Many were knownCountless unknownQuite away from shoreNot visible any moreBreath shortenedLack of life air saw no endPainful departureStruggled giving final gestureNo time givenTo say good-bye evenChildren orphanedCrisis deepenedGrief strickenTragedy befallenMourners restrictedLast honors limitedMany who treated yesterdayNo more todayLoss unbearableRemembrance unbelievableWave swept away livesBut hope thrivesDaily bread snatchedMisery unmatchedStreets desertedMeans evaporatedDays spent in hungerNights bereft of slumberDistant from native placeIn search of solaceWaited for helpFended for selfIt seemed all overMay not see loved ones everBut do-gooders descendedWorsening preventedMisfortune endedDisaster avertedThe calamity triedHowever humanity survivedWe owe them a debt of gratitudeFor shouldering responsibility of this magnitudeWave swept away livelihood But faith withstood -Abhay Sharma, CSIR-IGIB