Amidst the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, we may pass by several hundred people on a daily basis, most of whom we will not speak to or may never meet again. You may never know about the life of the person you just passed as you get off the train, just as they may never learn about your life story. Although it may appear as though we have no connection to these strangers who we pass on the street, the fact is that they play a part in determining who it is we will encounter next. Even seemingly meaningless, minute changes to the course of our daily lives have an impact upon our present existence.
A look at the life of actress Sahel Rosa inevitably leaves one with a similar impression that everything that happens in the world is the result of a series of miracles. If the flower seed of her existence had fallen in even a slightly different place, Sahel would probably not be here today. And she would not have met her mother; the most cherished person in her life. "I was kept alive." These words spoken by Sahel have a deeply profound meaning and express gratitude towards the inevitability of coincidence. Her radiant smile and graceful, clear voice completely belie the heroic life that she has lived.
Sahel Rosa's story begins some 20 years ago in Iran in 1989. While Japanese children of her age were happily running around at kindergarten, four year old Sahel spent her days fighting to survive together with her parents and 10 siblings. Despite the official ceasefire of the Iran-Iraq War, Sahel's hometown located close to the border suffered constant bombing. Life for the town's residents consisted of simply waiting for night to fall in the hope that no radio air-raid warnings would sound. Sahel recalls her town in flashbacks as "a world of grey and brown stones and rubble, much like a worksite." Life in this war zone was also characterized by a shortage of food, making it impossible to feed the entire family. Perhaps due to this poverty, Sahel was left at a hospital shortly after birth and also recalls being taken to an orphanage on one occasion.
One sleepless night at the end of February, Sahel recalls the bombing that would change her life forever. In an instant the town was destroyed and a large number of people had lost their lives. Sahel was the sole surviving member of her entire family. On the morning four days after the bombing, the order was given to evacuate rescue workers, who had been unable to locate any survivors. In a last-ditch attempt, one female rescuer noticed the presence of a single blue flower amongst the rubble. Beside the flower was a tiny, doll-like hand poking through the debris. Although the pulse was faint, it was alive. The hand belonged to Sahel.
Sahel awoke in a hospital - a world she had never seen. Turning to the woman standing beside the vase which contained the blue flower, she unwittingly called madar (mother). The woman, a 23-year old from a respectable family whose name was Flora, continued to take care of Sahel. Sahel, who until then had only known the life of a grim, grey world, gradually learned basic social skills from Flora from how to use a spoon to how to use the stairs. Previously unable to take a proper bath, Sahel was not even aware of the color of her own skin. Just as Sahel was beginning to understand her strange new environs, Flora informed her of the death of the rest of her family.
Having already lost her entire immediate family, Sahel then had to say goodbye to Flora and begin her new life at an orphanage. By chance, the orphanage happened to be the same one where she was taken just after birth. Each week Sahel would see the other orphans being adopted one after the other but no couples came to adopt her. After about a year had passed Flora, who had just returned from working in Singapore, happened to turn on the television and saw little Sahel in a commercial by the Iranian government calling for foster parents. Concerned by the fact that she was still in the orphanage, Flora went to visit Sahel and gave her a warm hug. As the only person who had ever hugged Sahel, Flora was already a mother in the mind of the little five year old. After two months, Flora decided to adopt Sahel. To a little girl who had been emotionally scarred by war and the death of her family, madar was undoubtedly the word which brought her the greatest sense of security.
However, a harsh reality awaited. Flora came from a family whose name was well known throughout Iran and her adoption of Sahel led to a major division among the family members. After a number of misunderstandings, Flora was eventually disowned by her parents. Forced into a life of hardship and with no one to rely on, the two made their way to Japan in 1993 with the help of a Japanese man, Flora's fiancé at the time.
While life in this foreign land with Flora's fiancé began smoothly, it did not last for long. Abandoned by the fiancé after three weeks, the two had to leave his apartment with minimal clothing and just 10,000 yen to their name. That was the start of their life in a park. Washing herself under the faucet in the park, Sahel went to elementary school every day while Flora, still in her 20s, went to work every day. On rainy days the two would spend their time in libraries and public toilets trying to stay dry and clinging to each other for warmth. Sahel contented herself with the lunch provided at school while her mother would stave off hunger with bread crusts which she bought for 50 yen at the supermarket. With the support of kind people who couldn't bear to witness their circumstances, the two managed to move into an apartment, but their trying life as mother and daughter continued.
Despite having attended graduate school and intending to obtain a doctorate while in her home country, Flora encountered considerable hardship in Japan, where she had to work from 7:00 a.m. to late at night in order to support Sahel. Despite her upbringing in an affluent family, Flora had no reservations about cleaning toilets if it meant she could protect her child. "Both then and now, 99% of whatever my mother does is for my own happiness. Whether it be food or clothing, she sacrificed her own needs to provide for me". Flora made sure that Sahel was never the only one in her class to go without; eating just half a can of tuna each day in order to pay for her daughter's swimming lessons.
On holidays when Sahel did not receive any lunch, the two had to appease their empty stomachs by riding the bus to the local supermarket and eating the free food samples. The apartment had no bath so every day they would visit the coin-operated showers or, when they had no money for the shower, Flora would wash Sahel's body and hair in the kitchen sink with water boiled in the kettle. "Although we didn't have any money, as long as I was with my mother I didn't really feel any suffering. Instead, my mother and I would think of how we could spend our 500 yen to keep the smile on our face or how we could make do with what we had to stay happy." Even now, Sahel doesn't wish for much and is constantly grateful for her present circumstances.
While the days and months passed and their lives began to assume a modicum of stability, Sahel was subjected to terrible bullying at junior high school. She had no choice but to withstand the cruel treatment and emotionally hurtful words dished out on a daily basis. Still, Sahel never expressed her sadness at home in front of her mother. "My mother never showed any weakness no matter how tough things were. Even when our situation was desperate, I'm sure that someone would have helped us if she'd let them, but she never revealed her own weakness in front of others. But I do remember seeing my mother quietly weeping on one occasion. When I thought about how weakened my strong mother had become, I simply couldn't worry her even more by telling her about the teasing."
As though adding fuel to the flames of the constant bullying, Sahel's life was again to take a turn for the worse. Sahel even contemplated suicide but, as she explains in her book, there was one thought that stopped her from going through with it. "I was the last survivor in a town completely destroyed by bombing and not a single member of my entire immediate family is alive today. I wanted to know the reason I was alive, the reason I was being kept alive. I am certain that there is some reason why I have been able to live this long." Sahel's strong bond with Flora has also allowed her to keep living. No matter how desperate their situation, Flora would tell Sahel that, even if unrelated to her by blood and not her birth mother, she was convinced of her ability to love her more than a real parent. Sahel's encounter with Flora had thus taught her the meaning of love. Says Sahel, "I want to keep living for my mother who devoted her life to me."
Overcoming the Japanese language barrier, Sahel continued on to high school and, by an unexpected turn of events, was chosen to become a reporter on FM radio on the eve of her graduation. From there she has commenced a new chapter in her life as the actress Sahel Rosa. ( To be continued )
◆Next update for Sahel Rosa (2) ― May 21, 2009
