The aftermath
Thousands have lost their lives. To them the ordeal is over. But to those who survive, it has only just begun.
The awesome, amazing power of water. How many of us could ever suspect that water could be so destructive. Ironically, we all know that it is essential for life; no we have seen it washing away lives and homes with it. A man told described its effect to me, “it’s like a giant hand crushing a Vesak Lantern.” Last week I was in the affected areas of Hambantota and Tangalle. I saw it. But I did no believe it. The closest that I can come to imagining it is to see a huge hand sweeping away the pieces off a monopoly board.
I did not understand the scale or enormity of the destruction even as I was watching it unfold on TV and Radio. Surrounding me was a series of gruesome facts and images reminiscent of a horror movie. As I stood amidst a shattered house in Tangalle, I still could not comprehend the extent of the destruction around me. A war could not have caused more damage. Nothing man made was upright. Crushed to the foundations. At places (like Kahawa – North of Hikaduwa ) even the foundations of homes were plucked out of the ground.
The destruction of homes and the wreckage of the families left behid chilled me more than the bodies that I saw hauled out of the lagoon 5 days after the the tsunami. They had lost every recognisable human trace and were just reduced to being a bloated vessal that was once human.
What numbed me was a thought that crossed my mind (as I listened to a young man recount the last few moments before his younger sister was wretched away from his grasp by the onrushing water) was…what if this had happned to me. Where would I have found the courage to ontinue to live as Isalvage what remains of my home. What of my lost dignity as I am compelled to stand by the roadside, begging and fighting for aid. Would I be shutting my mind to the loss of my family and friends who were but a moment before laughing over a small joke. Would I have given up hope for survival or just survived on hope.
I remember overhearing some foreign photographers talking about the lack of good photographs during this assignment. About how people were just emotionless. Did they not realise that we have still not come to terms with what has happened around us. How could we have cried when we had no tears left to shed. How could we accept what has happened, when our minds cannot accept or even believe it.
Yet, why is that everywhere I look, people seem to be picking up their pieces and fighting to face the next day bravely in defiance to whatever nature throws at them. How is that people are surviving. Is it because of the outside aid that we they are recieveing. Because of the feeling that there are people that care for them and their future. Yes, this has something to do with it. But I think the reason that we seem to be slowly moving on is Human Spirit (or probably selective amnesia). The fact that we can lock away the pain and suffering and concentrate only on the task at hand and the future…as far as we dare see. The conviction that we have to move on and build over our lost dreams. For that can be the only answer to how we are the most succesul race that we are. How else can we explain our survival of all the catostrophies
The tragedy is not the wave or the loss of lives. It is the lives that were not lost.
The awesome, amazing power of water. How many of us could ever suspect that water could be so destructive. Ironically, we all know that it is essential for life; no we have seen it washing away lives and homes with it. A man told described its effect to me, “it’s like a giant hand crushing a Vesak Lantern.” Last week I was in the affected areas of Hambantota and Tangalle. I saw it. But I did no believe it. The closest that I can come to imagining it is to see a huge hand sweeping away the pieces off a monopoly board.
I did not understand the scale or enormity of the destruction even as I was watching it unfold on TV and Radio. Surrounding me was a series of gruesome facts and images reminiscent of a horror movie. As I stood amidst a shattered house in Tangalle, I still could not comprehend the extent of the destruction around me. A war could not have caused more damage. Nothing man made was upright. Crushed to the foundations. At places (like Kahawa – North of Hikaduwa ) even the foundations of homes were plucked out of the ground.
The destruction of homes and the wreckage of the families left behid chilled me more than the bodies that I saw hauled out of the lagoon 5 days after the the tsunami. They had lost every recognisable human trace and were just reduced to being a bloated vessal that was once human.
What numbed me was a thought that crossed my mind (as I listened to a young man recount the last few moments before his younger sister was wretched away from his grasp by the onrushing water) was…what if this had happned to me. Where would I have found the courage to ontinue to live as Isalvage what remains of my home. What of my lost dignity as I am compelled to stand by the roadside, begging and fighting for aid. Would I be shutting my mind to the loss of my family and friends who were but a moment before laughing over a small joke. Would I have given up hope for survival or just survived on hope.
I remember overhearing some foreign photographers talking about the lack of good photographs during this assignment. About how people were just emotionless. Did they not realise that we have still not come to terms with what has happened around us. How could we have cried when we had no tears left to shed. How could we accept what has happened, when our minds cannot accept or even believe it.
Yet, why is that everywhere I look, people seem to be picking up their pieces and fighting to face the next day bravely in defiance to whatever nature throws at them. How is that people are surviving. Is it because of the outside aid that we they are recieveing. Because of the feeling that there are people that care for them and their future. Yes, this has something to do with it. But I think the reason that we seem to be slowly moving on is Human Spirit (or probably selective amnesia). The fact that we can lock away the pain and suffering and concentrate only on the task at hand and the future…as far as we dare see. The conviction that we have to move on and build over our lost dreams. For that can be the only answer to how we are the most succesul race that we are. How else can we explain our survival of all the catostrophies
The tragedy is not the wave or the loss of lives. It is the lives that were not lost.
posted by The Grin Reaper at
11:22 PM
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