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| Sunday, 29 August 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Living on the fringe: Life after love by Umangi de Mel S. Latha Iranganie is 62 years old. She sits in a not-so-quiet place, where she seems to be getting enough attention and sun light. Generous souls throw a few coins her way as they pass her by.
Born in Elpitiya, Iranganie married a fisherman, who earned enough to sustain their small family. "We were a happy family back then. My sons were small and we were quite stable,' she says, going down memory lane. Latha also had her own business in the early 70s. "I was selling rice in Jaffna and it was pretty good. But unfortunately during the North-East problems, we had to move to 'Talaimannar' in '73. There we started selling dry fish and it was during that time my husband started supporting the fishermen. After some time he joined the fishermen who went to the deep sea to 'fish'." She recalls how fate made them switch lifestyles and brought them to the coast, where they often got a big catch. Their lives were slow, but steady and had a touch of sunshine to it as well. That is until one gloomy day tragedy shook the lives of those who dwelled by the sea, "My husband and lots of other fishermen got caught in a gale and that was it. Now, I only see him in my dreams," Iranganie sounds brave but her eyes gave her away. Ever since, she's being pushed around endlessly by fate, "I was left with two young sons and no money. They stopped their education half way and decided to support me. To tell you the truth, my sons were like my backbone and I felt that life wasn't as tough as I thought it would be..." she says adding that she wasn't miserable for long over her husband's death, "I missed him very much, but there was compensation ... the love of my sons brought back happiness, they simply cherished me." She talks about life after love ... and says how things got better after bad times. Yet fate seemed to have other plans for Iranganie. She ran out of joy when her sons were killed by tiger rebels, "It was 1985 and my sons were in Nilaweli on business. They were travelling in a lorry, transporting dry fish. The lorry was abducted by the LTTE rebels and all the people who had been in it were burnt alive in Aranthalawa. With them, I lost all I had...all that was left after the first tragedy...." she says poignantly. Having lost everything, Iranganie ended up in a refugee camp in Pitipana. "I was there for six years and at the end, all the refugees were given Rs. 1000 as compensation and asked to leave!! I didn't have a place to go, so started working as a domestic. I've worked in places like Nawala, Dalupotha, Kandy and many other places," she says. When she couldn't work anymore she finally ended on the streets. "There was nobody to take care of me. My relations wouldn't even look at me...So I came to the Kochchikade church in Negombo, which has become my home now. I come to Colombo every weekday to stay here till 10.30 in the morning and my next stop is the harbour. I find it difficult to do chores in houses, which is why I chose the highway." Having hit rock bottom many times in life, Iranganie says that she has suffered enough mental agonies, "Once I tried to jump off the Kalutara bridge but people saved my life. Three weeks back, I was knocked by a car, which bruised my leg and face. They just paid me Rs. 200," she reveals. "On top of all, I was robbed yesterday. A drug addict grabbed my wallet near the 'Bodhiya' at Pettah. I had Rs. 5,800 in it. I lost all that I'd collected during the 'Ramtuban' season and begging in the streets," she starts sobbing. "I haven't eaten for four days and I feel like committing suicide because I'm sick and tired of living a wretched life... all in all I'd like to start all over and give it another chance but I need help," she says looking lost and forlorn. |
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