What humans can survive

If you only read one article on the one-year anniversary of the tsunami that hit Southeast Asia, let it be the one from last Sunday's New York Times.

It's an amazing piece that tells the stories of six Indonesians: a fisherman who remembered his grandfather's advice, a doctor who tried to save lives with no supplies, a housewife who agonized over her kids, a deliveryman who clung to life by himself for days, a social activist trying desperately to save his daughter, and a shopkeeper who was at the mercy of strangers.

They're all from the town of Bandeh Aceh, which lost 90,000 people (the total death toll is at a quarter-million, which is like if every single person in Madison, Wisconsin disappeared in a day).

It's an emotional and heartbreaking read, leaves you almost breathless at how people ever physically survived such a relentless disaster, both the immediate event and the days afterwards. And thinking about what you could possibly have done in their shoes.

The article, the longest the NYTimes magazine has ever published [NOTE: The Times a few days later ran a correction saying this was actually not at all the longest article the magaine's ran], will remind you why you love the paper. Like all Times articles there are tone problems (if only they weren't so knowing about everything!); but in the end, it's the stories that come through, the paper and writer are just a vehicle for bringing them to us.

Survivors, clinging to stalwart trees, were chanting prayers. "Asyhadu an laa ilaaha illallahu," "I swear there is no God but Allah." Maisara, astride a palm tree, was comforted to hear the familiar devotions. Then the prayers suddenly gave way to exclamations of terror. "Air laut naik lagi!" Another wave was coming.

Photo of Maisara just outside Banda Aceh is by Taryn Simon for The New York Times.