Our women athletes have done us proud so has one male athelete. What is their background and from where have they come. As their sturdy frames suggest they are of very rural background though there is nothing bucolic about their performances. They have no elitist claims where their schooling or their social backgrounds are concerned. They are not old girls of schools that cost the world to get into and then go through their careers. Nor I am sure would there have been super markets in their villages where they could have got the type of food the elite eat in the city.

Yet they have left that element far behind and dominated the track so conclusively to prove that you do not have to go through the portals of the “top ten” to achieve really great heights. Nor have you to have the right accent to win an international medal. Now what Ginger is trying to get at is whether we have not missed quite a few medals all these years by not searching for and fostering talent in the more remote parts of the country. All these years due perhaps to false beliefs that living standards have much to do with performance. Really this could explain why no woman has won a medal at the Commonwealth games for fifty long years.

Always for ‘Old days’
Ginger was always for the ‘old days’ and old fashioned ways. He liked the leisurely pace of things except for the thought of having breakfast in bed. It was a bit of a sickening thought to tuck into all that stuff without brushing your teeth and washing your face well I think I am straying from the main theme. Those who are religious minded can gain physically from it according to medical research.

Researchers have discovered that those who prayed daily, or went to Bible study classes or Sunday service were less likely to get high blood pressure. On the other hand the mod type who looked for spiritualism the easy way by listening to religious programmes over the air or watching TV programmes took a greater chance of getting high blood pressure.

Ban smoking on flights
More airlines are banning smoking on internal flights. From this month all Nippon asked smokers to stub their cigarettes when on internal flights. Though the no smoking ban has led to an increase in outbursts of passenger temper the number of airlines increasing the ban on domestic and shorter flights seem to be increasing.

All Nippon has tried to soften the blow by offering smokers loads of chocolates and so forth and smokeless pipes. Cathay Pacific and Indian Airlines are also increasing their non smoking flights. A. N. A. ofcourse has compromised on the issue by having a smoke screening ventilation systems on their 777s on international flights.

In visiting places of worship in our country, I have observed that of late many of them are now in a state of neglect; some totally abandoned with no one really responsible to look after them. It is true that Sri Lnaka is a secular country in which the majority of the population are Buddhists. From the ancient days, the monarchs of this country sponsored Buddhism, although some of them were non-Buddhists. Buddhism being the religion of the majority required state sponsorship for upliftment of the spiritual needs of the community. Hence large stretches of land including fertile paddy fields were donated to various temples for their sustenance and maintenance of regular religious activities. There was no international assistance as some well organized religions are getting now.

History shows that the kings themselves built many places of worship not only for Buddhists but for others as well. They also saw that they were given sufficient income through lands especially as in Buddhism and Hinduism there is no burden for those who believe in the faith to sponsor or look after such places. Many such shrines have lost the lands they owned and gone into ruin due to lack of income for maintenance. Sheer toil of the incumbent priests was not enough for maintenance of the shrine as it depended mainly on the capabilities of the priests which varied from one to another.

Recently I visited a temple in suburb of Colombo, which was well maintained by an erudite priest who was famous and popular for his sermons. He was gunned down by southern terrorists during the last insurrection called Vimukthi Satana. This temple is in a very sad state now. Plaster peeling off the pagoda, jungle gradually enveloping the shrine room, branches of the Bo tree drooping off like weeping due to the loss of the master of the complex. Even on a full moon day, only few people visit the shrine. Unless the government or the well wishers come to the rescue of this shrine, the fate befalls will be like that happened to those in the North that Central Province in the past.

Today’s requirement is to look after the shrines that are going into ruins rather than spending millions to build new ones in commemoration of various events and personal achievements. We have enough old and recently built shrines for worshippers of all faiths. It is the responsibility of us to visit them more often and encourage the incumbent priests to look after them. This, I suppose, automatically will improve the places of worship and help us to preserve our enormous wealth of values and ethics which are fast eroding. I do not mean by this that we must live in temples, as for those who have devoted their lives totally to the religion. Being laymen we have a duty towards our future generations to set an example and guide them to observe at least the basic good values which I believe are derived from all religions.

These places of worship are the fountains of code of conduct and centres of discipline. Protecting and maintaining them are not the responsibility of their custodians only. It is the duty of us all citizens who benefit from these national treasures.

Amu Seneviratne
Rajagiriya.

It is reported that a committee comprising writers, journalists and academicians are compiling a biography of the Minister of Transport and Highways, requesting those who may have known the Minister in his salad or green years (shades of Graham Greene here) to furnish all information they have. The book is expected to be published before the end of the year.

We of course are not so fortunate as to have moved about with the great man in those far off days, but we do know what he has achieved in his mature years and must say that his greatest act was to have left the Transport & Highway Services in a worse state than they have ever been before.

If you doubt me come along and let us take bus to Fort. We take our stand at the Nugegoda Junction bus halt at about 8.30 a.m. on a week day and await No. 138 or 115. There are many, especially the 138 but not one has space enough even for our small toe as cartoonist Wijesoma has depicted. In addition, there is a constant roar not only from the bus conductors but also from the criers at the stand who shout themselves hoarse urging people to get in.

We, who have heard of the late Florence Joyner suspected of having achieved her 1988 athletic tirumphs under the influence of steroids, have strong misgivings that these men are able to maintain their vocal organs intact without stimulants.

After an hour or so of such an ordeal, we betake ourselves to the High Level Road in a desperate attempt to walk to our destination because we cannot afford the luxury of a taxi. But what do we find? The main road jam-packed with vehicles of every description from the lowly three-wheeler to the mammoth container truck. We cross the road and in spite of a cry of “Ado Nakia” manage to reach the other side safely. Enough is enough. We had a glimpse of our transport service that made us sick while the highway was no better.

We turn down a by-way and enter Raymond Road. But, alas. After the recent heavy rains the road has become a water-way entirely inaccessible. So, the transport services, the highways and the side roads were all competing as to which could come out worse.

No Messrs, Biographers, all of you, if you must write his biography first ask the minister to take stand at any bus halt and see for himself. But he must come without you. He must be incognito.

E. A. K. Caspersz
Nugegoda.

I have read many newspaper articles by Mr. W. T. A. Leslie Fernando with profit. They are thought-provoking and based on knowledge coming from research. His article entitled “The national costume of Sri Lanka”, appearing in The Island on 9 July 1998, was, as usual, stimulating. But it led me to different conclusions from his.

(1) Work cloth Mr. Fernando’s conclusion that the best clothing for our tropical climate is, for males, “trouser and shirt”, if not cloth and shirt, and for females the saree, is unacceptable. The most comfortable clothing would be no-clothing. But allowing for the operation of factors other than physiological comfort alone, factors such as the modesty principle and the ‘seductive principle’, I should prefer, for men, shorts and bare chest, or stretching a point, shorts and bush shirt, or long trousers and bush shirt. There is no evidence that trousers reduce the ventilation of the skin more than sarong during walking. For women, the most appropriate working clothes would be a loose, medium length frock. Mr. Fernando’s belief that traditional wear was “cloth and jacket and osariya” only serves to show how borrowed they are - Portuguese and Indian respectively.

(2) National costume. Mr. Fernando’s conclusion that the “national costume” should be cloth plus ‘national’ (which presumably denotes a long hanging shirt) is harmless, but with the proviso that any other ceremonial form of dress could also be acceptable - cloth and shirt, sherwani, or western dress - anything. On these occasions the purpose of costume is display, not comfort. I should leave it to the individual to show off as best as he thinks fit without getting into debt by making expensive special outfits, and without looking ridiculously out-of-date.

VB

In cricket as in politics, no single person has a monopoly of the correct answers. This is why the elusive thing called ‘success’ is achieved with different methods, as was illustrated recently by Malaysia’s Mahathir, who re-echoed the memorable words of Frank Sinatra, “I will do it my way.”

Arjuna Ranatunga is no different and after his great success in England, has justifiably earned encomiums from hardened cricketing scribes. Not for nothing does Peter Roebuck say that Ranatunge “has taken Sri Lankan cricket, not just his team, from promise to toughened maturity”. He attributes this to his “Napoleonic” approach and says of his sagacity that “such fellows start planning their next move in the womb,” great stuff.

Comparisons are indeed inevitable and undoubtedly invidious but Ranatunge deserves to be compared with the best and for this purpose who better than Bradman and Worrell.

Bradman mould his team with an authoritarian and unforgiving ruthlessness, which he took with him in later life to the Selection Board. How else can one explain why he opted for Ian Johnson as skipper as against the proven leadership skills of the dynamic Keith Miller. Yet he was deeply respected.

Worrel on the other hand was the ultimate gentleman who was able, albeit without an iron fist, to blend a young bunch of rumbustious talent into a victorious cricketing machine. Not for him the petty vindictiveness and the playing of favourites. Frank Worrell was also respected by his players, but above all he was loved by them and by one and all, even after his death.

Sidat Sri Nandalochana
Colombo 4.