|
My little Sonu – A Tsunami Victim
Anuradha Gupta (’86 MMS)
Ocean wave,
after ocean wave,
And
devastation all around…
A little
girl, just a few months old-
Didn’t even
know she had been found.
Must have
known she was all alone,
A vacant
stare was all that was there-
Didn’t know
how her life was devastated,
As wave
after wave finally abated…
Her parents
were dead.
And as I saw
her, I wanted to hold her,
To fly
across the miles…
To be her
mother, to be the one that consoled her-
That took
her home, wiped her tears,
That took
her home and hushed her fears,
I made all
the calls, adoption was banned!
In the midst
of the worst tsunami in 40 years,
Flesh trade
had begun,
What kind of
world do we live in,
How can
despair beget this kind of sin?
When
permissions were granted,
The picture
still haunted me—
The ocean
waves, the dead bodies, the child next to them,
Perched up
steady against a bedraggled tree…
Matted hair,
big eyes, a torn dress beckoned,
I imagined
replacing her look with a smile-
I made more
calls, adoption had begun…
The laws
told me my parameters were wrong,
Visa status
and such hogwash…
More orphans
than parents—
And a mother
had been scorned.
I brooded
nights, stifling my pain,
The
bureaucracy, the distance, what did the child gain?
Now as I do
my bit, in any which way,
Tucked away
is a little prayer…
For the girl
I named Sonu, I hope she has a home
I dedicate
all my efforts to her,
But she may
very well be alone…
I’m haunted,
but every time I lose hope,
I voice her
name silently,
And
surrounded as I am,
With
everything that fills my life,
Blessings
that abound—
Sonu is ever
missing when I look around…
I still seem to grope,
For something that would fill this vacuum.
My heart bleeds at photograph after
photograph…
Profiling the disaster, filled with despair,
Death and disease; towns and homes wrecked,
Pain that no one can bear…
Thank God for every effort, every bit of aid—
While I move on…
With not even a picture of Sonu to hang on to
But I don’t want the memory of her face to
fade,
It’s something intangible that I now cling
to,
It fuels my desire to make a difference,
With so many people devastated,
I must reach out to at least a few…
|
