tw news-features

By Shehan Rayer

A bomb explodes, a child cries out, a brutal assassination, another family in mourning. Having been ‘home’ for the better part of three weeks I suppose I should be shocked or at least appalled by the events of the recent weeks. Truth be told I am neither. Perhaps I have in some strange way become too accustomed to such news. Having been born and lived most of my life in Karachi Pakistan, I am no stranger to such brutal, pointless violence.

I remember sitting in my ninth grade current events class and the teacher reading out a newspaper heading which told of 15 dead people in a car bomb. After hearing this, and much to my teacher’s horror, a friend of mine unconsciously remarked aloud, “Only 15”. Awful as that sounds he was simply echoing the sentiments of his fellow classmates. Ninth grade, fourteen years old, saying “Only 15”. Thousands of miles away in the beautiful island of Sri Lanka, sentiments are not so different.

Even though I have traveled to this country a fair few times in the past, it has been a while since my last visit here. Everything seems so strange to me, so alien. It is almost like visiting a country for the very first time. I am completely illiterate as far as the local language and customs are concerned, yet according to my passport this is my home country.

The over crowded streets, and unbearable air pollution bring with them a whiff of familiarity. Memories flood back in, and as I survey my surroundings it seems as if things are either the same or worse. I have been here for twenty five plus days and already witnessed the aftermath of a van bombing and live down the same lane as a man who was recently killed coming out of his house both incidents blamed on the Tigers. People hear the news shake their heads mutter under their breath and go about performing their daily chores.

In the meantime my generation is to busy wondering which club to go to and who’s bringing the booze to the pre drink session. Put simply, the older generation is too jaded to care while the younger is just ignorant. I know this because I am apart of this generation, and why not, ignorance is bliss. There exists in Karachi a fairly large Sri Lankan community. In the olden days they would get together for dinners and parties, sing baila songs, talk about cricket, and remember the good old days in Sri Lanka and long for the day they could return to their home land.

Now the mood has changed. Political instability, a dwindling economy, and a people ravaged by war have made home seem much further away than a three and a half hour flight from Karachi to Colombo.

For the last two years I had been living in Toronto studying in a university there. It’s a place that makes it hard for anyone to feel too home sick because of the multi-cultural aspect of the city. There are people from all walks of life, all living together in a kind of surreal harmony. Toronto holds within itself a huge Sri Lankan population.

Most of the people I had come across there were Sri Lankans born in Canada. To them events in the country were cause for worry, not so much for the country but for relatives and friends living here. They seem to be resigned to the fact that the situation in the country will continue to worsen and are glad they no longer live here.

The tsunami disaster jolted everyone, and for a while we were all glued to our screens watching the rescue efforts and expressing our horror at the growing number of dead, but then a week passed and then another week, and we all went back to our lives as if nothing had happened to interrupt us in the first place.

It’s sad that terrible acts of violence are judged not by the viciousness of the act but by the number of people who die and people only really care when they themselves or loved ones are affected. Personally apart from the tsunami and a few stray incidents I barely heard any news for home and to be honest I never tried to keep up.

Living a million miles away means people have their own issues to deal with like their jobs, kids, university, mortgage payments, etc. There is simply no time for Sri Lankans or anyone else living abroad to concern themselves with events daily taking place in their home country.

The artificial peace is officially over. It was only a matter of time and that time is now. Just as I write these words a loud explosion is heard, news quickly spreads that a bomb has gone off nearby and reporters and cameramen alike speed off to be the first to capture the scene. Need I say anymore? Who knows what scenes of carnage await?

The only reason I am here is because certain extenuating circumstances made it necessary for me to temporarily leave Canada and come here. Already I cannot wait to leave. Every where I look there are billboards offering jobs abroad or ways to study and then migrate to foreign countries. The newspapers too are filled with such advertisements.

I have visited a few educational institutions in my short time here and the first thing they tell me is how their diplomas are recognised in the USA or UK. It is an ever growing trend that seems to be growing ever more popular.

More people will leave, almost none will return and can you really blame them? What is it that they are to return to? Beautiful beaches along with five star hotels overlooking serene beauty and cheap shopping are just not going to cut it. It’s just not worth it.

On an ending note, sixty young children have been murdered in a highly questionable bombing. Who are we to see about that when both sides cower from accepting responsibility?

The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels today. Every day the papers release the number of dead and wounded soldiers on either side. What about all the innocents murdered and wounded? Would we rather not know that figure or is it just too gruesome to even estimate. They are sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles, all at the mercy of this war. The monsoon season has begun and the rain helps to wash away their blood. The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels. [DailyMirror.lk]