After reading the extract of Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala,
my mind flew back to the day that disastrous Tsunami swept through the Southern
coast of Sri Lanka; the day was a Sunday precisely on 26th December
2004. As Deraniyagala explains, nobody knew about waves crashing into land nor
a thing called Tsunami. However, it came like a nightmare gulping down
thousands of lives including her beloved family and a dozen of my friends.
When we were children, we had heard about the
story of King Kalenythissa and his daughter Devi. In that story we could learn
about an incident similar to this. In that story, the sea came into the land as
a result of a sinful activity done by the king. To stop the impending disaster,
his brave daughter opted to sacrifice her life to the sea. Nobody had a great
belief in such stories until the sea attacked the land. Still, I can hardly
believe the incident, it is like a blurred scene of a film which ended quickly
leaving a numb feeling. Still, I cannot recollect about the incident clearly;
there are only fragments of memories come into my mind when pondering over it.
The truth is as I clearly see, my mind does not like to accept the grim truth
that I experienced; not totally, not close to the experience of Sonali
Deraniyagala.
As I read in an article, she too could not
accept the truth of the loss of her whole family: her husband, parents and two
children. She had to bear the burden of the memories of several tragedies: the
struggle to save her life, loss of her family and shattering the dreams of her future
life. This is the story of a thousands of lives who experienced Tsunami on that
dreadful day. Once you read her story Wave, you will feel the grief, a plenty
of grief which would give a burning ache in the heart about the victims over
the nation. She records the events like a movie which creates videos in your
mind as you are watching it right in the middle of the tragedy.
I was an advanced level student and I went to
Hambantota to attend my regular English course at Sun –Ray institute of
English. I was fortunate to save my life for not believing about the story that
the sea is rolling back. We heard the news that the sea is going back – again,
the sea is coming sweeping off the market place in Hambantota; it was the
weekly market day. Handful of students who were keen on adventures went to see
it and never came back for there was another wave – the biggest one taking
their lives. Then poured the saddened stories of the disaster. There was an instant
panic and waves of sobbing. We rushed out running for our lives. The second
wave had been subsided but we had the fear of another one. I hardly remember
how I came to the road and how I got onto a truck. There was hardly a building
to be found but debris everywhere. I saw scattered dead bodies everywhere; most
of them were purple in colour and I saw froth gargling down from their mouth.
Some people were huddling around some nooks and corners and I still hear the
sound of their moans echoing behind my eardrums.
My experience is never close to the experience
of Deraniyagala as I was not in the middle of the waves nor I lost my family
members but I could experience the incident in the side lines witnessing the
traumatic incident in my own eyes. I still cannot believe about the feeling of
life flying away from you and how you react in such situation. I can project
that small picture into the real scene and understand the feeling of fear and nostalgia;
losing your beloved ones. I feel humble and honoured about the people who stood
on their feet after losing everything in their lives.
Sonali Deraniyagala and her story Wave is a
living testimony about the tragic Tsunami and the mental strength of people who
stand amid of the grim memories of their lives. I take this as an opportunity
to extend my honour to this great female character who fought against her
dreadful memories and glittered like a star in the world. May such incident
never happen at any place on the earth because losing dear ones is the hardest
thing to bear for any living being.
Related Posts:
Sonali Deraniyagala's Background DetailsInstinctive Motherhood Awakened amid of Waves in the Extract 'Wave'
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