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| Pic Courtesy www.tour.lk |
Everyone takes note. Some keep notes. Some in diaries and journals. Some in their minds and hears. Some of these are shared via email or on Facebook or blog; some are not. Among these people are Kolombians, people from Colombo who know much -- so much that they are wont to think that others don't know and can't think. This is the fourth in a series published in 'The Nation' under the title 'Notes of an Unrepentant Kolombian'.
Kolombians, some people mistakenly believe, are born, live
and die in Colombo. Nothing can be
further from the truth. Which community
(outside of people in the Survey Department) has been to every corner of the
island, West to East, South to North, and all over the central hills? Why, it’s us, the Kolombians!
Ask around. Most
Kolombians, especially of an earlier generation, would have visited every
single national park, spent sun-drenched days in every exotic beach resort,
visited Nuwara Eliya during ‘The Season’ multiple times and done the major
archaeological sites as well. The hot
wells, waterfalls, World’s End, the hummaanaya,
the botanical gardens, Galle Fort restaurants for lunch on lazy Saturdays, the
boutique hotels that have mushroomed after May 2009, you name it, we own
it! Well, not exactly, but you know what
I mean.
This is why we firmly believe that this country belongs to
us and no one else. This is why we
firmly believe that it should be one of us running the country. And this is why I am upset about the
Government rebuilding the Northern Railway Track. Yes, it will enable the industrial northern
farmer’s produce to reach our parts quickly.
It might even bring down vegetable prices. The fact remains that we don’t really
care. We spend less than 0.1% of our
average incomes on vegetables. What’s
insufferable is that the Government thought the railway line was more important
than the Northern Highway. Stupid!
We are happy about the Southern Expressway. We are glad that the Colombo-Kandy Expressway
is coming up. You won’t find us thanking
Mahinda or Basil or anyone else in the Government though. This is as it should be. It’s our birthright. We don’t have to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’
for such things. It’s the same with the
road to Jaffna. Birthright.
The problem with railways is that it makes sightseeing even
more affordable. Since the end of the
war I’ve seen vanloads of people from all parts of the country lined up outside
the Yala gates. I’ve seen dozens of
safari jeeps in Minneriya and Kaudulla.
There are busloads of people visiting the Jaffna Peninsula on a daily
basis. These are not people I can
recognize. They look like us but they
don’t have even a strain of Kolombian blood in them, I am willing to
wager. They know how to give high-fives,
they say ‘hi’ and ‘bye’, they can give a thumbs-up sign or make a ‘V’ sign,
they all have smart phones, but that’s not what makes a Kolombian. It’s the English. No, English spoken well.
There will be thousands of yakkos hopping on the Yal Devi. They’ll be tweeting about it. They’ll post pictures on Facebook. They’ll be hopping off at relevant places so
they can visit places only we’ve visited.
And it will be all over social media.
Deep down I know that however hard they try to mimic us,
they can never become Kolombians. My
problem is that they won’t know that.
They’ll think they too are Kolombians.
My worst nightmare is that one of these yakkos will one day come up to me wearing a Kolombian expression
and talk down to me.
The President and the Government is not helping. They are not affirming my birthright. They have to understand that Kolombian
identity is about exclusivity.
Kolombians are Kolombians and will be to the exclusion of all
others. We own this island. Others may live here, but they can’t be us,
they can’t be like us, they can’t do ‘Kolombian Things’.
We could do a Kolombian version of Prabhakaran’s UDI, i.e.
unilaterally declare the independence of Kolombia, except that part of our
identity is about the ownership of the entire island or at least appearing to
do so. Restrict us to Colombo and all
the fun is gone.
More 'Kolombian Notes':
We shall not be re-named
Get off my walkway!
Thank you Mahinda for the Avacado Prawns!
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