Wedding can wait, rescue first, says Rajeev Pillai

The Kerala floods have revealed the heroes in many, and among them is Rajeev Pillai. The actor had planned a quiet wedding a few days ago, to fiancée Ajitha, an emcee and an engineering graduate, when the floods hit his native village, Nannoor in Thiruvalla. He didn’t have second thoughts about what should come first, the wedding or rescuing his fellowmen, and jumped to action.For the past 48 hours, Rajeev and a group of men have been involved in rescuing those marooned and saving them has been the only thing in his mind, he says.
“Five hundred metres from my home, an entire area came under water. The only bit which was safe in my village was the area where we lived. There was no time to wait for rescue boats and we made a raft with whatever we could get. There were only 10 or 12 of us who were strong enough to pull the raft all day so for the past 48 hours we have been in the water,” he says.
There were many who required medical attention and also the aged, and transferring them has been a tough task, he admits. “We have just two schools, and also some of the people required dialysis every day. We hardly slept for one or two hours in the night. But I consider it our duty to do this, not as heroism,” he says.
Rajeev though downplays any talk of heroism at this dire hour of need. “Anyone would do the same thing; will we be able to sleep peacefully at night at such a time when people need our help the most?” he asks.
Speaking about his fiancée Ajitha, Rajeev says, “She is from Aluva and it’s been only three months since we fixed the wedding.” The couple had planned a very quiet wedding. “We had invited just ten people and now it will be even quieter. There will just be a thalikettu. Most probably it will be next month or so. I would prefer to keep it private,” he says.