A visiting German team became familiar to me when we were having dinner at the beach-end restaurant at the Aquarius resort as we were sitting at adjoining tables. They were going to Adam's Peak in a few hours just before midnight as they could reach Adam's peak in the early morning hours of sunrise.
Adam's Peak is a beautiful place, which is more divine than mere fun to visit. There were many visitors from around the world who visited Adam's Peak, which is jutting out, sharply skyward from the lush jungles of southwestern Sri Lanka since historical times. This is also called Sri Pada, the 'Holy Footprint'. The mountain has the unique distinction of being sacred to the followers of four of the world's major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam.
Long before the development of these religions, however, the aboriginal inhabitants of Sri Lanka, the Veddas worshipped the Mountain. Their name for the peak was "Samanala Peak", Saman being one of the four guardian deities of the island.
For Hindus, the name of the mountain is "Lord Shiva's Holy Foot", because it was the world-creative dance of the God Shiva that left the giant footprint.
According to Buddhist traditions from as early as 300 BC, the real print actually was left by the Lord Buddha during the third and final of his legendary visit to Sri Lanka. When Portuguese Christians came to the island in the 16th century they claimed the impression to be the footprint of St. Thomas who, according to legend, first brought Christianity to Sri Lanka.
And finally, the Arabs recorded it as being the solitary footprint of Adam where he stood for a thousand years in penance on one foot. An Arab tradition tells that when Adam was expelled from heaven, God put him on the peak to make the shock less terrible.
Adam's Peak is more easily seen from the sea than from land. Early Arab seafarers fascinated with the pyramidal peak wrote of it as "the highest mountain in the world". The early tribes also believed it to be of great height and a native legend tells "from Seyllan to Paradise is forty miles, and the sound of the fountains of Paradise is heard here".
Many early world travelers including the Arab traveler and explorer Ibn Batuta and the Venetian Marco Polo visited the mountain, which had attained a legendary status as a mystic pilgrimage destination.
The German team's visit was well timed as the pilgrimage commenced in December and continued until the beginning of the monsoon rains in April. Visitors might experience panic when they travel along certain parts of the path leading up to the mountain, as they are extremely steep.
There is a mythical story prevailing that Alexander the Great had fastened chains in certain sections to make the climb less arduous. But there is no evidence that Alexander the Great, the Macedonian king, made it to this far south in Sri Lanka on his Asia travels, though his empire extended in Asia up to the Indus River in the Indian subcontinent.
The area people still believe the rain - water taken from the footprint has a wonderful healing power. Adam's Peak is also called 'butterfly - mountain' because of the myriads of small butterflies that fly from all over the island to die upon the sacred mountain.
The Mountain has many myths, mysteries and wonders surrounding it from historical times but what struck me was what made the team from Germany to be attracted to that extent.
Showing posts with label Indian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indian. Show all posts
Saturday, December 22, 2007
German Memories in Asia - German Royals
Some of the German music which was coming from the resort was really a combination of spiritual and romantic pieces of their centuries old classics by renowned composers Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven and Richard Wagner.
While the music from the resort was mixing into the roaring waves of Indian Ocean, Maritsha was belly-dancing marvelously on the beach-sand stage. The surrounding greeneries of coconut trees gave her belly-dancing a spiritual blend. My discussion continued with Pascal Sadune and touched on the German royal families and their so-called descendants. He said they were still enjoying many privilleges in modern Germany.
As an unwritten law, the class differences had emerged well back in medieval times in Germany. In 14th century, early-modern German society gradually came into being as a result of economic, religious and political changes. A money economy arose which provoked social discontent among knights and peasants. Gradually, a proto-capitalistic system evolved out of feudalism. The Fugger family gained prominence through commercial and financial activities and became financiers to both ecclesiastical and secular rulers. The knightly classes found their monopoly on arms and introduced mercenary armies and foot soldiers.
Predatory activity by "robber knights" became common and after massive resistance in 1763 by the citizenry, an "enlightened absolutism" was established in Prussia and Austria, according to which the ruler was to be "the first servant of the state". Though the gap between the nobility and the citizenry was reduced to some extent, the impact of class differences is still a continuing phenomenon in modern German society.
While the music from the resort was mixing into the roaring waves of Indian Ocean, Maritsha was belly-dancing marvelously on the beach-sand stage. The surrounding greeneries of coconut trees gave her belly-dancing a spiritual blend. My discussion continued with Pascal Sadune and touched on the German royal families and their so-called descendants. He said they were still enjoying many privilleges in modern Germany.
As an unwritten law, the class differences had emerged well back in medieval times in Germany. In 14th century, early-modern German society gradually came into being as a result of economic, religious and political changes. A money economy arose which provoked social discontent among knights and peasants. Gradually, a proto-capitalistic system evolved out of feudalism. The Fugger family gained prominence through commercial and financial activities and became financiers to both ecclesiastical and secular rulers. The knightly classes found their monopoly on arms and introduced mercenary armies and foot soldiers.
Predatory activity by "robber knights" became common and after massive resistance in 1763 by the citizenry, an "enlightened absolutism" was established in Prussia and Austria, according to which the ruler was to be "the first servant of the state". Though the gap between the nobility and the citizenry was reduced to some extent, the impact of class differences is still a continuing phenomenon in modern German society.
Friday, December 21, 2007
German Memories in Asia - A Discussion With Baltic German
My conversation with the students from various leading German universities who were in their exchange programs and doing their undergraduate and postgraduate studies in the fields of economics, political science, social science, engineering and other disciplines gave me a chance to know more about the German history, economy and cultural issues.
Marita was doing an interesting assignment on a topic on Germans and their perception on the benefits for going abroad for a better living in their retirements for her Diploma at the University of Applied Sciences, Technology Business and Design in Wismar. As Walker told me, she is from the plain land which has a vast horizon on land and with its Baltic sea; she has shown some natural intelligence in her arguments. She answered intelligently to certain complicated issues on Germany.
While we were discussing at the restaurant, some German students were sun-bathing on the beach. They were shining when the sun-rays reflected on their swim-suited white skin. The sunshine penetrated everywhere in the restaurant through the wall-less space facing the Indian Ocean and made the restaurant into a sudden surge of brightness.
The sea wind was flowing towards the restaurant gustily. The whole atmosphere in the restaurant something different from the normal and Marita was fascinated by the change. But, the sunshine and its rays when time was passing into early twilight were cooling and the reddish sky looked so unique. The sun was about to be set in a short while.
Though Marita was traveled vastly in Europe, she hardly made any comments on other nation's social or economic issues. She said firmly, "I can't comment about other countries by staying just a few days on their cultural, social and economic issues." I also agreed with her.
Even people living together in one country are failing to identify other communities who are living with them for centuries. They fail to identify different aspirations, cultural differences with acceptance and religious differences with understanding for some reason or other, causing many of the world's conflicts from time to time. It is sometimes very difficult for a visiting tourist or a trouble-shooting diplomat to get the right picture of the social aspirations of different communities in a short stay.
Darkness had spread everywhere over the Indian Ocean and the restaurant balanced by its lights to make the whole environment out of darkness and the atmosphere had become such a fascinating place for those who want to be away from worldly struggles and problems.
Marita was doing an interesting assignment on a topic on Germans and their perception on the benefits for going abroad for a better living in their retirements for her Diploma at the University of Applied Sciences, Technology Business and Design in Wismar. As Walker told me, she is from the plain land which has a vast horizon on land and with its Baltic sea; she has shown some natural intelligence in her arguments. She answered intelligently to certain complicated issues on Germany.
While we were discussing at the restaurant, some German students were sun-bathing on the beach. They were shining when the sun-rays reflected on their swim-suited white skin. The sunshine penetrated everywhere in the restaurant through the wall-less space facing the Indian Ocean and made the restaurant into a sudden surge of brightness.
The sea wind was flowing towards the restaurant gustily. The whole atmosphere in the restaurant something different from the normal and Marita was fascinated by the change. But, the sunshine and its rays when time was passing into early twilight were cooling and the reddish sky looked so unique. The sun was about to be set in a short while.
Though Marita was traveled vastly in Europe, she hardly made any comments on other nation's social or economic issues. She said firmly, "I can't comment about other countries by staying just a few days on their cultural, social and economic issues." I also agreed with her.
Even people living together in one country are failing to identify other communities who are living with them for centuries. They fail to identify different aspirations, cultural differences with acceptance and religious differences with understanding for some reason or other, causing many of the world's conflicts from time to time. It is sometimes very difficult for a visiting tourist or a trouble-shooting diplomat to get the right picture of the social aspirations of different communities in a short stay.
Darkness had spread everywhere over the Indian Ocean and the restaurant balanced by its lights to make the whole environment out of darkness and the atmosphere had become such a fascinating place for those who want to be away from worldly struggles and problems.
German Memories in Asia - Traveling Through the Ancient Kingdoms
While I was watching the Lagoon I pondered how the capital of Nagas had shifted from Kudiramalai to Nallur. Ruins of the palace of the then Naga capital in Nallur have been revealed in recent excavations embodying many stories of the lost Naga kingdom.
The vicinity of the lagoon was suddenly lost by the mangroves aside of the highway by the speedily hurrying vehicle and brought my attention to the northern highway towards Jaffna town. While our vehicle was passing the Jaffna Lagoon and the then Elephant Pass camp vicinity we reached the Iyakkachchi area, an early settlement of Yakkas, a tribal group who were living in the era of Nagas together in the Island.
The 'Yakkas', possibly early immigrants from Persia, were numerous and very powerful, and held themselves aloof and confined themselves mostly to the mountain fastnesses of the North- Central region of the Island, whereas the 'Nagas' confined themselves to the seaboard. Ptolemy, the famous Greek-speaking geographer and astronomer who lived in the Roman Egypt called the Mahaweli River as Phasis fluvius, which means the Persian river, indicating that the Yakkas, who dwelt there, were connected to the Persians. The Yakkas also could have been the indigenous people of Persia and might have escaped to Sri Lanka when the invaders were advancing towards their territory by sea or land from Persia.
Kuveni was the queen of Yakkhas and became the consort of Prince Vijaya(B.C. 543-504) who eventually became the first Indo-Aryan king of Sri Lanka with the Kalinga ancestory. Later he married a princess from the Dravidian Kingdom of "Pandy" in South India.
Some of the German Praktikum (internship) students were tired and in a sleepy mood. They might have not had enough sleep because of the strange environment. For students it is an option to travel out of Germany to complete their internship. Several students are coming to Asia, especially to AGSEP in Sri Lanka. The students who were with me in the Northern relief mission are also one batch of students of those who were in their overseas study tour.
When we were passing by the last end of the then Elephant Pass Military camp, sea birds were flying around the shallow water and busily fishing for their night meal.
After nearly a decade when I was traveling with the German students through Elephants Pass, watching the same Lagoon where I crossed at midnights struck how things were changing the world over in an unbelievably short time.
The vicinity of the lagoon was suddenly lost by the mangroves aside of the highway by the speedily hurrying vehicle and brought my attention to the northern highway towards Jaffna town. While our vehicle was passing the Jaffna Lagoon and the then Elephant Pass camp vicinity we reached the Iyakkachchi area, an early settlement of Yakkas, a tribal group who were living in the era of Nagas together in the Island.
The 'Yakkas', possibly early immigrants from Persia, were numerous and very powerful, and held themselves aloof and confined themselves mostly to the mountain fastnesses of the North- Central region of the Island, whereas the 'Nagas' confined themselves to the seaboard. Ptolemy, the famous Greek-speaking geographer and astronomer who lived in the Roman Egypt called the Mahaweli River as Phasis fluvius, which means the Persian river, indicating that the Yakkas, who dwelt there, were connected to the Persians. The Yakkas also could have been the indigenous people of Persia and might have escaped to Sri Lanka when the invaders were advancing towards their territory by sea or land from Persia.
Kuveni was the queen of Yakkhas and became the consort of Prince Vijaya(B.C. 543-504) who eventually became the first Indo-Aryan king of Sri Lanka with the Kalinga ancestory. Later he married a princess from the Dravidian Kingdom of "Pandy" in South India.
Some of the German Praktikum (internship) students were tired and in a sleepy mood. They might have not had enough sleep because of the strange environment. For students it is an option to travel out of Germany to complete their internship. Several students are coming to Asia, especially to AGSEP in Sri Lanka. The students who were with me in the Northern relief mission are also one batch of students of those who were in their overseas study tour.
When we were passing by the last end of the then Elephant Pass Military camp, sea birds were flying around the shallow water and busily fishing for their night meal.
After nearly a decade when I was traveling with the German students through Elephants Pass, watching the same Lagoon where I crossed at midnights struck how things were changing the world over in an unbelievably short time.
German Memory in Asia - The War-Torn Memories in Asia
The German tsunami relief convoy reached the Paranthan junction, which is the last northern point in the mainland of Indian Ocean's war-torn island, where people lived in the midst of the civil war in 1996.
I had been there for a brief period of time when I was working with CARE International. The Elephant Pass strategic military camp of Sri Lanka Army was stationed there. The camp was a major coveted target for LTTE since their failed attempt in 1991 along with heavy losses of cadres.
When I was staying in that vicinity in 1995, the vulnerability of that area was an every day presence. The artillery shells were pouring at times like thunderstorm. Some of the shells had fallen near my house and in one incident I narrowly escaped. But a known girl nearby died, of shock caused by the heavy explosion of an artillery shell. I was able to recall how her two sisters were crying when her body was being taken for cremation along the same high way on which I was traveling with the German Praktikum (Internship) students in the relief mission.
After that incident and continuous artillery shelling, the Area Director of CARE International in Kilinochchi asked me to get away from that area a number of times. But I was reluctant to leave as I was used to the artillery shelling and aerial bombings since my childhood in the war-torn northern Jaffna Peninsula. But for the Area Director, her upbringing in the New York City in a calm and quiet atmosphere made it hard for her to accept my explanation.
Finally I left that area for a while. But memories still came alive when I was looking at the demolished buildings and the surroundings on the way. Our five-vehicle convoy was now speedily hurrying through a one-time No-Man Zone.
I had been there for a brief period of time when I was working with CARE International. The Elephant Pass strategic military camp of Sri Lanka Army was stationed there. The camp was a major coveted target for LTTE since their failed attempt in 1991 along with heavy losses of cadres.
When I was staying in that vicinity in 1995, the vulnerability of that area was an every day presence. The artillery shells were pouring at times like thunderstorm. Some of the shells had fallen near my house and in one incident I narrowly escaped. But a known girl nearby died, of shock caused by the heavy explosion of an artillery shell. I was able to recall how her two sisters were crying when her body was being taken for cremation along the same high way on which I was traveling with the German Praktikum (Internship) students in the relief mission.
After that incident and continuous artillery shelling, the Area Director of CARE International in Kilinochchi asked me to get away from that area a number of times. But I was reluctant to leave as I was used to the artillery shelling and aerial bombings since my childhood in the war-torn northern Jaffna Peninsula. But for the Area Director, her upbringing in the New York City in a calm and quiet atmosphere made it hard for her to accept my explanation.
Finally I left that area for a while. But memories still came alive when I was looking at the demolished buildings and the surroundings on the way. Our five-vehicle convoy was now speedily hurrying through a one-time No-Man Zone.
German Memory in Asia - Exploring the Ancient Kingdom of Indian Ocean's Island Paradise
The driver was used to the area and having traveled extensively in the rural areas of Sri Lanka, he chose more interior-roads than the main roads in the last hours of our journey.
He asked all of us whether we liked to visit an ancient Kingdom of the Island and the ruined fortification and the archaeological interests.
Though I heard about Panduvasdeva's Kingdom in Panduwasnuwara I hadn't visited it. I thought it was a good opportunity. There was an apparent excitement in Steffani, Yong and Romy's faces as well.
He was driving through a narrow passage along the isolated rural areas. The remaining walls of the ruined ancient Kingdom were the first sight for all of us.
Still the walls were standing so strongly, proclaiming its glorious majestic days several centuries ago.
Panduwasnuwara, the oldest of the capitals in Panduwasnuwara, which according to legend, was the capital of king Panduvasdeva, who succeeded Vijaya, the first king of Sri Lanka around 5th century B.C.
The moated tower where Princess Unmada Chitra, so beautiful that she drove men crazy, was confined because of an ominous prophecy of untimely death in the family. A forested mound is also identified as the tomb of king Vijaya.
Panduvasnuwara's many other archeological remains date from the 12th century when it was known as 'Parakramapura' and was used by Sri Lanka's great medieval king Parakramabahu I as a stepping stone to his great capital - Polonnaruwa.
Among the many impressive ruins are the citadel walls and moat, the royal palace with carved pillars and guard stones, and a beautiful Bodhigara, the edifice round the bo-tree, sacred to Buddhists.
Street vendors were selling various flowers and ritual items for those visiting the adjoining Buddhist temple. Everywhere around there were small shops selling various items, targeting those who were visiting the ruined kingdom. When we visited some areas of the ancient kingdom, I saw a culvert with a Tamil inscription which was a pointer to Tamil influence in the Kingdom.
That the ancient culture of the Island of some thousand years was a blend of Sinhala and Tamil was evidenced in the culvert.
Yong was asking me, when we went inside a Buddhist temple a lot of questions to which I had no answer.
We bought some jaggery which was filled in a tiny pockets weaved either by a kind of weed or palm leaves. My German friends were savouring to the full the culture and the way of living around there which hasn't lost its centuries old purity in that highly isolated rural area from the rest of the world.
The calm and quiet that pervaded the surroundings was enchanting. We walked amidst the ruins of the ancient Kingdom which were under large shady trees which might have been centuries old.
The large trees and ruined remains of the kingdom was reminiscent of the scenes of Angelina Jolie casting Hollywood blockbuster "Tomb Raider" which was filmed around the temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, one of the world's most isolated and strife-torn countries.
It was such a marvellous experience to walk in the ruined palace where memories of the past glories of the Kingdom captivated my mind and took on a reality though I had never heard anything about the Kingdom in the past.
Romy was capturing the ancient wonder with her digital camera. I too went near a Buddhist ruined statue and took some photos to remember the lost kingdom and its wonders several centuries old.
We departed after reliving some of the ancient past and our passage was once again through the rural area of the Island passing many beautiful ponds with lotus flowers and paddy lands.
He asked all of us whether we liked to visit an ancient Kingdom of the Island and the ruined fortification and the archaeological interests.
Though I heard about Panduvasdeva's Kingdom in Panduwasnuwara I hadn't visited it. I thought it was a good opportunity. There was an apparent excitement in Steffani, Yong and Romy's faces as well.
He was driving through a narrow passage along the isolated rural areas. The remaining walls of the ruined ancient Kingdom were the first sight for all of us.
Still the walls were standing so strongly, proclaiming its glorious majestic days several centuries ago.
Panduwasnuwara, the oldest of the capitals in Panduwasnuwara, which according to legend, was the capital of king Panduvasdeva, who succeeded Vijaya, the first king of Sri Lanka around 5th century B.C.
The moated tower where Princess Unmada Chitra, so beautiful that she drove men crazy, was confined because of an ominous prophecy of untimely death in the family. A forested mound is also identified as the tomb of king Vijaya.
Panduvasnuwara's many other archeological remains date from the 12th century when it was known as 'Parakramapura' and was used by Sri Lanka's great medieval king Parakramabahu I as a stepping stone to his great capital - Polonnaruwa.
Among the many impressive ruins are the citadel walls and moat, the royal palace with carved pillars and guard stones, and a beautiful Bodhigara, the edifice round the bo-tree, sacred to Buddhists.
Street vendors were selling various flowers and ritual items for those visiting the adjoining Buddhist temple. Everywhere around there were small shops selling various items, targeting those who were visiting the ruined kingdom. When we visited some areas of the ancient kingdom, I saw a culvert with a Tamil inscription which was a pointer to Tamil influence in the Kingdom.
That the ancient culture of the Island of some thousand years was a blend of Sinhala and Tamil was evidenced in the culvert.
Yong was asking me, when we went inside a Buddhist temple a lot of questions to which I had no answer.
We bought some jaggery which was filled in a tiny pockets weaved either by a kind of weed or palm leaves. My German friends were savouring to the full the culture and the way of living around there which hasn't lost its centuries old purity in that highly isolated rural area from the rest of the world.
The calm and quiet that pervaded the surroundings was enchanting. We walked amidst the ruins of the ancient Kingdom which were under large shady trees which might have been centuries old.
The large trees and ruined remains of the kingdom was reminiscent of the scenes of Angelina Jolie casting Hollywood blockbuster "Tomb Raider" which was filmed around the temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, one of the world's most isolated and strife-torn countries.
It was such a marvellous experience to walk in the ruined palace where memories of the past glories of the Kingdom captivated my mind and took on a reality though I had never heard anything about the Kingdom in the past.
Romy was capturing the ancient wonder with her digital camera. I too went near a Buddhist ruined statue and took some photos to remember the lost kingdom and its wonders several centuries old.
We departed after reliving some of the ancient past and our passage was once again through the rural area of the Island passing many beautiful ponds with lotus flowers and paddy lands.
German Memory in Asia - My Jungle Memories in a Tsunami Mission
When we were at the tail end of our journey back to Kilinochchi, I observed there were some people crying under a mango tree in the front of the hospital premises.
Their story was too pathetic. One person had lost her sister and the other one her entire family. I realized the tragedies beyond consolation and words so trivial. The German Praktikum (Internship) students too were listening to them patiently. I didn't know how they would adjust themselves to the future. We reluctantly left them to join our team who were about to leave.
Our six-vehicle convoy sped along the path, which we came by an hour ago. We passed through the devastated Mullaitivu area again, without stopping, as we had to reach the Jaffna Peninsula at our earliest possible. But the silently waving Indian Ocean in the distance brought so many memories back to my mind once again.
After a few miles of traveling I joined the German T.V. in their vehicle, as they wanted to go early to Dambulla Hotel, which is in the midst of dense jungle. With a better-fixed satellite antenna it would enable them to quickly transmit the documentary rather than with their mobile-antenna devices which they were carrying all the way with them.
They had had a bitter experience when they used mobile-antenna devices the previous day night at the Pandyan Restaurant in Kilinochchi. The transmission was disturbed a number of times and they had lost the prime time News hours in Germany to telecast the documentary which they had taken in on the way to Kilinochchi about the war-torn jungle terrain of the Island.
I became very friendly with the German T.V. personnel on our way back to Kilinochchi. We met the LTTE media coordinator and had a brief conversation with him. After few minutes the TV crew left towards their southern destination. I arranged a vehicle and traveled to the Iranaimadu Tank, one of the largest reservoirs in the Island, a place in the world, where I was enchanted by the serene beauty of its surrounding greeneries and circling of birds over it since my CARE days.
When I was traveling, I passed the area where once the LTTE's Economic Development Wing was based. During my CARE days, I visited it a number of times on project issues on how to resettle the displaced refugees in the jungles. I could still remember the number of field visits, which I paid in dense jungles.
It was a habit of mine on my visits, to take some magazines either TIME or Newsweek and read them on the bunds of the reservoirs. I experienced a different perception of life when I read about the space-age society of the outside world from the environment of the nearly stone-age society in the jungles and their surroundings. I had visited several times the Iranaimadu tank and experienced the difference.
When I reached the tank the circling around of birds over it once again enticed me.
I found myself lost in a different world, which was free of all worries and troubles!
Their story was too pathetic. One person had lost her sister and the other one her entire family. I realized the tragedies beyond consolation and words so trivial. The German Praktikum (Internship) students too were listening to them patiently. I didn't know how they would adjust themselves to the future. We reluctantly left them to join our team who were about to leave.
Our six-vehicle convoy sped along the path, which we came by an hour ago. We passed through the devastated Mullaitivu area again, without stopping, as we had to reach the Jaffna Peninsula at our earliest possible. But the silently waving Indian Ocean in the distance brought so many memories back to my mind once again.
After a few miles of traveling I joined the German T.V. in their vehicle, as they wanted to go early to Dambulla Hotel, which is in the midst of dense jungle. With a better-fixed satellite antenna it would enable them to quickly transmit the documentary rather than with their mobile-antenna devices which they were carrying all the way with them.
They had had a bitter experience when they used mobile-antenna devices the previous day night at the Pandyan Restaurant in Kilinochchi. The transmission was disturbed a number of times and they had lost the prime time News hours in Germany to telecast the documentary which they had taken in on the way to Kilinochchi about the war-torn jungle terrain of the Island.
I became very friendly with the German T.V. personnel on our way back to Kilinochchi. We met the LTTE media coordinator and had a brief conversation with him. After few minutes the TV crew left towards their southern destination. I arranged a vehicle and traveled to the Iranaimadu Tank, one of the largest reservoirs in the Island, a place in the world, where I was enchanted by the serene beauty of its surrounding greeneries and circling of birds over it since my CARE days.
When I was traveling, I passed the area where once the LTTE's Economic Development Wing was based. During my CARE days, I visited it a number of times on project issues on how to resettle the displaced refugees in the jungles. I could still remember the number of field visits, which I paid in dense jungles.
It was a habit of mine on my visits, to take some magazines either TIME or Newsweek and read them on the bunds of the reservoirs. I experienced a different perception of life when I read about the space-age society of the outside world from the environment of the nearly stone-age society in the jungles and their surroundings. I had visited several times the Iranaimadu tank and experienced the difference.
When I reached the tank the circling around of birds over it once again enticed me.
I found myself lost in a different world, which was free of all worries and troubles!
German Memory in Asia - A Visit to Tsunami-Hit Jungle Areas
Archaeological findings show that the Poompugar City, which was inundated, was off the coast of Tamil Nadu of Southern India as mentioned in Tamil texts.
Some other older texts like Tolkappiyam, the oldest surviving Tamil text and grammar book written supposedly around 500 B.C., says that the Pumpugar City was supposedly flourishing there 7000 years ago before tsunami tidal waves took the city beneath the sea. Most of the people thought it was only a myth until they experienced the 2004-tsunami tidal waves and experienced its massive devastation.
With drifting memories of the ruined Poompukar and walking along the destroyed marine drive in the Indian Ocean's coastal Mullaitivu, the LTTE member showed me a well near the beach and told me that that was pure water well now turned into salt water. I stepped up a ladder and peeped into the well, there was a motor for pumping the water out from the well. Though they had been dredging continuously for days, there was no significant difference in the water. The tsunami waves might have changed the underneath water system.
When I was about to step into the vehicle, the Catholic priest of the ruined church arrived. We went to him to hear of the tragedies of that fateful day and how he had survived. He had narrowly escaped as he was in a different church at the time when the tsunami demolished his church. God had saved the life of a spiritual leader to console the people who had lost their kith and kin and almost everything. We condoled with him on what had happened.
We started our journey towards Mulliavallai hospital, which was originally a maternity hospital, but now turned into an emergency ward for tsunami victims as well. A decade ago in the CARE days I have visited that area a number of times. But now the landscape had changed a lot.
When we were reaching the Mulliawalai area, old memories came alive. At the Mulliavalai hospital we heard many horrific stories of tsunami tidal waves. Entering the hospital we saw pregnant women, mothers with newborn infants and those who narrowly escaped housed there together in the same ward. The German Praktikum (Internship) students, I noticed were a little puzzled by the hospital and its set-up.
They might have wondered at the unusual combination of patients with different ailments being brought together or at the condition and the available facilities of the hospital to serve many an affected victim. The large hospitals they were accustomed to in Germany might have disturbed them when they compared them with the Asian jungle's tiny hospital. They might have well experienced the disparities of the very first Planet Earth where they were living on many grounds.
We went to meet the doctors and other health officials attached to the hospital in the front office of the hospital, and they came out with many pathetic stories about the condition of the hospital. They had only two medical officers for medical services, which are normally provided with twenty medical officers in a developed country, which run them efficiently. Dr. Jayalath, Dietmar Doering and the team had a lengthy discussion and came out with alternative arrangements in order to compensate for the shortfalls.
When I came out of the office the young students who were busily unloading medicines and medical instruments from a medium sized lorry of the six-vehicle convoy surprised me.
Immediately after the unloading, the tired Fredrike Wagnar, an undergraduate student of a Munich-based university was giving an interview on her experience about the tsunami devastation, which will be telecast all over Germany by satellite transmission. She was shaking her hands while talking as though she wanted such gestures to enhance her expressions of the extent of the tsunami devastation.
Her eyes were expressive adding more meaning to the tragedy. The eyes had a gleam in the mid-noon daylight.
Immediately after the interview I talked to Fredrike Wagnar. As she has a grasp of economics, her view about the disaster had a different dimension towards sorting out and coping with the crisis. The way she was behaving to express the tragedy was heart-rending.
Some other older texts like Tolkappiyam, the oldest surviving Tamil text and grammar book written supposedly around 500 B.C., says that the Pumpugar City was supposedly flourishing there 7000 years ago before tsunami tidal waves took the city beneath the sea. Most of the people thought it was only a myth until they experienced the 2004-tsunami tidal waves and experienced its massive devastation.
With drifting memories of the ruined Poompukar and walking along the destroyed marine drive in the Indian Ocean's coastal Mullaitivu, the LTTE member showed me a well near the beach and told me that that was pure water well now turned into salt water. I stepped up a ladder and peeped into the well, there was a motor for pumping the water out from the well. Though they had been dredging continuously for days, there was no significant difference in the water. The tsunami waves might have changed the underneath water system.
When I was about to step into the vehicle, the Catholic priest of the ruined church arrived. We went to him to hear of the tragedies of that fateful day and how he had survived. He had narrowly escaped as he was in a different church at the time when the tsunami demolished his church. God had saved the life of a spiritual leader to console the people who had lost their kith and kin and almost everything. We condoled with him on what had happened.
We started our journey towards Mulliavallai hospital, which was originally a maternity hospital, but now turned into an emergency ward for tsunami victims as well. A decade ago in the CARE days I have visited that area a number of times. But now the landscape had changed a lot.
When we were reaching the Mulliawalai area, old memories came alive. At the Mulliavalai hospital we heard many horrific stories of tsunami tidal waves. Entering the hospital we saw pregnant women, mothers with newborn infants and those who narrowly escaped housed there together in the same ward. The German Praktikum (Internship) students, I noticed were a little puzzled by the hospital and its set-up.
They might have wondered at the unusual combination of patients with different ailments being brought together or at the condition and the available facilities of the hospital to serve many an affected victim. The large hospitals they were accustomed to in Germany might have disturbed them when they compared them with the Asian jungle's tiny hospital. They might have well experienced the disparities of the very first Planet Earth where they were living on many grounds.
We went to meet the doctors and other health officials attached to the hospital in the front office of the hospital, and they came out with many pathetic stories about the condition of the hospital. They had only two medical officers for medical services, which are normally provided with twenty medical officers in a developed country, which run them efficiently. Dr. Jayalath, Dietmar Doering and the team had a lengthy discussion and came out with alternative arrangements in order to compensate for the shortfalls.
When I came out of the office the young students who were busily unloading medicines and medical instruments from a medium sized lorry of the six-vehicle convoy surprised me.
Immediately after the unloading, the tired Fredrike Wagnar, an undergraduate student of a Munich-based university was giving an interview on her experience about the tsunami devastation, which will be telecast all over Germany by satellite transmission. She was shaking her hands while talking as though she wanted such gestures to enhance her expressions of the extent of the tsunami devastation.
Her eyes were expressive adding more meaning to the tragedy. The eyes had a gleam in the mid-noon daylight.
Immediately after the interview I talked to Fredrike Wagnar. As she has a grasp of economics, her view about the disaster had a different dimension towards sorting out and coping with the crisis. The way she was behaving to express the tragedy was heart-rending.
German Memory In Asia - A Tsunami Mission On The Shores Of Bay Of Bengal
While I was approaching the edge of the Indian Ocean, I observed there were some sea gulls speedily hurrying from sea to land. I was terrified thinking that another tsunami was approaching us. Though I didn't feel any strong quake, I was aware that an earthquake can trigger killer waves thousands of miles across the ocean and could generate hours later the tsunami waves.
I observed closely the Indian Ocean to see whether there was a difference since an approaching tsunami is preceded by a noticeable fall in the water level. A big wave was on its way.
I had heard of stories how people were killed, when they went down to the beach to view the retreating ocean exposing the sea floor unaware that the strange phenomenon was a forerunner of killer waves. I made a quick retreat to a nearby high ground. When I turned and looked at the German Praktikum (Internship) students they were at a distance discussing something with some locals.
The tsunami expert's recent statement that a receding ocean may give only five minutes' warning to evacuate the area has started to bristle within me, because tsunamis can approach the shore as fast as 100 miles per hour. I realized it would be too late to see the wave and then confirm whether the tsunami was on the way.
Though I moved back to the ruined high ground, I started to observe again the ocean movements. There were no receding waters but large waves had come towards the shore. It was so horrific to think that many of the tsunami victims were seen being swept out to sea when the ocean retreated.
A tsunami surge may be small at one point of the shore and large at another point a short distance away. I didn't want to assume that this was a minimal sign of a tsunami and was trapped by the retreating tsunami flood later on from other directions. I further went near the high ground and approached the place where the German students were. I was comparatively in a safe place and a little relieved from the tsunami fear. I observed a number of wrecked boats were on the ruined buildings.
As tsunami wave activity is imperceptible in the open ocean, if those vessels had not returned to port they might have escaped that fatal end. The way the boats had been flung to the interior of the land and the extent of the wreckage frightened me how the tsunami can cause rapid changes in water level unpredictably with dangerous currents and cause massive destruction in the harbor and port areas. If the fishermen had the right information on time and took their vessels out to sea, they might have saved their lives and boats as well.
The Pacific Ocean is fixed with sensitive recorders on the sea floor to measure pressure changes in the overhead water, sending the information to sensors on buoys, which, in turn, relay the data to satellites for immediate transmission to warning centers. As there was no warning system for tsunamis in the Indian Ocean, the tsunami eluded and caused the worst disaster in the history of the Indian Ocean Rim countries.
We moved towards the narrow lane, which was now everywhere covered with the sand and debris. We found it difficult to determine whether the lane through which we were walking was a busy thoroughfare just a few days ago. We were roaming over the ruined buildings and then walked along the beach. It was difficult to reconcile to the fact that a once flourishing heavily populated coastal hamlet had been annihilated in just a few minutes. Meanwhile the German T.V. crew was busy, documenting those devastations.
The LTTE member who was familiar with that area pointed at a ruined road and told us it was a marine drive earlier, linking the coastal areas. He told how the sea had made incursions into the land.
The tectonic plates at the bottom of the southern Andaman - Nicobar Island had been shifted upward and the seabed subsequently. The tectonic plate movement and the tsunami tidal waves are not new to this world. Tectonic plate movements have taken place for billions of years resulting in tidal waves as well when they emit energy out to the surface as massive earthquakes. Turning my direction towards the north, I was reminded of how some thousand years ago the city of Poompoogar was sunk by tidal waves.
I observed closely the Indian Ocean to see whether there was a difference since an approaching tsunami is preceded by a noticeable fall in the water level. A big wave was on its way.
I had heard of stories how people were killed, when they went down to the beach to view the retreating ocean exposing the sea floor unaware that the strange phenomenon was a forerunner of killer waves. I made a quick retreat to a nearby high ground. When I turned and looked at the German Praktikum (Internship) students they were at a distance discussing something with some locals.
The tsunami expert's recent statement that a receding ocean may give only five minutes' warning to evacuate the area has started to bristle within me, because tsunamis can approach the shore as fast as 100 miles per hour. I realized it would be too late to see the wave and then confirm whether the tsunami was on the way.
Though I moved back to the ruined high ground, I started to observe again the ocean movements. There were no receding waters but large waves had come towards the shore. It was so horrific to think that many of the tsunami victims were seen being swept out to sea when the ocean retreated.
A tsunami surge may be small at one point of the shore and large at another point a short distance away. I didn't want to assume that this was a minimal sign of a tsunami and was trapped by the retreating tsunami flood later on from other directions. I further went near the high ground and approached the place where the German students were. I was comparatively in a safe place and a little relieved from the tsunami fear. I observed a number of wrecked boats were on the ruined buildings.
As tsunami wave activity is imperceptible in the open ocean, if those vessels had not returned to port they might have escaped that fatal end. The way the boats had been flung to the interior of the land and the extent of the wreckage frightened me how the tsunami can cause rapid changes in water level unpredictably with dangerous currents and cause massive destruction in the harbor and port areas. If the fishermen had the right information on time and took their vessels out to sea, they might have saved their lives and boats as well.
The Pacific Ocean is fixed with sensitive recorders on the sea floor to measure pressure changes in the overhead water, sending the information to sensors on buoys, which, in turn, relay the data to satellites for immediate transmission to warning centers. As there was no warning system for tsunamis in the Indian Ocean, the tsunami eluded and caused the worst disaster in the history of the Indian Ocean Rim countries.
We moved towards the narrow lane, which was now everywhere covered with the sand and debris. We found it difficult to determine whether the lane through which we were walking was a busy thoroughfare just a few days ago. We were roaming over the ruined buildings and then walked along the beach. It was difficult to reconcile to the fact that a once flourishing heavily populated coastal hamlet had been annihilated in just a few minutes. Meanwhile the German T.V. crew was busy, documenting those devastations.
The LTTE member who was familiar with that area pointed at a ruined road and told us it was a marine drive earlier, linking the coastal areas. He told how the sea had made incursions into the land.
The tectonic plates at the bottom of the southern Andaman - Nicobar Island had been shifted upward and the seabed subsequently. The tectonic plate movement and the tsunami tidal waves are not new to this world. Tectonic plate movements have taken place for billions of years resulting in tidal waves as well when they emit energy out to the surface as massive earthquakes. Turning my direction towards the north, I was reminded of how some thousand years ago the city of Poompoogar was sunk by tidal waves.
German Memory in Asia - A Visit to Tsunami-Hit Coastal Areas of Indian Ocean
I had a fine view of the mangroves in the both directions of the passage, recalling memories of the good old days in Mullaitivu.
When we reached the tsunami-hit bridge, we stopped over it and had a close view of the devastated bridge and the surrounding area. In the vicinity we could see that LTTE cadres were reconstructing the bridge and excavating the debris under it to enable an uninterrupted water-flow over the narrow canal which links the Indian Ocean and the interior Lake. I approached them and inquired about the tsunami devastation and its effects. They narrated the terrific moments and how they managed to escape at the time of the tsunami tidal waves by jumping onto the upper-side of the area.
I was horrified when they told how all the passengers and the vehicles passing by were washed away by the mighty tidal waves as though they were driftwood. The tidal waves had not only devastated human lives but also deprived the survivors of all hope and the meaning for existing. The tsunami waves have given a lasting message to the human race that worldly life is highly illusive and natural forces could triumph over their planning and execution. It had washed away everything in seconds.
We had conquered the outer space and successfully landed on the moon but were still struggling to cope with our own world's natural calamities. We had failed in controlling nature's furies. Technological advancement and other scientific inventions have been of no avail. The tsunami had smitten our conscience and posed the question as to why we bothered so much about the outer space wonders than finding solutions to our own world's disorders.
While my thoughts turned back to the tsunami-hit bridge and the surroundings, I focused my attention on the path we traveled by. I noticed our six-vehicle convoy was on its way towards us. The waving banners in front of the vehicles identified that those were our vehicles.
Suddenly I was terrified thinking of those fateful moments on the bridge and what would have happened to me. Oh! I just couldn't imagine it. Those horrific moments were again and again assailing me. The convoy had approached the bridge and stopped near us. Some of the German Praktikum (Internship) students got down from their vehicles.
The scenic beauty of the narrow lagoon and the surrounding Palmyra trees everywhere cast a fascination over all, despite having depressed moments. But I had mixed feelings of whether to enjoy the tropical beauty or mourn for those who were washed away there a few days ago.
In a few minutes most of the students who came with us in the convoy, even the girl intern students got down from the vehicles. The German television crew was busy in documenting the lagoon and the surrounding devastation, which they could telecast over satellite transmission throughout Germany.
The BBC correspondent with whom I traveled requested me to join him. But I decided to accompany the convoy and thanked him for his request. I joined the German team once again. I could see in their faces a difference. They too might have realized the illusiveness of this worldly life after having seen the devastation. A nauseating stench emanating from decomposed human bodies assailed our noses from the bridge area and all the way thereafter for some time.
We had passed the devastated Mullaitivu town, which was now beyond recognition. Then we returned back and reached the demolished town. When we approached the heart of the Mullaitivu town, we could see the havoc wreaked had completely destroyed the buildings. It was difficult to reconcile that there was a town there earlier.
The Sea Tiger unit of the LTTE cadres at the Junction stopped us. They inquired about our mission, as that was the first time that the AGSEP had come into the heart of the LTTE stronghold in Mullaitivu. I explained to the LTTE officials and they allowed us to proceed to the tsunami-devastated areas. They sent with us a member of the Sea Tiger unit to guide us.
Our vehicles were passing the sandy passage very slowly, following the LTTE cadre who was riding a motorbike. We stopped our vehicles near the beach after passing massive debris of tsunami devastation everywhere in the vicinity. We could hardly see a building, which had withstood the tidal waves. We all stepped down from our vehicles and spoke to the LTTE member who was assisting us about the severity of the devastation.
He told us they were still excavating the dead bodies from a nearby pond, which was once a tiny rainwater reservoir and now turned into a saltwater pond. The tsunami had smitten once again our conscience and posed the question as to why we bothered so much about the outer space wonders than finding solutions to our own world's disorders.
When we reached the tsunami-hit bridge, we stopped over it and had a close view of the devastated bridge and the surrounding area. In the vicinity we could see that LTTE cadres were reconstructing the bridge and excavating the debris under it to enable an uninterrupted water-flow over the narrow canal which links the Indian Ocean and the interior Lake. I approached them and inquired about the tsunami devastation and its effects. They narrated the terrific moments and how they managed to escape at the time of the tsunami tidal waves by jumping onto the upper-side of the area.
I was horrified when they told how all the passengers and the vehicles passing by were washed away by the mighty tidal waves as though they were driftwood. The tidal waves had not only devastated human lives but also deprived the survivors of all hope and the meaning for existing. The tsunami waves have given a lasting message to the human race that worldly life is highly illusive and natural forces could triumph over their planning and execution. It had washed away everything in seconds.
We had conquered the outer space and successfully landed on the moon but were still struggling to cope with our own world's natural calamities. We had failed in controlling nature's furies. Technological advancement and other scientific inventions have been of no avail. The tsunami had smitten our conscience and posed the question as to why we bothered so much about the outer space wonders than finding solutions to our own world's disorders.
While my thoughts turned back to the tsunami-hit bridge and the surroundings, I focused my attention on the path we traveled by. I noticed our six-vehicle convoy was on its way towards us. The waving banners in front of the vehicles identified that those were our vehicles.
Suddenly I was terrified thinking of those fateful moments on the bridge and what would have happened to me. Oh! I just couldn't imagine it. Those horrific moments were again and again assailing me. The convoy had approached the bridge and stopped near us. Some of the German Praktikum (Internship) students got down from their vehicles.
The scenic beauty of the narrow lagoon and the surrounding Palmyra trees everywhere cast a fascination over all, despite having depressed moments. But I had mixed feelings of whether to enjoy the tropical beauty or mourn for those who were washed away there a few days ago.
In a few minutes most of the students who came with us in the convoy, even the girl intern students got down from the vehicles. The German television crew was busy in documenting the lagoon and the surrounding devastation, which they could telecast over satellite transmission throughout Germany.
The BBC correspondent with whom I traveled requested me to join him. But I decided to accompany the convoy and thanked him for his request. I joined the German team once again. I could see in their faces a difference. They too might have realized the illusiveness of this worldly life after having seen the devastation. A nauseating stench emanating from decomposed human bodies assailed our noses from the bridge area and all the way thereafter for some time.
We had passed the devastated Mullaitivu town, which was now beyond recognition. Then we returned back and reached the demolished town. When we approached the heart of the Mullaitivu town, we could see the havoc wreaked had completely destroyed the buildings. It was difficult to reconcile that there was a town there earlier.
The Sea Tiger unit of the LTTE cadres at the Junction stopped us. They inquired about our mission, as that was the first time that the AGSEP had come into the heart of the LTTE stronghold in Mullaitivu. I explained to the LTTE officials and they allowed us to proceed to the tsunami-devastated areas. They sent with us a member of the Sea Tiger unit to guide us.
Our vehicles were passing the sandy passage very slowly, following the LTTE cadre who was riding a motorbike. We stopped our vehicles near the beach after passing massive debris of tsunami devastation everywhere in the vicinity. We could hardly see a building, which had withstood the tidal waves. We all stepped down from our vehicles and spoke to the LTTE member who was assisting us about the severity of the devastation.
He told us they were still excavating the dead bodies from a nearby pond, which was once a tiny rainwater reservoir and now turned into a saltwater pond. The tsunami had smitten once again our conscience and posed the question as to why we bothered so much about the outer space wonders than finding solutions to our own world's disorders.
German Memories in Asia - A Visit to Rebel-Held Area
We started our journey towards Kilinochchi and reached the Omanthai Military Check Point, the Northernmost Frontier of the Sri Lanka Army in the mainland and stopped for clearance.
Dr. Jayalath Jayawardene spoke to the Military Officials and we were cleared after a few procedures and set on our journey towards North. In a few minutes' time by passing the No Man Zone, we reached the LTTE Check Point. I spoke to an LTTE member who questioned me about our mission. I explained our mission and introduced the German team and others there. I told we had already informed the Political wing of the LTTE about our mission.
They were highly concerned about our mission as we were about to visit the Mulaitivu region which is an LTTE stronghold. The German Television crew had come with satellite equipment for direct transmission of disaster immediately from the spot. We thought whether we would be facing any difficulties because of the security issues. But we had been cleared and were on our way to Kilinochchi.
While we were traveling we found both sides of the highway were a blend of dense forests and the paddy lands created a lot of excitement within me. Peacocks were everywhere, busily foraging in the paddy lands.
After two hours of our journey we reached Murukandy, a stopover for passengers where a small Hindu temple is found. It has become a tradition for passengers to stop there and worship the God, which was enshrined in that small temple especially if they were Hindus. Others too used to stop there as a pastime and buy a variety of foodstuff available there. We too stopped for a while but not very long, as we were already late according to our schedule to reach Kilinochchi. We had to arrange accommodation for more than twenty-five persons. I was highly worried as there were fifteen German nationals, and they would expect reasonable accommodation for the night. When we reached Kilinochchi it was early night.
We went to meet LTTE's media spokesman who was coordinating our mission in the LTTE-controlled areas. He was startled at the number of people on our mission. He asked his subordinates to look around for places to accommodate us. Visiting NGO members and the media people had already occupied the available places. We were stalled for a couple of hours.
The German T.V. crew and the German Praktikum (Internship) students were in their vans for hours and it was sad to see their situation. Some of the youths who came with us from a local T.V. channel started to scold me, as I was the coordinator in those areas. But I had to pacify them saying after all it's a relief mission, and we were prepared to bear the hardships.
Some how or other the LTTE's Political Wing found accommodation and I had to take some of the German students to the lodgings, which had been arranged for them. My responsibility had been narrowed down. The German Television crew had also been assigned a place.
Some of the students were asking whether their rooms were equipped with mosquito nets. I had to find rooms with mosquito nets for them. But one room with nets, I had to reserve for a Sinhalese couple as promised. I had taken some extra care that they should not feel that they had been discriminated in a Tamil area. I had told the students I had to keep that room for the couple. All the students got rooms with mosquito nets in that complex except two students. Then I went to the LTTE's Political Wing office to check what was happening there.
AGSEP's Director Dietmar Doering said he would be staying where the female students and some of the AGSEP staff were staying for their safety and went with them. The young Sinhalese couple got a room at the LTTE's Political Wing office. The incident might be as surprising as an Israelit couple taking night shelter at the office of the Palestinian rebels.
I returned to one of the lodgings, where the students were staying and got into the room, which had a mosquito net, which became available, as the couple had found room at the Political Wing. I was a little worried staying in my room because of my German friends. Would they have any misgivings about me? So, I knocked at their room doors, but got no response from them.
The exhausting day-long journey had overcome them with deep slumber.
Dr. Jayalath Jayawardene spoke to the Military Officials and we were cleared after a few procedures and set on our journey towards North. In a few minutes' time by passing the No Man Zone, we reached the LTTE Check Point. I spoke to an LTTE member who questioned me about our mission. I explained our mission and introduced the German team and others there. I told we had already informed the Political wing of the LTTE about our mission.
They were highly concerned about our mission as we were about to visit the Mulaitivu region which is an LTTE stronghold. The German Television crew had come with satellite equipment for direct transmission of disaster immediately from the spot. We thought whether we would be facing any difficulties because of the security issues. But we had been cleared and were on our way to Kilinochchi.
While we were traveling we found both sides of the highway were a blend of dense forests and the paddy lands created a lot of excitement within me. Peacocks were everywhere, busily foraging in the paddy lands.
After two hours of our journey we reached Murukandy, a stopover for passengers where a small Hindu temple is found. It has become a tradition for passengers to stop there and worship the God, which was enshrined in that small temple especially if they were Hindus. Others too used to stop there as a pastime and buy a variety of foodstuff available there. We too stopped for a while but not very long, as we were already late according to our schedule to reach Kilinochchi. We had to arrange accommodation for more than twenty-five persons. I was highly worried as there were fifteen German nationals, and they would expect reasonable accommodation for the night. When we reached Kilinochchi it was early night.
We went to meet LTTE's media spokesman who was coordinating our mission in the LTTE-controlled areas. He was startled at the number of people on our mission. He asked his subordinates to look around for places to accommodate us. Visiting NGO members and the media people had already occupied the available places. We were stalled for a couple of hours.
The German T.V. crew and the German Praktikum (Internship) students were in their vans for hours and it was sad to see their situation. Some of the youths who came with us from a local T.V. channel started to scold me, as I was the coordinator in those areas. But I had to pacify them saying after all it's a relief mission, and we were prepared to bear the hardships.
Some how or other the LTTE's Political Wing found accommodation and I had to take some of the German students to the lodgings, which had been arranged for them. My responsibility had been narrowed down. The German Television crew had also been assigned a place.
Some of the students were asking whether their rooms were equipped with mosquito nets. I had to find rooms with mosquito nets for them. But one room with nets, I had to reserve for a Sinhalese couple as promised. I had taken some extra care that they should not feel that they had been discriminated in a Tamil area. I had told the students I had to keep that room for the couple. All the students got rooms with mosquito nets in that complex except two students. Then I went to the LTTE's Political Wing office to check what was happening there.
AGSEP's Director Dietmar Doering said he would be staying where the female students and some of the AGSEP staff were staying for their safety and went with them. The young Sinhalese couple got a room at the LTTE's Political Wing office. The incident might be as surprising as an Israelit couple taking night shelter at the office of the Palestinian rebels.
I returned to one of the lodgings, where the students were staying and got into the room, which had a mosquito net, which became available, as the couple had found room at the Political Wing. I was a little worried staying in my room because of my German friends. Would they have any misgivings about me? So, I knocked at their room doors, but got no response from them.
The exhausting day-long journey had overcome them with deep slumber.
German Memories in Asia - The German Hamlet
I once again came to the German hamlet of Asia.
I was invited by Dietmar Doering for the AGSEP's largest get-together at the discotheque and this time with a difference.
My visit to Aquarius this time was many-faceted.
I was supposed to meet Gunder Wagnar, a director of the International Institute of Ratings and Consultancy. Gunder Wagnar served the then East German Air Force as an officer and later started his entrepreneurial activities in the field of insurance. Pascal said he played a key role in insurance for Munich. Latter he directed his interest on the assignment of surveying the tsunami disaster which paved the way for concentrating on the activities of the IIRC.
While I was entering Dietmar Doering's room, I saw a well-built person and I guessed he was Gunder Wagner. I introduced myself. Gunder Wagner was surprised and asked me whether I was the one who wrote those articles. I had sent some of my articles which appeared in the local newspapers, the 'Ultimate Peace or War Again' and 'The Messed Paradise' where I had discussed local politics and international affairs.
Later we both went to our usual meeting place, the restaurant of Aquarius Hotel. While talking I sensed his disappointment with the US Administration of the present and past over several issues.
He is a less-talk and think-more person like his daughter Fredrike and left me to talk more and listened patiently and carefully all the time. His analytical and fact-finding mind kept the flow of information within him.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the cold war, the Russian troops had been completely withdrawn and Russian influence in Germany was a forgotten matter, but the American bases were still occupying German territory under various acts or NATO agreements, giving the impression that Americans are aggressive and intruders.
A similar was felt some time back in Japan after some incidents where US soldiers from the US base in Japan misbehaved with some Japanese girls. There are generally suspicions on countries which have military bases in other countries. There are misunderstandings over even the UN Peace Keeping Forces, though they are under multilateral decisions and their operations were executed by the UN Secretariat and its chief independently. But the misunderstanding over the IPKF in Sri Lanka led both confronting forces join together to pull out the Indian Forces under the Peace-keeping flag.
After a lengthy discussion with Gunther Wagner, I left to have a small nap. The discussion with Gunther Wagner kept recurring, especially the issues on greater European Union and the United States and the future of world peace and harmony in the coming centuries. It is a truism that all major world wars started over minor or even unrelated issues. Hostility on many issues such as economic and military superiority went to create another cold war between the major economic blocs by aligning with some of the Asian and Latin American economic blocs.
After the tsunami disaster, I was extra cautious with the sea, though I could swim fairly well. The sea has more density than tank water, but the waves are always turbulent. I enjoyed sea swimming at the Mount Lavinia beach on the western coast of the island, which is famous since Dutch times. Maritsha was telling some jokes and Stefani, Romy and other Praktikum (Internship) students were laughing all the time. I was laughing without knowing what the jokes were all about. But one knows that laughter is infectious.
Romy spoke once in a way in English and in return I told Maritsha seemed a good joker. I met Maritsha at dinner yesterday. I never met or spoke to her, but gazed at her contemplative expression while she was having her meals. But now looking at her in swim suit and the hectic joking, I thought was work-hard and play-well type of character. My guess was confirmed in a few minutes.
She was a good belly-dancer also, and she was dancing marvellously for a while. The ocean's roaring sound gave good music and melody to her dancing and the beach-sand stage with the surrounding greeneries of coconut trees made it a fascinating time for all of us. Her belly dance took me back to the belly dance performances of Lebanon and Egypt
The German hamlet of Asia is a fascinating for both intellect and fun, giving a sense to life!
I was invited by Dietmar Doering for the AGSEP's largest get-together at the discotheque and this time with a difference.
My visit to Aquarius this time was many-faceted.
I was supposed to meet Gunder Wagnar, a director of the International Institute of Ratings and Consultancy. Gunder Wagnar served the then East German Air Force as an officer and later started his entrepreneurial activities in the field of insurance. Pascal said he played a key role in insurance for Munich. Latter he directed his interest on the assignment of surveying the tsunami disaster which paved the way for concentrating on the activities of the IIRC.
While I was entering Dietmar Doering's room, I saw a well-built person and I guessed he was Gunder Wagner. I introduced myself. Gunder Wagner was surprised and asked me whether I was the one who wrote those articles. I had sent some of my articles which appeared in the local newspapers, the 'Ultimate Peace or War Again' and 'The Messed Paradise' where I had discussed local politics and international affairs.
Later we both went to our usual meeting place, the restaurant of Aquarius Hotel. While talking I sensed his disappointment with the US Administration of the present and past over several issues.
He is a less-talk and think-more person like his daughter Fredrike and left me to talk more and listened patiently and carefully all the time. His analytical and fact-finding mind kept the flow of information within him.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the cold war, the Russian troops had been completely withdrawn and Russian influence in Germany was a forgotten matter, but the American bases were still occupying German territory under various acts or NATO agreements, giving the impression that Americans are aggressive and intruders.
A similar was felt some time back in Japan after some incidents where US soldiers from the US base in Japan misbehaved with some Japanese girls. There are generally suspicions on countries which have military bases in other countries. There are misunderstandings over even the UN Peace Keeping Forces, though they are under multilateral decisions and their operations were executed by the UN Secretariat and its chief independently. But the misunderstanding over the IPKF in Sri Lanka led both confronting forces join together to pull out the Indian Forces under the Peace-keeping flag.
After a lengthy discussion with Gunther Wagner, I left to have a small nap. The discussion with Gunther Wagner kept recurring, especially the issues on greater European Union and the United States and the future of world peace and harmony in the coming centuries. It is a truism that all major world wars started over minor or even unrelated issues. Hostility on many issues such as economic and military superiority went to create another cold war between the major economic blocs by aligning with some of the Asian and Latin American economic blocs.
After the tsunami disaster, I was extra cautious with the sea, though I could swim fairly well. The sea has more density than tank water, but the waves are always turbulent. I enjoyed sea swimming at the Mount Lavinia beach on the western coast of the island, which is famous since Dutch times. Maritsha was telling some jokes and Stefani, Romy and other Praktikum (Internship) students were laughing all the time. I was laughing without knowing what the jokes were all about. But one knows that laughter is infectious.
Romy spoke once in a way in English and in return I told Maritsha seemed a good joker. I met Maritsha at dinner yesterday. I never met or spoke to her, but gazed at her contemplative expression while she was having her meals. But now looking at her in swim suit and the hectic joking, I thought was work-hard and play-well type of character. My guess was confirmed in a few minutes.
She was a good belly-dancer also, and she was dancing marvellously for a while. The ocean's roaring sound gave good music and melody to her dancing and the beach-sand stage with the surrounding greeneries of coconut trees made it a fascinating time for all of us. Her belly dance took me back to the belly dance performances of Lebanon and Egypt
The German hamlet of Asia is a fascinating for both intellect and fun, giving a sense to life!
German Memories in Asia - The Unsafe World
Still in South India, some tribal groups who have been marginalized heavily by the rigid Hindu religion and cultural system and caste orthodoxy are still eating rats for their protein as other sources are beyond their means. In India there is competition in every field though one would think the vast Indian Ocean's Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea could give some employment by way of fishing as a source of food. The level of competition could be understood if one moved closely in Indian society. Colonial invaders from Europe and the rest of the world to unknown places of the world from time to time was only part of the problem for those native inhabitants. The world is at times not a safe place for living and creates tragedies and costs lives.
German Memories in Asia - The Beach-Side Celebration
Walker was very friendly. His long and curly hair resembled that of a Hindu priest.
He was strange looking among the other Germans, especially the German Praktikum (Internship) students. He was a good conversationalist, and though he was not fluent in English, he managed to express himself excellently. He always asked me after every word whether his pronunciation was correct, because the same word in English and German have different sounds.
He told me in the middle of our conversation that the Germans in the northern part of the Germany are very intelligent because the northern land is a so flat everywhere and you could see the horizon everywhere, which induces the people to imagine more and become naturally more intelligent. But he quipped receding from his earlier stand that the people surrounded by the Alps and the surrounding valley regions in Bavaria too could go to the mountaintops and get a wider vision and they too could become more intelligent.
I didn't know whether it's true or not, but in my own experience and by my observations, the people in the northern part of the Indian Ocean's Island - Paradise too were usually considered as intelligent people. I wondered because of these factors, whether others too considered them as intelligent. The flat land everywhere with Palmyra trees in the vicinity might have promoted the intelligence of the people in the Northern flat land too if the Walker was right in his argument.
Walker and his friend who came with the table tennis team from Germany invited me to the beach where the team was playing volleyball. We were seated near the playing field and watching the marvelous finesse of these players. The team has come to celebrate the 2006 New Year celebration in Sri Lanka from Germany and a happy team of many who are in their late sixties to the teens, with a mixture of men and women. There is a girl in her late teens, who attracted me a lot as she was directing her staring eyes to everything in the vicinity around her, and making a deep study of everyone and everything. Two other young ladies and a young girl with an elderly person in his late sixties were playing so marvelously and enthusiastically in the playing ground adjoining the beach near the Indian Ocean.
The twilight has started to turn into complete darkness everywhere. All who played volleyball went towards the sea for a dip after having the long hours of hectic play. The sea was a little calm and quiet and they went a few meters away from the beach and now we couldn't see them as the beech has a steep end towards the sea - level from our sandy beach location. If we wanted to have a look at them we would have to standup, for they may go further towards the deep-sea area. They were there in the sea for nearly half an hour and returned back to the beach.
The young girl was coming towards us as her towel was placed near us. Her slim body silhouetted against the background of deep reddish dark sky, evoked the image more or less of an Angel coming towards us. Her smiling face while she was bending to take her towel was charming adding more to her beauty. She gazed at me with a smile, as I was the only Asian among the Germans in the area. It would have aroused her curiosity as to why I was so attached to the Germans.
She became familiar to me when we were having our dinner at the beach-end restaurant of the Aquarius Sports Resort Hotel as we were sitting at adjoining tables. After the dinner, at her table, those who came from Germany with her started to celebrate the New Year fun - game. They started to play some innovative game, which I haven't come across before or heard about. They were rolling a dice and then the winner in the rotation could select what he wanted from a covered pool of things. They had collected those valuables in Germany and brought them all the way from Germany to hold a celebration in Sri Lanka.
While there were shouting and clapping in the course of the game, she used to look at me often to see whether I was watching the game and enjoying it or drawing my attention towards them.
I gazed with fascination at the stars in the dark sky over the Indian Ocean through the wide window-less side - wall of the restaurant and then turned my attention towards the happy Germans' fun and fantasy in Asia.
The fascination of being at one with two worlds was an unforgettable experience in my life.
He was strange looking among the other Germans, especially the German Praktikum (Internship) students. He was a good conversationalist, and though he was not fluent in English, he managed to express himself excellently. He always asked me after every word whether his pronunciation was correct, because the same word in English and German have different sounds.
He told me in the middle of our conversation that the Germans in the northern part of the Germany are very intelligent because the northern land is a so flat everywhere and you could see the horizon everywhere, which induces the people to imagine more and become naturally more intelligent. But he quipped receding from his earlier stand that the people surrounded by the Alps and the surrounding valley regions in Bavaria too could go to the mountaintops and get a wider vision and they too could become more intelligent.
I didn't know whether it's true or not, but in my own experience and by my observations, the people in the northern part of the Indian Ocean's Island - Paradise too were usually considered as intelligent people. I wondered because of these factors, whether others too considered them as intelligent. The flat land everywhere with Palmyra trees in the vicinity might have promoted the intelligence of the people in the Northern flat land too if the Walker was right in his argument.
Walker and his friend who came with the table tennis team from Germany invited me to the beach where the team was playing volleyball. We were seated near the playing field and watching the marvelous finesse of these players. The team has come to celebrate the 2006 New Year celebration in Sri Lanka from Germany and a happy team of many who are in their late sixties to the teens, with a mixture of men and women. There is a girl in her late teens, who attracted me a lot as she was directing her staring eyes to everything in the vicinity around her, and making a deep study of everyone and everything. Two other young ladies and a young girl with an elderly person in his late sixties were playing so marvelously and enthusiastically in the playing ground adjoining the beach near the Indian Ocean.
The twilight has started to turn into complete darkness everywhere. All who played volleyball went towards the sea for a dip after having the long hours of hectic play. The sea was a little calm and quiet and they went a few meters away from the beach and now we couldn't see them as the beech has a steep end towards the sea - level from our sandy beach location. If we wanted to have a look at them we would have to standup, for they may go further towards the deep-sea area. They were there in the sea for nearly half an hour and returned back to the beach.
The young girl was coming towards us as her towel was placed near us. Her slim body silhouetted against the background of deep reddish dark sky, evoked the image more or less of an Angel coming towards us. Her smiling face while she was bending to take her towel was charming adding more to her beauty. She gazed at me with a smile, as I was the only Asian among the Germans in the area. It would have aroused her curiosity as to why I was so attached to the Germans.
She became familiar to me when we were having our dinner at the beach-end restaurant of the Aquarius Sports Resort Hotel as we were sitting at adjoining tables. After the dinner, at her table, those who came from Germany with her started to celebrate the New Year fun - game. They started to play some innovative game, which I haven't come across before or heard about. They were rolling a dice and then the winner in the rotation could select what he wanted from a covered pool of things. They had collected those valuables in Germany and brought them all the way from Germany to hold a celebration in Sri Lanka.
While there were shouting and clapping in the course of the game, she used to look at me often to see whether I was watching the game and enjoying it or drawing my attention towards them.
I gazed with fascination at the stars in the dark sky over the Indian Ocean through the wide window-less side - wall of the restaurant and then turned my attention towards the happy Germans' fun and fantasy in Asia.
The fascination of being at one with two worlds was an unforgettable experience in my life.
German Memories in Asia - Tsunami Memories
I was a little paralysed over the phenomena, which had suddenly developed in the region by the tsunami tidal waves.
But I took firm hold of my mind and started to speak to people as to what we could do for those who had been affected. I started to phone all my friends who are in influential positions and one was Karu Jayasuriya, a former minister of the Sri Lankan Government for Power & Energy and the Deputy Leader of the main Opposition United National Party. I knew him since he was the Mayor of Colombo.
I asked him for urgent help for the Mullaitivu area where at least 4000 - 5000 people had died. I had visited that area a number of times when I was an officer at CARE International in the war-torn period. Mr. Jayasuriya said Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena, a former Minister for Refugees and Resettlement was coordinating the Party's Northern relief mission.
When I contacted Dr. Jayalath Jayawardene, he showed a great interest and told me there was a German NGO unloading plane load of goods and medicines from Germany to distribute among the tsunami affected people. He told he was planning to visit to North and asked me to coordinate with the Northern Relief Mission.
As the Mullaitivu region was under LTTE control, I spoke to Thaya Master, the LTTE media spokesman and a member of the LTTE's Peace Secretariat. The Peace Secretariat was formed after the Ceasefire Agreement was signed by then Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the LTTE's leader Vellupillai Prabakaran. I finalized with him the arrangements for our visit which would take place in a couple of days time regarding the accommodation for visiting German team.
Dr. Jayalath Jayawardene asked me to visit where the plane-bound cargo containers were being sorted for various tsunami-affected areas in different shipments. When I visited there I was surprised, there were no labourers, only the German intern students were sorting out and packing goods and medicines.
The following morning we were bound on our northern mission, which recalled my days in the CARE International nearly a decade ago as an officer in the UNHCR funded micro projects to assist locally displaced people by the on-going war.
It was so hard to accept an offer to work in a war-torn area leaving my career at a consulting firm, which was headed by Dr. C. Perumal Pillai, a retired Senior Official at the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization. There were many things I gained at Dr. Pillai's consulting firm. While on my fund-raising missions, I met the CEO of Colombo-based Deutsch Bank. He invited me very cordially for a discussion and that was my second encounter with Germans. I explained to him the mission of the NGO, an affiliate of the consultancy firm and its various activities. After he listened to the facts he offered a substantial amount as donation within a few minutes of our meeting.
My first experience with German generosity and kindness nearly a decade ago has gone a long way and when I joined with the German relief mission it once again evoked memories in me. As I traveled with Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena, he introduced me to the German team in Dambulla, a sleepy town in the central part of the Island. The first meeting itself helped me a lot to make friendlier encounter with many of the students. I couldn't meet them the previous day, as they were busy unloading and sorting out goods. I met Dietmar Doring, the founder Director of the Asian - German Sports Exchange Program (AGSEP) which was responsible for the shipment of the plane load of goods and medicines from Germany. I spoke to Ramige, a veteran German documentary filmmaker and his team. We have reassessed our plans once again and moved towards the Northern frontiers.
Our six-vehicle convoy was moving in the Alpha-9 highway, which was famous when the military operation was in full swing some years ago. While I was traveling with the German Praktikum (Internship) students, I was wondering again as to what motivated these young students to serve the affected masses in far away destinations in Asia. The same question assailed my mind a decade ago when I met Maura Barry, then Area Director for Kilinochchi for the CARE International at the first interview at the Colombo head office.
I asked her what made her to leave New York, the world's busiest and technology savvy city to Sri Lanka and especially to Kilinochchi, a war-torn area and the Administrative capital of the LTTE, which was so vulnerable to any aerial attacks.
Her answer was more to analyse than to accept the human instinct to help other wherever they were from.
But I took firm hold of my mind and started to speak to people as to what we could do for those who had been affected. I started to phone all my friends who are in influential positions and one was Karu Jayasuriya, a former minister of the Sri Lankan Government for Power & Energy and the Deputy Leader of the main Opposition United National Party. I knew him since he was the Mayor of Colombo.
I asked him for urgent help for the Mullaitivu area where at least 4000 - 5000 people had died. I had visited that area a number of times when I was an officer at CARE International in the war-torn period. Mr. Jayasuriya said Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena, a former Minister for Refugees and Resettlement was coordinating the Party's Northern relief mission.
When I contacted Dr. Jayalath Jayawardene, he showed a great interest and told me there was a German NGO unloading plane load of goods and medicines from Germany to distribute among the tsunami affected people. He told he was planning to visit to North and asked me to coordinate with the Northern Relief Mission.
As the Mullaitivu region was under LTTE control, I spoke to Thaya Master, the LTTE media spokesman and a member of the LTTE's Peace Secretariat. The Peace Secretariat was formed after the Ceasefire Agreement was signed by then Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the LTTE's leader Vellupillai Prabakaran. I finalized with him the arrangements for our visit which would take place in a couple of days time regarding the accommodation for visiting German team.
Dr. Jayalath Jayawardene asked me to visit where the plane-bound cargo containers were being sorted for various tsunami-affected areas in different shipments. When I visited there I was surprised, there were no labourers, only the German intern students were sorting out and packing goods and medicines.
The following morning we were bound on our northern mission, which recalled my days in the CARE International nearly a decade ago as an officer in the UNHCR funded micro projects to assist locally displaced people by the on-going war.
It was so hard to accept an offer to work in a war-torn area leaving my career at a consulting firm, which was headed by Dr. C. Perumal Pillai, a retired Senior Official at the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization. There were many things I gained at Dr. Pillai's consulting firm. While on my fund-raising missions, I met the CEO of Colombo-based Deutsch Bank. He invited me very cordially for a discussion and that was my second encounter with Germans. I explained to him the mission of the NGO, an affiliate of the consultancy firm and its various activities. After he listened to the facts he offered a substantial amount as donation within a few minutes of our meeting.
My first experience with German generosity and kindness nearly a decade ago has gone a long way and when I joined with the German relief mission it once again evoked memories in me. As I traveled with Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena, he introduced me to the German team in Dambulla, a sleepy town in the central part of the Island. The first meeting itself helped me a lot to make friendlier encounter with many of the students. I couldn't meet them the previous day, as they were busy unloading and sorting out goods. I met Dietmar Doring, the founder Director of the Asian - German Sports Exchange Program (AGSEP) which was responsible for the shipment of the plane load of goods and medicines from Germany. I spoke to Ramige, a veteran German documentary filmmaker and his team. We have reassessed our plans once again and moved towards the Northern frontiers.
Our six-vehicle convoy was moving in the Alpha-9 highway, which was famous when the military operation was in full swing some years ago. While I was traveling with the German Praktikum (Internship) students, I was wondering again as to what motivated these young students to serve the affected masses in far away destinations in Asia. The same question assailed my mind a decade ago when I met Maura Barry, then Area Director for Kilinochchi for the CARE International at the first interview at the Colombo head office.
I asked her what made her to leave New York, the world's busiest and technology savvy city to Sri Lanka and especially to Kilinochchi, a war-torn area and the Administrative capital of the LTTE, which was so vulnerable to any aerial attacks.
Her answer was more to analyse than to accept the human instinct to help other wherever they were from.
German Memories in Asia - The Memorable Moments at the German Restaurant
While I was lost in the beauty of the scenic Indian Ocean's panorama, some movements in the restaurant draw my attention.
Casting a glance over there, I noticed that Marita Kantar is just wandering there, thinking of something seriously in the center part of the restaurant. She has come back again to continue her research after two months away from the Resort in Germany.
Marita is a dynamic student from the then East German part of Germany. She was doing her undergraduate studies in the field of managing social sciences at the Wismar University in the scenic Wismar City of Baltic sea area. She coordinated with me to organize the "Night of a Thousand Dinners" - a success at the Aquarius Sports Resort Hotel.
While I was approaching her she was surprised and said: "It is nice to see you again". I too felt so and as was the first day of the New Year, I greeted her with New Year Best Wishes. I once again thanked her for her valuable coordination in organizing the event.
Suddenly interrupting my thought, a small girl around four to five years came screaming and shouting towards us. She had come with her parents from Germany for the New Year vacation. She was playing with all of us around there. Eva was holding one of her hands and hugging her. They were standing near the dinning table next to our chairs.
When I looked at her and said: "Hallo" she too repeated it with a smile.
After I wished Eva a happy New Year and extended my hand towards the small girl, she so smartly took my hand and greeted me with gentle smile. I was surprised by her etiquette. I just rubbed her upper shoulder and asked: "How are you", she broke into a lovely smile as an answer to my question.
When Marita extended her hand, she wished her with great cordiality.
The following day when we were at breakfast, she was running around every table and telling a number of stories to each and every one around there. She came to me and was waving a coconut-leaf said that it was a "snake". I was wondering as to where she has seen a snake whether in Germany or in Sri Lanka or in a zoo.
Walker was translating to me all her stories, which she was narrating to me in her mother tongue, German. Her father was watching from a distance at the restaurant with a smile. I felt from their joyous mood that they were relishing their trip to Sri Lanka. Her mother was tenderly hugging her infant son on her lap.
A driver of the Aquarius Resort approached them and greeted them affectionately.
The whole atmosphere in the restaurant was one of love and fascination.
Casting a glance over there, I noticed that Marita Kantar is just wandering there, thinking of something seriously in the center part of the restaurant. She has come back again to continue her research after two months away from the Resort in Germany.
Marita is a dynamic student from the then East German part of Germany. She was doing her undergraduate studies in the field of managing social sciences at the Wismar University in the scenic Wismar City of Baltic sea area. She coordinated with me to organize the "Night of a Thousand Dinners" - a success at the Aquarius Sports Resort Hotel.
While I was approaching her she was surprised and said: "It is nice to see you again". I too felt so and as was the first day of the New Year, I greeted her with New Year Best Wishes. I once again thanked her for her valuable coordination in organizing the event.
Suddenly interrupting my thought, a small girl around four to five years came screaming and shouting towards us. She had come with her parents from Germany for the New Year vacation. She was playing with all of us around there. Eva was holding one of her hands and hugging her. They were standing near the dinning table next to our chairs.
When I looked at her and said: "Hallo" she too repeated it with a smile.
After I wished Eva a happy New Year and extended my hand towards the small girl, she so smartly took my hand and greeted me with gentle smile. I was surprised by her etiquette. I just rubbed her upper shoulder and asked: "How are you", she broke into a lovely smile as an answer to my question.
When Marita extended her hand, she wished her with great cordiality.
The following day when we were at breakfast, she was running around every table and telling a number of stories to each and every one around there. She came to me and was waving a coconut-leaf said that it was a "snake". I was wondering as to where she has seen a snake whether in Germany or in Sri Lanka or in a zoo.
Walker was translating to me all her stories, which she was narrating to me in her mother tongue, German. Her father was watching from a distance at the restaurant with a smile. I felt from their joyous mood that they were relishing their trip to Sri Lanka. Her mother was tenderly hugging her infant son on her lap.
A driver of the Aquarius Resort approached them and greeted them affectionately.
The whole atmosphere in the restaurant was one of love and fascination.
German Memories in Asia - The War-Ravaged Germany
The Aquarius Sports Resort Hotel in Marawila, a sleepy western coastal town of Sri Lanka is always a fascinating place to me.
The beach-end restaurant of the resort facing the scenic Indian Ocean will become at times a forum for various international issues.
I had a good discussion with Marita Kantar at the beach-end restaurant of the Aquarius Hotel. The sun had started to go further and further towards the deep-end of the Indian Ocean's horizon. The evening sunlight shone on Marita's face as she was seated facing the ocean directly and I asked her whether she would like to seat opposite the ocean at the rectangular table. She smiled and opted to stay where she was enjoying the glorious sunset in the Indian Ocean.
While I was talking to her on various issues, I asked her how she felt about the massacre of Jews by Adolf Hitler. She said, "They are only the victims for a person who was mad and power-hungry." She further continued, "He managed to brain-wash many for his unjustified cruelty on Jews and others in the Germany and neighbouring nations." She burst out at one point by saying that the act of one lunatic had the effect of giving a bad image of them.
I placated her saying the act of one megalomaniac does not necessarily tarnish all Germans. I told her not only in Germany even in other countries by the act of some of the reckless leaders, their nation and people have become untouchables or villains for other communities and nationalities.
In our recent past, we have seen many like them. Saddam Hussein in Iraq for his marginalization of Kurds and Shi'ite Muslims and some of the leaders from then Yugoslavia for their violation of Bosnian Muslims and Croatians are too the perpetrators of crimes against humanity in their own way. Some of the culprits had been prosecuted by the International Criminal Court for War-Crimes, but others escaped. Still there are many war criminals around the world at large.
I told her, "These culprits are either hiding or not punished yet or still the law is not strong enough or its enforcement is too weak".
As Marita was a Diploma student and doing her field of studies in managing social science, I asked about the unification of Germany which created a lot of unemployment problems in Germany and some Germans in the former West German part are uncomfortable about it. I knew as she is from the former East German part, she might feel uncomfortable at my question. Her eyes had gone really blurred over my question and answered with a sobbing emotion, "the Germans won't like them to be seen as East Germans and West Germans."
She further went on that she had been all over the Germany and saw minor changes in their dialects and couldn't identify any major differences.
What she said is correct. Even East Germany is only a creation after the Second World War when the major allied forces divided Germany into two parts. East Germany had been left out with the communist USSR and their puppet East German administration. But when the cold war came to an end and the demise of the Berlin wall in 1989, the new united Germany had made East Germany part of the existing federal system in other parts of the Germany as a new territory. The capital of the new unified Germany was shifted from the then West German capital Bonn to the then East German capital Berlin.
The beach-end restaurant of the resort facing the scenic Indian Ocean will become at times a forum for various international issues.
I had a good discussion with Marita Kantar at the beach-end restaurant of the Aquarius Hotel. The sun had started to go further and further towards the deep-end of the Indian Ocean's horizon. The evening sunlight shone on Marita's face as she was seated facing the ocean directly and I asked her whether she would like to seat opposite the ocean at the rectangular table. She smiled and opted to stay where she was enjoying the glorious sunset in the Indian Ocean.
While I was talking to her on various issues, I asked her how she felt about the massacre of Jews by Adolf Hitler. She said, "They are only the victims for a person who was mad and power-hungry." She further continued, "He managed to brain-wash many for his unjustified cruelty on Jews and others in the Germany and neighbouring nations." She burst out at one point by saying that the act of one lunatic had the effect of giving a bad image of them.
I placated her saying the act of one megalomaniac does not necessarily tarnish all Germans. I told her not only in Germany even in other countries by the act of some of the reckless leaders, their nation and people have become untouchables or villains for other communities and nationalities.
In our recent past, we have seen many like them. Saddam Hussein in Iraq for his marginalization of Kurds and Shi'ite Muslims and some of the leaders from then Yugoslavia for their violation of Bosnian Muslims and Croatians are too the perpetrators of crimes against humanity in their own way. Some of the culprits had been prosecuted by the International Criminal Court for War-Crimes, but others escaped. Still there are many war criminals around the world at large.
I told her, "These culprits are either hiding or not punished yet or still the law is not strong enough or its enforcement is too weak".
As Marita was a Diploma student and doing her field of studies in managing social science, I asked about the unification of Germany which created a lot of unemployment problems in Germany and some Germans in the former West German part are uncomfortable about it. I knew as she is from the former East German part, she might feel uncomfortable at my question. Her eyes had gone really blurred over my question and answered with a sobbing emotion, "the Germans won't like them to be seen as East Germans and West Germans."
She further went on that she had been all over the Germany and saw minor changes in their dialects and couldn't identify any major differences.
What she said is correct. Even East Germany is only a creation after the Second World War when the major allied forces divided Germany into two parts. East Germany had been left out with the communist USSR and their puppet East German administration. But when the cold war came to an end and the demise of the Berlin wall in 1989, the new united Germany had made East Germany part of the existing federal system in other parts of the Germany as a new territory. The capital of the new unified Germany was shifted from the then West German capital Bonn to the then East German capital Berlin.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
German Memories in Asia - The Fascination of Being at One With Two Worlds!
A visiting table tennis team to Aquarius resort from Germany invited me to Marawila beach where they were playing volleyball. I was seated near the playing field and watching the marvelous finesse of those players.
Twilight had started to turn into complete darkness everywhere. All who played went towards the sea for a dip after the long hours of hectic play. The sea was a little calm and quiet and they went a few meters away from the beach and couldn’t be seen as the beach has a steep end towards the sea.
Beach area near the Aquarius Resort [Source: AGSEP]
They were in the sea for some time and returned back to the beach. A young German girl was coming from the beach, her slim body silhouetted against the background of deep reddish dark sky, evoking the image more or less of an Angel coming towards us.
After dinner, the visiting team from Germany played an innovative game. They were rolling a dice and then the winner in the rotation could select what she or he wanted from a covered pool of things.
I gazed with fascination at the stars in the dark sky over the Indian Ocean through the wide window-less side - wall of the restaurant and then turned my attention towards the happy Germans’ fun and fantasy in Asia.
The music played at the Aquarius resort was deafening and gave the whole place a carnival atmosphere. I drifted into a different world, induced by the melodious German music and the charming environment with the Indian Ocean’s cool breeze adding to it.
The lovely-looking Miriam like a Hindu goddess in a traditional Indian red sari brought me back to world. Miriam, a sports management student from Cologne was dancing in slow motion as her sari restricted her from taking longer strides. She finally succeeded in adjusting the sari and was dancing with full body movements and was quite arresting with her superb fusion of movement. The blinking lights (on and off in a fraction of a second) made every movement of her dance to form on a separate act.
The fascination of being at one with two worlds was an unforgettable experience in my life and reminded me of the German-Portuguese student Faith Dennis’s memories in Southern Brazil, "My year abroad taught me a lot of different things; the main lesson was not to create opinions of people based on outdated and unfounded clichés, as these can only create walls in our minds and stop us from delving into and thus enjoying the richness and differences foreign cultures have to offer."
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German university students donate a boat and engine to an affected fisherman.
Germans university students with Dietmar Doering (centre) at Marawila beach.
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