DARK WATERS

Selvan smiled when he woke up that day. For after that day he would no longer be an orphan; he was going to have a family again after 5 long years of hardships. The story was the same for the girl he was going to marry as well. Selvan had met Mary in the orphanage 5 years ago. Selvan winced when he thought of that day, the day that changed his life and his soon to be wife’s.

5 years ago:
Selvan had just turned 16 a few weeks back; he had a loving father, mother and 2 younger sisters. His father was a shopkeeper in the small town of Tiruppundi not too far from the famous church at Velanganni. Christmas was usually the best time of the year for business, with a lot of pilgrims stopping by at Tiruppundi while traveling to Velanganni. He went to a government school not far from his one storeyed house, along with his younger sisters. There was a family tradition of going to Velanganni to offer prays to the Arokia Matha. It was on that trip that Selvan had first seen Mary. She was seated a few meters from him. The family had taken a taxi to Velanganni in the morning and prayed at the Basilica. They then went to Selvan’s uncle’s home where his aunt had prepared a feast of sorts for them. It was a happy time of the year when people forgot all their worries. Selvan slept well that night dreaming of the girl he saw in the church, little knowing how his life was going to change in a few short hours.

The family prepared to leave for home the next morning. They clambered into the ancient Ambassador taxi. It had happened suddenly, Selvan watched in shock as a water wall thrice as high as the taxi approached them from the left. The force of the water blew away the car making it roll several times. Some of the debris hit the windshield and broke it, with the water swallowing up the car. Selvan remembers being thrown out through the windshield while the car was rolling in the water. He somehow managed to break to the surface of the water for a gasp of air and tried to remain at the top frantically kicking with his legs while gasping for air. He could make out the top of a coconut tree in the path of the flood and tried reaching for it. He gripped at the leaves of the tree with all the strength he could muster and tried pulling himself towards the tree. He succeeded and felt a sense of security in the tumult around him. He climbed to the top of the tree to have a better view. The sight before his eyes filled him with a fear and awe. All around him he could see water and the only things that broke the surface were the tallest of trees and a building in the distance. All around him he could see things floating around, moving with the mass of water. He could make out wooden pieces that would have made up the roof of a house, plastic chairs, and whole trees floating as well.

The bodies he saw floating in the water while on his perch still haunted Selvan in his dreams. He prayed to God above to spare the lives of his family. Tears welled up in his eyes at the thought of not seeing his little sisters again. There are truly only a few instances when a person truly prays out his heart and soul. After what seemed like hours the water began to recede, and Selvan slowly climbed down from his perch wary of what the sea was taking with her. He saw many more dead-bodies while moving down with the receding water level. When the water level was just knee high, Selvan started to run away from the direction of the sea, crying out for his family. Deep in his heart he knew that he would be only greeted by silence. He tried not to notice the death around him. He could see for miles land that was ravaged and raped. There was debris all around him, he could make out piles of raised earth, where hours ago there was a house. Selvan ran with tears welling up in his eyes. God had not been kind to his worshippers.

On the 26th of December 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami wreaked havoc claiming more than 200,000 lives and Selvan was one among the many hundreds of children that were orphaned by it. The days following the tsunami were the worst ones; he had no place to go to, his frantic search for family and relatives bore no fruit. Fate had cruelly taken away everything from him. The stench of death was everywhere. The first few days there was no shelter or food; slowly some help trickled. The authorities sent him to an orphanage in Nagapattinam not too far from his original home. The inmates of the Mission of Joy orphanage were to become his new family. All the companions he found had gone through the same trauma that he had bore witness to. There he also found Mary, fate had its cruel way. Both of them had lost everything they had, their home, their friends and their family. Their insecurity brought them together and they knew that they had their lives to rebuild. Life at the orphanage was not great, people were caring but there wasn’t a lot of money going around. They were taught at a local school and certain NGO’s had organized empowerment workshops teaching them skills with which they can earn a living.

Present Time:

Selvan looked at his bride and knew that it was a new beginning. Sometimes while he dreams, Selvan can still hear the pleasant chattering of his sisters…….