Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

21 January 2017

Hindu Peacock or  Buddhist ‘Dandu Monera Yanthraya’ ?

World Bank has Duty to Fund

Sri Lanka’s National Carrier

‘History of a race discrimination case towards an Australian Tamil citizen of Sri Lankan origin by University of New South Wales’   National Library of Australia about Naan Australian.

I did not describe the message in the book as above. Mine start of with:

‘Truth experienced by us – resides as the root Energy that drives our motivation. I do believe that my genuine pain invokes the True powers in a place / issue through which I feel ownership. That feeling of belonging – beyond the powers exercised by legal owners and physical possessors is so very precious.’

When I complained to the University Authorities, the Government and the Judiciary, I did use the Racial Discrimination Act 1975  through which to give form to my pain.  I could not think of a more fitting description for the pain endured by me after living in Australia – for over ten years at that time – as per the ‘position’ allocated to me by my seniors in Australian Citizenship. But I waited all that time and the actions on my part began during Nallur festival in 1998. Now without any effort on my part to take the book to the National Library – not only it has gone there but the description is identical to the one given by me. This healthy ‘closure’ confirms not only that Australians were at risk of getting weakened more and more by racial discrimination disease but also that they are able to cure themselves through means available beyond Government and the Judiciary.  This is a lesson for all civilians in other nations where the Government is relatively weaker than the Civilian in following the law. It certainly is a Lesson for all Sri Lankans to  bring themselves out of the prison of ethnic dependence.

Truth is the strongest part of Natural manifestations and just manifestations. Often people ‘use’ the Truth discovered by others – including leaders like Gandhi and then lose its real value by failing to say ‘thank you’ to the structure through which that Truth came to them. We learn scientific and mathematical theories and use them for a living and once we get cash and status benefits – we ‘forget’ the true original architects of the theories and/or the Universal value of those True theories. We then tend to develop a mindset that ‘I am’ / ‘We are’ the  sole owner/s of the theories and the position through which we use them. The greatest risk of the Truth manifesting Itself to prove them wrong is through those who know that they are higher but accept the lower position by sharing the excess credit with others in lower positions by marking them ‘right’ when the higher authorities unjustly criticize to discipline/punish the lower persons. When such a person hurts beyond reasonable limits – i.e. – is not able to enjoy even at the lower level – then Truth manifests Itself – as if it were an Act of God.

Yesterday, my cousin Ravi directed me to an Economy Next article headed ‘Bidder for Sri Lankan airline pleads for 'divine grace' . Ravi knows of my valuable experience with Airlanka and also my faith in Kathirgama Murugan. As per my memory – my first visit to Kathirgamam happened due to Ravi’s parents wanting to say ‘Thank You’ to Kathirgama Murugan. It was at their home in Colombo that I was informed by a Sage that like Murugan,  I was going to fly around the world. Soon I was called for an interview by Airlanka which was at embryonic stage. I felt very happy and later I made the connection with Murugan, including through the peacock logo of Airlanka, now Sri Lankan airlines.

Through my experience, I believe that my true contribution to the University of NSW – helped me relate to myself and value myself through the core purpose of  the University – Research and share the discovery with others through ‘Teaching with least top-down  Administration’. Likewise, with Airlanka, the real value is the Global vision that Multicultural Democracy represents. That is also the value represented by Lord Muruga with 6 faces.

As per the above report that Ravi referred me to :

‘A bidder for Sri Lanka's loss-making national airline on Thursday promised to appease Lord Murugan and conduct daily rituals if they are given a controlling stake in the airline and the Mattala airport.
A company called Peace Air (Private) Limited said they were bidding for both the Sri Lankan airlines as well as the international airport at Mattala, close to the sacred city of Kataragama, the home of Lord Murugan.
The company in a dossier given to reporters in Colombo, said Mattala was doomed from the beginning as two peacocks, known as the vehicle of Lord Murugan, were "run over" by a Sri Lankan airlines flight on opening day.
"Disaster after disaster struck the airport," the report said. "day one at the foundation stone placing by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who came by helicopter, his backup helicopter with the bodyguards crashed."
The Peace Air offer says they will respect the nearby sacred city and request civil aviation authorities to declare a no-fly zone over places of worship’

I feel offended by the above reference to the Airline as a loss-making institution. If even one feels ownership in the core value of globalization, through the institution – that institution is a success story and there can be no question of losses. The current Government investigated the Airlines without limiting the investigators’ powers to ‘owners’ area.  The result is that the Human Resource value has been shown to be low and this demoralizes the staff and they now stand without firm structures through which to regulate themselves and others they are responsible for. Then the value seems less than it is and is ready to be ‘taken-over’.

The Sunday Times news  report provides the following details:

Three bidders shortlisted for a management stake in cash-strapped SriLankan Airlines will hold discussions with a Cabinet committee this month to clarify, among other things, their strategy for the national carrier.
“The shortlisted parties will be spoken to by a committee appointed by the Cabinet,” an authoritative source said. Depending on the outcome of the meetings, a recommendation will be sent to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM).

The parties are Super Group Partners, Peace Air and Texas Pacific Group or TPG. Super Group is a consortium comprising predominantly Asian investors. It includes Maldivian involvement but is not, contrary to earlier reports, connected with Trans Maldivian Airways or the Singaporean ground-handling firm SATS. The Group’s lawyer said it was a private company registered in Sri Lanka.

Peace Air is owned by businessman Gamini Wethasinghe but there are no details about its source of funding. The third, TPG, is an American company and one of the largest private equity investment firms in the world.
“The process will be completely transparent, authentic and carried out to secure the best possible deal for the Government and for the airline in terms of protection of brand value and national carrier status,” the source said. “There will be no compromise on those parameters.”

About Peace Air’s bid, Mr. Ravi  Ladduwahetty of Ceylon Today reported about a month ago:

‘The most attractive part of the deal is that Peace Air has undertaken to bear the debts of both Sri Lankan, which stands at US$ 953 million and Mihin US$ 69 million.
Peace Air has also expressed interest in getting a 70% share, 90% equity stake of Mihin and 100% equity stake in Sri Lankan Airlines Catering Services Ltd’

The above sounds very like Pakistan taking over India. If  Peace Air does takeover Sri Lankan Airlines, then there is a legitimate claim for Tamils to takeover Sinhalese when the Nation is making economic losses. adaderana.lk reports as follows about Peace Air:

[“We have also brought in US$ 5.5 billion cash into the system. We have already got the Lufthansa group and basically we have got Deutsche Bank sending the SWIFT confirming the funding,” Mr Wettasinghe said, addressing a press briefing in Colombo on Thursday.

“Did you know that SriLankan Airlines is carrying 5 million passengers per annum? Did you know that they earn US$ 1 billion?”

“This airline, this 7000 qualified group of people are making thousand million dollars for this country and none of us are bothering even to say thank you to them.”

“And now SriLankan Airlines is therefore making profits, they are making lot of money but who is siphoning off this money? The operating people,” he charged.]

The question then is – What does Mr. Wettasinghe propose to do about it? The talk about appeasing Lord Muruga through rituals in that area – and the bid for Mattala airport confirm ‘local’ thinking and is the parallel of cheap politics. Where would the rest of the profits from SriLankan Airlines go under Peace Air ownership? To the secret funder of this bid? When we the global citizens, accept the need for Transparency in Public life – there is little public information on Peace Air to assess its capability to not only demonstrate its Experience in demonstrating   economic viability in circumstances similar to the current environment that Sri Lankan Airlines now lives in, but also that the profits will be ploughed back to improve  Sri Lankan identity at global level.  When the do the latter – even if it is at a loss – Lord Muruga would bring home the Resources needed for  His Airline to be Independent and Global. 

In any case, at policy level – where we have Buddhism Foremost in the Constitution, would Buddha not be offended if Thanks giving is made to Hindu Lord Muruga? There is a joke that illustrates this kind of deception:

A guy was waiting a long time to catch fish. Eventually he prayed to the Lord that when he caught one he would give half to the Lord. Soon he hooked a big fish. Even as he happily pulled the fish in – he thought to himself ‘why does the Lord need fish? The Lord would want me to have it all.’ The fish slipped out of the hook and went back into the water. Then the guy said ‘the Lord does not know when I am serious from  when I am joking!’

With Buddhism foremost in the Constitution, the Government has the responsibility to reject bids from anyone who expresses allegiance to Hindu Lord Muruga – with 6 faces and two wives. One who is committed to Global philosophy – that Lord Muruga represents would not need to make any vows to ‘show’. Or are we saying here that Lord Muruga is a Buddhist?

Mr. Rajeewa Jayaweera in responding to my article Is Yoga Foreign or Local to Sri Lanka?, of 23 November 2016 responded on this particular topic:

‘Air Lanka’s logo as found above, was not a Peacock as stated by you. According to the artist who designed it, the logo represented the ‘Dandu Monera Yanthraya’. The three fins on the head represented the Triple Gem and the five tail fins, the five percepts of Buddhism. I came across this information during my 4 year stint in the Marketing Communications Dept. of Air Lanka, two of which was in the capacity as Marketing Communications Manager for Advertising & Promotions, in the early 1990s. Uniforms of Flight Stewardesses and Ground Hostesses contained a peacock feather as a part of a design and not as a reflection of the logo.

Emirates Management replaced the logo of straight lines with curved lines (and colors) in the process of rebranding from Air Lanka to SriLankan Airlines commencing 1998 as did many companies who rebranded during the run up to the new millennia i.e. Cathey Pacific to Cathey.        

According to regional mythology, the Dandu Monera Yantraya was the flying machine used by King Ravana to abduct Princess Sita, spouse of Prince Rama. Peacock feathers are kept only in Temples and Kovils and not in homes as the Peacock is considered an unlucky bird. I cannot vouch for that theory but it the reason we took great pains to distance ourselves from the logo being identified with the Peacock despite public perception of the logo being a Peacock.’

The above is proof that left to the Sinhalese – Hinduism would be rewritten to suit Buddhism not as Lord Buddha’s example but as hijacked by Sinhalese to suit their own attachment to physically controllable outcomes. THAT is the curse of abuse of Majority Power which when used on other cultures accelerates the deterioration of the abuser!  Hence the wise said – ‘stay away from other cultures until you have transcended the physical level.  PRACTICE equality including with your own children / citizens – when either you or they are more conscious of diversity than of commonness.’

Peace Air has thus disqualified itself from the bid. The other two are foreigners – and hence would naturally think of syphoning off the money instead of sharing with Sri Lankans. The Government has the responsibility to seek  and find the deepest investors in the National carrier and use the management structure that produced the most satisfactory outcomes in terms of  policy, human values and economic values in that order. They could be outside Sri Lanka, including in Singapore. But the commitment to National Policy and the demonstrated experience of having completed their senior positions makes them eligible to become advisors. With that kind of support – Sri Lankan Airlines would need to restructure to combine Business and Policy at the right level. If UN seeks to monitor ethnic progress in Sri Lanka – it has the duty to fund Sri Lankan Airlines on Democratic principles and arrange for repayable loans. Without that kind of support – Sri Lanka will be taken-over by foreigners.