My Childhood days in peaceful Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka known as the pearl of the Indian Ocean. It has a uniquely serene ambience hardly found anywhere else.

For centuries before the start of the civil war, people of all religious persuasions lived harmoniously in the Island nation. In fact, the extent of camaraderie shared by the inhabitants of Lanka was an envy of the world. Needless to say, it was a wonderful place to grow up.

I spent my childhood days in Sri Lanka. There were the days before the ethnic cleansing and its ramification touched our lives. The town where I grew up had three churches, two temples, two mosques, and numerous Buddhist places of meditation noted by the whitewashed viharas

We lived cheek by jowl with the people of all faiths. We attended all religious celebrations. We shared our teenage hiccups, weeping or smiling together. Our culinary tastes were authored by the delicacies we shared. Non-vegetarian feast for Ramadan, Kiribath (rice pudding) and savouries for Vesak, and my mom’s cake for Christmas.

Today I feel heartbroken for the hundreds who were killed on Easter day in Negombo and other places.

Negombo was a peaceful coastal town. Fisher folk selling the days catch in the kiosks on the main road was sight one wouldn’t miss. So are that of vendors by the beaches selling home-grown fruits, vegetables as well as homes-spun curios and shells in woven cane baskets. I remember how as a child I ran to catch the frothy waves on the pristine beach. I recall the tolling of the Angelus bell, the conch call and the muezzins call summoning the faithful to prayer. It was never a place of religious fanaticism

People led simple lives, thanking the sea for the bounty. They would smile and happily welcome visitors from all corners of the earth to their midst. Another icon targeted was the Cinnamon Grand Hotel. Its large foyer catered to bridal celebrations; it was a hotel that knew no religious restrictions. One wonders what motivates hate-filled minds to commit crimes of such magnitude against innocent people, what satisfaction do they get?

The perpetrators of this massacre have not won. For those innocents who lost their lives in the attacks that day are martyrs.