Tempest

Saturday 8 December 2007

Every war needs a saviour

'Why don't I have a papa?'

'You have a mama who loves you very much,' said Karla while she lifted her daughter onto her lap.

'Yes, but why don't I have a papa? Everyone else does.' came a pertinent and indignant response.

'He had to go away darling and live among the stars', said Karla feeling so foolish at using the same age old meaningless story people have used for centuries to explain the phenomenon of death to young kids.

'Why mommy? Why can't he come and take me biking like other papa's?’ asked five year old Sue in a very reasonable voice.

'Because he loved his country very much and has gone to the stars to find a way to save it darling', replied Karla with the satisfaction of having said at least something different from lore, a part truth if not the whole truth.

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Sue was a much loved, pampered five year old and had been adored by her papa while he was still alive, but she did not know that. Her papa was the late Patricke Mariach who had laid his life down for his country. The Patricke Mariach who had been one of the first to stand up to the present military regime and had awoken the nation to the voice of enlightenment, to the voice of revolution. The Patricke Mariach who had initiated the formation of the National League for Democracy which had won the unanimous support of the nation within a year. Sue was the only child and heir of the late Patricke Mariach who had had the unwavering courage to oppose the military rule while nobody else had dared to.

Military regime had held this small country called Derain in East Asia under siege for over forty years. The people enjoyed no rights and had no voice. They succumbed to laws and regulations and ever increasing taxes in silence. Over the years there had been a few uprisings, minor ones conducted more in frustrated passion rather than being planned executions. Patricke had been the first to start talking to people, to start making them love their land, to start making them understand that it was their right to live it on with freedom. ‘Freedom’; he had given them this anthem. Freedom not from a rule, but from being weak and cowardly and forever submissive. He had raised a voice which had echoed and the National League for Democracy had been formed, supported by thousands. He had petitioned for elections and after forty years of a repressive rule elections were held in Derain. The NLD had won hands down to nobody’s surprise. The National Unity Party which had run the military regime had won only 10 votes as opposed to the opponents 366. Even before the parliament could convene, the military regime had imprisoned the main leaders of the NLD and executed Patricke Mariach. There were to be no protests, no uprisings and no revolutions at the cost of death. In spite of the blow and in spite of the mass acquiescence, in the hearts and the minds of the people war had been declared. And in this war, the military regime had won the first round. The people were in wait for their next saviour.
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Sue grew up known as the daughter of Patricke Mariach, an identity she came to resent over the years. Everywhere she went, every person she met would refer to her father and his great sacrifice and wonderingly question her as to when she would grow be ready to follow in his footsteps. All this would of course be hush as the military government would not tolerate anyone talking about an ‘insurgent’, as they called him, with praise. No one would dare say the name of Patricke Mariach in the open, no one would dare acknowledge Sue as his daughter in public, but the whispers would continue behind backs, in dark alleys, in quiet kitchens and people's bedrooms. She would be talked about and discussed in almost every household of Derain. Rumours about her future were almost a fever during the first few years of Sue's life. Ex-party members and friends would ask, pester and nag her about when she would take over the League and lead the nation to freedom. By the time she reached her late teens, members of the party began coming home for calls and visits. They would drink tea with Karla and talk about Sue’s future as if it were all decided, as if was their right to decide it. Assumptions and presumptions would be made about what her first political move must be. Sue hated it. She hated being the 'great revolutionary's' daughter. She hated having everything decided for her in life. She hated feeling like a secret pawn kept hidden until the right move was to be made in the political game of chess. She wanted her own life. She wanted to make her own destiny. She wanted to be an ordinary teenager and be able to make her simple dreams come true. In the indignation of her youth she considered this constant outcry against the military rule, ‘pure hype’.
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'What about my life mama? Don't you care about what I want? You have brought me up to be a sacrificial lamb...an end to your means!' Sue threw bitterly at her mother.
‘Your father gave up his life for this country. How can you talk like this?’ asked Karla.
‘He might have because it is what he believed in. Why should his beliefs and dreams be mine? I want to help people; I want to make a difference in this world. I don’t want to be a silly political pawn for this country. Even if I do agree to become the face of this party, what will come off it? More political mileage, more people murdered by the regime…there will never be any elections. Why should I waste my life here?’ Replied Sue without budging.
‘Look at the poverty around you, the economic stagnation, the number of people dying without jobs and food…’
‘There is poverty in most nation’s, including all our neighbours. Just because this place has a military regime does not make our poverty any worse!' Sue interrupted.
‘Your talking like a selfish ignorant child!’ screamed Karla.
‘Yes I am a child and I’m yours. Please let me live my life.’ Begged Sue.

She got what she wanted. Karla’s heart like any other mother’s was most vulnerable to her daughter’s trauma. They left for New Delhi, where Sue pursued a Master’s in philosophy and philanthropy at the University of Delhi. They lived an ordinary life, undisturbed as mother and daughter and re-discovered themselves as people. Karla always wanted to go back but she never voiced those desires, letting her daughter enjoy a free rein. Sue began to find direction; she took up a job at an NGO where she worked with underprivileged children; taught them the basics of Maths and English and fought with various fund groups to gather enough funds to feed as many desperate hungry mouths as possible. Her life became about working for the poor and downtrodden. With perseverance she began to achieve small goals in making a difference and began to be known in the NGO circles for her achievements. She was forming an identity; she was no longer Patricke Mariach’s daughter alone. In spite of making this identity for herself, there was an odd restlessness in her spirit. She never acknowledged even to herself why she had chosen to do all this in a different part of the world and not in her own homeland. She still resented her childhood and refused to consider going back the few times her mother mentioned it. The NGO in Delhi was both work and home. It is there that she met Rajan.

She did not know how or when it happened but, fallen in love with Rajan she had. He shared her passion for making a difference, he sympathized with her about her past, he believed in her and they supported each other through each minor victory and major loss. The strong bond of friendship turned into love and they got married. In the course of the next few months, Rajan got invited to London to head a series of talks and Sue decided to go there to present her book on NGO systems. They bid adieu to Karla who asked to go back to Derain, to the home of her husband. Goodbyes were said and promises were made.
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For years to come, Sue and Rajan continued their fight for justice in London. Sue wrote many books that were acclaimed and accepted as benchmarks in child labour and the UN allowed Sue and Rajan to set up a trust for children in India. They had two daughters of their own, twins. When the girls were about eight years old, Rajan and Sue made a trip to Derain to show them their homeland. Karla was overjoyed and it was the perfect family reunion…except for a small play of fate. Anne, one of Sue’s daughter’s came down with a terrible case of jaundice. Before they could even realise what the ailment was, it had become very severe. They tried to get treatment, but the country would not allow them to use the services of the only and largest government hospital of Derain as Sue was no longer a citizen. The private clinics were small and few in between; none of them had the resources necessary to save the life of this child. Anne died in a month and Sue’s life became a well of guilt and silence. It became a sort of mission for her to open government policies and to bring such medicines and services into the country that had denied her daughter life. Rajan took their second daughter and left for London refusing to stand by his wife while she fought for the country that had taken his daughter away from him.

Sue began petitioning, calling out to people and spreading awareness. ‘Its only when your own child is hurt that you want to do something. I had once said that attaining freedom for this country was Father’s dream and not mine. For the first time I understand that this is my homeland. My daughter died like so many other daughters because my homeland is suffering and father’s dream is now mine,’ she told Karla.

She took her place as leader of NLD and once again the nation had hope. In the years ahead, campaigns were fought, elections were called for, the UN was asked for help. There were numerous protests and silent demonstrations that were mercilessly and violently ended by the regime. Various NLD leaders were imprisoned and Sue was placed under house arrest. She was restricted from any sort of movement and was not allowed to meet anyone. Due to lapses on part of the regime’s strict watch on the media, the world media got a few glimpses of the conditions in Derain. Sue began to win sympathy across the globe. The regime could not assassinate her without attracting the attention of the world court of justice. They desperately wanted her to leave the country. Rajan tried to come to Derain several times to re-unite with his wife but was not permitted entry. The regime hoped it would make her leave. Her letters to the people and recorded speeches were giving the people courage to question the regime. Yet, Sue was not released.

Two years later, one of her books won the Nobel Prize and she was invited to Copenhagen for the award ceremony. At the same time, Rajan sent a few wires requesting to see her as he was dying of prostrate cancer. The regime offered to let her go for the ceremony and be with her dying husband, releasing her from the house arrest if she agreed never to return.
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In the sixth year of her being in Derain, the price of fuel and gas went up inexorably and the people could no longer afford gas even for cooking. There were silent demonstrations across the country. For the first time in history monks took to demonstrating on the streets and gathered in throngs outside Sue’s home announcing NLD as the new government. In spite of the brutal suppression by the regime, the nation stood united. The protests were recorded worldwide and the UN asked to hold dialogues with the regime. Sue was released from house arrest and immediately took to the streets to lead the protests. The prices of fuel were brought down again. It was a small victory and it will take years to overthrow the regime but it was start. The second round of the war had been won by the people of Derain. They were no longer waiting for their saviour.
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On October 15th each year, Sue keeps a day of silence in memory of her husband. She had made a choice. We don’t know whether she regretted it, but we do know that she made it.

Derain still fights to overthrow the regime. Elections are yet again to be contested and yet again there are no doubts about who will win them.
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All places, events and characters of this story are purely fictitious. It has been inspired by the life and achievements of Aung San Suu Kyi who fights even today for Burma’s freedom. A brief biography can be found at: http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1991/kyi-bio.html

Labels: belief, fiction, fight, freedom

Posted by Pavitra :: 13:39 :: 13 comments