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This Viral Poem On Chennai Floods Captures The City's Spirit

This Viral Poem On Chennai Captures The City's Spirit
A boy carries a child and wades through a flooded street in Chennai, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015. Weeks of torrential rains have forced the airport in the state capital Chennai to close and have cut off several roads and highways, leaving tens of thousands of people stranded in their homes, government officials said Wednesday. (AP Photo)
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A boy carries a child and wades through a flooded street in Chennai, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015. Weeks of torrential rains have forced the airport in the state capital Chennai to close and have cut off several roads and highways, leaving tens of thousands of people stranded in their homes, government officials said Wednesday. (AP Photo)

Food ordering app Zomato is encouraging users to donate meals to those in Chennai using its app. Practo, the healthcare discovery platform is calling doctors listed on their platform to see if they are available to lend services to those affected. The company has created a Google document where they have shared the contact numbers of doctors available for help. Paytm said it is offering free instant recharges of Rs 30 for friends of users stuck in Chennai.

Now, while this is how the Indian corporate firms are trying to help the victims of Chennai floods, it is mostly the people in the city who are opening up their doors and doing everything possible to help each other.

Here's a poem by a Chennai resident Deepan Ramachandran that shows the spirit of the city.

The poem that he posted on Facebook has gone viral and has been been shared over 5,000 times in the last 19 hours.

It’s raining in Chennai.

And it’s not just the skies that have opened up...

Many homes are letting in water, but quite a few are letting in guests.

The First floors are embracing the Ground floors.

Malls are welcoming footfalls, and that too without wallets.

Movie halls are counting box office numbers differently.

Hotels are giving out foods that aren’t leftovers for a change.

Marriage halls are solemnizing more marriages of souls than ever before.

Social Walls are tearing down their Civil counterparts.

140 characters are travelling faster than a ‘108’.

Taxi services are plying boats, MTC buses are plying like taxis.

Religious differences are being doused in a relentless downpour.

Politicians are knee deep in water and politics has sunk.

But Leaders are being born at every waterlogged junction.

Soldiers are being born at every dangerous turn.

And humans are being born at every deserving instance.

It’s raining in Chennai.

And it’s not just the skies that have opened up.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.