The face that pulled millions of heartstrings now a father of two
A tender moment: Asitha and Sashinika with Venush and Ayesh. Pic by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
Another little replica of his father, he is a great poser, showing much fascination with the camera and directing his gaze straight at it with a big smile and bigger beautiful eyes.
As the little one, who has just celebrated his first birthday, leans down from his mother’s arms and naughtily tugs the hair of his older brother, their father gently catches hold of the tiny hands and places a tender kiss on them.
We are having a chat with 24-year-old Asitha Fernando, the ‘face’ of the terrible natural tragedy, the tsunami, of Sri Lanka that engulfed Southeast Asia including this country.
The tsunami looming up on Boxing Day which also happened to be a Poya on December 26, 2004, devastated the coastline, tearing apart families and leaving a trail of death and destruction. Some children who went “missing” after the tsunami have never been found again, though their parents are hopeful that they are alive and are being looked after by someone else.
The tear-streaked face of Asitha at his mother’s funeral
More than 35,000 men, women and children died in the tsunami while numerous others were affected both physically and mentally, leaving them stunned and bewildered, with a large number of homes, hotels and businesses being destroyed or badly damaged.
News reports and magazines which streamed out to the world portrayed the tear-streaked face of Asitha at the funeral of his mother, Ranjani, who succumbed to the huge waves at Koralawella. Even though Asitha was with his mother on the way to visit relatives on that day of horror, his mother had urged him to run and he escaped with his life.
Many of the reports and magazines, however, did not identify Asitha and it was the Sunday Times which went in search of him, found him with the help of a dedicated nun, Sr. Jacintha Silva of the Sisters of Charity, Jesus and Mary from a convent close to Asitha’s home, and wrote a piece which brought help to his family from a lot of people.
Asitha’s sorrow was not over though. As the first death anniversary of Ranjani approached and the family – his father, Ivan (a fisherman); elder sister, Ashani; and second sister, Bunty (Ruwangika); was attempting to give a simple daane (alms-giving) with whatever they could afford, which was not much, Ivan fell off a train and died, bringing about a double blow.
The Sunday Times has been with this humble, beleaguered family through its difficult journey of survival in the past 15 years.
We meet them again…….Asitha, now 24 years old having celebrated his birthday on October 2, his wife, Shashinika, 23, their older son, Ayesh now 7 and Venush Manudam who is just an year old.
The tiny acts of rebellion like playing truant and going off to play jil-bola (marbles) and waywardness of the boy who lost his parents within one year are no more.
Now as husband and father, Asitha is the responsible provider, working two jobs to keep the home fires burning.
While undertaking spray-painting, Asitha is also working for a private organization delivering racing paththara and the winnings for those who have won bets on horse races in England twice a day to five places between Moratuwa, where the Head Office is located and the endpoint in Aluthgama.
“My employers are good to me,” smiles Asitha, showing off the motorcycle he has got from them to engage in his work. “They do the repairs and also give me the petrol.”
Shashinika who cannot do a job because she has to look after their two children says with contentment that Asitha is a good husband and father. Whenever he is not working, he is always home, pottering around or looking after the children, if she has to go out for chores.
Ayesh has just been promoted to Grade 3 at the Weerapuran Appu Vidayalaya, where Asitha too went to school.
“I love Sinhala and also to draw pictures,” says Ayesh shyly, giving us a gap-toothed smile, while Shashinika murmurs that not a single wall of their home in Koralawella has been spared.
They have celebrated their baby’s first birthday on November 24, with a cake, cutlets and sandwiches and gone to a studio close-by to get some photographs, as they did for Ayesh. “Ashani sewed a nice suit for him,” says Shashinika who is grateful to her and her other sister-in-law, Bunty, for helping to look after their two children.
Asitha’s future goal is clear……“I want to educate my children and build ourselves a little home as we are now living on rent on Dhammathilake Mawatha and paying Rs. 7,500 each month.”
This is Asitha’s wish for his family as the New Year dawns.
| A son’s sorrow | |
| “We are hoping to give a small daane(alms-giving) in memory of my father and mother to a home close by,” says Asitha, with a shadow passing across his eyes, when he recalls the tragedy which hit them 15 and 14 years ago.His mother, Ranjani, died in the tsunami, followed a year later by his father Ivan. “The daane is for a home for the physically disabled with about 40 adults and children,” adds Shashinika. “Ammavai Thaththavai thama mathak venawa,” is Asitha’s simple but poignant explanation as he tells us that he still thinks of his parents.
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