A Day That Will Go Down In History

On the 3rd of May, 2008, in the time close to midnight, I woke up out of a sudden. I heard the raging roars of a storm and virtually nothing else. Still, my mom in bed in the inner room called for the Buddha from time to time. But my brother and I kept lying in bed as we had been. The wind made its strength double and then triple. Rain also buddied up with the wind in that struggle and, hand in hand, they marched through every sort of thing in strokes, giving forth a fierce scream of bad luck. Then I heard some trees fall flat and break down, some zinc sheets fall off and fly away to make friends with the ground. The environs were filled with mere screams of the strong wind and rain. Oh, the storm had gotten to our region in body, indeed!

The previous evening, the news of a huge storm was announced on the air as breaking news. But the announced strength was quite mild that no-one paid much attention to it. They took it just normal. So they had not prepared to keep their properties safe. Now the storm was in full swing. I heard people upstairs moving to and fro in a rush. Whatever had happened to them, I was wondering, still under the thick blanket and with my eyes closed. Meanwhile, my mom woke us up out of great fright. My brother had also long been awoken and regaling himself with the blanket like me. We, in a rush, cried almost in unison, “Mom, why are you being so frightened? Don’t be worried. It’ll be okay by daybreak!” But Mom could hardly sleep on and so stay awake, from time to time calling for the Buddha. From the prelude of the storm up to the daybreak, the ardour of wind and rain had never been alleviated, just gaining momentum.

At daybreak, very few people were seen passing through the road_ it was more or less deserted! Normally, I would hear some elderly folks saying their prayers and the triangular gongs ringing melodiously in the fresh clean morning air. But the situation was a far cry now. Some people ventured out of their houses to buy some foodstuff among the screech of wind and rain. Virtually all the trees in our sight had been destroyed_ some uprooted and made down on the ground, and others badly broken off. A tremendous medley of stuff from the houses_ far and near_ flew about and soared high and low. Which ones were whose properties was beyond knowledge; no one dared to think about it, too. A substantial part of the flown things contained tin sheets. Alas, what a pile of tin sheets was blocking the entrance to our house!

At that time, those upstairs came down as they were worried about some tall tree like a palm tree that would fall across the house. Catching a glance at the roof, I saw a tin sheet fall off and a lot of rain rush in, unchecked. Also, there were some other places where rain was splashed in. In fact, all over the floor was wet with water; no place was proper for one to sit on. All the members of the two households were sitting on the floor just watching the situation outside. But from time to time, my female cousin who lives upstairs went up to observe what was going on. Everywhere rain splashed or fell on the floor, a bowl or a bucket had been served. It was quite time-consuming a task; one bucket, when full with water, had to be either thrown away or poured into the tank, and then it had to be placed again, and then another one was to be done in the same way.

The wind rolled in stroke by stroke, proclaiming triumphantly and slyly. The lamp-post just north of the front of our house almost fell down_ tilting aside in a miserable look. Lo and behold! There was a huge branch of a mango tree with near-ripe mangoes hanging all over it astride the electric wires and swaying to and fro! The branch seemed to be happy and satisfied even among the storm despite the fact that it had been kept apart from its beloved mother mango tree only due to that storm. Maybe it was either the sort that should forget and forgive its grievances affected by its enemy, or the sort that was ever jolly however good or bad a situation was. Or else, it might be a foolish one that was flippant, absent-minded and wavering. But I could not decide for sure whichever was or might be true. The storm had its acceleration ameliorated much more, still.

Then I had an idea_ to listen to the radio. So I reached for the radio on the writing desk hurriedly and switched it on. I had expected that I would hear the special news about the current storm. But my expectation was worlds apart from the reality; I only heard one song after another from the Myanmar Radio. In that very time, songs were of no use for one’s mind. Still, I kept listening to it with the slightest expectation that the special news might be announced sooner or later. It went on for about 20 minutes. But at long last, I turned off the radio out of intolerance and anger.

At that time, I looked at the clock and it showed just beyond 8 in the morning. We also felt hungry and so started doing some tasks to cook the rice. First, I moved into the kitchen the brick stove which had been placed outside because of the strong wind. Then I had to go out in the ferocious storm to buy a viss or so of charcoal and some other foodstuff from the nearest store. But it was quite dangerous outside, with the wires prostrate here and there on the cement street as well as a wide variety of things flying about in a dash in the air. After doing the shopping, I rushed back home where mother had been waiting for me to make a fire for the rice and curry to be cooked. The backdoor and the windows had to be closed lest the wind would come in too strongly for the fire to go on in proper way. Mother managed other tasks to cook and I was just a helper, doing some cutting, chopping and pounding.

The longer the time, the tenser the storm. After cooking the rice and the curries, we had our breakfast with relish but worriedly. Of course, we had to fill our bellies only with pot luck. After that, we just had to while away our time inside the house watching things outside happening. For that very day, no one was able to think of working for a living. Those having some amount of food or rice had not so much trouble with the matter of filling their bellies. But how would or could such a hand-to-mouth family which was quite common get on well with their belly-filling matter? It was dead sure that they would have to do without any food! I could not know if Yangon was the only victim or not and whichever states or divisions were the same _ or even worse than us_ in bad luck. How was our Arakan in that respect? Was it still safe and sound? My heart was as heavy as lead with too much worries. I had no other choice but watching the storm and just praying.

Those living upstairs also cooked their meal downstairs in our kitchen. At about half past ten in the morning, they went back upstairs, wiped out the wet floor with worn-out clothes and prepared to make table for their breakfast. And then they made a short work of having their meal; after that, they also gazed at the current ruler_ the storm_ in a look mixed with amazement and worry. The shrills and screeches of the wind and rain prevailed upon the whole environment. At about 11:40 A.M, the storm showed a hint to retreat. It kept decreasing little by little. Just beyond midday, it called back its bodyguards_ the wind and rain_ completely. The storm, which had lasted disapprovingly for more or less a half day, which had just destroyed supposedly thousands of human as well as animal lives and every house on its way either partially or wholly, which had been a perfect stranger in those fresh victim areas, and which people had passed through with nothing else to choose from, had finally come to an end.

Only when the storm ceased to break out, did the people including me dare go out with our mind assured. I set out for my observing round about here and there. The sight was practically the same _ fallen trees, broken branches, and houses and buildings in ruins. Virtually all the lamp-posts had been toppled and electric wires had been scattered on the roads and streets. In some places, big trees were lying across the roads too spaciously for any sort of vehicle to pass through. What a miserable sight!

As I live near the Hansavadi Roundabout, I was also making for it within a short time. All the tall trees which had formerly ruled over the surroundings were now prostrate on the ground wholly or standing still, helpless with few branches and leaves left on their bodies. I wondered whether they knew about their existence or not .The Drug Elimination Museum which had been of the greatest pomp and wont in grandeur could have hardly escaped from the storm with the slightest ruins. Next to the building, the Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) compound was so greatly destroyed that it could scarcely be recognized. Virtually all the trees within the compound were destroyed and many buildings in ruins in some way. But what was most amazing was that the towering broadcasting post, which is probably the tallest post all over Yangon, had not been affected at all_ there had long been strong strings fastened steadfastly and upright to the post from all the cardinal directions.

As I went further on, I saw the huge banyan tree that had always given shade and peace of mind to all kinds of beings uprooted and bowing down on its head humbly and shamelessly across the road. I also saw the decorated Soon-oke (a large bowl with a stand and a cover in which to put alms for monks to partake of) turned upside down. Keeping straight on along the Pyay Road for a while, I caught sight of the Yangon Institute of Education (YIOE) where I had attended for four whole years, amidst the fallen big trees. I could not decide how much damage it had made. At the same time, I was feeling sure that it would be very, very difficult to reopen the university and let things be in proper circulation. The Institute of Medicine No. (1) which is situated next to ours was also more or less the same in fate. Everywhere as far as my eyes could catch was filled with miserable ones. Before I went beyond The Agriculture Bus-stop, I retraced my steps and then I kept following the Pyay Road till I reached the Great Jungle Bus –stop. The newly- built shelter for those waiting for the vehicles had been toppled. Before I turned into Ma Kyi Kyi Street, I overheard a person say to another, “Bus-fare could rise sharply and range from Ks.5oo to Ks.1000 for the normal 100 -kyat trip for the following week or so. We’ll surely be impoverished just paying the fare!’’ I also noticed that there were only a few vehicles on the road. No sooner had I turned into Ma Kyi Kyi Street, then I caught the horrible sight of a huge pile of trees across the road as well as that of a No.45 bus flat under two or three tilting trees. I struggled forward through the long range of the fallen trees. It was a very exhausting, boring task for me even to pass through. How should the fallen trees be cleared away and how long would it take? If there were so many lazybones as me in Myanmar, how could it expect to clear them away in a short time? Just thinking so, I began to feel giddy. So I rushed back home along the Kyuntaw Road (Teak Grove Road). No place was free from unpleasant things. Having turned into our street and gone a little deeper, I saw a crowd of people rushing in and out of the nearest store. There were handfuls of food and candles on those getting out of it. Some people also snatched several packages of charcoal as though they had been given away without being charged any amount of money. I also struggled into the store and bought a viss of charcoal, four eggs and a package of candles. The prices were more than double! I looked at the faces of the people and they obviously looked very frightened, worried and sad. It was about 1:40 P.M when I got back home.

Again I tried switched on the radio and the national broadcasting station had totally stopped let alone announcing the breaking news of the storm. So I only had to turn it off. Maybe it would resume broadcasting in the evening as scheduled, but, as usual, it was too peaceful and pleasant with the best songs and the infrequent announcement about the persuasion to support the coming referendum. How sweet and melodious they would be to those underdogs parasiting ‘THEM’! Their ears might have been poisoned by such honey-crusted words. But, to those who have really seen the genuine wolves under the sheep-skin or snakes in the grass, they were just rubbish! Out of unendurance, I turned off the radio of such notoriety.

After having my dinner, I sat on a long-legged stool placed in front of the house and switched on the radio_ but to listen to the foreign broadcasting stations like the BBC, VOA, RFA, and so on. I am strongly convinced that the efforts and announcements made by such a news station are the only source of exact true news about anything special happening in Myanmar in so urgent a situation. Just beyond 6 P.M, I started to listen to the VOA news. As I was in the street, there was a gathering of people from the neighboring houses there, paying special attention to it. My family and some of those living upstairs were also among the audience. It was announced that the name of the storm was Cyclone Nargis and that it had trodden and shredded the Yangon Division, Ayeyarwady Division, Bago Division, Mon State and Kayin State, Ayeyarwady Division being the most highly destroyed area. The news that followed was quite horrible_ that of the wash-away and submerging of over 100 villages in the Hinegyi District, Labuta Township, Bogalay Township, Pathein, Phyarpon and other coastal regions. The force of the storm was more than 120 miles per hour_ the strongest, the harshest and the most disastrous in the history of Myanmar, especially in such deltaic region and waistline regions of the land. Out of great relief, I could breathe out a smooth sign from my mouth as I came to think that the Arakan State was surprisingly out of that ferocious natural disaster. But I had the same sad feeling with those listening to it for those unfortunate. I did not dare to think of how they would have undergone before they died or before they were away from the disaster. There was not yet an exact guessing of the deceased and the lost. They just guessed that the death toll would amount to over one lakh. We all were amazed_ and very, very sorry. But whatever will be will be.

Anyway, I had more and more things to think about concerning the storm. We all listened to the radio attentively until 7 o’clock when the VOA news (Myanmar) ended. After that, I came to think about my friends dwelling in the Ayeyarwady Division, especially those in Bogalay and Ngaputaw.”They will be either dead or alive but with a very miserable situation”, I thought with a heavy heart. I had no other choice but to imbibe in the Buddha’s Dharma and to wish them the best! In fact, even before the storm, it had been heard that there would be food scarcity this year. So a lot of nations were alarmed and some of them tried to purchase rice from other countries. There had been a compromise by Myanmar to sell its rice to Sri Lanker, India and Bangladesh. But now, the treasured and most relied ‘Rice-barn of Myanmar’, that is, the Ayeyarwady Division, had fallen an unfortunate prey to the Cyclone Nargis. How would those in authority cope with the former compromises with the foreign countries and also with the consequences of the storm? The more I thought, the heavier my heart!

The storm really left our region with a lot of work to be done. No one could stay without anything to do. Some women had to cook; men had to do some striking with the hammers on the respective roofs; some people had to fetch water from the donating taps generated by the engines; many had to cut off the broken branches and clear the streets. But there were too many tasks to do in sight. What was worse was that, but for some light derived from the invertors of some rich men in the street, the environment was almost pitch dark with a few candles lit inside some houses. In that very time, the sky was quite clear and looked peaceful as if it had known nothing! Where had those bastards of rain and wind gone?

Now, it was nine o’clock in the evening, and my mother and brother were already inside the house ready to go to sleep. And there were only a few people left in the street, all listening to their respective radios. But I was just sitting and thinking hard. I had already given a rest to my radio on the study table. My head was filled with innumerable continuous thoughts; my heart was scorching with woes and worries. I did not think I would be able to go to sleep easily. I had been so deep on thought that I did not know what was happening around me. When I came to look around consciously, I saw only three men or so sitting and listening to the radio on the other side of the street. Then I went into the house, quite sleepy. And I went straight into bed; my mother and brother had long fallen asleep and even been snoring. No sooner had I touched the pillow than I fell asleep.

At about 11:00 P.M., I was awoken by the boisterousness outside in the street. My mother and brother had also been awoken just before me. I listened to some people out on the street speaking. One of them said, “There were about 40 men”, they said. “They broke into Kyeemyindaing Evening Market at about 9:30 P.M. I got this piece of news from those patrolling in the front of the street on top of ours. We also should look alive and alert so we can prevent the rogues from robbing or breaking into our houses.” Then they decided that one man from each house had to come out and reinforce the team, each with some kind of weapon. My brother took a long heavy iron stick and went out, and was to stay inside, making sure that my mother was safe and that the house was secure. All the windows and backdoor had been closed. We had waited watchful with our eyes wide open for about an hour. But, at last, most people were back inside in bed with their respective weapons laid beside them in the bed. Still, some were waiting and watching both of the ends of the street.

I also felt sleepy again and turned in, still listening to whatever might be heard later on with my heart throbbing so wildly. At first, it seemed quite hard for me to fall asleep again. Then at the last moment, I fell asleep with one dream following another. I did not know how the following day started. I woke up only after 8:00 A.M. In fact, the previous day was the very day when a lot of lives were sacrificed at the altar of ‘Mother Nature’. It was the very day when countless people were left hopeless and homeless. It was also the very day when the ‘Myanmar’s Huge Barn’ was crushed beyond recognition. How could or would one rid that day of one’s mind for good? And how can it be erased from the pages of the history when it comes to the destructions affected by the storms or natural disasters that have ever broken out in Myanmar?

May all those deceased be born in good existences!

May all those alive be enabled to stand on their feet again!

May all the beings be free from the dangers of all kinds!

Alas! How unfortunate a day it was! I have got no other choice but to pray for all beings_ including us!!!

(The ideas and beliefs mentioned in this record of Cyclone Nargis were only those in 2008; many have changed since then and no wonder some of my ideas and beliefs have also changed with time! )

Zwe Thit (Rammarmray)

Dated: 24th May, 2008(Sat)
[2:45 A.M]