TSUNAMI2.CBS 01/02/05 8:05 PM-DLR   1:46
The Osgood File.  Sponsored by ________.  This is Dave Ross.  On the CBS Radio Network.
We've seen the pictures - and now, we're hearing the stories behind them.  More after this:
(SPOT)
From a small coastal town in India, AP reporter CHRIS TOMLINSON tells the story of the Ramakrishnan family -  one of the millions who stood helpless as the ocean that had given them their living suddenly decided to take it back.
Sangeeta, her husband, and their three children lived in a concrete hut 40 yards from the beach, behind a two-story community center.   It's a place where the weather is typically breezy and sunny, and the fishing is pretty good too; in fact Sangeeta's husband had just returned with a boatload of fish December 26th when he heard a strange noise coming form the sea.
He climbed to the roof of the center to get a look - and knew immediately it was time to run.  He shouted to Sangeeta - run up the hill, and fast.
But she could only carry two of her three children.  Her oldest, Dinkaran, age 7, would have to run on his own.
Which he did - except he ran the wrong way- to the safest place he could think of, the family's concrete hut forty yards from the shore.
And that's when another family member took over - Selvakumar, who went to the hut, grabbed little Dinkaran by the collar, and dragged him up the hill to safety.
Sangeeta didn't see this - she was sure she'd lost her son when the wave crashed over their home.
But in a few minutes, walking across the road, and up the hill, who should appear but Dinkaran, safe and sound, with Selvakumar, the family dog, at his side.
Selvakumar has been in the family since he was a puppy - an ordinary looking yellow mongrel, hardly the Lassie type; followed a typical canine schedule - play with the boys during the day, sneak inside to sleep with them at night, no matter how many times they tried to throw him out.  No rescue training, no pedigree - but somehow, when it counted, he knew exactly what to do.
And I'm guessing that after this, he can sleep wherever he wants.
The Osgood File.  Dave Ross.  On the CBS Radio Network.
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