Closed Borders!

BY RAJITHA RATWATTE
fromoutsidethepearl@gmail.com

Yes, I’m afraid that closed borders and zero tourist arrivals we will have to get used to for the foreseeable future. For health and safety and doubly so I am told by a reliable source, since the GMOA (Government Medical Officers Association) has threatened (are threats’ possible under this regime?) the rulers that should the borders be opened prematurely, they will STRIKE!

This bunch of doctors who really should be among the best brains in the country have metamorphosed into a soulless, selfish bunch of morons who think that the sun shines out of their backsides! I would like to think that they have the safety of the country in mind and the possible over extension of available health services but more likely it is their own money-making schemes, [all that money that goes to Singaporean doctors and health services will now remain in the Pearl] and utter selfishness not caring a hoot for people who depend on and have built their lives on the tourist industry!

Are closed borders such a bad thing? Why don’t we look at it from the point of view of re-looking at ourselves, at our culture, at our religious beliefs and at the supreme beauty of our wonderful land. Take your families on trips, to Anuradhapura for example. Wander away from the (bathroom tiled) walkways, into the ruins of the Mahamevuna Uyana, sit under a tree or some brickwork of a ruin that is probably 2000 years old, preferably at sunset or dawn and feel the hairs on the back of your neck prickle with the presence of thousands of holy monks and warriors’ who have preceded you. Share this feeling with your children, who have earlier been rushed through quick “pilgrimages” and never been introduced to the magic that is Anuradhapura. Instil this and introduce this to your children as some us more privileged people had done to us, and they really understand why and how we became the granary of the East.

On the subject of pilgrimages and religion, take this time that you can now save from foreign “business” trips (ZOOM prevails) and of course the precious foreign currency you spend on various nefarious activities and analyse all the ridiculous and unnecessary rituals that have crept into the observance of our core beliefs. Understand that today’s beliefs need to be “inteligentisised” (aha a new word?!) to make sense to children who are taught to “think” and reason from day one, in school. Rituals designed by medieval practitioners and shoved down the throat of those who dared not dissent and in some cases rituals that have been modernised in total contravention of core beliefs, to suit the business ventures of so called monks and priests. Take your family to Madhu if you don’t want Anuradhapura, camp out like we used to and discuss these things with your children and your family, how about that, rather than a trip to Disney land?

Those in tourism, change your core beliefs from treating white skinned “guests” like gods to treating your fellow Lankans to a taste of paradise. Teach them what true Sri Lankan hospitality means and for goodness sake udo the algorithms that increased the prices on your menus and tariffs by 300% or more. A recent trip after an absence of three years years to the Pearl showed the menu from one of my favourite haunts depicting the price of an ice cream increased from Rs18 to Rs 81. Same ice cream, even the same dish and served by the same man! Please understand that people earning in foreign currency fuelled by the rapid depreciation of our rupees are now not your core customers. Remember you have a huge advantage; you have almost 20 million people to cater to. Your economies of scale could actually work. We in Aotearoa have only five million people and this makes it harder to adjust prices to levels that would allow the middle class to enjoy some five-star benefits.

In New Zealand, we went back to playing Sunday afternoon rugby. Matches start at 2 or 3 PM in a winter afternoon. The ability to take the whole family, well wrapped up against the chill of course. Little ones’ who during the days in TV controlled ‘Super rugby” would have been fast asleep as the timing of the matches had to be in line with international “peak viewing” times. The kids got to watch a high standard of the game but even more importantly to enjoy the atmosphere, watch dad scream his guts out with no inhibitions, analyse the game with a “know it all Dad” and of course eat the obligatory hot dog, Kiwi style! In the Pearl go back to watching the school first xi and first xv games with your kids and spend a weekend watching a “Sara trophy” or whatever the sponsors call it now, cricket game with your kids. A weekend that would have been spent on business trip to a foreign country that incidentally is also closed during the weekend! What you got up to on weekends on those trips I leave to the imagination of your spouse!

Aotearoans’ have really chipped in to help domestic tourism. So far this year after the strict lockdowns were removed, the resorts have been reporting very good turnovers. Now that the school holidays are on, everything is full and all the money that would have been used on overseas holidays is now been spent in the country. You can do this too O people of the Pearl. Particularly those of you reading this piece in English, in the Island! Of course, the rates of the hotels for meals and accommodation should be adjusted to realistic levels. Go on trips to the more remote places of our beautiful island, take your time and allow your family to absorb and appreciate our wonderful 2000 plus year old culture.

I can tell you of some places, particularly in the wilderness areas of the Ruhunu rata and the Raja rata but not in a public newspaper. If you build up a relationship with the trackers who are obligatory when visiting National Parks and you gain their respect and they believe that your interest in our wilderness is genuine, I am sure they will take you to some of those places,that are outside the beaten track. If you name the place you plan to go to with your family and ask me by e mail, and I believe your genuine interest, maybe I will tell you of a place or two and even give you directions on how to get there. However, you will have to know the flora of your native land very well as most of those places are marked by trees on the edge of grasslands and have no roads or signposts. Once you get there, to the cave that a blind Queen spent her last days and committed suicide by leaping from her mountain cave into a huge reservoir with a de-silting chamber, an engineering marvel, that is one of only two, in the whole island, when you get to an ancient monastery in a series of rock caves (we had to walk past 7 bears eating Palu fruit and a herd of elephants led by a formidable Matriarch) where the meditation chambers are now occupied by sloth bears and leopard but where a sense of peace and tranquillity still envelopes the visitor, you will understand the true beauty of our resplendent land. Go now, before what little that is left is gone!

Of course, all this may be nullified if a vaccine is found soon. However, I doubt that happening without enough time left for us to get to know ourselves, our countries and re assess our core values. Furthermore, travel by aircraft in the numbers we had in the past, will take a long time to be practical or even affordable.

In the meantime, be proud of your culture, be strong and above all else be kind.