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Short story: A fruitful search
Siripathy Jayamaha
Four hours after the tsunami, the eerie silence of death, weeping and
desolation were all around them. Dr. Tilak Siriwardene and his wife Dr.
Seela were tired. Two sleepless nights in caring for the afflicted.
Seela was expecting her second baby. They were on their way to Kegalle,
their home town, with their one year old son.
It was dusk. Suddenly, Seela cried, “Tilak, stop the car. I saw
someone lying by the road.” A woman was on the road. She was cuddling a
baby. Seela closed her eyes. She had seen enough. She did not want to
see any more.
The woman spoke feebly. She said that her husband and two of her
children had been washed away. She pleaded with them to take her baby to
the Salmalgama Temple and leave him at the entrance. Her brother, she
said, was the chief priest. They had not met in years, because he did
not approve her marriage.
“I am dying, please lady, do this for me. My brother has always been
a gentle person who understands the hearts of those in despair. Just
leave him there. He will look after my baby. Please my lady, in the name
of your beautiful daughter whom you are carrying, do this. The blessings
of the Triple Gem will give her much joy in life and happiness to you
both. Please say yes.” She fainted.
The mother was admitted to the nearest hospital. The Siriwardenes
took the baby to Salmalgama. “Tilak, did you hear what she said - a
daughter, what a wonderful prediction and blessing from a mother.”
He was about eight months. Cuddly, fair, rosy cheeks and blissfully
asleep. They gave him some milk from their son’s share. They wrapped him
in their son’s cot sheets. They cried, “the Buddha we know you will look
after him. We have brought him to your home.” They covered him with a
collapsible mosquito net. They left with heavy hearts.
Salmalgama slept, quite unaware of the new comer to town.
Ven. Mettananda Thera was a light sleeper. He heard the cries of a
baby. The time was 4.30 a.m. It came from the shrineroom side. There, on
the steps he saw a wailing baby. He took him in his arms. The crying
stopped. He carried him into the shrine room. “Please my Buddha. You
have given me a tiny stranger early this day. Please, I need your
guidance.” He felt elated. He woke up his assistant. They placed the
baby on a mattress. The Thera called a few of his dayaka sabha members.
As requested, they came with their spouses. One member brought Fr.
Malcolm, the Catholic parish priest. Fr. Malcolm took the baby in his
arms - “Ah ha, a little angel for my friend Methananda to take care of.
A birth certificate had to be arranged. The DMO examined the new
resident. Perfectly healthy chap. A name?
“Shall we call him,” said Fr. Malcolm “Samantha Devapura”. All
agreed. All were happy. The women took care of the little one’s needs.
“We are going to make kiribath,” said one.
“Fr. Malcolm, Sumanatissa and dear friends, I want to tell you
something before you leave. This angel as dear Fr. Malcolm called him,
will stay with me, here. My Dayaka Sabha members must look into his
welfare. If anyone out in town does not agree, please tell them to sort
it out with the person in the shrine room. As for me, I have obtained
his Gracious permission.” God bless you all.”
“Amen” said Fr. Malcolm and started to clap. Funny, all joined in.
Even the two Theras.
Samantha grew in the temple, under the branches of the serene Bo tree
and the protective wings of the High Priest. The boy was bright. He
learnt his lessons with dedication, was well versed in the scriptures -
Buddhist and Christian. At 23, he passed out as a doctor. At the age of
26, he was a specialist in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. He was attached
to the Kegalle hospital. His healing hands and soothing smile became the
talk of the town. All loved him, the hospital staff, colleagues and the
patients.
One evening, Dr. Samantha had visitors - a Bhikku, a Catholic priest,
a man in a national dress and two pleasant looking women in white.
Of course Dr. Samantha was a frequent visitor to the Salmalgama
temple and church, but this was the first time the two priests had paid
him a visit. He was honoured.
One of the women walked up to Samantha, and embraced him. “Putha, my
putha.” The strange unexplainable magnetic attraction of a son to a
mother - Samantha too put his arms round her and wept.
There were lots of tears in that room that day. “Son,” said Fr.
Malcolm. “She is truly your mother and Mettananda Thera is your maternal
uncle, her only brother.”
Samantha fell at their feet. He hugged her mother, carried her and
kept her on his lap, with his head resting on her breast. She narrated
the story.
She had struggled through. Survived. Being a graduate, had found
employment, was determined to find her son. Reluctantly she had gone to
Salmalgama temple. Ven. Mettananda Thera continued the story. He and his
sister blessed the gentle folk who had acceded to a mother’s plea.
Just then the Siriwardene couple came. A courtesy call, or may be a
divinely orchestrated visit. Dr. Seela was staring at the woman wiping
her tears. The face seemed familiar. Dr. Samantha had heard of the
Siriwardene couple. He introduced his mother, the Chief Priest of the
Salmalgama temple, Fr. Malcolm and the rest. Seela suddenly realized
that something was happening. He fell at the priest’s feet and Tilak
too.
They told him about the baby. Fr. Malcolm and Ven. Mettananda smiled.
The good Thera introduced Dr. Samantha to the Siriwardenes as the baby
they had left at the temple on that most woeful day. They cried, they
laughed, they talked, Seela told Samantha’s mother about her prediction
of a daughter. Yes! They were looking for a partner for her - ‘happy
girl’.
A mother had been looking for her son, while another, a partner for
her daughter. How dreams can come true!
A few months later Prof. Samantha Devagama left with his bride
Priyanthi Siriwardene on an overseas assignment to the Pacific Islands.
(Names are fictitious)
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