It was December 26th 2004…
It was another routine day visiting my parents in Hyderabad, India, or so I thought…
It is a day I will never forget for the rest of my life…
I was into day five of a one-week art workshop and running late. I got into an auto rickshaw and just about made it to the art center at 8.30 in the morning. As I walked into the art center, the melodious tunes of the veena, a sitar like string instrument, was playing in the background, and inspiring us to get more creative. I set up my materials and started doing my artwork.
About 15 minutes later the phone rang. I was watching our instructor answer the phone hoping it was not my mother calling me to say that my 12 month old was missing me already. She picked up the phone, said hello and a few seconds later her face fell! She ran to her adjoining office turned on the radio.
An underwater earthquake off the coast of Indonesia had triggered a tsunami, which had devastated coastal areas of Southeast Asia. All of us rushed into her office as we saw the lady go into shock. One of us got her a glass of water while the other held her hands and comforted her.
Sobbing, she told us that her son, who was in his early twenties, was working for the merchant navy and was currently stationed at an oil-drilling rig off the coast of Indonesia!!! That phone call was from her husband who was also desperately trying to call the oil company to find out the status of the drilling station and those on it.
A couple of the other workshop attendees turned on the TV as we continued to get details of the tsunami, areas that were affected, number of people, names, etc. While comforting my instructor and telling her that her son would be fine, I was secretly hoping and praying that the name of the her son or his oil rig would not appear in the list below.
For over three hours we saw a mother struggling to find out whether her son was dead or alive. Several phone calls and about three hours later the oil company called to say that those on the drilling rig were fine as they were not on the path of the tsunami. My instructor fainted from sheer relief. There is a god, I said to myself.
One year later, I as I remember the terror and fear that I saw on the face of my instructor, I tell myself that I am lucky, because, out of several thousands of heartbreaking tsunami stories, this was one of the very few that had a positive ending. I have learned to believe in the power of positive thinking. This tsunami had changed several lives, attitudes, beliefs, and hopes, including mine forever.
It was December 26th 2004…
It was the day that the tsunami changed millions of lives…
It is a day I will never forget for the rest of my life…
