Who ever knew that after a joyous Christmas with family and friends the next day a young life would be washed away?
Fourteen years ago the Indian Ocean tsunami struck on Boxing Day. A series of huge waves triggered by an earthquake killed more than 230,000 people in 14 countries. Thineth then six, lost his sister in the tsunami.
It is a day that Thineth will never forget; because that’s when angry waves stole his beloved sister.
Thineth Pabasara Jayasuriya, student and head prefect of Ananda College, Colombo has achieved many milestones in his young life since that fateful day, recalls his daunting experiences as a frightened six-year-old.
Thineth was holidaying in the South on December 26, 2004 with his family. They had planned to visit the Bundala salterns that day.
Even though it’s been fourteen long years, going down memory lane still brings a tear to his eye. “I was playing with my sister and cousins outside the hotel where we stayed while my parents were resting in their room on the third floor. While playing, we heard a loud noise and people screaming. Even before we knew what was actually happening, a huge wall of water had taken us miles away. I cannot remember what happened, but when I opened my eyes I felt that I was inside the salterns,”
For two days
“Since I was taking swimming lessons in school, I guess that gave me the courage to swim. But with the strong waves I don’t think I got anywhere. Before long, I was very tired and I hit my head on a log. Fortunately, not that hard. I noticed it was a huge log so I managed to grab it.
I clung on to the log tightly and kept swimming with it and when I felt tired, I rested and then started swimming again. I was in the water swimming for two days and hoping I will be rescued but I never lost faith.
Frightened! I kept my mind busy with the many adventure stories I had read especially with ‘Robinson Crusoe’ coming to mind. I tried to enact the part to keep myself alive. I don’t remember when, but suddenly I realized that the water was getting shallow so I let my feet touch the surface and to my relief I could feel hard ground. I stood up still holding on to the log that saved my life.
I was so hungry and thirsty so I rubbed some water on my lips. The water was not clean and tasted very salty.
Here is where reading adventure stories came to life,” said Thineth.
“After being in the salty water for two days, I suddenly heard people shouting. For me it was like a dream to hear some uncles searching for people. In my small voice, scared and crying, I shouted for help. The people who rescued me handed me over to the Weerawila Air Force Camp. The Air Force uncles took me to hospital because I had been in the water for a long time. WhiIe I was in the hospital, my parents who had been looking all over for me, came to take me home.
Thanks to my mum who had narrated adventure stories to me and helped me read ‘Robinson Crusoe’, I was able to survive this ordeal and was not so much afraid. The uniqueness of reading is making use of the knowledge gained from those stories,” says Thineth.
Joy of living
Coming back to the present, Thineth shares his joy of living. “My hometown is Colombo and I am a student of Ananda College, Colombo from Grade one. My father is a manager in a private company and my mother is an architect.
I studied in earnest and was rewarded for my efforts. In the primary I became a prefect. I played cricket in school and captained the under 13 cricket team, was vice captain of the under 15 cricket team and the under 17 team as well. I wanted a change so I tried my hand at rowing for school and within two years I managed to get seven gold medals and four silver medals for rowing. I won a silver medal at the Asian Schools Rowing Games,” he says proudly.
Thineth says that he was the president of the school Leo, Interact and UNESCO clubs. “After my Ordinary Level Examination, I applied for the head prefectship. I had an aim that I had to be the head prefect. I always had that as a target and felt courageous and thought that if I was able to cling on to a log and swim in the water for two days, then why cannot I try and be the head prefect. You can say that the tsunami taught me a few lessons in life - especially on how to be a strong and brave person. I did not feel as if I was caught in a disaster, instead I felt as if I was on an adventure. I did not see the negative side of it - I always see the positive,” said Thineth.
No television
“Another good thing I guess in my life was that while growing up we did not have a television at home, so my mother used to read to me - mostly adventure stories like Robinson Crusoe. I imagined myself in that character. “Since then reading has become a habit for me. I like to read biographies and newspapers during my leisure time. I also remember telling my grade two mates who were newcomers that year, about my great adventure.
Thineth’s only goal in life after the tsunami was to make his parents overcome their sorrow and bring them happiness after his sister’s death. “Since I am the only child now all I want to do is make my parents proud of me. So I work hard to achieve my goals. My Principal S. M. Keerthirathna, my head teachers, Gayan Chinthaka and Champika, teachers from Grade one upwards, our senior executive board members and prefects all helped me in achieving the head prefect post.”
I did my Advanced Level Examination in 2017 in the Engineering Technology stream. My subjects were Science for Technology, Engineering Technology and IT. I passed the examination with good grades and am awaiting my call to university. I know, I can achieve anything; the experience with the tsunami I faced gives me strength to face the future,” he said Thineth’s ambition is to expand his mother’s architectural venture with branches all over the country to establish its name. His message to youth is “ we should not take the worst part of anything; instead we should take the good and think positively. When we are doing something and don’t reach our target, we should not make excuses but we should try to be true to ourselves and try hard. We should not always use ‘ME’ instead we should use ‘WE’ because as a team we can achieve anything in this world.
The tsunami has made me a stronger person. When I look back, I think I have come a long way. I was able to
survive a traumatic event in my life that has helped me become stronger and courageous.” said Thineth with a broad smile.
