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In 1987, 17-year old Niromi de Soyza shocked her middle-class Sri Lankan family by joining the Tamil Tigers. Equipped with a rifle and cyanide capsule she was one of the rebels' first female soldiers. Now married and living in suburban Sydney, this is her story of her time as a guerrilla.
Two days before Christmas in 1987, at the age of 17, Niromi de Soyza found herself in an ambush as part of a small platoon of militant Tamil Tigers fighting government forces in the bloody civil war that was to engulf Sri Lanka for decades. With her was her lifelong friend, Ajanthi, also aged 17. Leaving behind them their shocked middle-class families, the teenagers had become part of the Tamil Tigers' first female contingent. Equipped with little more than a rifle and a cyanide capsule, Niromi's group managed to survive on their wits in the jungle, facing not only the perils of war but starvation, illness and growing internal tensions among the militant Tigers. And then events erupted in ways that she could no longer bear.
How was it that this well-educated, mixed-race, middle-class girl from a respectable family came to be fighting with the Tamil Tigers? Today she lives in Sydney with her husband and children; but Niromi de Soyza is not your ordinary woman and this is her compelling story.
About the Author
Niromi de Soyza speaks fluent Tamil and Sinhalese and writes vivid beautiful English. For many years she worked for the Red Cross in Sydney, where she still lives with her husband and two young children.
"[The book] shows how corrupting and demoralizing war can be, regardless of which side you are on." --"BUST magazine"
| The Ambush | p. 1 |
| The House of My Grandmother | p. 6 |
| Anger and Frustration | p. 25 |
| Dead and Buried | p. 46 |
| For the Greater Good | p. 60 |
| An Act of Betrayal | p. 74 |
| A Tiger Named Roshan | p. 94 |
| A Military-Style Training Base | p. 112 |
| There's Still Time to Change Your Mind | p. 133 |
| I Knew It Wouldn't Last Forever | p. 156 |
| Experience of the Battlefield | |
| A Break in the Hostilities | p. 201 |
| Trying to Ignore My Reality | p. 212 |
| The Last Few Moments of Life | p. 227 |
| Where It All Ends | p. 237 |
| The Dream Beyond Reach | p. 248 |
| The Jungle Hide-out | p. 263 |
| Extraordinary Days | p. 274 |
| Where Do I Go From Here? | p. 283 |
| Afterwards | p. 298 |
| List of Acronyms | p. 305 |
| Tamil and Sinhala Words | p. 306 |
| Acknowledements | p. 308 |
| Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |
ISBN: 9781742375182
ISBN-10: 1742375189
Audience:
General
Format:
Paperback
Language:
English
Number Of Pages: 296
Published: 1st July 2011
Dimensions (cm): 23.3 x 15.4
x 2.2
Weight (kg): 0.425
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