The dark blanket of night was pierced by the golden sun rays. Dawn glided in from over the seas bringing with it the chirp of birds and the coastal village of Kariapattu awoke to a new day.
The village was populated mostly by the fishermen who earned their bread by fishing in the deep sea . They lived by the bounty provided by it and they considered the sea as their goddess.
The village settlement roughly consisted around 150 huts and its vicinity to the sea always made the smell of salt linger in the air. From one of these huts emerged a woman. Typical of women in these part of woods, she was very dark skinned and appeared very busy doing the morning chores.
Meenamma had awoke before the first rays of sun had reached Kariapattu. She had since then cleaned up her hut , filtered out the water from the rice cooked last night and was on her way to wake her husband up. She entered into the hut to find him already awake and ready to start out to the sea for fishing.
“ Remember we have to go to the wedding of our headmaster's daughter. do come back soon” she said to him
“ ok, I will come back by the time sun rises half way up. We can start after that to the ceremony”
Meenamma with concern filled voice asked him “ Should you at all go to the sea? Yesterday in radio they were warning of high tides in the sea”
He replied with laughter in his voice “ My dear, remember sea is my first wife. She will never harm me. Also I need to work hard for the sake of our son” He pointed to their only son Maravan sleeping soundly in the far corner of the hut.
“We will make him a doctor or collector. Mark my words, he will be one of the first from our kind to go to such levels” the passion was obvious in his voice
She looked fondly at Maravan and then her husband. Her life was mainly filled up by these two. She lived for them and took immense satisfaction at it. They started towards the sea together as is the practice. Outside their hut , their neighbor Anjarappa was lying on the cot
“*Anna, aren't you going for fishing” She enquired.
“No *thangachi, I am not feeling... mhhm. mmhm .. good today” His whole body shook with spasms of cough.
“ Anna, take rest then .. do go to doctor if it gets worse” with these words both Meenamma and her husband started toward the shores. They proceeded hand in hand, in a staggered walk common to people walking on loose sand. The sea line neared them soon and the sound of silence filled around them. If at all a sound can be attributed to silence, nothing would be more apt then the sounds echoing in the shores of the sea. To Meenamma, this great rumble of the waves , the far horizon and the blue sea gave a marvelous serenity. As always Meenamma was humbled by this great body of water. The sheer expansiveness, made everything else insignificant to her. Her worries, anxieties dissolved here as the waves danced onto to the shore and crashed with a fall from their grace.
She helped her husband untie their wooden boat and both of them pushed it into to the sea. Meenamma's husband half swam, half ran with it after which he climbed onto the boat.
The silhouette of the fisherman waving to his beloved gradually diminished. Meeanmma started walking towards her hut . She might have gone just half the distance when she started feeling the tremors. It seemed to her that her legs were giving out. She increased her pace towards the hut and as she neared she saw that there was a melee .People were milling around running . She approached her neighbour.
“Anna, what is happening around here ? Why are everybody out of their huts?”
“Meenamma, we are having a earthquake” As he was talking, all the vessels from her hut tumbled down. Maravan rushed out screaming
“ Amma, amma.. The sea monster has tunneled into our village. I even heard its laughter !”
Even with world going crazy, Meenamma smiled at her child's imagination.
“ Don't worry Marava. I am there . Nothing will happen to you”. She hugged him and took shelter underneath a nearby tree.
Gradually, the tremors subsided. and ground as if ashamed into silence for its ugly dance, stilled.
Meenamma started collecting things from her hut and organized the disarray wreaked by the earthquake. It was then she started hearing cries. She came out to see what is it about.
“ Meenamma, where is Maravan? Call him we need to move out” cried Anjarappa “ It seems waters are coming onto the village” with this he grabbed few of his possession from inside his hut and bundled them in a torn dhoti.
“ Quick quick, no time to waste. Fishermen who had gone to sea came back running saying that very high waves are crashing onto the shore.”
Meeanmma was at a loss of words. A tight knot formed in her stomach “ Anna!!.. my husband just left for the sea .. will anything happen to him ?” concern and disbelief was ripe in her voice.
“ Don't worry about him. He swims with the fish in the sea. He will reach back safely. “ Anjarappa assured. A dark thought passed over him , but he quickly pushed it off. Nothing should happen Meenamma's husband, he wished silently.
Meenamma rushed inside her hut , looked for Maravan who still seemed spooked by the earthquake. “ Marava, come .. we need to move out of the hut for a while”.
“ Amma , appa hasn't come back . How can we leave without him? “ cried Maravan.
“ No Marava, appa has already come. He is waiting for us outside the village” Meenamma entertained this thought and it seemed to give her some peace.
Meenamma , Maravan and Anjarappa along with many others started running away from their huts. Even as they were running, the waves started crashing on to the huts with crippling force. The crowd which included in it many children and women, ran to the nearest solid structure in the village, the Kariapattu corporation school.
When Meenamma entered the big hall of the school , she saw that already many had taken refuge under the halls . She scanned for the familiar figure of her husband frantically. Cries of babies , cries for help, cries of beloveds calling each other filled the hall. People were searching there loved ones.
In the chaos, she heard his voice calling out but couldn't spot him. She ran around carrying Maravan in her arms . Meenamma thought she heard him in the far corner but he was not there. A hand raised from the crowd waving at them. She started toward the direction expectantly only to see that it was somebody else. Another hand gripped her from behind.
“ Thangachi, where had you gone. Don't go running around here. You might get stamped” Anjarappa started pulling her into a corner.
“ Anna leave me, My husband is somewhere here. I need to find him “ She cried..
“ Thangachi, you wait here. He will come and find you. If you are roaming around he might not be able to spot you”
Meenamma seemed to consider this. She calmed down a bit and looked at Maravan. Terror was filled all over his face. She had to comfort him first. She sat down and made him sit in her lap
“ Marava, why are you looking so frightened? Aren't you a brave man. We are here to look for your father. We will find him and go back to our hut. Now don't you worry” she cajoled him .
“ Ok amma “ replied Maravan weakly.
“ Anna, can you look around the place and see if my husband has come. Tell him I am waiting here” she said to Anjarappa.
“ Sure thangachi” Anjarappa started towards the entrance.
He found a uniformed officer calling out instructions. Anjarappa approached him
“ Ayya, do you have any information of fishermen who had gone to sea this morning ? “
The officer eyed him condescendingly
“ Go back and sit down quietly now. save your questions for later “ he barked.
“ But sir, the fishermen should be given information that we are taking refuge here in the school”
“ Please send some of your guys to inform the fishermen who might have got back “ He urged the officer
“ Do you have any idea what is happening out there!!.. we are stuck by Tsunami. Waves as high 50 feet are crashing and you want to send my officers out there ?? None of the fishermen who ventured into the sea will be able to return alive. Consider yourself fortunate to have escaped its fury” Anjarappa flinched at these words. He started fearing the worst.
“Write down the description of the fisherman you are looking for and your name. I will call you if any corpse matched your identification” added the officer
A cold hand seemed to grip Anjarappa's heart. With a tight chest, he gave the identifications.
He went back to Meenamma , “ Thangachi, the fisher men who had gone to sea haven't returned yet. I have informed a officer about your husband. They will send him to you as soon as he returns. Nothing will happen to him. Be brave” pleaded Anjarappa.
“ Of course Anna, what can happen to him. Do you remember how he had swam a mile into the sea to rescue the net cut down by the wretched motor boat!!” said Meenamma
“ He always use to say sea is her first wife and She will never harm him. It is only matter of time till he comes back .. yeah .. only matter of time .. he will come back .. definitely come back” it was as if by repeating these words she willed her husband's come back.
Hours passed. People started squatting down. Relief food packets were distributed to them by the local police. Still no sign of him .Meenamma was still on the lookout. Her gaze never stayed at one place. She refused take any food.
“Thangachi, take these packets. Don't stay hungry. For gods sake eat the food” pleaded Anjarappa.
“ Anna, I do not know whether he had had his food. How can I eat if he hasn't? I will eat with him after he comes” Meenamma stayed adamant.
A day passed. The villagers were informed that the calamity had passed. But the village was completely damaged. All the huts were swept off. They continued to stay in the halls of the corporation school. Meanwhile Meenamma's condition deteriorated with time. She became shifty eyed, started murmuring something to herself, refused to eat , refused to sleep. Anjarappa became really concerned.
“ Thangachi, I hope with all my heart that your husband is safe. Don't wear yourself out with worry”
Day two and three also passed without any sign of him. Meenamma seemed to have lost her thread with the reality. Her only concious was the about the safe return of her husband.
“ Thangachi, see here. We have been given some relief money to rebuild our hut. Take it. We will have to move on now”
“ No, I am not moving an inch without seeing my husband” shouted Meenamma
“ Thangachi, for all we know your husband might be waiting by the hut. He may not know that you are here. Come lets go back” requested Anjarappa.
This struck chord with Meenamma. She readily got up with Maravan and left for the village.
Anjarappa set up a ad-hoc hut structure for both himself and Meenamma.
Meenamma had grown impatient day by day. she became restless as there was no sign of her hisband's return.
Anjarappa was still thatching his hut when a guy in Khaki uniform came by in a bicycle shouting his name. “ Are you Anjarappa ?. You had complained of a missing fisherman right. Go to the general hospital morgue. you can try identifying the missing person there ”.
Filled with despair, Anjarappa left for the hospital. Nothing can be more heartbreaking than the cries of the living for their lost departed loved ones. Anjarappa experienced this in the hospital. With a heart as heavy as the anchor, he entered the hospital morgue.
Meenamma was still waiting for her husband. She believed that at any moment he can show up with his bright smile and cheery voice “ Meenamma .. why did you worry at all. see I am back safely!”..
She saw a shadow cross the entrance. Her heart beat skipped but only for an instant for it was Anjarappa who had come in. There was something terrible in the way he looked at her. The look was filled with grief and pity.
“Meenamma, the sea we worshipped had made your husband a god too !!!.. she has taken him away from us” his voice choked and he was no longer able to look at Meenamma. With these words he ran to his hut lest she see him crying. Anjarappa sat there brooding till the shock and grief passed over. Concern for Meenamma now filled him and he rushed back to her hut to find her not there. Maravan was still there
“ Marava, where is your amma ?” he asked
“ Amma ran crying towards the sea” he replied in a voice already that was already breaking with emotion.
My god, thought Anjarappa. How foolish of him to have broken the matter to her like this. Hadn't she for days waiting for him . Instead of being with her, he had abandoned her in the time of need . Now she has taken this terrible decision and he had to stop her. Hurriedly he ran towards the sea shore.
A lone figure of a woman was standing very close to the sea line.
“ Meenamma , don't.. don't do this .. wait” shouted Anjarappa
Meenamma turned to look at him. Anjarappa stopped in his tracks. Her face shone with fiery determination. Gone were those shifty eyed glances replaced by a focused steady gaze. In it was visible a suffering, a grief but more visible was a serenity that has come with the acceptance
“ Don't worry Anna. It was not knowing that killed me. It was the waiting that made me suffer. He had said that sea was his first wife. Now it has taken him as hers. I will live on .. for Marvan's sake. for the sake of his wish “ The sound of silence echoed around them
* Thangachi - sister
* Anna - Brother
