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by Prof. Ranjith Bandara Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Colombo
The 2027 Budget has been presented with ambitious promises, large financial allocations and renewed assurances of economic transformation. The government speaks confidently about recovery, stability and a better future.
But one important question remains.
Is this a budget designed to transform Sri Lanka’s economy, or another exercise in presenting attractive numbers and political promises?
A national budget should be more than a statement of government income and expenditure. It should tell the country where its economy is heading and how it intends to get there.
After years of economic hardship, people expect more than financial targets. They want affordable living, secure employment, better incomes and confidence in their future.
Investors want policy certainty. Young people want opportunities. Businesses want an environment in which they can grow.
Unfortunately, the 2027 Budget does not offer a sufficiently convincing strategy to meet these expectations.
Economic recovery is not economic development
Sri Lanka has made progress in restoring macroeconomic stability. Inflation has become more manageable than during the worst of the crisis. Revenue collection has improved. Fiscal discipline has received greater attention.
These achievements should be recognised.
However, economic stability is only the starting point.
The Budget estimates revenue and grants of Rs. 6.18 trillion against expenditure of approximately Rs. 7.93 trillion, including supplementary disaster-related spending.
The fiscal deficit is projected at around Rs. 1.75 trillion. Interest payments alone amount to Rs. 2.64 trillion.
These figures reveal the continuing pressure on government finances.
More importantly, they raise a question about development priorities.
How much of public expenditure will genuinely strengthen the country’s productive capacity? How much will create lasting employment? How much will generate future income rather than merely finance current commitments?
The government hopes to achieve economic growth of at least 7% in the medium term. Yet the World Bank projects growth of 4.2% for 2027.
Closing this gap requires investment, productivity improvements and institutional reforms.
Announcing an ambitious growth target is easy. Creating the conditions to achieve it is much harder.
Cost of living remains real economic test
For ordinary families, economic recovery is measured differently.
They look at the cost of food, electricity, transport, medicine and education. They compare their monthly income with their household expenses.
Many still struggle to make ends meet.
The Budget proposes tax concessions and social assistance. The increase in the monthly income-tax-free threshold to Rs. 162,500 will benefit some employees. Allocations for Aswesuma and other social protection programmes will also help vulnerable households.
But they do not fully address the underlying problem.
Millions of low-income workers receive no direct benefit from income tax reductions. Their main problem is inadequate income and the high cost of essential goods.
Colombo inflation reached 8.3% in October 2026. Even when inflation falls, prices do not necessarily return to earlier levels.
People need higher real incomes, not merely announcements about lower inflation.
A meaningful budget should explain how production costs will fall, how market competition will improve and how household purchasing power will increase.
Economic recovery means little if families continue to struggle to afford a decent life.
A generation without economic confidence
Youth unemployment remains one of Sri Lanka’s greatest challenges.
In the second quarter of 2026, overall unemployment stood at 4%. But unemployment among young people aged 15–24 was 17.8%. Among young women, it was even higher.
These are not merely labour market statistics. They represent thousands of young people uncertain about their future.
The Budget refers to training, digital development and public-sector recruitment.
But training alone does not create employment. Nor can the government continue expanding public employment indefinitely.
The country needs businesses that invest, expand production and recruit skilled workers.
Where is the comprehensive strategy to create well-paid jobs in manufacturing, technology, modern agriculture, logistics and professional services?
How many such jobs are expected from the Budget’s proposals?
Without clear answers, overseas employment will remain attractive to educated and skilled young Sri Lankans.
Migration can support households through remittances. But the continued loss of skilled people also weakens the country’s long-term development prospects.
A successful development strategy must give young people reasons to build their futures in Sri Lanka.
Who will benefit from economic growth?
Another major concern is the unequal distribution of economic opportunities.
According to World Bank estimates, poverty remained at 16.9% in 2025.
Many rural households, estate communities and low-income urban families continue to face serious difficulties.
Economic growth does not automatically improve their lives.
The Budget includes welfare payments, housing support and regional development allocations.
But the critical question is whether these measures will create lasting economic opportunities.
Will farmers earn more from their production? Will small businesses gain better access to finance and markets? Will women have greater opportunities to enter productive employment?
Social assistance is essential for vulnerable households. Yet welfare payments cannot replace income-generating opportunities.
The real achievement of development is not the number of people receiving assistance, but the number who can eventually live without depending on it.
Perhaps the greatest weakness of the Budget is the absence of a sufficiently clear and integrated economic transformation strategy.
Sri Lanka cannot build a strong future through government expenditure, tourism and workers’ remittances alone.
It must produce more, export more and compete more effectively in international markets.
The Budget includes proposals for public investment, railway modernisation, business financing, export incentives and investment facilitation.
Which industries will become the country’s major sources of future growth? How will agriculture become more productive? How will small enterprises connect with export markets? How will technology improve industrial competitiveness?
A development budget should answer these questions through clear priorities and measurable targets.
Investment confidence is equally important.
Investors need predictable taxation, efficient government services, reliable infrastructure and consistent economic policies.
They also need confidence that political decisions will not suddenly change the business environment.
A country cannot attract sufficient private investment through incentives alone.
Unless these structural problems are addressed, the ambition of creating a competitive production and service economy will remain uncertain.
Problem is not allocation, but belivery
The Budget proposes approximately Rs. 2 trillion for public investment, including supplementary reconstruction spending.
However, public expenditure figures mean little unless projects are implemented effectively.
By the end of June 2026, only 16.3% of the annual capital expenditure allocation had been spent. By September, reported spending had reached just 31.6%.
Such slow implementation raises serious concerns about administrative capacity.
Will project approvals become faster? Will procurement procedures improve? Will government institutions coordinate more effectively?
The Budget should not merely announce money for development. It should establish accountability for delivery.
Every major project should have a timetable, an identified responsible institution and measurable results.
A billion rupees announced is not a billion rupees of development achieved.
From the Election Manifesto to Economic Reality
The government’s election manifesto promised a more productive, fair and prosperous Sri Lanka.
It raised expectations of a different approach to economic management and public administration.
The 2027 Budget should therefore be judged against those commitments.
There are positive proposals. But much of its immediate appeal comes from allowances, concessions, public-sector benefits and visible spending announcements.
These may provide political advantages. Some also respond to genuine social needs. Yet political popularity and economic transformation are not the same. A government must demonstrate how its policies will increase productivity, expand employment, reduce inequality and improve living standards.
Otherwise, the distance between election promises and economic reality may continue to widen.
This matters beyond politics. When people see impressive announcements without meaningful changes in their daily lives, frustration grows. Social unrest may not disappear simply because macroeconomic indicators have improved. Public confidence depends on visible progress, fairness and credible opportunities.
Are we heading towards another IMF programme?
The Budget also raises important questions about Sri Lanka’s future relationship with the International Monetary Fund.
The President stated that the present IMF programme is expected to conclude in March 2027. A Cabinet-appointed committee is examining the possibility of another arrangement.
This deserves serious public discussion.
Another IMF programme is not necessarily a sign of failure. A precautionary arrangement may help protect the economy against future shocks.
However, repeated dependence on external financial support would raise questions about the sustainability of Sri Lanka’s recovery. Are export earnings expanding sufficiently? Is private investment recovering strongly enough? Are foreign exchange reserves and debt-servicing capacity becoming more secure? If these weaknesses remain unresolved, the country may need further IMF support sooner or later. The real challenge is not simply completing an IMF programme. It is building an economy that can maintain stability, finance investment and meet its external obligations without repeatedly depending on emergency assistance.
Sri Lanka needs direction, not another number game
The 2027 Budget contains useful proposals. It also reflects some progress in fiscal management.
But it remains more convincing as a statement of financial intentions than as a comprehensive development strategy.
The government must clearly identify the industries it wants to develop, the jobs it intends to create, the investments it hopes to attract and the improvements people should expect in their living standards. It must connect spending with outcomes.
It must also strengthen public administration and rebuild trust among investors, businesses and ordinary citizens.
Most importantly, it must explain how economic stability will become broadly shared prosperity.
Sri Lanka does not need another competition over the size of budget allocations. It needs a credible national economic direction.
A budget may impress Parliament with billions. But its real success must be measured in the lives of millions.
Until that happens, one uncomfortable question will remain:
Are we rebuilding the economy, or merely managing its problems while preparing for the next crisis?
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Tomatoes are among Sri Lanka’s most widely consumed vegetables, providing income to thousands of farming families and supporting rural traders, restaurants and food-processing enterprises. Yet a destructive insect pest threatens both production and farmers’ livelihoods, warranting urgent national attention.
, commonly known as the tomato leaf miner and fruit borer, attacks tomato leaves, shoots and fruits. Its larvae feed inside plant tissues, making infestations difficult to detect and control once established.
Field observations have raised concerns that approximately 30% of Sri Lanka’s annual tomato crop could be wasted, with inadequate farmer knowledge of pest management identified as a possible contributing factor. This figure, however, is not a scientifically established national loss estimate. Independent research is needed to determine the proportion of losses directly attributable to this pest, as distinct from other pests, diseases and post-harvest losses.
Nevertheless, the concern raises an important question: how much food and farmer income could Sri Lanka save through better scientific knowledge, timely monitoring and affordable pest management?
A known threat requiring renewed attention
Sri Lanka has known about Tuta absoluta for several years. Research published in The Tropical Agriculturist in December 2019 documented its first detection in the country in July 2017, in tomato polytunnels in the Keppetipola, Boralanda and Kolathenna areas of Badulla District. By 2018, the pest had also been identified in open-field cultivation.
Scientists associated with agricultural research institutions, including the Regional Agricultural Research and Development Centre in Bandarawela and the Horticultural Crops Research and Development Institute (HORDI) at Gannoruwa, investigated different management strategies.
Their findings established a scientific basis for monitoring and controlling the pest. Pheromone traps were found useful for monitoring adult moth populations, while compact fluorescent light traps showed potential for mass trapping under the greenhouse conditions studied.
A separate study reported through the University of Peradeniya in 2019 found infestations in different tomato-growing environments in Badulla District. All four varieties examined were susceptible, with significantly higher infestation levels in protected cultivation than in open fields.
Sri Lanka therefore possesses research evidence on the pest’s presence and potential management methods. The crucial question is whether this knowledge has reached farmers effectively.
Pheromone technology: bridging the knowledge gap
Species-specific sex pheromones are an important component of Tuta absoluta management. These chemical signals attract male moths to monitoring traps, enabling growers to detect pest activity before extensive damage becomes apparent.
Pheromone traps are not a complete control solution. They should form part of integrated pest management, incorporating regular crop inspection, field sanitation, removal of infested plant material, biological control where appropriate and other scientifically validated interventions.
Agricultural discussions have raised concerns that pheromone products were previously made available to growers through Cargills, but insufficient farmer demand may have discouraged further imports. This account requires verification.
Cargills and other suppliers should be invited to clarify whether they imported or marketed Tuta absoluta -specific pheromone lures, the quantities and prices involved, the level of farmer adoption and whether subsequent imports were discontinued. If supplies were withdrawn, the reasons should be established.
The objective is not to criticise a private company without evidence. Rather, the experience could reveal weaknesses in agricultural extension and technology transfer.
Making a product available does not automatically constitute successful innovation. Farmers must understand its purpose, learn how to use it and recognise whether its benefits justify the cost. Without adequate education and field demonstrations, even effective technologies may fail commercially.
A damaging cycle can then emerge: farmers remain unaware of the technology, sales remain low, suppliers hesitate to reorder, and access becomes more difficult. Government agricultural extension services and private-sector distributors must work together to break this cycle.
A national awareness and monitoring programme
The Director General of Agriculture should initiate a coordinated Tuta absoluta awareness and monitoring programme in consultation with provincial agricultural authorities.
The first phase should begin in Welimada and surrounding tomato-growing areas of Badulla District, where the pest was initially detected. The programme should then expand to suitable tomato-growing areas in Nuwara Eliya and Matale districts before extending surveillance and training across all nine provinces according to actual cultivation patterns and pest risks.
Agricultural instructors should be equipped to explain the insect’s life cycle, recognise its characteristic damage and demonstrate appropriate monitoring methods. Training should be conducted in Sinhala and Tamil, supported by clear illustrations and practical demonstrations in farmers’ fields.
Farmers must understand that Tuta absoluta is an insect pest rather than a plant disease, because accurate identification determines the appropriate response. They should also be warned that indiscriminate insecticide applications can increase production costs, harm beneficial organisms and contribute to insecticide resistance.
Training should therefore promote integrated pest management rather than dependence on any single commercial product.
Agricultural retailers, nursery operators, vegetable collectors, supermarkets, transporters and producer organisations should also participate in identifying problems and disseminating recommendations. Universities, research institutes and responsible private-sector suppliers can contribute scientific expertise and practical support.
Radio, television, newspapers and mobile-friendly educational materials should reinforce field demonstrations. Communication must continue throughout tomato-growing seasons rather than being confined to occasional publicity campaigns.
The programme should have clearly assigned responsibilities, measurable outcomes and a defined timetable.
First 30 days: establish scientific leadership.
The Director General of Agriculture should appoint a technical committee led by agricultural entomologists and integrated pest management specialists. HORDI Gannoruwa, the Bandarawela research establishment, relevant universities and provincial extension services should participate. The committee should review available research, assess current infestation patterns, identify reliable pheromone products and prepare a standard monitoring protocol.
The reported 30% crop-loss figure should also be subjected to independent field assessment. Potential suppliers should be consulted about product availability, historical demand, import constraints and distribution prospects.
Days 31–90: conduct field demonstrations.
Demonstrations should begin in Welimada and extend to selected locations in Nuwara Eliya and Matale districts. Existing farmer practices should be compared with scientifically supervised integrated pest management incorporating pheromone monitoring.
Researchers should record pest activity, fruit damage, marketable yields, intervention costs and farmer understanding. The Department of Agriculture should publish practical guidance on trap selection, positioning, inspection and replacement, based on validated local recommendations.
Months 4–6: expand provincial participation.
Provincial agricultural authorities should appoint focal officers to coordinate training and monitoring. Resource allocation should reflect actual tomato cultivation and documented pest incidence. A national information system should record confirmed infestations, monitoring results, farmer participation and the availability of essential equipment.
Quality-assured pheromone lures should be distributed through appropriate agricultural service centres and commercial suppliers. Targeted support for small growers could be considered if evidence demonstrates that cost is a significant barrier.
Months 7–12: evaluate and institutionalise the programme.
An independent assessment should examine adoption rates, reductions in damaged fruit, changes in marketable yields and economic benefits. Successful practices should become part of routine agricultural extension services, with procurement and distribution arrangements strengthened where necessary.
Preventable crop losses affect more than individual farmers. They reduce food availability, weaken rural incomes and disrupt the vegetable supply chain.
Consider an illustrative calculation. A farmer expecting 25,000 kilograms of tomatoes per hectare who suffers a 30% loss would lose 7,500 kilograms of potential marketable production. At an assumed farm-gate price of Rs. 200 per kilogram, the resulting gross revenue loss would be Rs. 1.5 million per hectare.
These figures are illustrative assumptions, not verified national yields, current prices or confirmed losses caused by Tuta absoluta . Nevertheless, they demonstrate why even a modest reduction in avoidable damage could benefit farmers substantially.
A proper national assessment should distinguish losses attributable to this pest from those caused by other factors. It should also determine whether early monitoring reduces unnecessary insecticide expenditure and protects beneficial insects.
Ultimately, programme success should be measured through improved marketable yields, higher net farm returns and more reliable vegetable supplies.
Accountability must accompany awareness
The initiative must not become another programme whose success is measured merely by the number of workshops conducted. Indicators should include farmers reached, confirmed pest incidence, adoption of recommended monitoring methods, availability of quality-assured lures, reductions in crop damage and improvements in farmer income.
Independent researchers should validate the results, while provincial authorities submit regular progress reports and the Department of Agriculture publishes consolidated findings. Private companies should participate through transparent arrangements that protect scientific independence and prevent inappropriate product promotion.
The Director General of Agriculture is respectfully urged to convene the relevant scientific, extension and commercial stakeholders, establish an action plan and launch the programme in Welimada before extending it according to verified need.
Cargills and other agricultural input suppliers should be invited to share their experience and assess opportunities to restore or expand access to reliable pheromone-monitoring technology.
Above all, farmers must be treated as partners in agricultural innovation. Sri Lanka’s agricultural future depends not only on generating scientific knowledge but also on ensuring that it reaches the field, is understood by growers and produces measurable improvements.
Every tomato saved from preventable pest damage represents additional food for consumers, income for farmers and value for the national economy. The time has come to turn existing scientific findings into practical national action.
Lalin I. de Silva is a value chain management journalist at Vivonta Green Tech Consultants and the Proprietary Planters Alliance (Pvt) Ltd, and a former senior planter and agricultural adviser/consultant.
Principal scientific reference: Hadji, T. K. A. I., et al. (2019). Evaluation of different management
strategies to control Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in tomato. Tropical Agriculturist, 167(4), 34–50.
Neoliberalism operates on the core philosophical premise that greed is a functional virtue. Popularised by thinkers like Milton Friedman and politically implemented by the Reagan and Thatcher administrations, in the US and the UK, respectively, the doctrine argues that unrestrained individual self-interest and profit maximisation naturally yield the most efficient distribution of resources. Over time, this created a structural dependence on greed through several key mechanisms. Firstly, to maximise quick capital gains, advanced economies shifted away from building physical infrastructure or supporting robust jobs toward speculative finance. Profit was prioritised over human development. This resulted in wages for the working and middle classes remaining largely stagnant while corporate profits surged. Consequently, consumer demand could only be maintained through cheap credit. When consumers failed to pay up and the debt bubbles burst, the state stepped in as the “lender of last resort” which saved the companies at the expense of people. Further, privatisation and state austerity targeted public services like healthcare, affordable housing, and education. Treating these fundamental human needs as profit-driven market commodities has led to extreme wealth inequality and diminished social welfare. This shows that neoliberalism cannot afford to hurt the corporate world which appears to be needing protection at the expense of public good.
Symptoms of implosion within the structure of neoliberal model are already visible. The neoliberalists expected tax cuts and deregulation to have a “trickledown effect” resulting in widespread prosperity. On the contrary such policies have caused wealth accumulation enriching the top 1% while crippling the purchasing power of the majority. Unfettered free trade and globalization was expected to ensure borderless stability but what has happened instead is that extreme vulnerabilities in supply chains have prompted a massive return to protectionism and tariff wars. Furthermore, champions of market economy expected markets to foster individual liberty and safeguard open societies, but rampant inequality and economic insecurity have fueled deep institutional distrust, loss of confidence in democratic governance, spawning sharp populist reactions on both the political left and right. Youth-led unrest in Europe is the latest manifestation of the apparent failure of the global economic system. There had been previous uprisings against this system in Europe as well as the US where the “Occupy Wall Street” campaign was a strong message against greed.
There is a growing global consensus among policymakers, including former critics and defenders alike, that the neoliberal era is coming to a close and the practical reality is being realised that an economy built solely around capital returns eventually runs out of the stability it needs to survive. That is the economic aspect of it, while the psychological aspect is greed and selfishness. The latter two human characteristics were considered ‘good’ because they were supposed to promote enterprise and sharpen competitiveness. Now, it is being realised that competition could be harmful to the human system and entrepreneurship is a tool of exploitation.
Leaving aside greed, which may be the driving force of consumerism, the vital ingredient for the survival of capitalism, one could examine the inherent contradiction of the present global economic system. As mentioned above in the last several decades the profits have surged while wages have stagnated and the purchasing power of the working class has reduced. Large profits are necessary to keep capitalism afloat. This in turn made it difficult to keep real incomes of the working class commensurate with rising cost of living. The incongruity of this situation is that capitalism cannot survive unless consumerism thrives which does not happen when purchasing power of people dwindles. State intervention by lending to keep consumerism going does not work as the ‘debt buble’ would eventually burst. This is the inherent contradiction of capitalism particularly in unfettered neoliberalism. The IMF and the World Bank were restructured to enable design of the world economic order to suit the neo-liberal policies.
Western philosophers did not study the psychology of greed in depth and therefore could not see the overall damage it could cause. Although the Bible and Jesus Christ have advised against avarice, John Calvin the 16th Century French theologian proclaimed that making profit was morally acceptable within Christianity giving a licence, as it were, for unfettered capitalism. In contrast the Buddha saw the fallacy of theories that encouraged greed and he delved deeply into the psychology of greed. He saw that the cause of human predicament is greed and found the means to control it. The political and economic message that Buddha’s theory conveys is that if poverty (suffering) is to be resolved greed needs to be brought under control.
There is another dimension to the problem pertaining to the present world order, and that is the climate change which is also caused by excessive human greed. Planet Earth is in peril due to global warming and overconsumption of its resources, two factors that contribute to climate change and cause damage to ecosystems that are essential for its survival. This is a direct result of adopting consumerism as the driving force of the present world order, the underlying philosophy of which is neo-liberalism driven by market forces. This market heavily depends on human greed which by nature could be insatiable, particularly when there seems to be unlimited attractions produced by the capitalist system. Paradoxically, if greed is controlled this economic system may collapse. Consumerism has been made the purpose of existence so that greed continues to operate unabated. Free market and greed feed each other. Furthermore, this state of affairs causes widening inequality and extreme poverty that constitutes yet another threat to the continuation of the present world order.
It is obvious that this state of affairs is unsustainable as the twin threats of poverty and environmental degradation would make life impossible on this planet. Unfortunately, world leaders are slow in reacting to this threat. Trump has repeatedly stated that climate change and associated environmental outcomes to be a ‘hoax’ a ‘scam’ and a ‘con-job’. The French President has blamed left politics for the youth-led uprisings which in fact have been caused by unaffordability and inequality. Both global poverty and climate change are caused by excessive greed and neither could be resolved without dismantling neoliberalism. The world cannot wait until neoliberalism implodes and destroys itself. The world must unite and create a new world order as early as possible, aimed at alleviating poverty and safeguarding the environment. Third World countries must cooperate with one another in this endeavour.
Unfortunately, some countries, including ours, though said to be governed by a left leaning party, still continue to embrace neoliberalism without reservation and they wholeheartedly collude with the worst offenders of consumption and pollution.
Friends Forever (FF62), are a group of boys who transitioned from Royal Primary into Royal Proper in the year of 1962. They had first bonded in the classrooms, corridors and playing fields of Royal Primary and had vowed never to let go of their friendships. So far there have been seven reunions in Malaysia, Toronto, Kerala and Colombo. This time they were to gather again in Sri Lanka with a tour of Jaffna that was executed to perfection by Kapila, Thamby, Hamza and Martiya.
I was invited to an FF 62 reunion nearly two decades ago when I questioned the need to attend such an event. I wondered if I had taken leave of my senses to spend five days with a bunch of Royalists when I had trouble enough living with just one! As a teenager I would have relished meeting any Royal boy, but age and indifference saw me trying to avoid a room full of them. l then argued that I did not have anything in common with the wives, lovers or partners of these men other than to have made the foolish mistake of marrying one!
Now almost two decades later I could not wait to meet the better halves of these Royal dinosaurs, as we the Royal women, had forged a strong bond of our own and did not need these Royal relics to tag along with us! It was therefore of no surprise that I excitedly packed a blue saree and helped hunt for Royal memorabilia of school tie, tie pin, rugby shirt, cap, cuff links hidden as treasure around the house. What had been previously worn in isolation was about to be paraded collectively at the grand reunion dinner at the Ramada Hotel in Colombo.
We entered the hall packed with Royal beings to shouts of ‘Ado Machan’ back slaps, hugs and handshakes that led to reminiscing and laughter as they consummated their desire to be reunited with friends of 62! The men were gifted sarongs and ladies’ colourful shawls as we were welcomed with a drink. Men bond very differently to women as they can morph into boys (minus their shorts) in an instant as one pair of Royal eyes catch sight of another.
Women bond by competing with gossip, dress and appearance while, men see no need for such trivialities. Their agenda is to coalesce completely and quickly into an amorphous mass of affection and goodwill and sufficient booze to fuel their collective flight into heaven! The evening opened with a welcome speech by Thamby Nava followed by the roll call and a minute’s silence to remember the departed Royal souls.
I recalled the very first reunion where I had met Jura and noted his nonchalant attitude to life and his own importance though he had loudly insisted that when he died there needed to be a full 10-minutes of silence! Nevertheless, a decade and a half later here he stood in the middle of the banquet hall delighted to greet friends in the departure lounge of life.
There followed the keynote address by Peter Ebell. formal photographs of the FF 62 were taken to be distributed at the end of the evening. Dinner was a sumptuous spread including soup, salad, hoppers and desserts. Drinking, joking, and chatting carried on to the dance floor and with these Royal dancers no longer needing us women to show them how to twist, jive and Baila. They were simply ecstatic to shake with each other ignoring dodgy hips, knees and hearts! The evening ended around midnight with shouts of goodbyes ‘don’t forget to be in touch’ and ‘see you Machan’ with those who signed up for the trip to Jaffna being reminded to be outside the SSC at 7 AM or miss the bus!
We gathered as commanded outside the SSC by 6.30 AM on the morning of the trip. It was a luxury golden coach with plenty of seating for around 50. I had been to Jaffna (the town of my childhood) before, during and after the war but looked forward to seeing and doing the things I had seen and done before. Jaffna clock tower had once been to me the tallest building in the world, and I knew I would see this landmark, Jaffna town and the surrounding villages perhaps for the last time!
The journey started with excitement and anticipation as many who were Sinhalese had never been to Jaffna before. Breakfast was from Perera and Sons, served as we settled into our journey that was to be punctuated by age related comfort stops and for the purchase of more drinks, sweets and snacks that were being passed up and down the coach. Taniya distributed butter cake and milk toffee, Lalani’s curry leaf cadju nuts were delicious. Others had kadalai, Charith provided grapes, Ranjan butter cookies and Puni conjured up a box of Ferraro Roche chocolates during our travels.
As we set off through the morning rush of Colombo traffic, I found myself in a melancholic mood. I contemplated the umpteen trips my parents did with four kids in tow when we lived in Jaffna. We had frequently journeyed this route that used to be dotted with potholes, and disrupted by bullock carts, lorries weighed down with logs in addition to stray dogs and cattle that mindlessly wandered in front of traffic.
None of that was evident now as the reconditioned post war road to the north that was silky smooth with motorists’ trishaws animals and cyclists dutifully obeying road rules. Gone were the days when driving was akin to playing a video game with high-speed driving and horning all the way to Jaffna. A foreigner once commented that driving abroad lacked motoring stimulation, but on the road to Jaffna the risk taking was to dodge and drive around lorries and pedestrians and mind the bullock carts and animals if you can.
The ensuing rush of adrenaline, motion sickness and pee stops in bushes along the way added to the thrill of our journeys as children. Since the war ended the road to Jaffna has become orderly, smooth, clean, and quiet no longer likened to a risk filled video game with car horns blaring to overtake slow moving bullock carts and animals that were in the way. As I gazed out of the window I was struck by beauty of the countryside. Travel brochures that depict blue seas and sandy beaches are no comparison to the 40 shades of green that bombards your eyes along the villages en route to Jaffna.
The greenery of the forest, low lying shrubs, vegetation, wildflowers, paddy fields with white egrets and marsh land with cattle egrets, herons and water birds are a sight to behold. This contrasts with the deeper dark green leaves of ancient trees such as jak fruit, coconut, tamarind, banyan, papaw, plantain, mahogany, na, avocado and mango. Such raw untamed beauty instantly connects with a prerecorded collage of hard-wired images that lie dormant only to stir up emotions that are not felt anywhere else on earth. The words of the calypso ‘Oh island in the sun given to me by my father’s hand’ comes readily to mind.
We travelled on through Negombo Chlilaw and Puttalam as the coach filled with music of the fifties, sixties and seventies. If you have grown up listening to the homely, soothing voice of Vijaya Corea on family choice on a lazy Sunday afternoon while pretending to work through sums of algebra while the adults have gone to bed then this music will truly thump your heart. We sat listening to Guantanamera, Sugar sugar, Song sung blue, Lucky lips, Lemon tree, it’s now or never, Wooden heart, Rivers of Babylon, Que sera sera, Green green grass of home and many more that we once sang and danced to while dreaming about our futures, we now sat listening to these very same songs dreaming about our past.
We stopped at the beautiful Catholic church in Madhu where shoulders had to be shrouded in shawls and shorts had to be hidden under sarongs. Some who were not of the faith waited in the coach or stood outside the church while others removed their footwear to walk inside if only to whisper a prayer or light a candle. I was touched at the sight of a young girl who moved up the centre aisle on her knees with her eyes shut and her hands folded in prayer. I could sense her devotion and the power of her prayers.
We then travelled on to Mannar where we stopped for a delicious lunch at the beautiful Palmyra restaurant for grilled fish and chicken, crab curry, kadey paan , rice with an array of vegetables served on bowl shaped Palmyra leaves followed by fruit salad and mock cheesecake. Twilight fell as we drove into Murugan listening to Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘the Sound of Silence’ that further swelled my feelings of melancholy.
The vegetation was no longer lush and had lost its 40 shades of green turning sparse and arid, interspersed with sandy dunes, browner shrubs and Palmyra trees that gently swayed in the twilight breeze. After a 12-hour journey we arrived at the US Hotel in the heart of Jaffna which was to be our clean and comfortable abode for ihree nights despite its lowly star rating. Here we were spoilt for choice for breakfast and dinner with tasty culinary delights of Jaffna
The following morning, we set off to the Delft island that is the largest of the five islands off the coast of northern Sri Lanka. We travelled for an hour along Pannai causeway that had been a frequent outing for me as a child. We drove on to a road that forked towards Kayts and another that led us to the pier. Here we helped each other on to the ferry, donned life jackets and enjoyed the hour-long ride to the Delft island on the Indian Ocean.
This was my very first visit to this island where time had stopped. The inhabitants a total of 5,000 have lived there almost as a forgotten people. The island was scattered with lumps of coral, washed ashore when the land flooded or the tide came in. Coral was used to erect low level walls demarcating boundaries of properties. There was nothing grand or modern on the island, which was filled with a simple, unspoilt charm of its own.
We got into three jeeps that had not heard of health and safety regulations and were driven on very bumpy, bone shaking, dirt tracks to see the wild donkeys and horses unique to the island . We stopped to marvel at the Baobab tree with the widest trunk diameter of 42 meters. It probably has survived many centuries to reach its magnificent form. We saw a rock that looked like a Hindu deity that legend informs has grown of its own accord to the size it was and that the islanders garland and consider divine.
After lunch we saw the old light house and our guide pointed out the coast of Rameshwaram in India. On our return we stopped at the wine shop for tipple and market for mangoes only so the men could wear their gifted sarongs and booze the night away. Women sat together and gossiped over red wine and juices and laughed that our men still dreamt the same Royal dreams. Jura once told me that their school motto was ‘Disce aut discede’ meaning’ learn or depart’. Some of them duly departed lessons when the master turned his back to face the black board. These Royal rebels at the back row of the class scooted out to conduct their own escapade for the afternoon.
The following day was our tour of Jaffna. The first stop was the famous Nallur temple. My sister and I had frequented many of its festivals as children to buy glass bangles, suck boiled sweets and gaze at the Vel cart with deities whose faces shone brightly in the festival fires. Here too women shrouded shoulders and covered their legs and men donned sarongs over shorts removed footwear and entered bare bodied (minus a six pack) into the sanctuary of this holy site akin to the Vatican for the Jaffna man.
The Hindus and Buddhists marked themselves with holy ash and received priestly blessings following the puja in the inner sanctum. The non-Hindus watched in respectful silence. We then proceeded to gaze into the bottomless well to which I had been to on many a school trip. That done we drove to the northern most tip of the island. Now standing as a group of Sinhala, Tamils, Muslims and Burghers was certainly a poignant moment for all that had been lost through a wasted unnecessary war.
The sentiment of the song reminded us that, ‘This land is your land, this land is my land from Point Pedro to Dondra Head From Colombo city to Batticaloa oh oh oh! This land was made for you and me! If only we had listened to the song more and denounced our short-sighted, ethnically divisive and foolish politicians, we would never have lost paradise! We then drove to the derelict cement factory another wasted casualty of war and onto the famous freshwater bathing tanks in Keerimalai neat KKS.
Back in a pensive mood I saw that the villages of Jaffna had not truly changed since my childhood Apart from newer restaurants, hotels and cafes to attract tourist and trade in the town the villages of Jaffna remained the same as they always did with many stray dogs and a couple of newer homes that may have improved the appearance of the surroundings but there was rubbish everywhere. Plastic bottles, flimsy bags and empty drink cans littered the sides of roads, front of houses and paths that deputised as pavements.
There were rubble rock and masonry strewn on the roadsides that no one thought to clear. Houses were simple single-story buildings that had not been refurbished or aesthetically enhanced even after the war had ended. The Jaffna man carried on living a frugal lifestyle. To them life was harsh and hard and to succeed you needed a good supply of your own steam. I recalled Jaffna being cleaner when I lived there but then man had not invented plastic bags bottles and cans of drink to litter the environment.
Those days purchases were wrapped in newspaper or carried in a marketing bag made of straw or reeds. There are bright new Hindu and Buddhist temples built by well-wishers post war. Most of Jaffna is made up of working class and the poor. The middle class and those who went as refugees have disappeared abroad. Academics and teachers are lifting the level of education to a high standard as before. Education has always been the means of escape for the Tamils to migrate south or leave the country for good.
Those who have left have no intention to return even after the war ended. Large funds and charitable giving is funnelled for social projects and family support though the diaspora is not rushing back to rebuild a Tamil nation for themselves. We are unlike the Jews who returned to Isreal in 1948 to transform their nation state into a first world economy. We Tamils remain proud of our northern land and heritage albeit from afar but never intending to return. Some expat Tamils have built large homes to house relatives and return intermittently for a holiday but rarely to live or retire on the soil of their ancestors.
On our last evening, we paid a visit to the Jaffna Library cruelly burnt in 1981 but now restored and open to the public. Many books were destroyed. The two Jayewardene descendants on the trip playfully blamed each other’s political uncle for being responsible for the terrible loss of priceless books.
The final stop was the Jaffna fort. I had last seen it six decades ago and was wanting to view the interior of the magnificent Dutch construction.
This was my childhood playground as I would go there most evenings with my sister to hang around with children whose fathers played tennis doubles at the club house within the fort. I walked back in time just as the sun was setting reminiscent of when we would play there. We used to wander unsupervised and aimless exploring the 400-year-old Dutch church with cobwebs hanging from its rafters. We were convinced that the church was haunted. We then carried on trespassing on to the steps of the palatial official residence of the Governor General, mostly locked and shuttered when he was not in residence with its tall white pillars and red polished floors that made up the veranda.
We rattled the shutters and tried the locks with the hope of pursuing our ghosts. The setting sun and gatherings twilight cast eerie shadows across the grounds and ramparts of the fort that added to our agitated imaginings. Sadly, none of what I remembered as a child remains standing today. The buildings including the church has been cruelly bombed out and now lie derelict due to the war. There are plans a foot for restoration of the fort by the Dutch government though it will never mirror the memories I have hidden in the recesses of my mind.
The last night at the hotel saw more chatter, drinking laughing and eating. Martiya entertained us with his guitar joined by his daughter who gave a professional rendition of ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentia’ and ‘Take Me Home Country Road’ As the reunion neared its end, we proposed a vote of thanks to the organizers for their untiring effort to make this a memorable and very enjoyable reunion. Many said they may never return to Jaffna but were thankful for the experience of seeing it for themselves in the company of their FF 62 group of friends.
School friends are unique and like no other relationship in life. These friendships do not demand anything other than to be oneself. It disengages the ego and is devoid of criticism, judgment, anger, hatred, envy or jealousy giving the relationship the feeling of profound altruism. Friends are the unpaid cheer leaders of our lives.
During our time together there was no questions of achievement or lack of it. Neither the inquiry of wealth, fame, status nor of regret, blame, shame or guilt. Nothing matters to these Royal spirits other than the renewing of a lifelong bond of pure unconditional acceptance.
They had travelled miles from all corners of the world if only to shake each other’s hand in gratitude for friendships. They were thankful that their lives crossed at a prestigious school set up by theologian turned teacher, Rev Joseph Marsh, in 1835 . Did he or any of the boys who walked the hallowed portals of Royal College ever believe they could dream, the impossible dream and try, when your arms are too weary to reach the unreachable star and send forth some of the finest men of Sri Lanka?
School where our fathers learnt the way before us Learnt of books and learnt of men Through thee we’ll do the same True to our watch word ‘Disce Aut Discede’ We will learn of books and men and learn to play the game.
Ayesha Muthuveloe is the non-Royal half of Dr Rajan Muthuveloe, MBBS, MRCGP London (Royal College Class of 62)
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