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People and Events
Itinerant workers

by Nan
It was engaging reading an obituary in The Economist on a near-tramp. From the sublime to the ridiculous, I muttered recollecting the famous people who had been written about in the journal - those who had significantly contributed to the collective progress of mankind. But continuing reading, I realized there was nothing ridiculous in the man written about. He may have been almost a tramp but he had achieved certain distinctions and invented a thing or two. Mostly he did it his way. That is a distinction in itself, making the person special.

Irving Stevens was the King of American hobos.

Hobos - A Breed Apart The dictionary defines the word hobo thus: (N. Amer) a wandering worker, a tramp (19th C . Origin unknown). Steven himself defined it as not being a tramp. Tramps beg and often steal to keep going, but hobos are wandering seekers of jobs, prepared to go anywhere and search for employment and when the job is over moving on to another. Hobos do not live on people’s charity neither on State welfare. They earn their living on the move, as it were.

Steven’s claim to fame is that at the l988 Hobo Convention in Iowa he was elected King of the Hobos and held that titled with dignity until he died on May 4th at age 88. He crowned one of his daughters Queen of the Hobos in 1993, with a crowd of 30,000 watching the ceremony.

Irving Steven was a hobo in the heyday of hoboism, working on the newly expanding railways and in ranches. The term hobo derives from the term hoe boy since many of these itinerant workers sought employment in farms, tilling and sowing. A second characteristic of hobos is that they travel in freight trains, hitching free rides, I suppose. They made it an art and craft since jumping on and off freight trains must surely be dangerous.

The depression of the 1930s threw up a whole lot of hobos who, having got a taste of free living, continued thus even when the American economy zoomed prosperously, and jobs were plentiful

Mr. Stevens served in the Second World War and then settled down to married life and fathered six children. Authoring two books about his profession, Dear Fishbones and Hoboing in the 1930s he made himself known. He put out on sale an insect repellent he had concocted spending years refining it.

Fishermen and campers used Irving’s Fly Dope which gave the small time entrepreneur a steady income. Thus he was able to settle down to domesticity.

There were female hobos too, treated equally by their male counterparts. Boxcar Bertha of Iowa was one of them, the first feminist, according to Irving Steven.

Such a wandering life with few responsibilities and less duties, expecting nothing much from the human race, governments and those in authority must definitely have its plus points to compensate for not knowing when, where and how their next meal would come from.

Local Workers on the Move Sri Lanka surely must be having its own breed of hobos. Coconut tree climbers, tree branch choppers come to mind. The man with a coil of rope around his shoulder and a knife in his hand must be a Sri Lankan hobo. Also they may be increasing in number what with the COL ever rising and the pressures of life weighting people ever more unbearably. Due to people being naturally (and justifiably) suspicious, hoboing in Sri Lanka is not easy. We normally do not employ people off the street.

A girl with an oldish face lives down Reid Avenue under a maara tree. She cooks her meals and even provides food to an old man in a wheel chair. She does not beg and doesn’t seem to be doing casual work except tend her dog. So is her income generated through prostitution? One dreads to think of it since she looks a woman mentally abberated and of course none to clean though clad in a fairly respectable pair of trousers and T-shirt.

There was a very tall Burgher who used to hang around Inner Flower Road. He was a tramp, I suppose, never really begging but living on people’s charity. He was known as Tall, now dead and gone.

The nearest to a local hobo I have come across was the old man who once stood at the back entrance to the house we lived in which had a rear garden and lawn and flower beds in front. Seeing the man just standing and staring, we took him some food. He refused it politely saying he was no beggar and only earned his meals. So he became gardener to us and our neighbours and was a favourite seeya to the kids in the place. He had a well-to-do son in Sri Lanka and a daughter married and abroad. But he preferred to be independent It was good to see how well he tended the plants.

Lapaya was a casual labourer in Kandy long, long ago who seemed not to have a permanent place to live in. He was somewhat mentally retarded but was compensated for it with great strength of body. He did the garden work in our home in Kandy and got two good meals and several cups of tea and a pittance payment at the end of the day. You couldn’t stand windward of him and sad to say no china crockery was given him. My eldest sister was very kind to him and he spoke, albeit monosyllabically, only to her. Mother used to direct him to the garden tap and give him a piece of soap to wash his clothes and himself. Not for him the niceties of cleanliness though.

Thinking back one remembers the itinerant workers like those who gathered to harvest the paddy. But unlike the hobos of America these were of the village or from adjoining villages. You had to know someone or someone’s someone to get paid work.

The spirit of man often rails against control and conformity. Hence the rash of free livers in America in the 1960s. But the hippies soon turned parasitic and too free easy living, spawning drug takers and shoving off all responsibility even for their own actions.

The Wonder of the Spirit that is Free I just completed reading R. K. Narayan’s The English Teacher, an AL text. Children complain about its slow movement and detailed descriptions. But once into the novel they begin to appreciate not only his story telling skill but his style and lucidity of language.

Krishna, the young English teacher in a university college run by Headmaster Brown, throws up his well paid job, finding it a sham to pour Shakespeare and English poetry into the boys’ unappreciative heads and have them regurgitate whatever they remembered at the exams. Krishna converses with the spirit of his dead wife through a medium. Wanting to dispense with the medium, he is advised by his wife to develop a psychic mind of tranquillity.

He achieves this when he decides very suddenly to resign his job and probably go back to his village to teach small children at their pace against the background of their culture. The night he returns home after his farewell ceremony, bringing home the jasmine and rose garland given him, his wife Sushila finally comes to him and they speak with each other.

Maybe Narayan, in this autobiographical novel, wanted to pass on the message that working at a job one wants to do with no great thought of what one’s pay packet would be, makes for peace of mind, inner tranquillity and communion with the spiritual or god, if one wishes to look at it that way.

An unsublime thought comes immediately to mind. Couldn’t this message be passed on to striking university employees and bank personnel? The latter category particularly are unreasonable Oliver Twists. The bank non-managerial staffers refuse to be placated with a 25 percent salary hike and demand 35 percent, in addition to all the perks they enjoy, chief among them -loans on which ridiculously low interest is charged.

Giving a bit of oneself and one’s ability and not always grabbing for oneself is a Sri Lankan national trait which today is fast disappearing . Perchance disappeared already?

Gullible’s Travails
From the Madhouse to the Jailhouse

By Cecil V. Wikramanayake
Mum was never happy about Dad having to work in a ‘madhouse’ and when there was an advertisement in the newspapers calling for Jailors Class 2 she got Dad to apply.

He did and after being interviewed by his former classmate C. C. Schokman, then Inspector General of Prisons, he received his transfer from the Medical Department to the Prisons Department and was posted to Bogambara Kandy.

At the time of Dad’s transfer to Bogambara, my elder brother and I were attending St. Joseph’s College, Darley Road, Colombo where I studied under a Mrs. Kerner, a kindly, very fat old lady who cried when I was leaving and presented me with a plasticine (clay) hippopotamus about the size of a grown man’s fist.

We used to travel from Baseline Road railway station to Maradana, cross the road there and walk down Sutherland Road to Darley Road.

One day when I had been trying to cross the road, dodging tramcars and traffic and disobeying my brother’s calls to hold his hand and cross the road, an elderly stranger took it into his head to give my brother a helping hand in the form of a resounding slap to my face and the admonition "Behave yourself boy and obey your brother!"

It worked, and I did not hear the end of it for weeks, for my brother related the story to everyone at home!

When Dad went on transfer, he boarded his two sons with his aunt, Auntie Missie who then lived in Senanayake Place, Dehiwala with Dad’s foster-sister Auntie Laila, till the end of the school term when he said he would find schools for us in Kandy.

Now Auntie Laila kept a whole lot of ducks in her garden and these ducks laid eggs. Auntie Laila was delighted that her nephews were to stay with them. She had found a way to dispose of her surplus duck eggs.

For as long as we stayed there we had to eat duck egg sandwiches for lunch in school. And even on weekends duck eggs formed the menu for many a meal. To this day both my elder brother and I just won’t look at a duck egg let alone eat it !

My first memories of Kandy, which town has played a vital role in this septuagenarian’s life :

The house we had moved to just below Wace Park and overlooking the Bogambara jail where Dad worked, was built entirely of large stone bricks as were also the other ‘quarters’ in that row. They are still standing.

Each house had a little garden, and at the back was the tarred road winding up to Wace Park. From the front garden one could have

From the almost a bird’s eye view of the prison below, in particular that section called "death row" and the room where condemned murderers were hanged.

One of Dad’s duties was to be present at executions and I remember the nightmare he had after his first experience of seeing a man ‘hanged by his neck until he was dead’.

That night Dad’s screams rent the air in the small hours. He related to Mum, when he was woken up, that he had dreamed he had been sentenced to death and was "being skinned alive".

My elder brother and I were admitted to St. Anthony’s College Kandy — now St. Sylvester’s College stands there and St. Anthony’s has moved to Katugastota. My teacher was a Miss Halliday an amazon of a woman but one of the kindest and sweetest of my many teachers.

My ‘best friend’ in that class was one Anton van Reyk, and together at singing class we used to sing "Land of dykes and windmills, land of fire and flood. Bravely have their people all their foes withstood. Tales of deeds heroic in the long ago, tell how gallant Holland conquered many a foe."

We were not very long at St. Anthony’s College. My brother was the cause of it. He had been refused permission by his teacher, a man, to answer an urgent call to the toilet and, unable to contain himself had done it in his trousers.

Dad was furious that day. Not with his son but with the teacher. He had visited the class the following day and had ‘blasted’ that teacher. He refused to have anything more to do with that school and moved us out — to St. Paul’s school, one of the Anglican denomination to which Dad belonged.

Here my best friend was a little chap like myself named Christie Christians — many years later I met him again at police headquarters where as a constable in the Depot Police, he manned the telephone switchboard at headquarters.

I also remember Clement and Cyril Berenger, Sam Pakianathan and a tall boy named Haniffa. Also Harry Williams a senior with whom I won the "Monkey Race" at the school sports meet.

Cyril Berenger was not my classmate. His brother Clement was. But Cyril and I were side by side in beds in the Kandy hospital where I had my tonsils removed. I can still hear Cyril’s howls of "Hungry! Badagini!" as he lay in bed and yelled his head off. We both had been kept on empty stomachs before our operations and he certainly must have been hungry.

I was saved that ordeal because I had quietly slunk out of the ward and had gone to visit Auntie Daisy Rodrigo, a good friend of Mum who lived adjoining the hospital. She, good lady, not knowing I was being starved before an operation had given me a good feed.

It was only after the operation when I suffered from the effects of being chloroform on a full stomach, that the incident came to light.

Down below the hill and on a level with the Bogambara prison but outside its walls were the quarters of the Apothecary of the jail a Mr. Batuwitage. He had a daughter Irene about my age and a son Egerton a few years younger. Irene used to come up the hill to play with us and we often went down the hill to her home.

I remember she had what is called a ‘puggy nose’, and the little boys used to call her "Mukkang Piggy". That is, all the boys except myself, for I could see that she did not like that nickname and I did not want to hurt her feelings. I thought she was a grand playmate.

But our friendship did not last long. Suddenly she was ill. Dysentery, we were told. And the next thing I remember is standing beside her open coffin. She looked beautiful and I cried a great deal.

Not long after that Dad was transferred to the Remand Jail, opposite the Kings Pavilion, as Jailor in Charge. We moved to more spacious quarters an upstair house, adjoining the jail, which was supposed to be the Ehelapola Walauwe.

(Next:: I learn many things in prison )

Have compassion for living creatures as a fundamental duty in the Sri Lankan constitution

by Mrs. M. Weeraratna
" Every Indian citizen has a fundamental duty to protect and improve the environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife, and to have compassion for living creatures "

(Article 51A(g) - Constitution of India)

India has established an outstanding precedent in introducing compassion for living creatures as a fundamental duty into its Constitution. This is one of the highest humanitarian values of mankind and a fundamental tenet in three major Indian religions ie. Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. It was undoubtedly the influence of these spiritual traditions that moved Mahatma Gandhi to state that.

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man ".

Buddhist Social Order

Sri Lanka’s pre-colonial history has remarkable examples of state protection being extended to animals. This is evident in historic rock inscriptions and also in the Mahavamsa. The then prevailing Buddhist Social Order accommodated animals as deserving of both legal and moral attention and encouraged compassionate living. Buddhism in the first precept implicitly recognises the interest of living creatures in living out their natural life as a fundamental right by requiring its followers to abstain from killing any diving being. Buddhism advocates compassion and peaceful co-existence between man and other living creatures, and rejects the humanocentric view found in monotheistic cultures that animals are God’s creation purely for the purpose of serving human needs.

In spite of the noble sentiments of Buddhism on living creatures, hardly any laws have been enacted in modern Sri Lanka to protect animals. The outdated statute ‘The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance ’, No. 13 of 1907, is rarely enforced. As a result, the abuse of animals continues to occur on an astonishing scale in slaughterhouses, animal experiments, battery cage for hens, captivity in the zoo and the like. This is largely the result of weakness and difference in others being seen as a sufficient cause for prejudice and exploitation. The ‘us and them ‘ attitude continues to have an’ overbearing influence on human conduct. It often becomes the basis to justify violence as a way of solving disputes. Today we see this happening in Northern Ireland Yugoslavia, Iraq and in our own country. One way of countering the willingness to use force is to place a high emphasis on compassion towards all, including other living creatures.

It is this idea that needs to be enshrined as a fundamental duty in the Sri Lankan Constitution. We need to recognise that all life has the right to assert itself and to be given value. Compassion and non-violence must not be seen purely as religious principles but should be given secular legitimacy. This would have a far reaching impact and make it much easier to teach children to respect ‘others‘, if they can see the high value attached to this idea in the country’s most important document. In other words, what is required is a ‘ bottoms-up’ approach towards developing compassion. It should begin at the level of the lowest common denominator. In our interaction with other living creatures. A Constitutional Fundamental Duty of Compassion will send a strong message that violence against living creatures ie. human or other than human, is unacceptable. The inclusion of this idea would enable the Constitution to serve also as a basis for advocacy on behalf of these suffering and unrepresented interests.

German State Constitutions

In Germany, the Federal States Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia have included an animal protection concept in their constitutions. An official representative for animal protection has been appointed in the Federal State of Hessen. The main task of this person is to monitor how animals are kept and to ensure authorisation procedures are complied with

The Nobel Peace Prize winner and humanitarian, Dr. Albert Schweitzer once said:

"Anyone who has accustomed himself to regard the life of any living creature as worthless is in danger of arriving at the idea of worthless human lives".

The evolution of a more gentle and benign relationship in human society would be very much enhanced by the promotion of a more positive and nurturing ethic between humans and other living creatures.

The Buddha’s Advice

The Buddha’s advice on compassion is that:

"Just as a mother protects her only child even at the risk of her life, even so one should cultivate boundless loving-kindness towards all living beings".

In the Danda Vagga of the Dhammapada (Verse 130) the Buddha says:

"All are frightened of being hurt or of any threat to one’s life. To all, life is dear. Seeing that others feel the same way as oneself, equating others to oneself, refrain from hanning or killing"

The proposed Constitution of Sri Lanka

The proposed Constitution for Sri Lanka has enumerated a set of fundamental duties similar to that found in the Indian Constitution and some duties have the identical words. For example, Article 51 A (f) of the Indian Constitution states that it shall be the duty of every Indian citizen to " value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture".

Clause 54 (5) of the proposed Sri Lankan Constitution states that it shall be the duty of every citizen to: "value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture" .

However when it comes to the obligation to protect the environment, the proposed Sri Lankan Constitution has adopted the first limb of Article 51A (g) of the Indian Constitution (see above) and dropped the second limb of that Article which deals with ‘compassion for living creatures‘. Clause 54 (6) of the proposed Sri Lankan Constitution states:

" It shall be the duty of every citizen to protect and improve the environment and conserve its riches"

The question that arises is, why was the reference to ‘compassion for living creatures ‘ in the lndian Constitution dropped from adoption in the proposed Sri Lankan Constitution, if the first limb of the particular article in the Indian Constitution was found acceptable?

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar

It is relevant to note here that the Chairman of the Parliamentary Drafting Committee of the Indian Constitution was Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (1893-1956). He was later called the ‘father of the Indian Constitution ‘. Dr. Ambedkar embraced Buddhism together with another 38O,OOO Harijan people (the so-called ‘ untouchable’) on the eve of the Buddha Jayanti in 1956. This conversion was a major turning point in the revival of Indian Buddhism in the 20th Century.

Any Constitution is, in a sense, its country’s autobiography. It is the document that connects us to our historical past, uphold, the values of our heritage and states the ideals and aspirations of the nation.

The introduction of a fundamental duty of compassion for living creatures into the Sri Lankan Constitution (both the present and the proposed would enhance and ennoble its image. lt would affirm one of the cherished ideals of Sri Lanka’s Buddhist heritage and in turn elevate the moral stature of our Constitution.

The spare parts killers of Panchikawatte

By Niresh Eliatamby and Chittaranjan de Silva
The next time you buy a spare part for your car in Panchikawatte, you could be contributing to murder.

Shocked? So were the police detectives who thought they were only searching for the identity of a body dumped on a road, and ended up busting a gang which took contracts from Panchikawatte businessmen to supply spare parts, and killed several drivers.

Sub-Inspector Prematunga Hennanayake examined the body carefully.

A young man in his mid twenties. Nothing to identify him. Fourteen stab injuries in his neck and chest. No known witnesses. Nothing to go on.

SI Prematunga was the OIC-Crimes in Mirigama, 35 kilometres from Colombo, a little way from the Colombo-Kandy road. It was shortly after dawn on the fifth of February, 1999, and he had been summoned to investigate the murder. An anonymous caller had said that there was a body on a road.

Prematunga went back to the police station and reported to his superiors, Inspector Dharmasena Ratnayake, ASP Lakshman Attanayake, and SP Prathapasinghe.

There was nothing to do but file the report, which included a description of the body, and wait.

The officers didn’t have to wait long.

Within hours, a call came in from the Kandy police. A businessman in Kandy had reported the previous day that his van was missing, together with the driver, and the young couple who had hired the vehicle.

The couple had said they were eloping, the businessman told the Kandy police. The girl looked very young, while the man was in his twenties. They acted very much like lovers, and had even been seen getting into the van and sitting in a back seat, away from the driver and presumably for privacy.

The description of the body in Mirigama matched that of the driver.

Immediately, police phone lines began buzzing. The names of the couple were not known, but their descriptions were flashed to all police stations, together with the van’s details. The white Dolphin was bearing number plate 61-5660.

Two days later, SI Prematunga got a call from the Panadura police. The van had been found abandoned near the Galle Road in Panadura. Nothing missing from it. Just abandoned.

So far, the crime made no sense. Why would a young couple hire a van in Kandy, murder the driver in Mirigama, and abandon the van in Panadura? Robbery wasn’t the motive, since the driver hadn’t had much money on him.

The only motive to murder the driver was to steal the van. There could be one of two motives to steal the van. One was to use it in some other robbery, but there were no reports of any such incident.

The other motive was to sell the van or its parts.

Prematunga hurried to Panadura. Panadura police had already searched the vehicle but found nothing. A preliminary search by Prematunga yielded the same result.

Recalling that the businessman had said that the couple got into one of the rear seats, Prematunga also sat in the same rear seat, and began a more detailed search. He was looking for anything which the couple may have left behind.

His search was rewarded. In the ash tray located on the back of the seat immediately in front of the one he was sitting in, Prematunga found a tiny strip of paper, less than an inch long, folded and rolled up, as though by a person idling.

On the paper was written a telephone number. The number was a Colombo one. Mulleriyawa, to be exact.

SI Prematunga picked up the telephone and dialled. At the other end, a man answered.

The detective didn’t reveal who he was, but pretended to be trying to pass on a message to a friend in Mulleriyawa, in the neighbourhood of the house that he had dialled.

No, said the voice. There was no such neighbour. This number was that of a phone in a house at such-and-such address.

Thank you, said Prematunga, and hung up.

A quick call to Mirigama to tell his superiors the news, and a heavily armed team of police from Mirigama clambered into several jeeps and raced to Mulleriyawa.

Surrounding the house, they crashed in, taking the inmates completely by surprise.

There was no resistance, and half a dozen people were taken in for questioning. Back to Mirigama went the police, with their suspects.

Within hours, it was clear that most of the suspects didn’t know anything about the van, and they were released.

All except one.

This happened to be a spare parts dealer who supplied vehicle parts to shops in Panchikawatte. Questioned as to which shops he supplied to, he admitted that it was not to the larger reputed dealers, but to the smaller shops and pavement vendors.

Prematunga and his colleagues knew they had their man.

The Panchikawatte dealer became the subject of intense investigation.

Under heavy interrogation, the suspect confessed.

He had hired a group of people to steal vehicles and supply him with spare parts, he said. But he insisted that he didn’t ask them to murder anyone. Where they got the van from was none of his business, he told police.

The businessman gave a full list of the gang, and their addresses.

The hunt was on.

Rounding up the gang wasn’t easy. Most had fled. But three months later, two women and five men are in custody. Only one man remains on the run.

Police slowly pieced together the story.

The Panch-ikawatte supplier had told the gang that he wanted a certain type of van on a certain date. The gang scouted around and found such a van in Kandy.

The couple who hired the van were 16-year-old Sewuwandi Anuradha and R. A. Kithsiri.

On the way, near Mawanella, two other members of the gang got in, and the girl got off. At knife-point, the three grabbed the vehicle.

It is not known why the driver was killed. Perhaps he struggled. Perhaps the gang feared that he would identify them. Either way, he was stabbed to death.

The gang took the vehicle to the Panchikawatte supplier’s house in Mulleriyawa.

But in a case of tragic irony, the Panchikawatte man said he didn’t want the vehicle. The gang had missed his deadline, and he had found another van somewhere else.

The driver’s murder became pointless, even from a criminal point of view. A victim of a pointless business deal.

The gang discussed the matter. One of them knew a spare parts dealer in Galle, and they decided to take the van there to sell the parts.

But when they got to Galle, they found that the dealer there didn’t want the van parts either. So they set off back to Colombo.

But on the way back, at Panadura, fate intervened.

The gang ran into a big traffic jam. A senior government minister was having a public rally, and there were police checkpoints all over the place.

The gang was afraid that police at the checkpoints would identify the stolen vehicle. Turning around, they abandoned the van and made their way back to their homes by bus.

But none of them noticed that the 16-year-old girl, Sewuwandi Anuradha, had been rolling up a piece of paper in her hand in her nervousness, when the van left Kandy. A piece of paper with the Mulleriyawa phone number on it. She had then put the paper in the ash tray, but had forgotten to retrieve it before getting off at Mawanella.

Thus was left the vital clue which was the undoing of the gang.

Police have so far linked the gang to a total of five vehicle robberies since last December, one of which was a 3-wheeler and the rest vans. One of the other drivers was also killed, while the rest were released.

The gang had taken vehicles from Warakapola, Mawanella, Aranayake, Bulathkohupitiya and Kandy. Apart from this they had also broken into a house in Mirigama and stolen electronic equipment.

Police have so far arrested five men and three women members of the gang. The other two women are aged 19 and 21.

One gang member, Weliappulage Sudesh Priyantha Kumara, remains on the run.

Most of the gang had met while attending karate classes in towns along the Colombo-Kandy road.

The women were in the gang in order to allay any suspicions that vehicle owners might have in hiring out their vans.

Ironically, the Panchikawatte supplier has agreed to be a state witness in exchange for immunity from prosecution. His evidence is vital in order to convict the others.

Police are unsure which gang members actually killed the two drivers. So far, each gang member is pointing fingers at the others for the killings, knowing that it is a crime punishable by the death sentence. The rest of the gang are likely to be charged only with with robbery and kidnapping.

Gotama Buddha — a caravan leader

by Upali Salgado
Sakyamuni Gotama Buddha was born six centuries before Jesus Christ, at Lumbini, Nepal, to a society having Vedantha (Upanishad) teachings and beliefs. His mission in life was to move away from established theistic beliefs, namely, the worship of a creator God and to seek favours from deities for one’s salvation. The Buddha’s hetrodox philosophy was rational, and was preached to end suffering manifested in numerous forms. This, he said could be achieved by the eradication of craving for wealth, power, pleasures of the senses, existence, to have fame etc., and also end ignorance which are two ills. The Buddha preached a doctrine based on Maitriya, Karuna, Muditha and Uppekha. The belief in an "I" for "me" or "mine" (i.e. egoism) He said, was not to be considered to exist if one is to rid himself of craving which leads to sorrows. He further said no Agent or Messiah or omnipotent God is required to achieve the ultimate goal of NIRVANA - unalloyed bliss without pain.

An Udana saying:

"Self alone is Lord self,
What higher Master can there be?
By self alone, is evil done
By self alone is one defiled
By self alone is evil avoided
By self alone is one purified
Purity and impurity depend on oneself
No one can purify another..."

The compassionate Buddha has been referred to as the "Torchbearer of Mankind", because, He "Showed the Path" to others, whose eyes were clouded with dust (false beliefs and values). The compassionate Buddha, who preached an appealing dharma, waging no religious wars for conversion of people who had other faiths, has been referred to in old texts by numerous epithets, some of which are: THE TATHAGATA, the morally Perfect one, BAGHAVAN - one who has completely eradicated all defilements, MAHA KARUNA - the embodiment of supreme compassion, LOKANTHA - Master of the Universe, SANTHAPPA - the Blameless one, SAMANTHA KUTA - the All Knowing one, ARCHARYA MANUSSA and DEVA MANNUSYANAM - a wonderful Teacher of Gods and men, DHARMARAJA - King of Righteousness, SANTHI RAJA - Prince of the Peace, MARA BHIHU MUNI - the Sage who conquered Mara etc.

Several Mahayana Buddhist texts refer to Gotama Buddha as the Caravan Leader and sometimes He is referred to as the PARINAYAKA CHARIOTEER of persons to be trained, because He proclaimed "the Path to follow".

Gotama Buddha was a Teacher of the Truth. He was strictly not a Reformer of Society to wash away the sins committed by others. He did not advocate that wicked people should be punished or destroyed, but they should be made to realize the folly of committing evil. With His dharma, he gave society a new look. He showed that women clothed in a conservative Brahamin culture, "need an air of freedom". He debunked slavery and the Hindu caste system. Several of his Disciples were considered to be of "low caste", namely Upali, the Barber and Sunitha, the Scavenger. He attacked superstition, ceremonial, pooja, priestcraft, suttee, and the sacrifices of animals for festivals. He emphasized that, there is no such thing as "sin", as was explained in other Religions of His time. To Buddhists, sin is unskilful or unwholesome action, - Akusala Kharma which creates "Papa Karma" - downfall of humanity. He said that, one must be responsible for one’s wrong done or action, and one must pay or suffer for the consequences. Belief in confession, He said was foreign to Buddhism.

THE MAJJIMA NIKAYA (Middle order Discourses of Gothama Buddha) states that, after years of strife, when in a deep Dhiana at Buddha Gaya, the Bodhisattva Siddhartha gained Enlightenment (i.e. He became a Buddha). When this great event happened the presence of the Devas, Brahma Sampathi exhorted him to preach his unstained glorious dharma "for the benefit" of mankind.

The texts say:

"Arise O hero, who defeated the Troop (Mara)
Caravan Leader without debt in this world !
May the Bhagavat teach the doctrine
Some will be there who will understand..."

The Awakened one then, with Dibba-Chakku (clairvoyant eyes) surveyed the suffering world, with Maha-karuna or compassion for all living beings (animals included), and decided to go to the deer park at Isipathana (Migadhaya) to meet his former five ascetic friends Mahanama, Vappa, Badhiya, Assaji and Kondanja and preach to them on Esala Full moon day, the "Dhamma - chakka - pavathvana - sutta", which was His first sermon. The Buddha explained the existence of suffering, the cause of the existence of suffering and how to overcome suffering. He also later referred to the theory of Dependent origination and of Karma as these were the axels of His teaching.

Six months later, on an Ill full moon day (in November), He sent forth in all directions, sixty trained yellow robed disciples to preach his glorious dharma, and no two of them were to traverse in the same direction. Thus, was born, for the first time in the history of the world, Missionary activity which spread eventually within four hundred years, to Mongolia, Balukhistan (north Punjab), Tibet, China, Thailand, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and even present day Java (Indonesia).

His Passing Away at Kusinara

He had administered His ministry for over forty years. Moving on foot across the whole of north India, meeting several kings who accepted his Teaching, He then decided to go to Kusinara (Modern Kasi-Nagar), where He fell ill. Gotama Buddha was no God, He was an Extra-ordinary man. He was born on a full moon day in the month of May, He gained enlightenment again on a full moon day in the month of May, and He passed away at Kusinara, again on a full moon day in May, in the presence of His personal Attendant, and Guardian of the Dharma, Venerable Ananda, the wandering ascetic Subaddha, and Arahat Anuruddha and several followers of his dharma. His last words were "SUBJECT To CHANGE ARE ALL COMPONENT THINGS, STRIVE ON WITH DELIGENCE".

THE Government of India in 1956, during the stewardship of Pandit Nehru as Prime Minister, as part of their contribution towards the BUDDHA JAYANTHI CELEBRATIONS, rebuilt the NIRVANA VIHARE at Kusinara, because this was the very spot where the great Teacher passed away (His Pari-Nibbana). Archeologists, Sir Alexander Cunningham and A.C.L. Carlyle, between the years 1876 and 1893 excavated extensively, this historic site, where a part of the Buddha’s relics lay enshrined in a crystal casket. The Nirvana Statue (6.1 meters long) inside the new spacious Vihare, had been executed by Emperor Asoka and is of reddish colour material, probably a type of strong sandstone, similar to that seen at Buddha Gaya. The great Master’s image represents the dying Buddha, reclining on His right side, with His feet towards the West. The main stupa was restored in 1927 with a handsome donation from the Buddhists of Burma. In 1946, when the writer saw the stupa, it had a tall chaitya and had been painted gold colour. Today, it is rebuilt or renovated, and the Archaeological Commission of India pays much attention to preserve this historic site, venerated by millions each year.

The Spirit of Vesak—a Story for Our Times

By Lalitha K. Witanachchi
Lalini looked out at the sky through the doorway. Dark clouds were gathering overhead above the mara trees. ‘Perhaps we’ll get drenched if this emergency staff meeting takes time she thought. Like the other teachers she wondered why they were summoned just as they were about to go home after a busy day, at such short notice.

Some teachers were grumbling aloud, others were correcting exercises keeping the books precariously on their laps. A few were munching sandwiches. There was rather raucous laughter in the rear. Lalini observed the teachers for a few minutes. She was new to this school. She then buried herself in the novel she was reading, dead to the world around her.

The buzz of conversation stopped suddenly as the principal entered the hall.

‘I’m sorry to summon you at such short notice’ she apologised.’ But I just got this circular delivered by special messenger. The department wants all schools to celebrate Vesak in a fitting manner. After the weekend we have only till Thursday so I decided to have this meeting today. Have you any suggestions?’

There was a murmur, a few loud voices while the majority were silent. "Any Suggestions?" asked the principal again.

Mrs. Weerasinghe spoke. "We can ask the children to bring some money. Then we can buy lanterns and decorate the school. After all there are more than two thousand girls here."

"We have been asked not to collect any money for this. Nor has the school any funds for this type of contingency."

"But surely they get free education so they should be prepared to spend a little money for the school," replied two or three teachers. Mrs. Weerasinghe in particular despised the free education scheme and placed the blame for indisciplined, lack of knowledge of English, the crowded classes, almost everything, on the free education scheme. "Then we can ask the Old Girls’ Association for some funds" suggested Mrs. Perera.

"Ha! The OGA doesn‘t have money for this type of thing," butted in Ranee Silva who was the treasurer of the OGA. Frivolous! she muttered under her breath.

Lalini thought of the school at Anuradhapura where she had taught for five years. The children were sons and daughters of peasant farmers. They walked to school except one or two who sat on the pillions of their fathers’ bicycles. Then there were the little twins who sat inside the wooden ‘Sunlight soap’ box attached firmly to their father’s bicycle. Even the teachers walked to school.

Things were different here. Most of the girls came by car. Some teachers too drove their own cars. There was also a difference in the attitudes of the village and city children. The former were respectful towards the staff and generally not so boisterous. But she should not generalise, Lalini, surmised. There were some children here too who were obedient, but tinged with a sense of subservience in the presence of the more affluent girls. Lalini thought of the Vesak celebrations in her former school. Each child brought a Vesak lantern or a bucket lamp. Those who couldn’t, brought a candle or two instead. Teachers also brought lanterns. The scouts made a big octagonal lantern. Everybody including the principal lit the lamps. As the moon rose behind the Ruvanveliseya they sat in the quadrangle and chanted pirith. A calm feeling of infinite peace filled the air. With nostalgia she thought of those happy days. "Lalini, you are silent. What do you suggest?" asked the principal. Lalini felt somewhat embarrassed. She was new to the school and did not think her opinion mattered. Nevertheless she made her suggestion. "Well, we could ask the children who can spare a bucket lamp or two to bring them to school. Others could bring one or two candles to light the lanterns. This will not cost much and all can participate. There are more than two thousand children here and they can all illuminate the school."

"Yes, yes, Good idea" agreed the others. The suggestion was accepted, without any further discussion giving Lalini not a feeling of triumph but the uneasy thought that they were not concerned with Vesak, but that they did not want to spend any more time at the meeting. They were in a hurry to get home.

On Monday Lalini was taking a class when a notice was brought to be read to the children.’ Children are requested to decorate their classes for Vesak on Thursday. A Vesak lantern competition will be held and a prize will be awarded to the class with the best lantern. Students are not expected to get outside help. The lanterns can be made during their free time. Signed Principal.’

Lalini began reading the notice aloud but gradually she lowered her voice when she understood its contents. Her suggestion had been aborted. But it did not matter. She did not count much in this temple of learning for she had come here having served in the outstations for several years. What caused her deeper concern was that some rural children who had won scholarships and come here were likewise ignored.

Lalini spoke to her class, Grade 10 P. Arts. After a discussion the girls from the suburbs volunteered to bring bamboo sticks so that they could all make lanterns and make their class and surroundings look pretty. However they admitted they could hardly compete with the more intimidating richer girls in some of the other classes.

By Tuesday there was a lot of activity. The girls brought bamboo sticks, twine and tissue paper and whenever they were free they were happy making lanterns.

As Lalini was taking a lesson, the teacher from the adjoining class stepped in to her class. "Do you know that some girls in some classes are getting outsiders to make some fantastic lanterns? Some are even getting professionals to make them. Some of the fathers are getting their office people to make them! It’s not fair". "Nothing is fair" added Lalini. "My suggestion was a means of getting all the children, rich or poor, to spend a happy evening. I never spoke of any competition. So let those who want, compete. My girls will merely decorate their class. Do you know what my girls told me? That there are 60 classes in the school, so they will not compete, but decorate their class, and enjoy themselves admiring the other lanterns! So Indra, why don’t you also speak to your girls and ask them not to join in this madness that creates so much ill will? Tell them to be happy decorating their class and not bother about the competition." "I think I will do that" said Indra Gunaratne. Soon two other 10 Arts classes joined this group. The girls had another meeting. They would bring small clay Pahanas, oil and wicks and place them in front of their classes and light them in the evening.

"Let’s not talk about this" said Guna de Silva.

The day wore on. One of the monitors who had gone to the office to bring the register came panting to class. "Miss, can you believe it? Savitri and her friends in the Science class have brought mirrors and they are smashing them and pasting them on paper!" "My word! Don’t they know that it is very bad to break mirrors? It brings ill luck" interjected Prema Perera.

By Wednesday hardly any work was done in the school. There were a number of strangers in the school premises. The Police Inspectors driver brought men who climbed a mara tree, drew some rope and raised some light wooden structures.

The Electrical Engineer’s cohorts came and fixed hundreds of little electric bulbs on another tree and tested them.

Mehanics placed some gadgets on a branch and tested them as they whirled round and round. Very little work was done. Some teachers looked with admiration at the work done by the helpful parents. Others were seething with anger. The 10 Arts girls and their teachers however were mercifully not involved in this fray. On Thursday the teachers and children were delighted to see the lanterns and electric jets. There was excitement in the air. As the sun went down the lights came on converting the school into a fairy land. The Arts girls lit their oil lamps. A mellow glow pervaded their verandah.

From here they could see the fantastic lanterns that were hung from the mara trees. They were exquisite works of art with intricate designs. Some were revolving on mechanical devices. Mirrors glittered in various hues.

"Let’s go to see Vesak. Vesak balanda!" said the Arts girls. They trooped round the premises and had much fun. There were many lanterns that were so beautiful that they did not envy the judges who had a difficult task. But Lalini and her friends noticed that the children who had made some of the best lanterns had no joy on their faces. Some sent decoys to check the work of others who offered them competition. Even their class teachers looked at the decorations of their rivals with resentment.

Anger, ill will and jealousy mounted as the hours wore on. Three judges accompanied by two teachers walked round. The latter scarcely stopped at the classes with simple decorations, but like connoisseurs pointed out every detail of the creativity of the grander lanterns. The judges, one of whom was a High Court Judge, perhaps felt overawed by the multiplicity of lanterns to be judged, but they were in no hurry. They stopped here and there, occasionally speaking to the girls.

A while later a voice came over the loudspeaker. "The results of the Vesak lantern competition will soon be announced by the High Court Judge. Please be quiet." All conversation stopped. The judge began to speak. "Students of Colombo Vidyalaya, I congratulate all of you for the beautiful lanterns you have made. You have spent a lot of time and money but we are unanimous in our judgement. We shall begin with the third place, which goes to 11 Science E for the Mirrored lantern. You would have spent much time..." A scream of joy rent the air and the judges words were drowned in the sounds of jubilation. But the cheering abated when the girls realised they were not the winners.

The judge spoke again. "The second place goes to 10 Science A for the exquisite octagonal lantern with its intricate designs. Even the smaller lanterns have been constructed well." The applause was even louder. A small breeze was blowing. The smaller lanterns danced daintily around the mother lantern as the mechanical contraption turned round and round. The candles cast a delicate light on the onlookers.

Indra Gunaratne whispered to Lalini, "I don’t think those girls are happy. They expected the first place." Lalini merely nodded her head.

Some of the candles in the mother lantern were blown out but there were many more so it did not really matter, Then suddenly there was a strong gust of wind. The branches swayed. The candles teetered a little and then fell causing the delicate paper frills to curl and go up in flames.

"Aiyo!" screamed the girls as well as the onlookers. Scores of men who had hauled it up with ropes struggled to bring it down. The crowd of onlookers watched the fire with awe. In a way it had an indescribable beauty for it was a thing of the skies with burning frills and scintillating paper floating and pirouetting like frolicsome phantoms in the trees above. What had endured the flames was only the charred and blackened frame of the big octagonal lantern.

The buzz of conversation died down. Silence prevailed. "The High Court Judge spoke again." We have just witnessed a sad spectacle. 10 Science A had come second. They had taken much trouble but all their efforts went up in smoke. But do not be dishearterned. There is a lesson to be learned. The burning of that beautiful lantern taught us that nothing is permanent. You are sad today but later on in life you will learn to overcome greater disappointments.

"Today we have learnt another Dhamma lesson. We observed that besides putting in a great deal of effort, a certain group of girls had understood the true spirit of Vesak. They had combined and decorated their classes with simplicity and charm. There was no ostentation. What is more, they chanted verses from the Dhammapada. What did they say?

‘Jayam verampasavati
Dukkham seti parajito,
Upasanto sukham seti
Hitva jayaparajayam.

It means: Victory begets enmity, the defeated lie in sorrow; but the calmed ones lives in happiness, giving up both victory and defeat. So we have unanimously decided to give first place to 10 Arts B, C, D and P."

The winners listened in disbelief. Then their faces lit up with gladness. They jumped for joy, congratulating each other, and thanked their teachers. Later, when the lights flickered and died one by one, they went home with happy hearts, accompanied by their teachers who had guided them on the correct path.

Modelling opportunity for teenagers

D. N. Weerakkody
(Teen’s Club President)

Teenage girls today, worry about their appearance more than anything else. They follow world fashion trends very closely. But there arn’t any fashion shows which cater exclusively for Teenagers. To fill that void, a group of professionals have got together in organizing this special show for Teens.

Fashion shows exclusive for teenage girls is one of the main features going to be organized by a proposed club for teenagers for the year 99 to 2000. The teenage club will be organized under the direction of Mrs. Gwen Herat a group of professionals.

The difference of this fashion show is that, only models who are teenagers would be chosen to take part. These teenage girls will not be professionals, but girls who are interested in modeling as a hobby. The chosen models will be trained by former model Mrs. Dhanoma Perera, who is now a professional dress designer and few other people who are also in the same field. The club is planning on expanding the fashion show concept to cater to foreign teenagers in other countries as well. Their training would be of an international standard.

The cloths which will be displayed in the fashion show will be according to the current trends in the teenage fashion in the world and will be shown in three different categories. There are informal wear, formal and sports wear. The venue of this show will be a five star hotel. The teenage girls who are interested should immediately contact the below given telephone numbers. 077-312130, 823536. The board of directors of the club invites foreign teenage girls to take this opportunity in joining the club.

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