Also, please don’t use “lol”, “tc” and happy faces–they are juvenile. But you can use “Columbians” for people living in Colombo, as that is adult city slicker talk, and perfectly permissible.

Quote from your post of November 30, 2009 @ 4:33 pm
Hell, I was brought up in the plantations. My earliest interactions were with ppl from the Tamil community, so pls let’s not try to assume things about each other.

Quotes from your article
I watched the ladies in front of me leave their slippers at a certain point, so I followed suit.

An environment where I wasn’t sure what to do, how to act, who to turn to? An environment where I couldn’t understand the language being spoken, the rituals taking place, the customs and traditions being practiced.

Unquote

The quotes from your article appear to conflict with your post.

Any explanation?

When one has close contacts with ‘just one meal per day people’ and with children who have been fed oft times on just mallung with a little rice, I guess you could say one is somewhat “in sync” with the forgotten people of the land.

Another thing – I am not into “Lol”, “tc” and happy faces. I thought these gimmicks are only used by high school kids. I guess I was wrong!

My “tightly shut mind” is not into: bogus human interest stories, religious fundamentalism, racism and culture vultures.

My “tightly shut mind” I, hence, earned without help from any God. I think YOU never had any of the luck that came my way early on in life!

Metaphor? Like the ‘potato famer’? Hmm…nice cover, but you’re a day late and dollar short!

We can all fall on the “Oh, it was just a metaphor!” or “I am not into hate literature/speech. Can’t you see it’s just a metaphor?” Please, we are not that gullible. We are not going to be taken in by your last ditch attempt at damage control.

I don’t care where you locate your story – in a Kovil, temple,mosque, church or in a nudist nightclub – as long as it addresses some unity of vision in human existence – not cheap propaganda disguised as a human interest story.

I don’t care where you were brought up; but I can see without a doubt that as far as being “in sync” with the people living in Sri-Lanka – that you aint!

It has been said that Marisa should have felt at home in the Kovil because in Sri Lanka, Buddhists too worship at Hindu temples. I know Hindus who sometimes attend mass and prayers at Christian churches in Singapore, and worship there. But they don’t worship there as if it is THEIR space–they take up the position of GUEST. I hope when Sri Lankan Buddhists worship at Hindu temples, they too take up that position of guest, grateful for being allowed by that community of believers to worship there–and not think that the space belongs to them. This is how colonization happens–when the guest starts to believe that he is the host.

Marisa’s article is to be commended in terms of her attempts to imagine what it must be like to be a member of a minority community. Recognizing that the minority person’s position is different from that of the group in power is the first step towards providing equal rights for all–so that all can feel at home, wherever they are in the country. Marisa writes from that sense of obligation. That, I believe, is why Groundviews featured Marisa’s article.

It is not at all surprising that Justitia, who negates Marisa’s feelings of ‘otherness’ at the Kovil, also says that those who visit places of worship other than their own “need not worry” about these other communities. That is the abominable attitude that has prevailed in Sri Lanka since independence.

Rajapaksa’s visit to the hill shrine at the Tirumala temple, his taking his entire entourage through an entrance reserved by the temple only for VVIPs, was extremely disrespectful. His visit to the temple itself was disrespectful, considering that the temple is attended by Tamil worshippers, given the situation with Tamils in Sri Lanka. He was thumbing his nose at this community and asserting his power to be there despite their displeasure. I am sure he felt entirely at home at the shrine! This is the attitude Justitia is recommending.

A wonderful piece of writting. Simple but enlightening.