I hear thunder
MARGARET HELEN
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Mala was restless. She could not sleep; she had a feeling that something terrible was about to happen.
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Mala was different.
Of the 13 children who lived in "Safe Harbor" only Mala was visually challenged. Safe Harbor was a home for the hearing and speech-impaired children. It was close to the shore in the coastal town of Nagapattinam, in South India. In that world of silence Mala, alone could speak and interpret sounds.
Mala had a friend called Reva who had become "her eyes" for the past five years. Mala had come to home when she was seven. She remembered the day she had arrived; Reva and made throat-sounds and touch actions. And strangely Mala understood every sound.
Reva was saying, "Mala, I have saved a sweet for you; they told us this morning that you were coming." Then Reva placed the sweet in Mala's palm. Mala was really touched by this. From then on their friendship was sealed.
Mala knew each of her friends by the sounds they made. She loved to braid little Seva's hair, help Reema dress and also help the wardens Miss Sheela and Miss Meena.
"Who are the people who live in your home?" asked Reva one day.
"I don't know," said Mala. "Before I came here I was in another home. I cannot remember my own home." Reva could hear a little with the help of a hearing aid.
A warning
One night in December, Mala was restless. She had dozed off, when suddenly she awoke. A great fear took possession of her. Restless and sweating she got out of bed. Everything was quiet as everyone was asleep. "I must wake up Reva," she told herself.
"Reva, I can hear thunder," Mala called as she walked about in the dark. She counted the beds as she found her way. She knew Reva's bed was the 11th one. She reached it and shook her friend awake.
Reva was alarmed to see Mala trembling and standing next to her bed. She began to cry. "Don't cry Reva, just take me to Miss Sheela," said Mala. The commotion woke up the wardens anyway and some of the children too. "I can hear thunder. I can hear thunder," Mala kept saying.
The wardens had never seen Mala in this state.
"I don't hear thunder," said Miss Sheela, gently.
"It's not in the skies; it's under the ground," said Mala. "So we've got to go away."
"But where?" asked Miss Sheela.
"Up to the hills, closer to the sky, away from the thunder," Mala wailed as she spoke. Miss Sheela felt the urge to send Mala back to bed, but something held her back. She made a few calls and then made the decision to go Mala's way.
Dawn had not broken, when the two wardens took the children from Safe Harbor towards the nearby hills. Carrying whatever money, water, clothing and food they could, they started the long walk to the hills. A chilly silence clung to the air.
"This is foolishness," Miss Meena grumbled. Mala was calm and contented.
"Do you hear the thunder now, Mala?" Miss Meena asked.
"Yes, but it is far away," Mala said. Miss Sheela was feeling foolish as well.
They had reached the top of the hill. Down below they could see the village and the hotels and even Safe Harbor. Suddenly one of the girls made a sound and pointed out to the sea. Miss Sheela stopped in her tracks.
Everyone of them was terrified with what they saw and they huddled together. Only Mala remained calm because she could not see the sea.
Each wave that came up rose high as a mountain, roaring as it rushed forward swallowing everything in its reach. Each wave swept forward furiously, filling the village, lashing and thrashing everything in sight. Safe Harbor was under water.
They all looked at Mala and they clung to her. She had saved them. The wardens now knew what thunder that Mala heard was — it was the beginning of the tsunami.
Miss Sheela stroked Mala's hair. In that moment Mala remembered something. "My mother used to stroke my hair like that," she said.
"Yes, child," Miss Sheela said. She was weeping.
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