For seas and skies - a change that counts

Pamodhi Kuruppu

I do not remember who left the book on my palms that day. Four or five years back then. It was Romesh Gunasekara’s Reef. It reached me with a few words. They said “it’s touching and beautiful, you will like it!” There was no name on the book. It rested with me for three years. Soon after I handed over it to someone who possibly knew the owner of the book.  I remember those late nights, when I use to fall on bed and switch page by page reading the words divulged by Romesh. I ate them! Technically they were fascinating.

Two months ago, I was on my way to Kanchanaburi in Thailand by train. Either side of mine was greenish rivers that stretched along. Steep mountains that reached high. Tall trees with dry, brown leaves crept inside the train as it swiftly moved. But there was something unlikely to my home. Not even those hot, exotic beaches impressed me. The sea in Thailand was not the same like the sea near Sri Lanka. Ours were better. Some things pinched my heart.

There’s no place better than my country.

Some chunks from Romesh Gunasekara’s Reef poured down my brains. There was a distinct difference in beauty in the two countries. The vast waters that rush in to shore and disappear, the underwater corals sparkling and brimming, the fisherman rolling on the surf, the gleams of sunlight that crawl underneath the coconut trees that  lengthened along the shores  is  ardent beauty. The blues mixed with red, orange, yellow and purple patches color a perfect tropical noon in Sri Lanka. No such beauty in other countries I've seen.

There was a time when those sparkling reefs were taken away. The waters were overtaken by death squads. Fire was lit. Portuguese, the Dutch and the British came full of the promise of cinnamon, pepper and clove. Struggled a bit to take Sri Lanka into their hands. But we were released later. It is ironic that the British independence leads into brutal violence even worse than for what the British did. The violence tore apart the paradise. It was in 60’s 70’s and 80’s. It was a time where one could only have pleasure by hitting another bullet. Destruction was normal, like for those heaps of reefs taken away to make cement, the structure of the sea is destroyed, the sea will come straight in and demolish the land. It was a time when politics and religious turmoil even dragged away the comfort of the thin breeze.

But, after 30 years of war we see the beauty appearing again. Rays of hope unrolling across the country. Life is back. People are enjoying the waters washing away shores. They are actively engaged in daily chores. There is no alarming about bombs. No black skies. No gun smokes running up. Hot red evening skies are back to be seen.

Time has made such a difference. The diasporic past is done.  Even the seas and skies have changed.

It’s time for us to rise, to lead and unite, to make Sri Lanka a better one.

(First published in the FREE section of "The Nation" newspaper)