Friday, April 24, 2009
Our comrades in Sri Lanka,we are with you.
My heartfelt sorrow which is not tolerating keeping quiet amidst all the manmade disasters is the reason for this discussion.
I am a person who has personally enjoyed the hospitality and respect of the scores of Tamilians who have been relocated to various parts of Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka during the different periods of racial tensions and violence.
During my career as a registered nurse in Madras a metropolitan city in South India, I had the opportunity to be in a place called Anumanthai which is on the border of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry states on the East Coast Road which stretches between Madras and Pondicherry through the coastal line. We were served food by a refugee family who runs a small hotel or rather a makeshift canteen near this place. The first thing I liked with them is the language. They have a unique colloquial speech and there are many common words from Malayalam which is used often. The second feature is their reverence and hospitality. We may be late at times for food or request something which might not be available with them at that time, but the proprietor of the hotel and his wife would take special initiative to make sure that we will have the provisions during the next meal time. The taste of the food also requires special mention.
Another significant thing that increased my affection towards the Sri Lankan Tamilians was after watching “Kannathil Muthammittal”, a very touching movie by Mani Rathinam, a veteran Tamil movie director based on the story of a Tamil refuge from Sri Lanka.
The last thing which influenced me was my interactions with Sri Lankan Tamilians who have inhabited a considerable part of Eastham, a town on the east of London. This was my regular visiting place on my trips to London which used to be regular every month during my last year of stay in UK. Before leaving London, I make it a point that I will have a good vegetarian meal from one of the restaurants in Eastham where most of them were run by Sri Lankans.
I cannot stand the brutal genocide of Srilankan Tamilians that is happening by different other names right now. Let us all hold hands together to stop this inhuman violence and bring peace and harmony in this part of the world.
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