The Hindu : Front Page : The waves receded but not nightmarish memories

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 22, 2005

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The waves receded but not nightmarish memories

Mohamed Imranullah S.

MADURAI: A. Mohamed Ismail (30), a consultant physician at Kottampatti in Madurai district, never expected fate to be so cruel to him.

He lost seven of his family to the tsunami and even after a year he cannot comprehend why he was orphaned in a jiffy.

The deadly tidal waves separated him permanently from his father M.I. Abdul Salam (55), mother A. Meherunissa (46), wife M. Fathima (26), sister S. Rabithul Basariya (24), nephew S. Abdul Wahid (2), brother A. Tajudeen (24) and cousin S. Farzana Begum (18). His father and wife were also medical professionals.

The family was on a visit to Nagore to inform relatives about the scheduled Haj pilgrimage of his parents in January.

Recalling incidents that occurred on December 26, he said in a repining voice with tear-filled eyes: "After spending a while at the beach, we got into the car, parked half a kilometre away from the shore and my brother even ignited the engine. Suddenly, there was a cry and I could see only a white wall (tidal wave) approaching the vehicle. In a fraction of a second, our vehicle was toppled and thereafter I knew nothing. Everything was over in a few of minutes."

Only hours later did Dr. Ismail find himself clinging on to a tree. A few youngsters saved him. He, along with his brother-in-law, S. Shahul Hameed (27), the other survivor, started to search for family members, only to find the dead bodies of his father, mother, sister and nephew in their damaged car. His brother's body was spotted the next day, and after 10 days of hectic search, he could only see the photographs of his dead wife and cousin at the police station, where he was informed that they were put to rest in a mass burial.

Dr. Ismail is now supported by friends and brother-in-law. "But for my friends, I would have either committed suicide or gone mad," he adds.

For a long time, Dr. Ismail could not recover from the depression. "I came out of my dejection, only when the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, on his visit to Tiruchi during June, spoke to me for more than 30 minutes. I was really touched when he shed tears for my plight."

But even now it is hard for the young doctor to digest the loss of his wife, with whom he entered into wedlock just eight months before the tsunami and his brother, who got married only in October.

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