AT FIRST glance, Niromi de Soyza* is just like any other mum you might meet, one who juggles the school run with running a household in an affluent area of North Sydney. But behind this peaceful suburban life lies an extraordinary story of AK-47s, cyanide capsules and death, fighting alongside rebel soldiers in the jungles of Sri Lanka.
Niromi de Soyza in this month’s Vogue magazine. Source: Supplied
In her previous life, de Soyza was a Tamil Tiger.
It was 1987 when de Soyza’s life changed forever. Until then she had enjoyed a relatively privileged upbringing as a teenager in Sri Lanka. Born into a middle-class family in the picturesque, forested city of Kandy, de Soyza and her sister attended the local private school. During the week she dutifully studied and on weekends she would hang out with her best friend Ajanthi, sharing secrets and dreaming about life beyond the school gate.
And then one day, with no warning, the then-17-year-old de Soyza ran away from home and took up arms, becoming a teenage soldier with the militant Tamil Tigers separatists, and taking her best friend, Ajanthi, with her. For the next 12 months she ignored the desperate pleas of her family, choosing instead to live and fight alongside the feared guerilla insurgents.
‘My life as a rebel fighter’
Niromi de Soyza in this month’s Vogue magazine. Source: Supplied
During that year she would renounce everything she was and pledge allegiance to the Tigers, becoming adept at carrying and firing an AK-47, sacrificing the luxuries and comforts of home for the deprivations of the Sri Lankan jungle in a desperate bid to achieve independence for herself and her people. She would also witness unspeakable tragedies, which would ultimately cause her to lose faith in everything she knew and held dear.
“The life of a guerilla sounds idealistic but in reality it’s brutal, it’s soul-destroying,” de Soyza says over a pot of tea at home..
Her peaceful life as a 45-year-old wife and mother in Sydney today is a world away from the death and destruction that punctuated the first half of her life.
In 1983 riots known as Black July saw countless innocent Tamils killed in many parts of the island and survivors turning up in Jaffna with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. Death was now a reality.
As the fighting and death toll escalated, de Soyza became increasingly agitated by the injustice of the situation and her inability to do anything. Women were expected to quietly study, gain a profession, and marry. Not de Soyza.
A number of Tamil independence groups were gaining traction, and in 1987 when de Soyza caught wind of news the Tamil Tigers were recruiting female soldiers, she didn’t think twice. She grabbed Ajanthi and a bag of books and composed a hastily written note to her family explaining she was leaving to fight for freedom and asking them not to pursue her.
De Soyza recalls her pride at receiving her first weapon and precious, deadly cyanide capsule, the symbol of the Tigers, that was worn around the neck and was to be ingested at the first sign of capture. But the reality was a far cry from her idealistic dreams. The year 1987 proved to be one of the bloodiest.
Life in the Tamil Tigers was not what Niromi de Soyza, who now lives in Sydney, imagined
Life in the Tamil Tigers was not what Niromi de Soyza, who now lives in Sydney, imagined it would be. Picture: Vogue Magazine Source: Supplied
Indian peacekeeping forces had arrived, but, rather than work on a peaceful solution, the Tigers determined to fight both the Sinhalese and the Indians. They were subsequently driven from Jaffna into the dank jungle, where food was scarce, shelter non-existent and malaria a daily reality.
Then came the day she will never forget. At dawn on December 23, 1987, de Soyza and her small unit were ambushed by the military. In a blur of machinegun fire, hand grenades, jeeps, tanks and a helicopter gunship, 13 of the 22 freedom fighters were killed. Her father figure, Muralie, shot dead. Her friend Gandhi, blown sky high when a grenade landed on his head, leaving her drenched in his blood and tissue. And her beloved Ajanthi, killed by a single bullet to the head, right in front of her. Her best friend, her allies, her reason for fighting, were wiped out in an instant.
De Soyza was emotionally, physically and mentally wrecked. A friend and fellow Tiger recognised the state she was in and helped her escape the jungle. She was overwhelmed to discover her family had forgiven her and was waiting for her with open arms. She was 18 years old but had already lived a lifetime.
Fighting with the Tamil Tigers left Niromi de Soyza emotionally, physically and mentally
Fighting with the Tamil Tigers left Niromi de Soyza emotionally, physically and mentally drained. Picture: Vogue Magazine Source: Supplied
Two decades later the jungle, the fighting, the malnutrition are a lifetime away. Now de Soyza is happily ensconced in Sydney, where she arrived as a refugee and later settled with her Australian husband, young daughters and her own extended family, it’s as though it all happened to someone else. This bright, positive, engaging woman seems at odds with that troubled teen. But the memory is never far from the surface.
Rather than dwell on that nightmarish chapter, she poured her story into a book, Tamil Tigress, which carries an overwhelmingly clear anti-war message. What began as diary entries scribbled night after night at boarding school in India where she was sent once she’d regained her strength, is now being adapted into an Australian film, Tigress, with a script written by Jane Hampson.
De Soyza also visits Sri Lankan refugees at the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre near Sydney to raise awareness about their situation and the right to freedom of all Sri Lankan refugees in detention; meanwhile, her mother works as an interpreter in detention centres around Australia.
For de Soyza, her war is not over. Was it all worth it? “By the time the book was published the Tigers were wiped out,” she says. “It made me realise the cause was still there. And it wasn’t worth the price we paid. Parents lost their children, wives lost their husbands, a whole generation was wiped out from the Tamil community. That’s what war does.”
*Niromi de Soyza is a nom de plume.
Courtesy:Vogue-Australia