Velayudhan himself is a survivor. His home was completely destroyed in the landslide, forcing him, like many others, to move into a rented house in Aripatta, near Meppadi. “I lost everything that night. I’m originally from Pattambi in Palakkad district and was posted here when I was just 29. I built my entire life in Chooralmala. For 33 years, I delivered letters to Mundakkai residents… everyone there was either a friend or a relative.

Thirteen years ago, I built a house in Chooralmala with my life savings. That too was destroyed in the landslide,” he recalls. Two months after the disaster, Velayudhan visited Mundakkai with officials from the postal department. “There was no trace of the post office. Most houses were washed away. A few still stood, abandoned.

Our postmaster, Abdul Majeed, lived near the post office. He had been battling cancer and had moved with his family to Kalpetta for treatment before the landslide… that’s how they survived. But he passed away soon after due to his illness. That was another big blow for me,” he said.

Velayudhan’s wife, Shalini T G, was working at the Vellarmala post office on a retirement vacancy at the time of the disaster. She too was a familiar face in the community, now scattered far from the place they once called home.