On Monday morning, residents of Virugambakkam in Chennai were surprised to bump into Tamil actor Parthiban wading through knee-deep water and distributing food packets and water bottles.
Parthiban was one of several celebrities who took to the streets following the aftermath of the floods that ravaged the city from the night of December 1.
Actor Madhavan set the ball rolling with his coordination efforts on Twitter to provide relief measures in response to tweets seeking help.
Right from day one, RJ Balaji (who played a supporting role in Naanum Rowdy Dhaan) and actor Siddharth have been working relentlessly in providing aid and supplies for the affected victims. Twitter was the most powerful tool of the moment as their team, #ChennaiMicro, became inundated with tweets seeking aid. A mere tweet assured help for several, it was soon evident.
Taking a cue from social media, volunteers from all walks of life and cutting across ages pitched in support for the #ChennaiMicro team. Siddharth, now back from a visit to Cuddalore, a coastal town badly affected by the recent rains, tweeted that he and Balaji will be next working on a rehabilitation program for displaced people.
Dhanush also took to Twitter actively and coordinated relief work through his hashtag, #ChennaiRainsHelp. So did Surya, who organized collection of relief materials through his NGO, Agaram Foundation, with drop-off points at Ethiraj College, Chennai and Engineering Golden Jubilee College, Chidambaram.
Vishal and Karthi of the Nadigar Sangam supervised relief work under their banner Rescue Chennai, at a collection centre opened at Lady Andal School in Chennai.
Director Jayendra’s team, under his NGO, Bhoomika Trust, are working towards providing 2,000 dry ration kits, which include provisions and basic clothing, every day.
Suhasini Maniratnam, besides volunteering with Bhoomika Trust, tweeted that her NGO, Naam Foundation, had decided to adopt an affected neighbourhood and work towards converting it into a model hamlet.
Lending support to the Tamil fraternity were Telugu actors Rana Daggubatti, Nani and Allari Naresh through their newly formed initiative, Mana Madras Kosam, with its drop-off point at Duggabati’s family-owned Ramanaidu Studios in Hyderabad. Their truck-load of supplies left Hyderabad on December 8.
Chennai’s popular multiplex, Sathyam Cinemas, threw open its doors at its Royapettah and Velachery centres as well as AGS Cinemas at Villivakkam, for people stranded during the floods. Sathyam Cinemas also arranged tetanus shots for volunteers who had worked in the dirty water. There were no films released last week.
