September12th 2000 I took duty in Toxicology lab .I went home to pick some night dresses and came back by evening 5.30pm.While I returned I found two -three persons standing in front of PG hostel holding some samples.I rushed to lab along with them.when I went through the case sheet I found suspected OP poisoning.On enquiry I suspect chances of methanol poisoning too.when tested methanol positive . Same time two more cases from the same place(kalluvathilkal,near kollam dist).Again I did the test God !it is all methanol positive .Then again ten more samples.I poured all ten in to test tubes and added reagents and waited for the result. {valla vithane athum cheythu.case positive thane.}Two of my friends rushed to me and informed about the HOOCH tragedy in kalluvathilkal. In that night till next morning we have done around 600 samples ,out of that 3/4 th were methanol positive and some OP positive.Next day it was a big galatta .lot of media coverage including leading news papers ,TV channels ,arguements,fight with chemical examiners lab,running for ethanol oh god we became real heroes.still when i write this my hair rising...30 people died and fifty became blind.still it is a haunting nightmare for me........
