Two 'tsunami girls' yearn for filial love

Meena (12) and Soumya (13) at Annai Sathya Government Orphanage in Nagapattinam district in coastal Tamil Nadu are truly the children of tsunami.

They were brought to the home by a government official who found them as three and four-year-olds crying alone soon after the tsunami struck the Tamil Nadu coast on December 26, 2004.

They are the only two children in the orphanage who were not visited by any relatives in the last eight years. Some fortunate children who were in the relief camp after the tsunami were claimed by parents/relatives later.

Meena and Soumya do not remember the giant waves that made them orphans and neither do they remember their parents. “I do not fear waves. My favourite subject is Maths and my favourite actor is Surya,” Meena, who is in Class 6, said. “I am interested in sports and my favourite actor is Vijay,” Soumya said. She is in Class 7. “For them the orphanage is their home and the wardens, teachers and fellow children are their relatives. Meena and Soumya are closely bonded,” Angalammal, the warden of the orphanage said.

However, seeing fellow inmates going to their relatives’ homes during school vacations, Meena and Soumya are now yearning for parental love and affection. The tsunami, triggered by an undersea quake off the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, hit the Tamil Nadu coast killing around 8,000 people in Nagapattinam, Cuddalore, Chennai and Kanyakumari.