by Kamala Paul
My sister and I started attending a new school In Sri Lanka, (Ceylon) when we were quite young. I was in grade 3 and my sister was just starting school when we were admitted to a convent Catholic school run by great nuns.
Unfortunately we did not have any transportation from the tea estate to the school. This walk through the estate, then through the tunnel and then through other tea estates took us about a whole hour. We would leave home around 7:00 AM, to be in school when it started at 8:00 AM. The scariest part was that we had to go through a long railway tunnel that had no lighting at all. It was about half a mile long and was calved under a hill called Singe Malay. Since it curved in the middle, it was pitch dark most of the way.
At the beginning we had men helpers who had lighting with them, to take us to school. They would travel back to school to take us back home. So we managed the long distance without any serious problems. We had lighting with what my father constructed specially for us. We lit them with matches which we carried with us. Eventually we did manage to walk with other girls who were also attending the same school. They had long sticks just to feel where the iron rails were. If these were not available, one would walk on the rail while two others would hold onto them and walk beside them. There were about 13 of us altogether when we were returning from school. If we heard any footsteps coming from the opposite direction, we would say, “Aalay” to alert the person coming closer. Then we would step aside to let the others pass. This was all done in the darkness of the tunnel. In the mornings we could not walk together because we were from different families and started at different times. Eventually, I did got used to walking to school with my sister without any lighting.
Occasionally a train with coal engine would go through the tunnel. We managed to learn where there would be additional space on the sides where we could safely stand. Sometimes our white long-sleeved blouses would touch the sides filled with black soot. One welcome thing was that there were little streams of water flowing from a height on both ends of the tunnel. We usually drank this water to refresh ourselves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPtP0QpAUnA A video of a recent ride in a train through the same tunnel. Nothing much has changed!
One Saturday I had to attend an event or meeting where my sister was not participating. No helper was available to accompany me. When my parents asked me if I could manage it, I said, “Yes.” I was around 9 years old then. But I was very scared to go by myself. But I started walking through the tunnel. After a little while, I heard footsteps coming in the opposite direction. I called out ‘aalay’ and stopped to let the person pass. I heard a male voice and heard him stop near me. He asked me where I was going and I answered him. He immediately picked me up and started walking in the direction I had to go. It was opposite direction to where he was going. When he came close to the end of the tunnel where there was some sunlight, he gently put me down. I walked a few steps and then turned back to look at the person who had carried me. I should have seen him walk away. But I could not. He had vanished! I continued walking while I wondered how he went away so quickly.
Many years later I realized that it must have been an angel who came to help me when I was so afraid. GOD IS OUR HELP IN TROUBLE.
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