Sellamma Thuraisingham

NM 20th September 2024

Tags: Sri Lanka

NM 20th September 2024

1 Comment

Muhammad Rawi Abdullah says:

8th May 2026 at 6:08 am

Although I was never blessed with the opportunity to meet my Appachi, Madam Sellamah Thuraisingham, face to face, her presence has always lived quietly yet profoundly within my heart. Geography and circumstance separated us, and before we had even crossed from childhood into adulthood, our beloved grandmother had already been called to the other side of the realm. It remains one of life’s quiet sorrows, to love someone so deeply whom you never had the chance to embrace in person.

Yet, despite never hearing her voice or feeling the warmth of her touch, I came to know my Appachi through the loving memories and heartfelt stories shared by my late father, Mr. Satkunasingham Thuraisingham. When we were young, he would often speak of his mother not merely as a parent, but as a woman of extraordinary courage, sacrifice, and unwavering strength. Through his stories, she slowly became real to us. We learned to see her struggles, feel her pain, admire her resilience, and above all, love her deeply as though we had known her all our lives.

My Appachi belonged to a generation of women whose sacrifices were rarely spoken of, yet whose strength held entire families together. During the painful years of the Japanese Occupation in Malaya, she suffered the devastating loss of her husband, leaving her widowed at a time when survival itself was uncertain. Suddenly burdened with the immense responsibility of raising seven children on her own, she faced a future filled with hardship, fear, and unimaginable challenges.

But she did not surrender to despair.

With remarkable resilience and quiet determination, she carried the weight of motherhood and sacrifice upon her shoulders. In circumstances that would have broken many, she persevered with dignity and grace. Every sacrifice she made, every hardship she silently endured, was for the sake of her children to ensure they survived, were protected, and were given a chance at a better life.

And what a remarkable legacy she left behind.

Against all odds, she successfully raised all seven of her children, instilling in them values of strength, perseverance, humility, and resilience. Her triumph was not measured in wealth or comfort, but in the lives she shaped, the family she held together, and the generations that would one day look back upon her story with profound admiration and gratitude.

Today, as I reflect upon her life, I realise that although I never physically met my Appachi, her spirit continues to live within all of us. She exists in the values passed down through generations, in the resilience of her children and grandchildren, and in the stories that continue to bind our family together.

Some people leave behind possessions. Others leave behind status or titles. But my Appachi left behind something far more enduring, a legacy of courage, sacrifice, unconditional love, and a reminder that even in the darkest moments of life, the strength of a mother can become the light that carries an entire family forward.

Rawi

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Sellamma Thuraisingham

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