Life’s fleeting moments are to be cherished when you are with loved ones, for they may not be there the next. Loved ones gathered to remember one such little flower, plucked out suddenly on that fateful Easter Sunday, when seven suicide bombers blew themselves up, killing more than 250 persons.
Little Aaliya Soosaithasan lost her life along with her mother at the Zion Church bombing in Batticaloa.
Last week her peers, the tiny tots at Batticaloa Early Years School (BEYS) paid tribute to Aaliya’s memory. Students of BEYS with their parents and over a hundred others gathered at the Batticaloa Jetty, to sing, pray and remember their little friend.
Purple and white balloons, depicting the colours of their pre-school were released into the air with flying-kisses, while they sang their favourite songs ‘You raise me up’ and ‘This little light of mine’. After prayers were said in memory of their friend and the other children who lost their lives, they floated candles and flowers handpicked from their own gardens, in the lagoon as their final farewell to their little friend.
The event was organised by Founder/Head Teacher Ramani Edwards and the staff of BEYS. It was attended by the Director of Pre-School Education, Batticaloa S. Sasikaran, Assistant Superintendent of Police M.Jeyaratna, Director P.D. Mrs. S. Punniyamoorthi along with the representatives from D.M.C, Army, Police and Intelligence Service.