Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

02 November   2017

Discreet to Discrete Politics by Tamils?

As my husband teaches Maths to our granddaughter I hear the words Discrete which I registered as being whole numbers in my mind. Prior to that, Discreet meant confidentiality to my mind. The same sound but opposite meanings.  But are they different? For example, to my mind  2 and 3 qualify as Discrete numbers. Numbers 2.1 to 2.9 do not qualify as Discrete but show continuity and indicate the confidential / Discreet connection between 2 and 3. They show continuity.

The above came to my mind when I read the following, in relation to the proposed Constitution of Sri Lanka:

[The Opposition Leader quoted a statement by Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who said any solution must be seen as one that stretches to a maximum possible devolution of powers while R Sampanthan also quoted Former Minister GL Peiris from 2002 who said the government sought extensive power sharing within a framework of one country.] Newsradio.lk report headed ‘New Constitution a must for peace- Sampanthan’

Given that Mr. Rajapaksa leads the self appointed Joint Opposition in Parliament – one could conclude that they the Joint Opposition and the Official Opposition – Tamil National Alliance,  together represent true Opposition to any ‘possession’ by Central Government -  of powers known to be earned by other units lawfully recognized as Sovereign units by the Constitution. Every devolved unit carries as its authority that Sovereignty. Under the current Constitution the framework is already there – at Provincial level. But the actual life of that structure is ‘possessed’ by the parent. The consequences of this is likely to separate the child from the parent, when the child finds others who rightly or wrongly are more easy to deal with – as Tamils have found Western leadership more easy to deal with than the Sri Lankan one. It is explained through the following example that comes to mind:

Three children recognized as being part of the Hindu community as per their  parents’ conduct – had  their  shoes on when conducting funeral ceremony of their mother, here in Australia. They did not learn from their father who did remove his shoes before entering the funeral hall. Given that two of them participated openly in the secular part of the service, with one actively participating in a Christian part of the service, the third one felt left out and was isolating himself. At the last minute when he was sharing his dissatisfaction with another lady, who was urging the young guy to participate in the final part of the service, he still lacked confidence. I then went out of my row, drew him into the aisle, stood behind him and physically guided him from behind – saying his mother needed him to touch the coffin before cremation. He did and I withdrew to become Discreet mother of my friend’s son.

In the above experience, as a Hindu, I could not take higher position with a non-practitioner. I could not become a mere observer either – due to the investment made by the parents in Hinduism. To my mind, Hinduism was also being honoured through funeral ceremonies during farewell to my friend. Then I found a way to take the higher position through the secular system in which I did not know of anyone present there who had earned higher position than I and therefore who was conscious of such a position. It was of Discreet value.

I  made my investment in the Common Australian system -  Discrete and as a secular mother I was able to help the young guy who has not achieved as highly as his siblings, pay his respects to his mother and complete their relationship through the secular system.

Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and Muslim are all Discrete values that could be managed in Sri Lanka, through classical systems. Secularism, like English the link language is the connecting Energy which is Discreet in religious environment in Sri Lanka. Like English being the link language, One Country needs this link to be Discrete and not Discreet any more.

Yesterday, my granddaughter said that she would need higher level maths to follow a course in psychology. This morning it made perfect sense. At family level, we call the system Karma.

After completing the article up to this point, I went into ‘Sri Lanka News’ and was drawn to the article ‘Albert Einstein in Colombo and Negombo: October 1922 and January 1923’, by Professor Kirthi Tennakone. I felt blessed by Sir Albert Einstein and recalled that I had said to my husband just this morning – before starting my writing work – that Einstein had come home. This was in reference to the book ‘Ideas and Opinions- Albert Einstein’ published by Bonanza Books. I had presented this book to our son who now lives in Melbourne. My attention was drawn to this book on 22 October when I was at our son’s place for a family celebration. When I read that Sir Albert Einstein was in Colombo on 28 October 1922, which is also the birthday as well the day of departure of my above mentioned friend, I felt that I was being blessed by Sir Einstein to continue to use the Secular pathway where there was unjust discrimination due to Discrete cultures. This confirms to me yet again that the deeper mind lives beyond the physical and travels beyond country and time borders to support our genuine efforts to be Sovereign. 

Today, All Souls’ Day  is the death anniversary of my mother and I dedicate this my mother who while officially a Hindu invested also in Catholicism – especially Our Lady. Sovereign value is Soul value.