7 - POST-TSUNAMI EDDY CURRENTS

Deeper forces. The giant tsunami waves have done their destruction and receded, leaving bare a broken land and broken hearts: 31,000 lost, 1 million displaced in this country alone. All is calm at sea, fishermen are venturing out, bodies not longer drift ashore, and tourists are invited to return.

But as dignitaries bring sympathy and monetary aid jumps to the billions, eddy currents, like a social whirlpool, bring up deposits hidden under society’s floor.

One example: the “how about us?” syndrome.

High profile visitors like UN Secretary General Annan and the two former American presidents, Bush & Clinton, keep refreshing the hope of those in the tsunami destruction area that their lives and livelihoods will be rebuilt. There continues, too, to be a keen awareness of the societal trauma dimensions of the tragedy. President Clinton noted “a lot of emotional damage not visible.” Welcome as these visitors are, they continue to prompt a “how about us?” reaction from those in dire need but not in the tsunami ‘catchment’ and also from strategic thinkers who weigh the tsunami beside humanity’s long list of of other devastations A number of op-ed writers have spoken of the “man-made, perennial tsunami of poverty here in Sri Lanka. Other commentators note the huge annual death tolls from malaria or any of the other pestilences that afflict millions in many other countries.

Another example of these undercurrents can be seen in the preference of some for political battle over empathy and reconciliation. Here in Sri Lanka group of monks, unsympathetic to the ceasefire between the government and the Tamil rebels, are preparing a march to protest peace negotiations. Denouncing the UN Secretary General’s expression of sympathy for the recent slaying of a top Tamil leader, they accuse Mr. Annan of trying to extend political recognition to the guerillas. The protest is taking on an air of “How come you sympathize with them but never when one of ours is killed?” another example of “how about us?”

Babies, mothering and rebirth: Baby 81 now has a name and a mother. After DNA tests confirmed the real mother, baby Abilash has gone home. This closes this immensely symbolic saga. There were different versions of the infant’s magical survival and rescue: he was “caked with mud and lying on the beach,” or he was “found under a heap of twigs and debris” – narratives hinting at mystery and special powers, at strong karmic forces.

The story shouts symbolism. Baby 81 seemed to mirror everyone’s wish for resilience, to start life again. Just as the baby survived the impossible, the nation yearns for rebirth after two decades of internal strife. Note, too, the universal, mythic themes: the basket floats along the Nile; Moses is secretly received by the Pharaoh’s daughter; water is the purifier, the origin of the species.