India, Aug. 14 -- A ctor Bhumi Satish Pednekkar, who was in flood-hit Assam from August 6 to 9, says witnessing the devastation first-hand was very different from seeing it online. She joined the Bharat Disaster Relief Foundation (BDRF) in relief work across affected areas, where over 1.12 lakh people have been impacted. "The volunteers had already been on the ground for almost 14 days by the time I reached, doing incredible work," Bhumi tells us, adding that she wanted to go "responsibly" and "contribute meaningfully" without adding to the burden of the local administration. On her family's concern, she says, "Of course, my mother worries; she's my mother, she's always going to worry! But I try my best to stay in touch and make sure I don't give her too much reason to be anxious." Recalling villages in Sivasagar and Jorhat, she says, "In several villages, the water had still not receded. In places where it had, what was left behind was heartbreaking... homes filled with muck, sand and debris, and families who had essentially lost everything they owned. I remember thinking, how does one even begin to rebuild a life from here?" What stayed with her most,however, was the resilience of those affected: "Despite everything they had lost, there was still this incredible spirit to keep going." Urging people to help, Bhumi says donations, clothes or volunteering can all make a difference, but cautions against arriving without a plan: "Connect with an organisation that is already working there, understand what the actual needs are, and then go and do seva in whatever capacity you can."...