An Ocean of Sorrow

Wrath of the Ocean

"Hello everyone, I'm Shilpi." I told my new classmates of Hope High School. Hope High school is a NGO sponsored school for economically challenged people. It took me six months to convince my parents to let me enroll here. It's not that they were against my receiving education, it's just that they think city people are hooligans. They still miss our neighbours from the village where we used to live. I also miss my previous life.

I was born in a village named Ramu in the Chittagong District of Bangladesh. I was the second youngest of my six siblings. We lived Our parents often struggled to provide our family with food, education and other facilities. But I had no complaints because I was certain that together we could overcome anything and everything. My elder sisters used to share their clothes with me. Whenever I struggled with my studies, my big brothers would give me extra lessons. Together we were a happy family. My eldest sister Rima would've been married now if she had survived. My brother Pasha would be working as an engineer at ALTA this year. My other sister Riti would've gone to college and my little brother Rishi would be turning 2. But they never made it through the storm. My parents, older brother Russel and I survived. Our lives changed drastically that night and all because of some plastic soft drink bottles and polythene packets.

I remember that day clearly. Not just because of the cyclone "Haruki" ( Made up name) but because my sister Rima's wedding alliance was formed with the boy she loved on that day. We were all thrilled at prospect of her marriage but also felt I bit sad that we
would be sending her to her in-laws house in the near future. Our mother gave her a pair of gold earrings as a farewell gift. When mother started to cry, so did we. That night while we happily went to bed, a cyclone unexpectedly occurred in our neighbouring ocean. Experts were not aware of it's occurrence, therefore didn't broadcast any warnings. In a matter of minutes the cyclone hit our shore and drowned everything within it's grasp. The cyclone gave birth to strongs currents that washed away the homes of many villagers including ours. We lost Rima and Pasha to the cruel flood, their bodies
were not found. After the storm, we took shelter at a Govt. Clinic nearby. There we had to live on a very small amount of food and water. Riti,little Rishi and I were affected by Typhoid the next day. I recovered, they didn't.........

Later I read in an article that the cyclone that destroyed my family was not a natural phenomenon. It was the outcome of severe sea pollution. The amount of plastic, garbage, harmful toxins and other pollutants that were thrown into the sea had upset it so much that it couldn't take anymore. I lost my family because of your ignorance.#planetorplastic