing nothing to assist in the critical relief efforts. Some people I knew I would meet again. Like Swarupa auntie, a distant relative of mine who gave me a comfortable place to sleep and work, and helped translate so many interviews in Oriya.

Other relationships were ephemeral. I met Gopi in Gopalpur, a fading town home to a Telugu-speaking fishing community, where Cyclone Phailin first hit land. A thin kid several years younger than me, with curly hair and straight white teeth and a moustache that was just beginning to grow thick, Gopi came from a fishing family and was training to join the army. The cyclone blew away the roof of his family hut, just like every other thatched roof in Gopalpur, and in its place a blue vinyl tarp was all that kept the rain out. And though there was much work to be done, like fixing leaks and procuring rice, Gopi still spent the day walking me through his hometown. We became friends. He introduced me to local fishermen and spiritedly explained that I wasn’t there to distribute money, but to tell stories, and that maybe by telling these stories I could make a difference in the lives of people in Gopalpur. (I could only hope for the same.) I never ended up writing about him in the article, but without Gopi – and so many others like him – I wouldn’t have had a story at all.

Night fell over Gopalpur and Gopi insisted I stay with his family, instead of paying the extortionate auto fare to get back to my place in Berhampur. “You should see how we live in the night,” he said. “It’ll be good for your research.” I declined his offer, anxious to transcribe my notes and to rest for an early interview the next day.

Vivekananda Nemana is a journalist from New York. He has written for the New York Times, the Nation and the Village Voice. He is working on a book about how adivasi youth are finding new identities amid two decades of Maoist insurgency and liberalization. Find him on Twitter or his blog, Brown White and Blue.