Gajalakshmi
Paramasivam – 22 Aug 2015
British Tamil is not Sri Lankan Tamil
Australian Sinhalese is not Sri Lankan Sinhalese
There is much talk about Political solution for Tamils of Sri Lanka.
According to the latest media news ‘The
Global Tamil Forum (GTF) says it will seek the full support of the
international community, including India, to help implement the legitimate
demands of the Tamil people through a negotiated political solution.’ To my
mind that is more a message / warning to the Government of Sri Lanka that GTF
would use global social power to get the outcome it seeks. Such powers are
strongly emotion based and unless such is based on Belief – they are of
negative value in terms of
Self-Governance. Using others outside Tamil Eelam confirms lack of confidence
in one’s own qualification to lead a group towards self-governance. In fact it
could be leading from the frying pan into the fire. If an ethnic group claims to be Sovereign in
its own rights – it would not show others’ support in its structure.
This kind of hypocrisy was demonstrated
also by an Australian Sinhalese who responded to my email under the subject
heading ‘Australian Winning Sri Lankan Elections?’ with a blunt message through
the picture below without any explanation.
Yesterday the parallel in the Sri Lankan Political group – the Tamil
National Alliance was confirmed. It started with a message from a well educated
Australian of Sri Lankan origin sharing with us, the following message to a
Tamil Politician:
‘Congrats
on your resounding victory in our Tamil Homeland.
High
time the TNA joins the mainstream of government and show their leadership in
co-operating with GOSL to get some concessions for our people in the North and
East. Being within the system is more desirable than confrontational politics
which will take us nowhere. Hon.PM Ranil is a reasonable person to approach and
we must get at least one ministerial post in GOSL and try to reduce the armed
presence in the Tamil homelands. Since the rail and roads have now been built
and many Sinhalese have invested in the North and East, it is up to you to look
for investment in the Sinhala areas, reciprocally. There are great
opportunities left unexplored, like education, tourism, sports, fisheries,
livestock, vegetables, fruits, chilies, Palmyra
and other products. Our people are very intelligent and hard-working and have
suffered a lot in the past. Vocational training is much needed in Tamil Areas.
I have been to Jaffna and Batticaloa several times and I can see the potential
and enthusiasm of the people. There are many Sinhalese who are trying to help
and you should invite them to come and see the potential by having workshops
and seminars. Our cricketers are most willing to help.
We
need the co-operation of all clergy, politicians, academics, universities,
professionals, students and also investors from Colombo and overseas to help
you all. Hope you will take this advice seriously. Don’t take a back seat. Let’s
get up and go. Very best wishes.’
I felt the urge to respond to the above
person – not because we always agreed with each other – but because he has
demonstrated ‘independence’ in terms of status. Such a person would identify
with the core value rather than agreement or disagreement – win or lose. This
Sri Lankan leader sought participation above status.
In that consciousness I
responded as follows to the group covered by that email:
Thank you for sharing your valuable feelings with us.
There are signs of an educated leadership in Sri Lanka which has become
possible due also to the strong mental involvement by the likes of you.
In terms of TNA I believe Tamils as a community have to
maintain their independent status and cooperate at policy level. This is best
achieved through Leader of the Opposition position going to a Tamil. Such
confirms our Equal participation in Politics without losing our Diversity.
Love
Gaja
The response to it was:
‘Agree
that the TNA should lead the opposition. Excellent idea. Hope the UNP will
agree. GOSL needs some educated politicians.’
The Politician responded as follows:
‘Thank you very much
Professor, for your wishes and very valuable thoughts.’
I wrote this morning about this leader who
leads another group within the Diaspora ‘I
am responding because of those who have shown valuation and those who
never disrespected me as a person. Professor leads that part of this group. I
am not ‘back’ as active member of the forum. I am expressing my observations on
this specific topic. You are one of those who demonstrated lack of respect for
me as a person.’
In the global group – the initiator of the discussion with the Politician is the ‘cow with the bell’ as we say in Tamil.
Like those with minority status - I was the cow without the bell. This cow without
the bell has included the above TNA Politician in her regular emails for many
months now. But to date there has been no response from this TNA Politician to
this cow – not even after knowledge that this lesser looking cow is respected
as an equal by the cow with the bell.
The judgment by me is that the above TNA Politician in his ‘natural
environment’ will NOT consider the ordinary voter without status bell – to be
part of him or of equal status to him - once he gets his seat in parliament. To
that extent it is a job won and not an ownership right to demand on behalf of his
group. There is a Tamil saying that we must not forget the pathway we travelled
through, once we reach our destination. Those who are genuinely fighting for
equal rights for a minority group would
always identify with minority (cow without bell) as a priority. Others would
enforce their way as the above Sinhalese forum which says it is for all Sri
Lankans effectively enforces Sinhalese – as if Sinhalese = Sri Lankans.
I have had this experience many times at
Vaddukoddai – where the first declaration of Political (i.e. Emotions based)
Independence was first made in 1976. Given that it was made in Vaddukoddai –
Vaddukoddai is the Political Capital of Tamil Nation within the country Sri
Lanka. The law and order of Vaddukoddai is very weak now if not for a few folks
like myself. When law and order of the current generation is weak that
expression of independence is weak,
unless the Political Declaration was strongly based on belief and the currently
active generation believes in those who
made the declaration and/or the land where such was made. As I wrote today to a
Diaspora group during discussion of Reaction
v Response ‘The
other day when I was critical of my husband’s emotional reaction – but
confirmed that I too reacted he quickly said ‘so you too are emotional!’ I said
‘Yes but I override it through my Truth within which takes me to the steady
path’. Those who are yet to find Truth are limited to emotional reactions.’
The latest example in Vaddukoddai was through caste based reverse discrimination.
A guy from Vaddukoddai suburb who kept claiming that their village was disenfranchised
until my active involvement in their village – started demonstrating his claim
for ‘individuality’ and therefore freedom from supervision by me – the very
same person he calls ‘Ammah/Mother’ and whose feet he touched in reverence
until this recent episode when he claimed he sought ‘individuality’. The more I
tried to explain the right course of action the more active was his reaction in
opposition. One of the topics under issue was that he wanted to place the
picture of Hindu Deities in his work area within his allocated area within our
training center. He brought that picture and the oil-lamp without seeking my
approval. I did not say anything even though I was upset that he was investing
in separation. I am a Hindu and we own and manage the Hindu temple in his home village
within Vaddukoddai District. There too – Shiva-Shakthi are represented in
Trident form as Vairavar-Kali. Yet at out Training Center at Vaddukoddai junction
I naturally had no religious representation and if I had felt the need for it –
I would have chosen representation of all religions. I am a strong believer of
the Divinity of Sathya Sai Baba and yet I consciously override His name being
mentioned in our Bhajans (Sai Bhajans) out of respect that majority in that
area are not devotees of Sathya Sai Baba. The above guy who until recently
represented us at the temple – started also arguing with me when I mentioned
some breaches in time order in temple functions. To me Nallur Murugan temple is
the best example for time order. Ultimately – when I felt I could not go
anymore in explaining to him – I realized that his demonstration of belief included
expressions of his own desire to be equal to Vaddukoddai folks. I ended the
argument by showing the way to separate from our Management – so he could demonstrate
his ‘individuality’ as an Equal. To me –
every Tamil or Sinhalese who claims equal position to a Sri Lankan would need this
separation through time and/or distance - to confirm their independence and
diversity to that extent under one banner. If they are not truly independent
and they would not be if they forget the benefits enjoyed as Sri Lankans – as the
above guy did in our case – they are confirming their lack of independence and
are confusing physical freedom with true independence. They are actually employees to the extent
they remain active within the broader structure.
This is also the case with TNA as well as GTF
It is reported that TNA leader ‘Mr. Sampanthan
expressed confidence that the new government elected at the recent general
election would find a satisfactory political solution to the ethnic problem.’
The above confirms that TNA continues to be part of Sri Lankan
structure and not Tamil Eelam structure. If this is not officially acknowledged
– they are actually being employed by Sri Lankans and do not own in full their positions
in parliament.
Under the circumstances it is time voters and citizens without high
status treat these politicians as ‘facilities’ and not expect them to lead
their voters to independence – for these politicians for whom Tamil voters
voted overwhelmingly but without belief would turn against them when they fail
to receive their benefits as expected. The above mentioned village – was considered
high-risk area for this kind of reverse discrimination which was turned towards
Sinhalese Government. If I do not keep my distance and thereby recognize this
above mentioned person as an Equal Outsider – the caste-based discrimination knowledge
would become emotional force against me. Likewise at Sri Lankan level.
Through all this – I received an uplifting email all the way from
France which said:
[Who is the Sri Lankan
diaspora lady]
While googling to know the background of this responder I came across the following:
While googling to know the background of this responder I came across the following:
|
Naan Australian / Gaja Lakshmi Paramasivam.
2014
USD 205.90 (DKSLK-1759 ( HBD )) |
|
DK Number:, DKSLK-1759
ISBN:, 9789556583755
Title:, Naan
Australian /
Author:, Gaja
Lakshmi Paramasivam.
Imprint:, Pannipitiya
: Stamford Lake,
Physical Desc.:, 1093
pages ; 23 cm
Year:, 2014
Price:, USD 205.90
Subject Strings:, Tamil
(Indic people)--Australia.
The interesting part of the above is the
price – which is officially AUD 50. But
it is published at its Dharmic value of USD 205.90. That really gave the
response to the above question by a Global Tamil.
Further search on the above Tamil led me to
listening to a couple of speeches by Chief Minister of Northern Province, Sri
Lanka. In the earlier speech – Mr. Wigneswarn refers to Mr. Jiddu Krishnamurthi
who is described as follows by Wikipedia:
‘Jiddu Krishnamurti …was a speaker and writer on
philosophical and spiritual subjects. In his early life he was groomed to be
the new World Teacher but later rejected this
mantle and withdrew from the organisation behind it. His subject matter
included psychological revolution, the nature of mind, meditation,
inquiry, human relationships, and bringing about radical
change in society. He constantly stressed the need for a
revolution in the psyche of every human being and emphasised
that such revolution cannot be brought about by any external entity, be it
religious, political, or social.’
Mr. Wigneswaran referring to Mr. Krishnamurthi’s
advice to prevent using examples but to focus on the underlying philosophy. But
then I came across this other speech which was interpreted differently by
various groups as being inappropriate. In that Mr. Wigneswaran urges to voters
to vote for those with certain qualities – as defined by him. Mr. Wigneswaran
did not name the party / individuals who qualified but one could identify them
to be the TNA leaders. A case of ‘Do as I say and as I do?’ – which brought
down former Premier of New South Wales the Hon Nick Greiner. Politicians have
to be specific in terms of giving form. Governors have to be philosophic with
least form. After I identified with this conflict, I received from a Diaspora
group the following:
Cockroach Theory- A beautiful speech by
Sundar Pichai.
Aug 12, 2015
A beautiful speech by Sundar Pichai - an
IIT-MIT Alumnus and Global Head Google Chrome:
The cockroach theory for self development. At a
restaurant, a cockroach suddenly flew from somewhere and sat on a lady.
She started screaming out of fear.With a panic stricken
face and trembling voice, she started jumping, with both her hands desperately
trying to get rid of the cockroach.Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in
her group also got panicky. The lady finally managed to push the cockroach away
but . . . it landed on another lady in the group. Now, it was the turn of the
other lady in the group to continue the drama.
The waiter rushed forward to their rescue. In the relay
of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the waiter.The waiter stood firm,
composed himself and observed the behavior of the cockroach on his shirt. When
he was confident enough, he grabbed it with his fingers and threw it out of the
restaurant. Sipping my coffee and watching the amusement, the antenna of my
mind picked up a few thoughts and started wondering, was the cockroach
responsible for their histrionic behavior? If so, then why was the waiter not
disturbed?
He handled it near to perfection, without any chaos. It
is not the cockroach, but the inability of those people to handle the
disturbance caused by the cockroach, that disturbed the ladies. I realized
that, it is not the shouting of my father or my boss or my wife that disturbs
me, but it's my inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting
that disturbs me.
It's not the traffic jams on the road that disturbs me,
but my inability to handle the disturbance caused by the traffic jam that
disturbs me.
More than the problem, it's my reaction to the problem
that creates chaos in my life.
Lessons learnt from the story:
I understood, I should not react in life.
I should always respond.
The women reacted, whereas the waiter responded.
Reactions are always instinctive whereas responses are
always well thought of.
A beautiful way to understand............LIFE.
Person who is HAPPY is not because Everything is RIGHT
in his Life..
He is HAPPY because his Attitude towards Everything in
his Life is Right..!!
Senior SolidWorks Specialist at CAD MicroSolutions Inc
My response included the following:
‘I note also that the
story below refers to ‘women’ against the male waiter - as if women are
more emotional and therefore reactive while men are less emotional and
therefore more responsive.
True
– but emotions based on belief are never wrong. Like in politics, we just need
time to know the other side. In this cockroach example – the other side is that
it was unhygienic for the cockroach to be there in the restaurant in the first
instance. The women through their reaction were sending that message. The
waiter by reacting to the fear of status downfall also could be taken as
reacting. He ought to have apologized and owned the problem for his action to
qualify as response.
Some
in this forum use bad words like cockroaches. Only a few have taken ownership
of the problem and responded in my matters.’
Are the Tamil Political Leaders claiming
and confirming in action - Separation –
reacting to Sinhalese Political Leaders who made that claim first through
physical possession/occupation? Where
are the responders and believers who need no definition? In that first speech
referred to above Mr. Wigneswaran mentions that the group that challenged him
was a ladies’ group. So is this writer!
Using Hindu example – Shiva depicts
consciousness of Truth. Shakthi depict the Energy. This Energy is accumulated
through accepting lesser status than the Leader in Partnership for the same
level of contribution. Minorities who have lesser status than their partners in
leadership – accumulate Energy which is the natural force that works the Structure
that represents the Form of Truth. Every Shiva temple would communicate this
message to the true believer.
No comments:
Post a Comment