This is the cyclone season in Orissa. I had forgotten about this until news was announced that Cyclone Phailin which is currently filling the Bay of Bengal is due to hit Orissa between Gopalpur and Vizakhapatnam on Saturday evening. And at about 136 mph. Already 500,000 people have been moved away from the coast.

Comparisons have been made with the super-cyclone of 1999 when around 15,000 lives were lost. The authorities say that they are better prepared this time. But a film crew for Al Jazeera reported that fishermen were getting nets ready as normal today as no one had issued a warning. A lucky escape from this dangerous coastal zone.

The tribal people noted in my book generally live in the high forested hills away from the coast. Even so they are used to these very strong winds and expect to replace their rice-thatched roofs every two years or so.

Postscript: A report on 18 October 2013 gave the total number who died in Orissa as a result of Cyclone Phailin (Thai for sapphire) as 44. This is remarkably low when compared with the cyclone just 14 years earlier.