{"id":3195,"date":"2016-06-04T20:50:16","date_gmt":"2016-06-04T15:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3195"},"modified":"2016-06-04T20:50:16","modified_gmt":"2016-06-04T15:20:16","slug":"kerala-floods-fishermen-unsung-superheroes-national-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3195","title":{"rendered":"Kerala\u2019s Fishermen, the Unsung Superheroes of a National Disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Y<\/span><\/p>oung urban Indians are like Greece: Our Instagram aesthetic defines us and we are constantly trying to ignore the very real problems plaguing us internally. The Kerala floods then, have acted as a stark reminder of several things: our mortality, the fickleness and superficiality of our lives, and our complete blindness to the ecological disaster we are in the middle of. It\u2019s hard not to be petrified by the wrath of mother nature while scrolling through social media feeds filled with scenes of utter devastation and turmoil.<\/span><\/span>\n\nYet, one set of heroes has managed to break through our apathy and indifference: Kerala\u2019s fishermen who have aided the rescue efforts standing shoulder to shoulder with the authorities. <\/span>\n\nIn the worst rains ever recorded in the state, over 360 lives have been lost, more than 40 people are still missing, and over two lakh have been displaced. And despite the NDRF\u2019s best efforts, an army of bravehearts has had to step forward to help save the day. Wading through neck-deep water to rescue men, women, and animals stranded in multi-storey huts, shanties and tree-tops, Kerala\u2019s valiant fishermen have helped greatly curtail the effects of this tragedy. Amazingly, most of them have done so with no proper resources or medical equipment. <\/span>\n\nA young survivor, Anunand was one of the hundreds rescued by the fishermen. The 22-year old graduate student was apparently trapped in her flat for close to four days and believed she was a goner until the fishermen <\/span>came to her aid<\/span><\/a>. Hers is just one of the hundreds of stories to come out of the disaster-struck state. <\/span>\n

They were offered a compensation of 3,000 rupees per volunteer, but the fishermen wanted none of that.<\/blockquote>\nPerhaps the most enduring image from this tragedy is of a fisherman selflessly kneeling to help the victims climb aboard inflatable boats. In a <\/span>video<\/span><\/a> that went viral a couple of days ago, KP Jaiswal, 32, is seen getting down on all fours in waist-deep water at Mallapuram, offering his back as a bridge for women and the elderly to step over and climb onto the rescue boats. Among those he rescued were two senior women and a young mother with a baby. Social media has been quick to appreciate Jaiswal\u2019s efforts, labelling him a \u201cnational hero\u201d and describing his gallantry as one of the \u201cgreat stories of humanity coming out of this disaster.\u201d Naturally, the country\u2019s meme-makers have jumped to the task and circulated endearing images of the lungi-wearing men in superhero capes. \u00a0<\/span>\n\nEven the state\u2019s finance minister, TM Thomas Isaac acknowledged the immense contribution of the fisherfolk in stabilising the situation in flood-affected areas not accessible by official rescue authorities. They were offered a <\/span>compensation of 3,000 rupees per volunteer, but the fishermen wanted none of that \u2013 one even stated, \u201cI did not save lives <\/span>expecting benefits<\/span><\/a>.\u201d<\/span>\n\nThe state will now have to address a different set of concerns: Post-relief efforts such as containing the outbreak of waterborne epidemics, dealing with all manner of medical emergencies, and building parts of the state from scratch. If all goes well, the state will be back on its feet soon \u2013 as will its fishermen. While they\u2019ve refused the pitiful compensation, one can <\/span>only hope that the state will view the entire community with a finer outlook, and ensure things are better for them <\/span>systemically<\/span><\/i>. Kerala owes them.<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Perhaps the most enduring image from the Kerala floods is of a fisherman selflessly kneeling to help victims climb aboard inflatable boats. It\u2019s true. Some superheroes don\u2019t wear capes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":3196,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[5380,6224,6225,6201,19,6226,1132,6227,6228,6229,6230],"class_list":["post-3195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth","tag-disaster","tag-disaster-management","tag-disaster-relief","tag-floods","tag-india","tag-indian-government","tag-kerala","tag-kerala-floods","tag-mother-nature","tag-natural-disaster","tag-world-affairs"],"yoast_head":"\nKerala\u2019s Fishermen, the Unsung Superheroes of a National Disaster<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Perhaps the most enduring image from the Kerala floods is of a fisherman selflessly kneeling to help victims climb aboard inflatable boats. It\u2019s true. Some superheroes don\u2019t wear capes.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3195\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kerala\u2019s Fishermen, the Unsung Superheroes of a National Disaster\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Perhaps the most enduring image from the Kerala floods is of a fisherman selflessly kneeling to help victims climb aboard inflatable boats. It\u2019s true. Some superheroes don\u2019t wear capes.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3195\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arr\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-06-04T15:20:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1534852404-1024x573.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"573\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jackie Thakkar\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Kerala\u2019s Fishermen, the Unsung Superheroes of a National Disaster\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Perhaps the most enduring image from the Kerala floods is of a fisherman selflessly kneeling to help victims climb aboard inflatable boats. It\u2019s true. Some superheroes don\u2019t wear capes.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jackie Thakkar\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3195#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3195\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jackie Thakkar\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b417f86364e637f8a8a0a9e682cb018\"},\"headline\":\"Kerala\u2019s Fishermen, the Unsung Superheroes of a National Disaster\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-04T15:20:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3195\"},\"wordCount\":573,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3195#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1534852404.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"disaster\",\"disaster management\",\"Disaster Relief\",\"floods\",\"India\",\"Indian Government\",\"Kerala\",\"Kerala Floods\",\"Mother Nature\",\"Natural Disaster\",\"World Affairs\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Earth\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3195\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3195\",\"name\":\"Kerala\u2019s Fishermen, the Unsung Superheroes of a National Disaster\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3195#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3195#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1534852404.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-04T15:20:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b417f86364e637f8a8a0a9e682cb018\"},\"description\":\"Perhaps the most enduring image from the Kerala floods is of a fisherman selflessly kneeling to help victims climb aboard inflatable boats. It\u2019s true. Some superheroes don\u2019t wear capes.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3195#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3195\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3195#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1534852404.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1534852404.jpg\",\"width\":1520,\"height\":850},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3195#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kerala\u2019s Fishermen, the Unsung Superheroes of a National Disaster\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arr\u00e9\",\"description\":\"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b417f86364e637f8a8a0a9e682cb018\",\"name\":\"Jackie Thakkar\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2fcbcd9ecbc4e129faf8ec6cc44bcb49f367c0b45e0130c7a43d391b1c5ecc67?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2fcbcd9ecbc4e129faf8ec6cc44bcb49f367c0b45e0130c7a43d391b1c5ecc67?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2fcbcd9ecbc4e129faf8ec6cc44bcb49f367c0b45e0130c7a43d391b1c5ecc67?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jackie Thakkar\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?author=166\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kerala\u2019s Fishermen, the Unsung Superheroes of a National Disaster","description":"Perhaps the most enduring image from the Kerala floods is of a fisherman selflessly kneeling to help victims climb aboard inflatable boats. It\u2019s true. Some superheroes don\u2019t wear capes.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3195","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kerala\u2019s Fishermen, the Unsung Superheroes of a National Disaster","og_description":"Perhaps the most enduring image from the Kerala floods is of a fisherman selflessly kneeling to help victims climb aboard inflatable boats. It\u2019s true. Some superheroes don\u2019t wear capes.","og_url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3195","og_site_name":"Arr\u00e9","article_published_time":"2016-06-04T15:20:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":573,"url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1534852404-1024x573.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jackie Thakkar","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Kerala\u2019s Fishermen, the Unsung Superheroes of a National Disaster","twitter_description":"Perhaps the most enduring image from the Kerala floods is of a fisherman selflessly kneeling to help victims climb aboard inflatable boats. It\u2019s true. Some superheroes don\u2019t wear capes.","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jackie Thakkar","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3195#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3195"},"author":{"name":"Jackie Thakkar","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/7b417f86364e637f8a8a0a9e682cb018"},"headline":"Kerala\u2019s Fishermen, the Unsung Superheroes of a National Disaster","datePublished":"2016-06-04T15:20:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3195"},"wordCount":573,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3195#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1534852404.jpg","keywords":["disaster","disaster management","Disaster Relief","floods","India","Indian Government","Kerala","Kerala Floods","Mother Nature","Natural Disaster","World Affairs"],"articleSection":["Earth"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3195","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3195","name":"Kerala\u2019s Fishermen, the Unsung Superheroes of a National Disaster","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3195#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3195#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1534852404.jpg","datePublished":"2016-06-04T15:20:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/7b417f86364e637f8a8a0a9e682cb018"},"description":"Perhaps the most enduring image from the Kerala floods is of a fisherman selflessly kneeling to help victims climb aboard inflatable boats. It\u2019s true. Some superheroes don\u2019t wear capes.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3195#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3195"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3195#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1534852404.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1534852404.jpg","width":1520,"height":850},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3195#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kerala\u2019s Fishermen, the Unsung Superheroes of a National Disaster"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/","name":"Arr\u00e9","description":"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/7b417f86364e637f8a8a0a9e682cb018","name":"Jackie Thakkar","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2fcbcd9ecbc4e129faf8ec6cc44bcb49f367c0b45e0130c7a43d391b1c5ecc67?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2fcbcd9ecbc4e129faf8ec6cc44bcb49f367c0b45e0130c7a43d391b1c5ecc67?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2fcbcd9ecbc4e129faf8ec6cc44bcb49f367c0b45e0130c7a43d391b1c5ecc67?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jackie Thakkar"},"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?author=166"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1534852404.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}