Guria

Pirpir Ure Ra Guria (Guria Story)

Ismael K. Isikel

After the destruction and loss caused by a guria and tsunami we realize or remember the funny things of the event  and in spite of our losses we laugh (nongon) about them. Da nongone. We laugh over it/them.

The word GURIA is known and used widely in Papua New Guinea and understood by some people abroad, especially those working in seismology. It means earthquake or tremor. In many parts of the world where it occurs it is terrifying, depending on the magnitude, and destructive.  In maritime areas a guria is sometimes followed by tsunami forcing people to escape to higher ground. Tsunami is Japanese for tidal wave.

Last week, Saturday 17th December 2016,  there was a major guria centered somewhere in the area of  New Ireland Province, That is only a speedboat ride away from East New Britain Province to the closest point at Namatanai. After feeling relieved that most things were alright, I remembered  some funny stories relating to guria occurrences and share two of them here.

The first one was of an old man, his puppy, and his grandson. They were in a hut sharing the same coconut mat on the ground floor. Grandpa was sitting up while his two companions were fast asleep. When the guria suddenly struck, grandpa  quickly picked up the puppy and ran out. Someone noticed he was cradling something and asked, what are you holding? He quickly glanced at what he was cradling and responded, "aisiah ra papu ta" (Oh, the puppy). Instantly he dropped the puppy and ran back into the hut to fetch his grandson.

The second one is about an old folk at Rakotop village. This old fella was notorious for holding onto something steady when a guria struck. He would grab something that was steady, including tree trunks and house post, One time a guria struck and the nearest steady object was a cocoa tree. He dashed for it, grabbed hold of a branch, and hung on it for dear llife. Iga taba tara ingara kakao.