13 January 2007 — Amritapuri
Another one of the tsunami victims who underwent fallopian-tubal-ligation reversal is pregnant with twins. Sarita, 30, came to Amritapuri for Amma’s darshan this morning and informed Amma of her condition. She has just completed her first trimester. Sarita will be the fifth such woman to deliver, bringing the total of “tsunami babies” up to eight.
“I lost one child, but now God is giving me two,” said Sarita. “I am praying that they will be healthy and happy.”
Sarita is married to Surajit, a pujari in a Devi temple in Aiyiram Tenga, Kollam District. At the time of the tsunami, they were living in Srayikkad, Alappad Panchayat, Kollam District. Their house was partially destroyed, and one of their two children, Unni, drowned. He was literally washed out of Sarita’s arms. Their eldest son, Nath, now 8 years old, survived. He is currently studying at Amrita Vidyalayam in Putiyakav.
After the tsunami, Sarita and Surajit built a home in Clappana, as Sarita and Nath could not sleep properly on the Alappad seashore, due to fear. Their official tsunami-relief house was allocated by the Kerala Government to an NGO other than the Ashram. It has yet to be completed.
Prior to Indian Ocean Tsunami in December 2004, Sarita and the four other mothers had undergone sterilization surgeries as a form of contraception. When they lost children in the disaster, Amma offered them the opportunity to have those surgeries reversed at Amrita Hospital in Cochin, {news} with the Ashram covering all the costs.
—Kannadi