THODDOO, 26 YEARS LATER
I arrived in Thoddoo this evening for a very different reason than my first visit here. My son’s academy is playing in a football tournament, and I came as a parent in the stands, cheering for him. But my mind can’t help but travel back 26 years to 1999, when I first set foot on this island.
Back then, I wasn’t here for sports. I had just been transferred to the Ministry of Atolls Administration, and that year the Ministry decided to take part in TVM’s Office Teledrama competition—a Ramadan tradition that was quite popular. The previous year’s entry from the Atolls didn’t land well, so the responsibility fell on me to write and direct the new one. That’s how Thauba (Atonement) was born.
It was the story of a simple island girl whose one mistake spirals her life into chaos, drowning her in shame and straining her bond with her father. A straightforward tale, but with enough emotional weight to test TVM’s broadcasting codes. Thankfully, it aired the way I envisioned, though years later I saw a re-run that had been chopped mercilessly.
Since the drama was set on an island, choosing a location was easy—after all, the Ministry oversaw them all. But fate pointed me toward Thoddoo. One of my colleagues was from here, and he became my guide, suggesting locations as I wrote and later serving as project manager. That was how I first arrived in Thoddoo.
I don’t recall all the exact places we filmed, but certain images stay vivid. A rainy-night scene where the girl wakes from a nightmare, stepping out into the downpour as if to cleanse her sins—it was shot in the backyard of a local house.
Another unforgettable shoot was the nightmare sequence surrounded by fire. We staged it in a wide open ground, taking every safety precaution. Even so, the smoke was too much—the actress, who suffered from asthma, fainted and had to be rushed to the health center. I sometimes wonder if that ground was the football field I now walk past.
Despite these challenges, Thauba went on to win Best Drama that year. The late Hajja Mohamed, who played the girl, won Best Actress runner-up. Many of the cast and crew who made that teledrama possible are no longer with us—Hajja, Mohamed Saleem (Umbe), Ahmed Saeed. They were the backbone of the Atolls dramas. May they all rest in peace.
So yes, being here again feels oddly comforting. I may not remember every street or backyard, but I do remember that a story we shot here once carried weight, stirred emotions, and even made history in its own little way. Today, I return as a father, with different emotions but the same sense of gratitude to Thoddoo.
Mahdi Ahmed 
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