The Paths of Glory
Reading the Sunday Times Defense Column and then D.B.S. Jeyaraj’s article on the state of a society dealing with the dark side of war preparations, an all out war appears to be inescapably imminent.
It would be rather sanguine to view what has taken place thus far as being an all out war as the GOSL Army did not really faced a long drawn out battle for either Sampur or Vakarai. Which then allows for the conclusion that the LTTE was conserving itself for battle on a later date. The fact that Colonel Karuna has been to the East to obviously boost morale suggests that the drums of war are steadily growing stronger.
I also found it quite interesting that Col. Karuna in his interview partially blames Tamil leadership for the on going war. Plaudits to Col. Karuna for at least being one of the few Tamil leaders to see the need for both parties to identify and accept their mistakes.However, his almost simultaneous promotion of negotiation as the way to resolution can only be viewed as laudable comment by the severely retarded. In the murky waters of battle preparation and spin doctoring the sacrifice of integrity is indeed lamentable.
It is indeed interesting to question the absence of such principles of glory and honor in terms of the Greeks and the Japanese in what is quite obviously now a theater of war in Sri Lanka. Or is that really the case? Perhaps with the changing face of modern warfare the idea of honor and glory have evolved to mean something more than the archaic values of Homeric epics.
The ideals of courage is now defined by what a person is willing to say and in what forums they will say it. Thus it is not merely a speaking out that defines courage. It is the context in which the speaker speaks out. And like being in a physical battle “courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important” (Ambrose Redmoon).
The new swing to the ancient concepts of glory and honor is indeed an interesting phenomena. It brings in to focus where exactly the true war takes place. So while the GOSL, LTTE, TMVP and everyone else ready their guns and sharpen their knives to have a go at each other for the millionth time the search for a new Richard de Zoysa, Rajini Thirangama or a Neelan Tiruchelvam intensifies.
Allow me to finish the above extract though…
“The paths of glory lead but to the grave”
… what of our judgment then?
The Ides of March Came Early
“There are events which are so great that if a writer has participated in them his obligation is to write truly rather than assume the presumption of altering them with invention.”
Ernest Hemingway
Ah Royal! Oh how the mighty have fallen.
Speaking to the Royal Deputy Head Prefect before the match he assured me that there would be some kind of result at this year’s Big Match. I don’t think even he was expecting this kind of a result.
As a friend of mine summarizes it …. “[H]igh Score, [A]ll Out, [F]ollow On – pwned”
As we watched the first and second days play unfold the memories of last year slowly drifted away washed away with the exhilarating euphoria of what can only be described as “pure pwnage”. As Ashan and the rest of the team recover from last nights shenanigans, let us spare a thought for Mowjood and co languishing in the arms of the minor staff of Royal somewhere.
Perhaps what annoys me the most is the fact that Royal did not make a fight or a match out of it and the only truly commendable achievement was that they dragged the match out till the last day.
At the end of the day Royal have only themselves to blame for what must rate as one of their worst performances in recent times. The toss aside, the amount of spilled chances (inclusive of both Ashan and Mazhair in the space of one ball) the silly dismissals and the amazing number of run outs leaves this writer truly astonished.
The way the third day played itself out – two run outs mind you one brilliant the other a gift seriously questions the mind set of the Royalists in this match. Its fine to go down fighting but silly capitulation is something totally different.
But ravings against the Royalists aside, hats off to the Thomians… Played like true masters. And the Thomian Souvenir with the Phoenix as its cover photograph best describes the Thomian mindset. They came out fighting and fought all the way.
Looking back on this match we will all be extra proud to have waved our flags, screamed ourselves hoarse and cheered you guys on. You deserved this. And whatever the detractors may say let us never never think that this was a result of some shamans magic. Going through some pictures of last years match when STC fought hard for the match, it can only be said “oh how the mighty have fallen”.
But in the best spirits of the Royal Thomian let me hope that next year will be different. That next year there will be a Match.
But for now allow me the luxury of basking in the happiness of exulting in pride and of living on a continuous rush of Blue, Black and Blue. For this year the Ides of March Came Early.
Ah the Memories of March
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother…and people now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here.
Leaving College on a high note will always be one of those reasons I look back on College and say ‘this was meant to be’. As we sang the College song and walked out of the Main Gate for the last time, in our hearts we knew that we were leaving a part of ourselves behind. We were leaving our innocence, we were leaving our sheltered life, we were leaving our youth behind.
Ah the Memories of March.
The papare bands – well in our case the DJ playing Papare as the administration refused permission for papare bands. The neat white uniforms, straw/wicker hats, ties and badges. The souvenirs and the tent, the house cops and the old boys. Those were the days of absolute bliss and satisfaction.
What’s that you said – you can’t understand a word? That’s probably because you’re not a Thomian or God forbid during this time a Royalist. (and I say that with the full knowledge that someone somewhere is saying exactly the opposite) No one else would understand ‘it’. Describe it – Sorry we can’t and we won’t. It’s a part of us we will not share with the uninitiated and the best you can do is guess at it.
So go Thora… Ashan another one for before you leave. You’ve been through all the shit (Yes some of us still remember) and you deserve this. Mowjood I hope you find most of your testicle and give the Thomian’s a good fight for the rest of the match. Play up man and you should have learned by now how not to make excuses. If you haven’t you can always depart.
Anyway with much nostalgia, hopes for the match and cheers to the team I will sign off.
Before I do go though a shout out to my friends who were part of “the Match”.
“For the good times shared that will never be forgotten; For never failing to lift me up when things seemed to be going bad; I cannot thank you enough”
- Our Souvenir
Moderately on the Fence
I don’t like to commit myself about heaven and hell – you see, I have friends in both places.
- Mark Twain
With many apologies for my brief hiatus I wish to examine the way identity is subjected to strict polarization.
As a University student of a very much politics driven University the issue of identity had for a long time been a predetermined one. Either for or against, arts or science, rag or anti rag and based on that friend or foe.
This polarization is almost rigid to some, strictly observed by others and almost never considered fluid. Which places a moderate in a very tricky situation to choose or not to choose. And neutrality itself then becomes fluid. For unless one wishes to completely isolate one’s self from the society there seems to be a very limited number of options available to the moderate.
Perhaps the issue was common to Kadirgama, Rajini Thirangama, Richard de Zoysa and now seen in more moderate voices on the Tamil issue such as Aadhavan and Aacharya. The issue of being a moderate by definition isolates one from the those who are radical in their views.
Sri Lanka seems to thrive on a strict polarization of identity. The attacks by both the Government as well as the LTTE on what is undoubtedly a moderate voice of reason exemplifies this.
But is the moderate misplaced? Perhaps he or she is wrong to see issues in shades of grey and not in a polarized black and white. Why further muddy up the muddy waters?
Is it that a moderate agrees partially with a concept but not with the promoter of it? Or is it the person who approves of the ideal bit opposes how it is implemented? And what of the person who refuses to accept such polarities? At the end of the day moderation in itself is fluid and determined by the person holding these views.
The willingness of society to examine itself under the magnifying glass of objectivity is best measured by her reaction to moderates. In the case of some communities the presence of moderates is in itself such a measure.
So to place this in a personal context. This is to let the world know that i am now ‘friendly’ with a student union. In case you missed that particular newsflash for further clarification please contact my friends at the university.
What people fail to understand is that being someone’s friend does not necessarily ensure that one agrees completely with their actions. Friendly with members of the union note not agreeable with all their policies. I see weaknesses and i have seen failings and my position as a friend has also given me the ability to discuss my views openly with people who can make a change in policy. I see this as a result of this friendship.
However some of my friends see this as me going ‘down the wrong path’; ‘mixing up with the wrong people’; ‘being blind’ and in general discarding any iota of commonsense i formally possessed. So to apply my experiences with a broader perspective does this mean that moderate opinions should remain merely opinions?
Examine the reaction to Aadhavan on Ravana’s blog. Not just from the Sinhalese but especially from the Tamils involved in the discussion. Is Aadhavan too expected to keep his opinions to himself as they do not agree with the more hardline stance?
The issue as i see it is not so much in the views but in their expression. People are very much aware that the more radical you are in your beliefs the more likely you are to actively pursue at least 50% of your diatribe.
Moderates are never taken seriously because come on your on the fence and that is not a very strong position to be in. After all too many people on the fence and the fence will break wouldn’t it.
Perhaps there should be less fences to sit on… And perhaps there should be only two colors – black and white… And perhaps life should be so simple…
Political Fugitives and the ‘Other Direction’
“In a world of fugitives, the person taking the opposite direction will appear to run away”
- T. S. Elliot
Watching and reading with a disinterested eye the rigmarole that is Sri Lankan politics seems to seriously question the presence of any politician with an iota of commonsense and decency.
So to refresh your memory we have a President doing his best to woe opposition politicians, the UNP trying to deal with their gender-confused leadership and glue ‘the party’ back together and the JVP running away with the Mace when they don’t have their way. As if that wasn’t enough the JHU all but shames any sense of respect and dignity that the clergy in Sri Lanka possessed and the TNA is obviously functioning under a different agenda while the Muslim Congress and the CWC use their few seats in Parliament to make the best life for themselves and their children. And with the growing number of MP’s who are at present in court/on the way to court to protect their party membership that has been taken away for obvious reasons one must seriously wonder as to how we manage to constantly vote in 225 people who have quite obviously been dropped from balconies as babies.
As a friend of mine remarked the only symbols left to vote for are the “katussa” and the “gemba”. And personally i have no problem with the fact that a bunch of complete morons get together a few times a month to hurl abuse at each other and make statements that might hopefully garner them a spot on TV. My itch is that this charade is paid for out of public funds; funds which can be used for more practical purposes. Not to mention the colossal hassle to the transport of everyone else on the road as well as the fact that they are handed added perks while we do our best to keep voting them in to office year after year(sorry 6 years is it? Seems a lot shorter here. Does anyone remember the last Parliament that served it’s entire term?)
Let me also stick the proverbial oar in at this juncture to point out that I am referring to the general perception of Sri Lankan politics and that this is not a promotion of some other sorry excuse for a Democratic state.
With a Cabinet the size of Anura Bandaranaike and the not so subtle indication that it is likely to grow larger (if that is possible. The way the cabinet keeps expanding I would not be surprised if most of the functions at Water’s Edge would have to be cancelled to accommodate weekly cabinet meetings) Sri Lankans need to get a grip of the charade that is government in Sri Lanka.
The point is that Sri Lankan politicians have seriously let down any idea of Rousseau’s Social Contract. The question though is how do we as supposedly sovereign and in possession of our wits if not our vote respond to this severe breach of duty by the legislature which is supposedly a pillar of government?
My point earlier with regard to the labels we attach to ourselves in our thinking is I believe one of the chief culprits. So since our parents voted for the SLFP in the 70’s we vote for them now. There is more than an identification to a point where there is a definite sense of belonging attached to a party. “Our buggers are sure to win this time”, “Apo, they are of no use… our fellows are the only fellows who can do anything properly”. And then come the usual ‘Grass-Hopper’ time we retire to bed with panadols and fervent prayers for a brighter tomorrow.
Which begs three questions as I see it…
- What is the ideal of the proper MP?
- Why is there an almost obvious dichotomy in real life?
- What should we be doing as the Sovereign power to ensure that our views are voiced and our concerns met by our ideal of representatives?
Practically speaking it would not be an easy task to change the political culture here overnight. Yet the step needs to be taken.
My limited exposure to politics does not qualify to me to answer the above questions in any academic manner. However based on my knowledge so far i believe it is safe to assume that…
- The Ideal Politician will change from person to person but that ideal needs a certain extent of realization.
- That dealing with the first would answer the second
- That a new culture needs to be shaped at the cost of the old and that we too should be doing our best to keep our representatives on their toes.
The constant griping about how we only see our MP during election time is a convenient excuse to cover up the fact that we rarely try to meet the MP ourselves to follow up on their promises. We go looking for them when we need something done and then wonder about them returning to request a favor in return.
So it is high time we explore methods to change the unfortunate perceptions of politics here in SL not merely collectively but on an individual level as well.
The faster we find out how to create the ‘person going in the other direction’ the faster we will all be able to pack off the circus and pull this big top down permanently. And I for one can’t wait for that day.
Contributory to What?
“Person X is standing at a bushalt when he observes a man repeatedly slapping a woman who appears to be his wife/girlfriend. Person X does not take any action and remains a bystander. Was Person X’s action violent or not?”
At a recent workshop one of the activities that the participants were asked to do was to “Vote by Foot” on a variety of issues such as the one above. (For those unfamiliar with this we started out in the middle of the room (0) with the wall to our left being a -10 and the wall to our right + 10. The activity asked us to vote based on how we felt about the issue.)
As I found myself leaning against the wall (much to my surprise) in the firm belief that Person X’s action’s were violent I noticed that the number of people who saw things in the same light was surprisingly few and surprisingly mostly male. But that’s for another time
It also got me thinking about how exactly people in general here tend to see any type of violence or crime. The general rule goes basically if it doesn’t affect me, it’s not harmful to anyone. General rule mind you not in every single instance.
This to me, highlights the fact that we have become a greatly apathetic society. The over-saturation of violence that Sri Lanka has come to be so accustomed to as a result of the conflict has desensitized us and we are mostly unaware of it.
So the crime rate rises, the Police love the new traffic laws, and we wonder why Sri Lanka doesn’t progress from it’s current proximity to Banana Republic. It is interesting that while doctors willing to diagnose this cure are a cent a dozen those actively willing to participate in making a change are; in view of the enormity of the task, almost negligible in comparison. So the cycle continues.
The inherent lack in all of us, myself most definitely included is that we fail to see acts of omission as being contributory to the common problem. And it is probably the little things that slowly slowly add up. It’s the milk packet that just missed the bin and the silence when a conductor goes nuts in the bus.
We let these things slowly accumulate till it either effects us or we don’t care anymore. This in none so apparent in terms of the violence prevalent in Sri Lankan society. We seem to be brought up on the Bismarckian precepts of blood and iron and this has eaten in to our outlook on violence in general. True we are the war generation – we grew up with it, we dealt with it and we experienced it (some more directly than most). And unsurprisingly things no longer affect us anymore.
I maybe stating the obvious here but this desensitization has led to a blinkered view of contributory violence/crime/corruption/bribery/theft/prostitution/et all. The question for those who do not think agree is to attempt to remember the last time you stood up for someone who you didn’t know just because it was morally correct to do so.
The more we ignore this issue the more we accept anything that comes our way. So we vote commonly accepted ganglords in to parliament, pay off a cop here and there to escape the paperwork and ignore the obvious symptoms of a decaying society.
Please allow me to be clear. I am not saying that there is such a thing as a perfect society. An examination of the issue at hand though seems to suggest that Sri Lanka in itself maybe quite far away from that particular ideal. So at what cost to ourselves do we turn a blind eye to the abductions taking place?
For how long will we allow violence to permeate our society. Again as I have done earlier I do not wish to merely rant and rave and leave without providing answers. My first suggestion is that we sit back and take a good look at the extent to which we have become desensitized. From this understanding it would be possible to move to greater attempts at rectifying this rot that seems to be taking root in Sri Lanka. As i said before let there be change in the world and let that change begin with me.
The choices as i see it are rather straightforward. Either to let it be, let it be, let it be and allow violence to grow in to a proportion that will definitely have to be dealt with and will be impossible to ignore. Or to take a stance against it now. To say no to verbal abuse. Try not swearing for a day. Tell off a cranky bus conductor. Pay the whole fine. Cast a thinking vote. Make a change.
To be or not to be that is always the question.
Developing a Common Identity
“The value of identity of course is that so often with it comes purpose.”
- Richard R. Grant
With the first post having garnered an interesting discussion on identity, I thought it fitting that I examine exactly why that post was written and what this blog is about.
Most Sri Lankans seem to suffer from a serious need to label people – a kind of labelling logocentricism. Thus a person is veiwed in terms of Race – “He’s a Tamil, She’s a Sinhalese”. In terms of political ideology -”She’s a JVP supporter, men! He’s got the hots for Mahinda”. Even in the unlikeliest of places we find ourselves labeling people we meet. “Eyage kadda mara polish machan!” “He’s a Trinitian”.
It seems an almost ingrained mental need (logocentricism) that helps us to polarize our world. Those who fit in and those who don’t. It would also be very interesting to consider who exactly determines what ideology is “in” and thus how “the other” is formed.
Be that as it may it is high time we start questioning this attitude to people and their identity. This is a call to begin this process by first examining our own identity. I could, as I did in my earlier post categorize myself into the many labels that I applied. But what pupose would that serve in defining how i approach the people I come in to contact with. And also how much of that post affected your views of me and your interest in reading my blog.
So it is time we start to first find acceptance for ourselves and who we are. It is also a call to stop the active participation in and promulgation of pigeonhole identities in bite-sized chunks. It is time we begin to develop a common identity as Sri Lankan.
A very good friend of mine sees this lack as being one of the main reasons for the inability to mount a national peace initiative. While agreeing I would like to add that I also see this trend worryingly continuing to spread itself further in our society even as far as interests in music and newspapers.
At the same time I wish to be realistic. Theory is easy to understand yet difficult to put in to practice – refer Marxism. And by no means do I wish to sound patronizing and contrived. Yet I air my views in the hope that someone somewhere will start journeying down the long road that this challenge brings with it. I’m still on that particular road and still dealing with the issues that arise daily as a result of it. But there will be a change one day and that change may begin with you or me.
So what then is this blog trying to say?
This is a call for nationalism not along the lines touted ad nauseam by all manner of politicians but Sri Lankanism above petty political ideologies and interests. And ever so often we will find that with that ability we will begin to find our Purpose as well and with that purpose we could well begin to see Change take place in this generation.
Minoritist – n. – belonging to a particular minority
A Burgher-Tamil, educated in the Sinhala medium, a private school student now in university, a Christian, English Honors student in a majority Sinhala Buddhist Campus- so what’s that You said about being a Minority?
~Introduction~
long train
came down
stared me in the face
sat down
looked around
linings on the case
stared at you
stared at me
mirror like glass
welcomed you
cursed at me
Negligible Minority
