Serial No: 0232
Name of Researcher:
S.H.Zareena Begum
Name of Person Interviewed:
Area of Origin in North:
M.Masoona
Vinayaga Puram, Nachchikuda, Jaffna
Current Location:
Arafa Nagar, Thillaiyadi, Puttalam
Interview Theme:
Life Story
Permission to use name:
Yes
Permission to use photo:
Yes
Tell us about your hometown?
My hometown is Naachchikudha, which is located in Jaffna. Our village is a very
special place. We were happy and wealthy people. Most of our villagers were
involved in the fishing trade, because we lived close to the sea. Our village was
made in a way suitable for fishing. We had lands and gardens there. There were
ponds and lakes situated within close proximity of our village.
Tell us about your family background?
My mother’s name is Umma Salma, and my father is Sahul Hameed. They were
kind and loving parents. They disciplined us and made sure that we grow to be
children with good habits and manners. Today it’s been 23 years since my mother
passed away. My father still lives with us.
My parents had 8 children. That included 5 girls and 3 boys. The eldest is Bazeer.
He lives in Nurachchiolai. The other brother Rameez lives in Ulukkappalam. I
have an elder sister, who lives with us. The other 3 sisters live in Nurachchiolai.
They are younger to me. All of us, when we were small helped each other and
loved each other very much.
Tell us about your childhood friends?
I had a lot of friends when I was small. Today all of them live in different places.
We meet if there is a special occasion. Recently some of my friend’s came to my
son in laws funeral.
They lived close to our house those days, that’s how I got to know them. I used to
hang around with them. We never fought with each other and did not have any
grudges or arguments. We maintained perfect unity amongst us. There were
people from other religions who lived close to our village. we lived in harmony
with them as well. I did not have any friends from other religions. They came to
buy coconut leaves from us. When they came to buy those they spoke to us. If
there was a special occasion they came to visit us. In the same way if they invited
us, we would visit their homes.
Tell us about your childhood activities?
We got together with our friends and played games such as Kiliththattu,
Nondikodi, Paandi. We got a lot of time to play during the fasting period. When
we get together to play, we did not feel the tiredness in our bodies that was caused
by fasting. We did not go on trips when we were schooling. Those days they did
not go on trips, but today they go on trips which last 2 or 3 days.
Tell us about your school life?
I studied in Naachikudha. We didn’t go to kinder garden, because those it was
different from today. We started our education from grade one. I studied up to
grade 5 in a mixed school. There were girls and boys in our school. We studied
together. There were Tamil students in our class. Naachikudha was a small village.
There were only few students. Even the number of Tamil students was less. I was
a very silent and obedient child. There were Muslim teachers in our school, who
taught us different subjects. I am not sure whether they are still living or not. They
taught us very well. They provided milk and lunch in school. Our principal was
called Farook master. He is no longer with the school. The students were scared of
the principal. They respected him equally. There was one mosque in the school to
teach the subject Islam. So we learnt the subject from the mosque. Today the
school has different buildings for students to learn different subjects. We had a
small area as school at that time. We learnt Islam at school, and there were
Muslims to help us learn.
When we were schooling we did not have a goal to study well and get a good job.
I am happy that we got the opportunity to learn atleast what we have learnt. Today
children have a goal, and they want to achieve and become a better person in
society.
What were your responsibilities at home?
My father went away to earn money for us. My mother was a housewife. We had a
big area as our home. We sweep the house, clean it. When we got married the
other children in the family took that responsibility. We were united, kind and
loving to each other. We did the chores helping and supporting each other.
Tell us about the special events?
A wedding in our village was organized by inviting all the people in the village.
This was a special event. They invited all and gave them food. If it is an arranged
marriage, sometimes they have the weddings as soon as they come to a decision.
Otherwise it might even take 6 months or even 1 year to have the wedding. Those
who are poor will accumulate money, and then have the wedding later. On the
other hand those who can afford have the wedding pretty soon. Today weddings
are done in wedding halls. Then it was different. The issue is the problem with
space. Our place was big, we could have the wedding there. But here houses are
small. So they have to hire wedding halls. Those days the bride did not know the
groom, until they got married. Today they have a relationship before getting
married. They are always on the phone. I did not know my husband until I got
married. We see him only on the wedding night. We didn’t even know how a
phone would look like. There was a box called Kiran box, they play that and
people listened to the old songs that were played. The tents were put up in a large
area. There were no chairs and tables those days. Today they arrange chairs and
tables in weddings. It was different in our time. We got our children married to
somehow get them settled.
Sunath ceremony was done in a grand way. They invited all their friends and
relatives and provided them food.
Puberty ceremonies were not done in a grand scale. The girl who attends age is
asked to be silent. They do not go out. They are allowed to go out only after the
water is being poured on to their heads. Today girls are going out to study. They
people give them some item made out of iron as protection. If they were to go to
the well or somewhere else they gave them a set of keys. This was done believing
that if iron existed, the evil spirits will not harm them. The age attended girl was
given the best food. She was given eggs fried in gingerly oil. When they perform
the ritual of pouring water on to the head of he girl, they invite all their relatives.
When they spot the moon eclipse the whole village is delighted. We will be
shouting out loud, and repeating the word fasting and walk all over. It will be very
special. We make good food. They wake us at 3am by singing songs and
drumming. We got so used to it, so even today we get up early and listen to
Muslim programs on the radio. We set an alarm before we sleep. If we get up one
or two days we can easily get up the next day. We get up and wake the others.
On the 27th day we would go to the mosque in the night. It will be a grand event.
They worshipped and preached for 2 hours. They provide food. After having the
food we fast. The children grind a certain thing called Marudani and create designs
on their hands. Today we have to buy it in shops, because there are no grinding
stones at homes. We had them in our village. We made sweets for the festival.
After we came here I can see that they are making different sweets. The festive
season was a happy one and we enjoyed it. We buy one dress for each of us to
wear on the day of the feast. Now people buy different types of cloths, they buy 2
or 3 cloths at a time.
Is your home town a village or a city?
My home town was a village. if we were to buy cloths or for any other needs we
had to go to Jaffna. We go to Mannar as well. The war erupted, when the shops
were coming up in the village. We left everything and came here.
There were mosques in our village, 2 to be precise. There was one called
Muhaideen mosque. There was a school. All of them are destroyed. They have
rebuilt them after the peace talks, but I am not sure of what happened in the recent
war. There were public areas as well. We had to travel to Mulangavil to get to a
hospital. We had to go to Nagavil for basically everything.
Ibrahim abba was the leader of the mosque. He was neutral in his decisions. He
was a just man.
How did you spend your leisure time?
Well my leisure time was spent by doing the chores at home. Since it was a village
we weave coconut leaves. Our time was spent mostly in cleaning and sweeping
this big area where we lived. Looking after the children and making sweets to sell
to sell to the school canteen was hoe I spent my leisure time.
Tell us about the cultural aspects?
Moulath was a big event. It was done in a grand manner and they gave food to all
those who came there. On the birthday of Nabi they collected money and had a
special event. There was no financial problem at that time. There were 12
moulaths. Every night they worshipped. They cook good food and serve on the
last moulath.
We used to say special prayers when our children are not well. These prayers were
said during puberty ceremonies as well.
Tell us about your business / employment opportunities?
I did my own business when I was in the village. I did it from home. I used to
make hoppers, sweets and sell them. I did this business only after I got married. I
took care of the children, when my husband went to work. I managed this business
of my own as well. Goods were cheap those days, and the income generated was
sufficient.
My husband was in the fishing trade. He used to dive in the deep seas to find sea
shells. Nobody taught us how to do that. We got used to it by doing it from home.
We make ornaments from it, and school children buy it from us. It generated a
good income that was sufficient. Even the neighbours bought it.
LTTE did not cause any harm to our business. Both of our business was going
smoothly. Even when we were coming they did not cause us any trouble. They
were on their own.
About your marriage life?
I married in the year 1990. My husband was from my village. The marriage was
arranged by my father, mother and my uncle. They close by, but we did not know
each other much.
After getting married my husband went to work and I stayed back to look after the
house work. When my husband handed over the money that he earned I save it. If
there was a problem at home, I did whatever he said; he did things according to
my decision. All the decisions that we took never affected our family.
About the displacement in 1990?
I was 35 years old when that event took place. My children were studying. We got
to know that all villagers are going to leave when they informed us. Before this
took place people from Jaffna came to our village and settled there with their
belongings. Then they announced that we should leave in 2 hours, and asked us to
give them all our cattle and other valuable goods. So we gave all of that to them.
We gave them a lot of our things, and they promised us that they would return
them. When they asked us to leave we didn’t know what to do. We had to protect
our lives and our children. It was the rainy season and it was raining heavily. This
happened in the month of October. With the idea of saving our children we took
all of their certificates and two or three other things. Since the Tamil people stayed
back we gave them some of our belongings. Those Tamil people behaved in a very
good manner. They were worried as well. What can they do? Who can they worry
about? Us or them? They could not stand against the LTTE.
The journey from our village was really tough, we went through a lot. It was
raining and we were packed like cattle in the lorry. We suffered so much. My
youngest son was 6 months old when we left there. My son went missing, and they
were pushing me into the vehicle. My little boy was with my elder son. They put
us in separate vehicles. My son went ahead of me, later I also got into a vehicle.
Then I saw my son.
While we were coming 2 LTTE cadres were coming with us. They did not harm us
in any way. They came up to Poonthottam. Nobody helped us while we were
traveling. From Punerin we hired a vehicle.
While we were coming we had faith that we will come back to our village. They
told us to go and come to the village again. We believed in what they said. They
also told us that they give back our belongings. It’s been 20 years now. If we knew
that this would be the case we would have sold all of them to the Tamil people.
Tell us about the situation after the year 1990?
We went to Poonthottam from our village. The rain was pouring as we were
traveling in the lorry. We suffered so much. We were packed in the lorry, and we
couldn’t even breathe. Since it was raining heavily, they said it was better to stay
at Madhu and continue the next morning. We made rotti from the place we stayed.
One banana costs around 8 to 9 rupees. The people in that area increased the price,
knowing that we were coming. We made rotti and fried fish. We gave back the oil
that we fried the fish to the Tamil people there. We actually did not have the
mentality to eat that. There were Tamils as well, and a lady was screaming like a
lunatic. We were scared, all of our children were small and they were crying. In
the morning we made it to Poonthottam.
There were buses in Poonthottam. The army made sure that we got in to the buses.
They dropped us at Vavuniya school. They gave us dhal and bread. After eating
we stayed there for a day. While we were coming we heard the news one person
who came from Erukkilpitty, in a boat delivered a child. But we did not see
anything of that sort. The people who came with us also suffered.
Then we reached Ekrikkollawa from Vavuniya. We stayed there for one day. The
bus was organized by the government. They said it’s leaving to Puttlam, so we got
in to it. The Zahira School was filled with a lot of people. It was raining heavily.
Even Paalavi was the same. Then we went to Madhuramkuli, but it was crowded
as well. There was a special event happening at the mosque. It was a big event.
They took us abck to Kanamulai school and left us there. People gave us rice to
eat.
There was a person called Zaneer Moulavi, he helped us a lot. He was teaching at
the school. They prepared all the food and supplied us. We stayed there for 4 or 5
days. Later there was a gentleman who gave us his land to build huts, and live
there. It was a coconut plantation. The Red Cross provided us with the required
material. We lived in those huts for 5 years. They provided us with the cooperative
cards to get goods. We had to go to sameeragama to get the goods from a
cooperative shop.
We did not get any jobs here. The reason was he was in the fishing trade. He went
to Kalpity. Then he went from Kanamulai to Kalpity several times. We got
coconut for a lower price. After that our people bought lands in Nuraichcholai and
went there. We bought a 10 perch land. We did not get any jobs there so we came
back. We came to Thilliyadi Araba town. The life here is different, but what can
we do, we have to somehow live here. There are no problems here. There they
were bombing and we had to face the gunshots and live in fear. Here we don’t
hear any gunshots or bombings, so we are living in without any tension. Here even
if we don’t best food, we can still live without worrying about the problems.
We came to Puttlam because we didn’t know where to go. We went to the place
where they wanted us to go. They left us at Kanamulai. Some didn’t come to
Puttlam, they went to different areas. We were only worried about finding a place
to live in that situation. We sent our children to schools in Puttlam. We brought all
their certificates here. We did not have any issue in educating our children.
What progress has your family seen after being displaced?
Our children have educated themselves, and even we are encouraged to help them
learn. Even we understand the fact that they need to educate themselves, and we
value education. We did not educate ourselves and we wouldn’t have educated
them if we lived there. Here we thought if we educate them they would do well in
life. We came here with very limited things, but now we have a house and a land.
We are looking after the family with the income generated from whatever job that
we are getting. If we lived there I am sure we couldn’t have done a business and
improved it. We would have suffered and faced a worse situation. Our children
were also living in fear. Here I have made sure my grandchildren go to worship in
the mosque. They are studying. Even my children are doing well. We have
certainly progressed in our lives, and we are happy.
In your opinion tell us about the progress of the displaced Muslims?
Some have opened their own shops, some opened pharmacies and some are
stitching cloths. They have improved in every area. They are much wealthier here.
The women have improved so much in their studies. They are working in
companies, learning to stitch cloths and also involved in doing different of jobs.
They have learnt the religion well, and they are traveling to places such as
Jammath and Payaan.
What is your level of relationship with the people of Puttlam?
We are having a healthy relationship with the people here. We behave with them
as if we are relatives. The people at Kanamulai are people from that area. They
always talk to us when we meet. They came to our homes when we had any
special occasion. My daughter got married to a person in this village and she is
leading a good life.
Did you go back to your hometown after being displaced?
I went there once. I went there during the time of the peace talks. The village looks
really dry and dusty. I went there because I was longing to go and see my village.
We had big gardens there. We used to pluck coconuts. It was different from what I
saw those days.
Does the land you live in belong to you?
I had it in my name, but I transferred it to my daughter. Now we are living in this
house for rent.
What is your opinion about the rehabilitation of the people?
I have an idea of going back to my village, but my children won’t come. Since
they got married to the people here, they will not come. If we ever leave it will be
I, my husband and my father.
We have our gardens there. I want to go there and eat fish and also pluck coconuts
from the trees. I am sure there will be such a situation. If we go there they should
build us houses. They have promised us they are going to build them. We don’t
have a house that belonged to us. If they give us all the basic needs, we will surely
go there.