|
|
kathiresan in his kovil smiling serenely at complexities
escaping to kandy the wind on my face as i ride the railways
praying at dalada maligawa disturbed by tourists and
memories of the blast hanging on its walls
drinking in the beauty of the plains on the way
back to colombo but
time to leave
again
hugging phoning lunching and dining goodbyes
hopping planes from colombo to zurich to toronto
bonjour and welcome to canada
is this home
hugging amma hello and looking behindGlossary of Terms:
- Sri Lanka is a small South Asian island state that has been torn apart by an ethnic conflict between the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils for more than 20 years. The bloody events in the country drove more than 500,000 Tamils to seek asylum around the world. Canada, and in particular, Toronto is home to at least 200,000 of these Tamils.
- "amma" is the Tamil word for mother.
- "pillayar" refers to the elephant-headed Hindu God who is known to remove obstacles. Before attempting any major event, Pillayar (or Ganesh as popularly known) is usually invoked by prayers.
- "ayubowan" is the Sinhala word for welcome. Sinhala is the language of the majority in Sri Lanka.
- Wellawatte, Omanthai, Kokuvil, Kilinochchi, Muhamalai, Nallur, Kondavil, Uduvil, Kantharodai, Thumpalai, etc. are names of villages and town suburbs.
- MS Subbulakshmi is the most famous female Carnatic vocalist. Carnatic refers to classical South Indian music. It's North Indian counterpart is Hindustani, the most famous exponent of this being Ravi Shankar (of Beatles fame).
- "kowsalya supraja..." is the opening line of the Sri Venkateswara Subrapatham, a Hindu devotional hymn that is sung at dawn. It is translated as "O Rama, son of Kowsalya and dearest to the people/The dawn before sunrise is on its way/Rise, O Tiger amonst humans/ Your divine duties beckon you." The most popular singer of this hymn is MSS.
- "vanakkam" is the Tamil word for welcome.
- Tamil Eelam refers to the secessionist state that is fought for by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a Tamil militant group that rejected intransigent parliamentary politics to follow more violent means of securing the self-determination of the Tamil-speaking people of Sri Lanka. At present, this state covers the Vanni region and is governed separately by the LTTE. It has its own taxes, armed forces, currency and even time zone! Although it appears as a country within a country, this state is not recognized by international bodies.
- Kilinochchi is the main town of the Vanni region and is the administrative capital of the LTTE.
- Gurukulam is an orphanage for hundreds of girls whose parents have either died or have abandoned them.
- Chemmani refers to the place where mass graves of Tamil victims were uncovered. It is believed that these graves were the doing of the government forces, which is more or less Sinhalese in composition.
- Yarlpanam is the Tamil word for Jaffna, the cultural capital of the Tamils of Sri Lanka. It is situated in the Northern part of the country, quite close to the southern tip of India.
- Maththanai, Tellipalai, Vallipuram, Nallur, Nagadeepaya, Nellandai and Selvasanithy are sites of popular Hindu temples.
- "karthikai deepam" refers to a festival of lights that is held annually at the Nallur temple.
- "chinna chinna aasai" refers to a popular Tamil cinema song composed by A.R. Rahman, who later went on to work with Andrew Lloyed Webber on his Bombay Dreams musical.
- "vihara" is the Sinhalese term for a buddhist temple while "kovil" is the Tamil term for a Hindu temple.
- "kathiresan" refers to Murugan, the Hindu God of Valour and Beauty, who enjoys the greatest devotion amongst the Tamils. He is unmistakably a South Indian/Tamil God, one who does not figure in the North Indian mythology of Ramayana and Mahabharata.
- "dalaga maligawa" refers to the Temple of the Tooth in Sri Lanka's hill town of Kandy. This temple was bombed by the LTTE in 1998 killing more than 25 people.
|
Tags
You must be logged in to add tags.
|
Writer Profile
MephistophelesSmithUK
This user has not written anything in his panorama profile yet.
|
Comments
wikid description Kev | Jan 22nd, 2004
hey nk,
one awesome short story guy!!!.
loved every line
You must be a TakingITGlobal member to post a comment. Sign up for free or login.
|
|
