Mother Lanka- a land like no other.

2600 years ago the Lord Buddha, then Prince Siddhartha was born to the Sakya clan in the magical land called India. This is where the people first started learning discipline, where people began building a modern life, where people loved and helped each other. This was way before Mahatma Gandhi or the British. This was the great land’s “golden age” when it flourished beyond the people’s expectance. According to the legend a massive earthquake made a piece of the Kerala state of India drift towards the Bay of Bengal. This little land was full of  worrier tribes a land full of wonders, a true paradise. This island was later on known for its rich tea and rice cultivations and worrier kings. Yes, I’m talking of Sri Lanka a land with a true identity, a land with a great heritage, culture and hospitality.

In 2009 Sri Lanka ended a 30 year long civil war. This war has left us scared and wanting for a better future. We all wanted a future with hope, light and harmony. We were sick of blood and the friction that was between the Tamils and the Sinhalese. What we wanted was brotherhood. A land filled with love and hospitality. We wanted our blood filled past to be forgotten; we wanted to move on with life like any free country. We didn’t want races and religions to make gaps in our community. We technically wanted the whole country to act as one and not as an individual group or sector.

I was born to a country which had everything, from cold weather to warm but what we didn’t have at that time was freedom. My mother and so many millions of mothers were unsure if their child, husband or sister would come back from work or school in one piece. There were so many stories where the husband or child who went to school or work came back in a closed coffin. The news on the television or radio was filled with stories of deaths and newspapers full of the pictures of those who lost their lives. It was a terror; I myself have suffered and feared what would become of the future. Every time the news reporter said “here is news just in” I would run to the TV to see what had happened. To me everything seemed so scary, the news always said there was a bomb somewhere and I would call my mom to ask whether my Dad was at home and if everything was alright. Others countries don’t understand what we have been through. I was just 12 years when the war ended and the relief I felt was shocking. I actually feared every minute of my life. I once thought I would join the navy because I wanted to finish this war. I thought I might be the next victim or maybe someone I love and this made life hard for me. My parents stopped sending me to classes far away from home; they forced me to be inside the house no matter what. Everyday there was news that someone died here or there and I became so familiar to blood and death that I doubted if I was human. I detested Earth and what’s happening. To my little brain having a Tamil friend meant friendship but to his family it meant dishonor. I remember my friend had to leave Sri Lanka because she was Tamil and the LTTE forced them out of their ancestral home in Jaffna. I still could see her tear stained face when she said good bye to me forever. I have always been afraid of the camera flasher because I remember the sound and light of the bullets when the LTTE came to bomb the Kalanitissa electricity board. Is this not suffering? Just imagine what the people in the war areas felt? I think what the international interference does is making unwanted problems. They don’t understand what we have been through. What is gone is gone. why do they need to dig out things that never happened? Just because they dig these up it doesn’t mean it could give life to the millions of Sri Lankan soldiers who died for our freedom. So just forget the past what happened and what did not and help Sri Lanka make a better future for our next generations. I don’t want my children to go through another war. If you want to help us United Nations, help us rebuild our nation, not destroy it. This means you too Mrs.Jayalalitha Jayaram!!!!! Let your voices be heard Sri Lankans we don’t want to redo our mistakes. Please share your stories on “My Veiw on Sri Lanka” and help strengthen Sri Lanka even in this small scale.