It's Saturday morning. My bags are packed - I'm leaving the city to attend a memorial service, rather the Sinhalese version of it - in the mountains. Nuwara Eliya, the "Little London" as it was known then.
I'm waiting for my travel companion - my cousin bro - who seems to have found "last minute matters" to attend to. I get fidgity; I need to do something. So watched a DVD claimed to be the mother of all cannibal movies. Bloody, horrible, not a topic that suits a calm Saturday morning. Nevertheless.
Cannibalism - quite an interesting topic though. The so called "civilised" people vs the "barbarians" of the jungle. Who's civilised and who's not is a great question. Simulated by the argument, my soul is searching for something. Knowledge, love, the meaning of life, happiness - I don't know. Probably, a mix of all that. My soul is hungry.
I feel lonely in the middle of all these people.
I'm looking for a signal from my soul mate. I miss the intectual conversations we used to have. Comparing Buddhism and Christianity, and learning more about human faith.
What we fail to understand is that no matter what "label" your religion carries, they all mean the same thing. We fight for religion, we fight for language, race, country and waht ever our greed hold on to.
Sri Lankans are a great example in fighting for these meaningless things. We are fighting a civil war, fighting for boundaries. Ask a Sinhalese, if we had managed to maintain a united Sri Lanka, would they ever leave their home towns and re-start in the "claimed" land. Ask a "displaced" Tamil in Germany, if he would relocate to Jaffna if he was given the land?
The most probable answer to both questions would be a big "no."
In a day and age where international travel is a regular thing, and bounderies are almost non-existant, we are fighting for them. Killing each other, by the dozen. We, as a nation, must learn to respect each other, respect life.
Tsunami was a great awakening, a sign from Good to remind us how valuable life is. Barely a year later, we have forgotten all that. Today, tsunami has become a big business.
Disgraceful. Shameful.
This country needs a miracle. A messayah. A Buddha. A revolution.
I hope we find a way to appreciate life, find forgiveness and find peace in this blessed land. Soon.
You don't need to ask these people who are fighting if they want the north or the east... or whether they will ever live there, if it is claimed. Just ask if they've ever been there or want to go there or know what its like to live there. They don't even know what they are fighting for. They don't even know what they can do there... what's the point really?
ReplyDeleteBTW, the posts got duplicated...