Tsunamika meets friends

There was a little girl who lived on an ocean floor.
She had never seen the sun, the moon or the stars because no light ever reached the ocean floor. She lived all by herself and felt very lonely.
“I wish I had friends,” cried the little girl.

One day a starfish appeared and asked her, “Have you seen the sun?”
“No,” said the little girl.
“How sad,” said the starfish, and went away.
The little girl started looking for the sun everywhere; she walked a long long way. One day she saw a giant conch with lovely spiral and colourful patterns. She knocked on the door of the conch. A sage came out and asked, “My child, what can I do for you?”

The little girl asked: “How do I find the sun?”
The sage said: “You must think only about the sun for 21 days, and then you will see the sun.”
So the little girl sat on a rock at the bottom of the ocean and thought only about the sun.
She sat there for 21 days, without playing, thinking only about the sun.
On the 21st day, suddenly the ocean floor shook powerfully and threw her upwards.
She went up…up…up in the water till she reached the surface of the ocean.
And she saw the sun, shining in the sky!

She was delighted to find the sun smiling at her.
The sun said: “I am the sun, welcome to the world of light. I am pleased with your determination to find me. I shall give you a special gift, please ask whatever you wish.”
“I want to have lots of friends,” said the girl.
“So be it, you shall have lots of friends, and I shall always be there for you whenever you need help,” said the sun.
Then huge and swift waves rose up and carried her away.
“Where are you taking me?” asked the girl to the giant waves.

“We shall take you to distant lands,” said the waves.
The waves traveled far and wide and reached a distant land and left her on the shore.
There she saw many little huts that were destroyed by the giant waves.
People were crying and the children were terrified. The little girl had never imagined this could happen. She felt very sad. But she then remembered the words of the sun.
“Sun, Sun, how can I help these people? How can I make them happy?” asked the girl.
Almost immediately the sun appeared from behind the clouds, and said: “Give them your love.”
So the little girl went to a woman who was crying, and said: “Please accept my love.”
The woman looked at the little girl and said, “I lost my children, will you be my daughter?”
The little girl said “Yes!”

The woman was happy. She asked, “What is your name?”
“Tsunamika,” said the little girl.
Then a little boy came along and asked, “Tsunamika, will you be my friend?”
She said “Yes,” and became his friend.
Then more and more children came to her and asked, “Dear Tsunamika, will you stay with us?”
Tsunamika multiplied into hundreds and said, “Yes, yes, yes” to all of them.
She went to each and every home and became a member of the family.
And people started coming from distant lands, all looking for her.

And Tsunamika, the little girl, looked up at the sun and smiled. She realized that she could give her love to all the people in the world. So she multiplied into thousands, and then tens of thousands, as she crossed the oceans, reaching far and distant lands.

That is how she started traveling all over the world.
Now she has reached you.
She is your friend, little Tsunamika!

Letter from Elizabeth

Dear All

Tsunamika lives in 550 joyful hearts. Many asked “what does she represent?”  and “What does she bring?  To one woman I said, “Joy, love and hope”? and she replied, “I need all of that.”  This was one of two encounters that touched me deeply.  The other was at the end of the day when an Israeli man picked a Tsunamika and said “I’m returning to Israel tonight, may I take one for a friend”.  I thought, Oh, how much of what Tsunamika represents is so desperately needed in the region. 

“I’m captivated by her” said a man who returned again and again to take another Tsunamika for a friend.

“You don’t choose her, she chooses you” from one woman to her friend who had said, “I don’t know which one to have.”

“I’ll have this one, she speaks to me.” said another.

Peace Day, 21 September was such a contrasting experience!  As the Festival of Life was a joyful experience with few quizzical moments.  Peace Day and the days running up to it were the exact opposite.  They were full of my wondering about the thoughts and emotions of the many who did not seem to be touched by it and I was disappointed and sad.

250 Tsunamika were received with the same joy it had received at the Festival of Life.  A request for help on Peace Day went unanswered, otherwise, I think with help Tsunamika would have reached out to more hearts.  An Argentinean woman who was visiting her daughter in London said, “She will travel far.  I’m returning to Minneapolis, where I live now, and then I’m visiting my family in Argentina.”   One man caught my attention.  Out of the corner of my eye I observed him reading the literature on Peace One Day, AV and Tsunamika.  Then he took out a change purse, carefully counted out his pennies (that was the cost price of a Peace One Day badge) and made his donation.  Musing on my observations of him, I wondered, might he be a student on a tight budget and might he one day be a future Aurovillian?  

My sad Peace Day experience made me re-appreciate “The Mother’s Dream” that There should be somewhere on earth a place……  

I know that all that arises has a purpose and that there are many who work to manifest “the good, the true and the beautiful” nevertheless I wish this “somewhere on earth”, this home, to be everywhere on earth and for Peace One Day to be every day.  

PS.  Some people insisted on giving a donation to Tsunamika.  At first I suggested they visit the web site and make a donation.  But after talking it over with David Widdicombe when he visited the Festival of Life, we decided it was a good idea to receive the donations.  I will give the total of £28.62 to Martin at the AVIUK meeting tomorrow.

Curious, I looked up the definitions of donation and luminous in the Chambers 20^th Century Dictionary and, look what I found. 

₁ Donation, n. act of giving: a gift of money or goods; d­­ō’nary, a thing given to a sacred use; dona nobis, the last section of the mass, beginning Dona nobis pacem, Give us peace.

₂ Luminary, a source of light, esp. one of the heavenly bodies.  One who illustrates any subject or instructs mankind.  Luminiferous, giving, yielding, being the medium of, light.

Arudhati's Story

Arundhati is an 8 year old girl in Bangalore, India.
She lives far away from the ocean, but the Tsunami reached her through the media. She was exposed to the horror and the devastation through television and the media, all of which had left a powerful and lasting impression in her heart and mind.
How does a little girl feel who has been exposed to the Tsunami by the media?
When we met her in Bangalore we were quite surprised to note how much the children had been affected by the Tsunami through the media. Especially what they were thinking about the Tsunami and the memory they carried.
Here is a song written by Arundhati in her attempt to assimilate the Tsunami.

Tsunmai, Tsumai, Tsunami took the children from the land
Tsunmai, Tsumai, Tsunami took the children from the land
Earth quake, Earth quake, Earth quake brought the building to the ground
Earth quake, Earth quake, Earth quake brought the building on the ground…
 

Prabha Ram's story

The story of Tsunamika is sure to touch our hearts.
This will be our Tsunamika story. Please feel free to put it up on your website.

First one is a little shallow and a light-hearted perspective about the role Tsunamika will play in our house:

1. For my little girl who's an American citizen, Tsunamika has a global role to play. It's a little too early to speculate, given that she's only 3 yrs old. However, when she grows up to be a few years older from now, my guess is that, given the peer pressure, and other cultural and commercial influences that most kids face at school, I won't be surprised if my daughter comes home one day from school, behaving and believing that she's one of those animated super-girl characters that can climb walls, brick structures, float in the air defying all forces of gravity, pretend to be bat-girl or whatever that's around at that time. To confess, this, in fact my worst parenting nightmare, if something like that were to happen in reality.

However, I am hoping I will remain a smart parent. And this is my plan. If I give her Tsunamika right away, at this age, I know she might play with her dressing her up - giving her a bindi* or something- coloring her with paints etc. However, that might change in a few years. Her association with Tsunamika might become that of an action figure or a role model. And that will be fine and its part of growing up, and I will be so glad my daughter picked Tsunamika as opposed to any of the commercially available, totally ridiculous and outrageous dolls like Barbie etc. Therefore, here's the light-hearted message I want to convey to all other parents who think like me:

Tsunamika has the natural power to overpower all the commercial action figures such as Barbies and other fancy dolls dressed in super-model outfits, power puff girls, bat girls, pokemon etc… just to name a few of those outrageous and disgusting toys and animated creatures that are available today in stores globally, which I am completely opposed to and will never buy any of those animated figures/dolls/toys to my kid. Tsunamika will convey a message to parents that we don't need non-biodegradable, wasteful, plastic, battery-operated, shiny, glittering toys in our wardrobes for our kids, that have absolutely no meaning and purpose in this world and to our children's lives except to big corporates who make money with those. Tsunamika is a socially and politically correct toy for your and my kid. Tsunamika will be cherished by every little girl in this world, not just mine.

2) Second, to put a little bit more deeper perspective into this: To my daughter, Kirthana (whose middle name is Ahimsa meaning "peace"), I would want Tsunamika to become a symbol of nature, culture, unity, and courage. Tsu will convey to her that people's lives are touched by nature in unimaginable and unforseen ways, and it's important we cherish this nature and ourselves. Tsunamika will bring Kirthana close to her cultural and natural roots. Although, she wouldn't remember the Tsunami that nature gushed upon us (and the tears that came gushing from all our eyes like a tsunami) considering she was only two yrs
old, I am sure Tsunamika will go with her wherever she goes in this world, and I want to give it to her as a reminder of the past, a gift for the present and for a bright future! :-)

Thanks for reading my two tsunamika stories.

With love and peace!
Praba

*Bindi – the dot Indian women wear on their forehead

p.s

My cousin Malathy and her daughter, Mathangi who live in Mylapore will appreciate Tsunamika, particularly because they were minutes from the Tsunami scene. Mathangi is giving her 12th board exams next March, and will truly appreciate Tsunamika's company while she's burning her midnight oil studying for her exams. Tsunamika symbolizes the powerful force of nature and strength. Mathangi will truly appreciate Tsunamika to give her the energy to succeed in her exams.

Kirthana's story

Praba Ram writes from U.S.A

My daughter already has made up a story that Tsunamika is coming to her by crossing 7 seas, 7 mountains....

Kirthana imagines Tsunamika to be a great swimmer and that her hair is wavy (like the wave itself!! ).

She tells me she wants to draw a picture of Tsunamika. I will send you Kirthana's drawings of Tsunamika whom she imagines riding the waves with her wavy hair.

Agni Jata's story

Tsunamika brought life to a great amount of souvenirs which, without her, simply would have been some pieces of craft without meaning, without life. Tsunamika, like a real Fairy from a fairy tale, can bring people back to their childhood and help their hearts to open towards love, friendship and cooperation.

I can’t say that my life was boring, but it had somehow become strangely harmonious. There was no pressure at all and I had a lot of spare time for my kids, my classes, for reading and household duties. Strangely, I found myself having a lot of spare time. So, I went to Upasana because I had heard they needed a graphic designer there. Once there, Uma asked me to draw postcards for Tsunamika. For Tsunamika? That simple little doll, produced in some coastal villages? But that’s easy!

So I did some postcards on the computer.

- But can you only work with the computer? – asked Uma and I sensed some disappointment in her voice.
Uma was strangely inspired by the Tsunamika process. She told me about the actual tsunami, and about the village ladies and their dolls. I felt that Uma was expecting something from me, as if she knew something about me better than I did myself. I did some paper postcards. The ideas were nice, but the cards looked ugly. Even so, Uma appreciated the ideas, encouraged me and asked me to continue. Day by day I was playing with this doll like a child. Tsunamika was so simple, and lovely. And everything surrounding her also had to be simple. Slowly images started to emerge.., and there appeared the Christmas toys with Tsunamika, and she became the Queen of the underwater world, the Fairy Butterfly and the Snow maiden, that was walking near the fir tree.

The fairy tale that began in Upasana with Tsunamika continued, and so…:

-----------------------------------------------------------

Two little dolls really wanted to see the whole world. One day they went for a walk on the edge of the desert that surrounded their small village.
“We want so much to see the world, but this hot desert will never let us pass!” – said one of them sobbing.
“And we will never get to know if there is anything at the other side of this hot, empty desert!” – replied the other. But she didn’t want to give up. - “May be this desert only seems to be empty and frightening because nobody ever tried to walk through it!”
“So, let’s go. Without trying, we will never know!”

And the two little Tsunamikas bravely stepped onto the sand. Little step by little step they went further and further, until they became very tired and sat down on the sand. The sun was finishing the day and was coloring the sand-dunes with fiery tongues of flame. It became colder and colder. (Because you know, my friend, in the day time it’s very hot in the desert, but at night, when the sun hides on the other side of the earth, it becomes very, very cold). The Tsunamikas were so small, and the desert was so vast! It was everywhere, all around them, wherever they could see!

Suddenly a huge Lion appeared in front of them.
“The little snake who lives here, told me about your journey,” – he said. – “You are very brave girls, and I have decided to help you. You may sit on my back, and I will bring you to the far edge of the Desert.”
 

So, the two little dolls climbed on the lion’s back and continued their voyage through the desert with their new friend. They were not afraid of anything anymore, but they were energetic again and happy, and ready to meet with all adventures of the world!
While they traveled on the lion’s back, the desert showed them its red-hot sand of the day and the cold winds of the night. The snakes hissed them their “Hallo” and the scorpions waved their claws, saying “Goodbye”. The quick ground squirrels whistled their songs to them, but in the end they reached the far end of the desert.
“I can’t go further” – said the lion, and the small dolls jumped from his back to the ground where, just before them, a vast blue sea rolled its waves to the shore.
“Where shall we go now?” said one doll.
“How shall we get across this sea?” – said the other. They decided to wait to see what would happen. They had a strong intention to see the whole world, and just waited, quietly.

Then, as if in response to their wish, a little green Donkey approached them. He had heard the Tsunamikas speak with each other.
“Don’t worry, my dears!” – he said. – “Sit on my back, and I’ll bring you to the Queen of the Sea. I’m the Magic Green Donkey, you see. I’m Green because I serve the Queen of the Sea, and she shows me all her fairy tales. Her fairy tales are not stories written in books, oh no.., her fairy tales are real! And I’m sure that she has one ready for you!”
The Tsunamikas climbed on his back, and the Donkey went straight into the sea.
 

The dolls closed their eyes (and you, my friend, would also close your eyes if you sat on the back of a Magic Green Donkey that was going straight into the deep sea..) and in the same moment found themselves on the sea-bed, at the floor of the ocean. There they stood in front of the Queen of the Sea and the Donkey jumped and laughed nearby. It was so amazing on the sea-bed! There was blue drift weed waving in a fantastic, graceful dance with innumerable starfishes, while small coral fishes played hide-and-seek with the sea-horses! And then the Queen! Just one glance at her was enough to realise that this was a very beautiful fairy, a very powerful lady who ruled the ocean, and all its inhabitants, currents and winds.
 

“My dears, you are welcome on my sea-bed!” – said the Queen. – “I know what you wish, and I surely can help you. Listen well!
At the beach near the sea there grows a beautiful pink flower. Fill this vial with its nectar, make a drink, take a sip and… your fairy tale will begin. And don’t worry! Whatever happens, I will always look after you with the help of my magic crystal.” And the Queen gave a little vial to the two Tsunamikas.
“And you, my dear” – she turned to the Donkey – “may now bring our guests back to the shore!”
“Goodbye, dear Queen,” - said the dolls (they were very polite dolls) – “and thanks a lot!”
“Goodbye, my dears, and have a good journey!” – replied the Queen.
The dolls sat once again on the back of the Donkey, closed their eyes and… at the same moment found themselves on the shore.
As the Queen had said, a beautiful pink Flower was growing there. The smell of its nectar was so delicious, so lovely! It was the smell of a fairy tale..!
 

“Dear Flower, fill our vial with your nectar, and then our fairy tale will begin!” – asked the dolls.
The Flower bent and gave them some nectar. The Tsunamikas each drank from it… and…!!! You can hardly imagine!
Two beautiful wings grew from their backs. They became butterflies! They could easily fly and dance in the air and they learned it so quickly!
 

Then the whole world opened to them, just as they had wished..! They could see the sea, the desert and the mountains, the rivers and the valleys, the towns and villages, fields and the gardens, and lots and lots of people, living and working and moving on our wide wide Earth!
“I’m so happy” – said one of the Tsunamikas– “and I want so much to make friends with all those people! Look, down there, they are reading our fairy tale to the children!”
“I want so much to play with them!” – said the other Tsunamika.

This was their second wish, and you, my friend, can help the dolls to fulfill it.
Just take some scissors, some glue, and create a fairy tale for the Tsunamikas!