Flanking the road from Mus jetty to Malacca village are a number of boards which read -- 'Erstwhile Malacca, Erstwhile Tamaloo, Erstwhile Small Lapathy, Erstwhile Chukchucha...' names of villages that do not exist where they used to be.
Nicobarese who live in joint families called 'tuhets' -- comprising around 12 families -- have moved into temporary homes in new locations. Some of them bearing new names like 'New Malacca, New Kankana.'
Obed Jonathan from Kankana has not moved out from the relief camp set up around his farmland. In the early days, 364 people lived in the camp. Most of them have now moved to temporary shelters. Obed says he will stay on to look after his land, chickens and pigs.
"This tree here is the mark of our farmland, it has been here for generations," he says, "and if the tree is destroyed in the next tsunami, this stone will the sign of our land."
Text and photograph: Archana Masih; Design: Dominic Xavier