Varkey, Mathews

English

University of Calgary Journal Hosting

35A Tsunami’s Tryst with FisherfolkMathews VarkeyIt was DecemberThey were in a hurryto ring down the curtainon a year.December 2004, andtwenty-sixth the morning . . . .The day began as usualfor the village of the fi sherfolk;though the morning sun took a while longerto clean up the December mist.Men were back from the seaslong before, and their women bustlingto begin their bargain.The boys ventured out early, playing cricketand kuttiyum kolum.And the girls hopped back and forthon the columns they drew on the sands.With pebbles in their hands.While the elders sat outsidewatching their children play.Many more, many morekept pouring in.The sea was calm and serene, now.No clouds gathered.No satellites beamed to cautionthe village of the fi sherfolk.Not a lightning before the thunder.Though a hush of the wind from the East.In one swift strokedid the waves roll back a milebaring the beautyof the bottom.The children rushed in to pick up the gemsthat decked the fl oor bed36where little fi sh littered alive.While the elders held them backdumbstruck.At this rare show of the blue seas.The tides were busy thenbuilding up high walls somewhere not far.And without noticeto the village of the fi sherfolk.Came racking then like a bolt from the blue seaswith a bull-dozer and a roar.Tossed up lives and homesin surging waters.A broken haystackcaught in a windstorm.In the tussle, for some a chanceon roofs, tree-tops.But later did the waterswash up ashorea mash of fl oating wreckageof the dead and the dying, half-naked.The day drew to a closeonce again.A forsaken day of a yearfor the village of the fi sherfolk.By a sleight of the sullen seasstill rummaging through the ruins.Leaving mass graves for the deadno mourners for the missingand a burgeoning baffl e for the half-dead.Tsunami’s sundries now squattedlike strange bedfellowsin makeshift shelters.In borrowed clothes.Mangled in blinding griefand desolation.And to millions, a froth of frozen snapshotsof life that was yesterday.

A Tsunami’s Tryst with Fisherfolk

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A Tsunami’s Tryst with Fisherfolk

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University of Calgary Journal Hosting