“It was just the day before…..”
“What was just the day before?” asked Selvan, my husband.
I wanted to continue but I couldn’t as the memory of the last few days flashed through my mind I could feel the tears welling up wanting to burst out as if from a dam. I continued drawing Arya closer to myself.
“It was just the day before yesterday that, we of the Sreesakthi group met. Like usual all of us collected Rs.50 each to deposit in the bank. Today we were to decide when the next meeting would be and where it would be held. And yesterday I saw four or five of them, their bodies being washed away with the torrents of the gigantic waves. Now I don’t know who all are left amongst us. I don’t know if god has spared them like he spared us”. I sobbed not able to control myself.
It was yesterday that the tsunami struck. My husband saw the sea rising. Twice the waves rose a bit. Seeing this he got worried. We did not know what to do. We rushed to our relative’s house where we knew that their children were alone. We picked up the four children from there and rushed back home. Arya had gone out to play and was in our neighbor’s house. They came and dropped her off. I was worried, really worried. The only thought of relief to me was that my son was at my mother’s house. They would have moved to a safer place. They would be safer than us.
My husband grabbed Arya and hoisted her onto his shoulders. I grabbed three of the kids and mother caught hold of the fourth kid. We held onto the bars of the windows waiting for the worst to happen. Then a huge, tremendous wave came upon us. The waves did not bear upon us with much force because of the surrounding houses. We held on tightly to the bars.
As the waves receded we were relieved to see that all of us were alive though shaken up. Many bodies floated past us, faces of some that we knew and others that we knew not. We did not know where to turn, where to look. We could not leave the bars but had to hold on, hold on till the water receded. We waded out as the water receded.
Due to our luck and god’s grace we found shelter in a school where we rested for some time. We tried to dry ourselves but did not succeed much. We sat there for some time when people came running toward us. They told us the worst news. They told us that the tsunami warnings had been issued and that it may strike again. We were asked to move… move to a safer place. We were evacuated from there and brought over here, to this camp at Shraiyakkad.
How many days will I have to stay over here, I wonder? Will we be safe again? When can we go back to our house? As the night goes by, all I can do is wonder…
