The craze for cricket could be one reason why several hundred children fell to Sunday's killer tsunami waves in Tamil Nadu.
On any given holiday, the beaches across the coastal belt between Nagapattinam and Cuddalore are full of children knocking rubber balls around with bats made of coconut branches; a heap of chappals for stumps.
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Last Sunday was no different. Tamil Nadu's budding Sachins and Irfans were out on the beaches honing their skills. By the time some of them heard the roar of the approaching tsunami, it was too late. The waves travelling at over 200 km per hour devoured them in seconds.
People watching them play say they were there one moment -- bubbling with youthful energy -- and were gone the next.
Shiv Nagaraja says cricket killed his son, 12-year-old Selvaraj. "If it were not for his craze for cricket, he would not have been out there playing on the beach," he says.
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But Nagaraja is still not fully convinced his son is no more. In the last two days, he has scoured the beaches, paddy fields and canals surrounding Velankanni in Nagapattinam district looking for Selvaraj.
"He went out to play with his friends around 07:30 am on Sunday. He has not returned home," he says.
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Tsunami waves are estimated to have killed 3,000 people in the two districts. Some of the worst-hit coastal towns were Nagore, Keechankuppam, Akkarapatti, Seruthur, Vedaranyam and Poompuhar.
Like Nagaraj, several parents are looking for their sons who were on the beaches playing cricket when the waves crashed in.
K Manikandan, a fisherman, saw his two sons trying desperately to get out of the reach of the waves.
"I saw them playing with several other children. Playing cricket on a Sunday is a routine for them," recalls Manikandan.
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As the waves suddenly appeared, Manikandan saw several children running towards their houses. "I saw my sons too running. But the next moment, the waves hit them."
"The beach was their playground. This was where they were born and brought up. How could this beach become their deathbed," says the fisherman fighting tears.
Just two days back Manikandan bought them a new bat. "I bought it from the Nagapattinam market. If I had not bought it, my sons may not have gone out so early in the morning to play," Manikandan feels.
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G Ganapathiraj, a social activist who is leading a team of rescue and relief personnel across the coastal villages, says the number of children who have died is considerably high.
"Many of the bodies we have extricated are young children. Obviously, they all were playing cricket when the waves hit them," Ganapathiraj says.
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