By Ravi Perera –

Ravi Perera

Not so long ago, I received a You-Tube on the 1984 reception accorded to our then President JR Jaeawardene (JR) by the then American President Ronald Reagan in Washington. Accompanying the ‘link’ was an excited comment by the sender, “he speaks better English than the white men!” Highly laudatory, after all Reagan the native English speaker, was referred to as the “great communicator”!

The sender, a long-time acquaintance, is no judge on the use of language; however, it is a notable fact that this   kind of self-adulatory pronouncements are not uncommon in our national conversation. A declaration of exceptionalism, a fatuous estimate of the skills of your own kind, a characteristic which adds to the mystery of the East, some may say. Perhaps it is the air we breathe in our paddies, the water we drink from our wells or even the particular DNA arrangement of the humans in this island that gives rise to this over the top assessment. Fortified by these assurances of tropical genius, you may even be tempted to wonder around the Sunday ‘Pola’; one sunny day you may chance upon a man with a ‘golden’ brain or even ‘seven’ brains!

Recently, there was this news story about a Sri Lankan science researcher (Bio research?)  who had gained immigrant status in the United States. He had returned to Sri Lanka to assist a political party in their present presidential campaign. Although it was not very clear what his role in the campaign was, I gathered it was something to do with drawing up a blue print (political/economic) to be implemented by that Party if elected to power. These are all perfectly normal activities and merit no comment, except his introduction by a media presenter- “the ‘brain’ that America cannot be without!”

While discussing the pathetic performance of the Sri Lankan cricket team with a friend I suggested that blame cannot be placed on the management solely. Cricketing talents, athleticism and the fitness level of our players need to be on par with the solidly improving rival teams. There is an unavoidable problem here, when pitted against foreign competition even in other sports and athletic events, our performance has been average, if not embarrassingly poor. My friend objected vociferously to my suggestion, claiming that a local Cricket coach had told him that in the provinces of the island there are young boys who could throw a ball much farther than any other in the Indian subcontinent! A longer throw than any Indian, Pakistani or an Afghanistan Cricketer! It was only the corruption at the management level that was holding us back from reaching pinnacle status in the game of Cricket he claimed.

This was an intriguing proposition, running counter to what can be observed at sporting events, a challenge to our common sense. In everyday business matters my friend is rational, careful and calculating, insisting on unemotional assessment and evidence. In fact, he is a dual citizen of a Western country where his children now reside. Nonetheless, when it came to asserting the exceptionalism of the throwing prowess of the local lads, an infantile irrationalism seems to take over him.

JR Jayewardene dominated Sri Lankan politics from 1977 to 1988, a very hopeful beginning in 1977 ending up as a lame duck President; at the end, by 1988, the country was tottering at the edge of disaster, a veritable war zone; in the President, an old confused man lamely justifying his many misfired political adventures and experiments, clearly a personality deeply flawed.

Perhaps half a century of politics, Sri Lankan style, undid him. Politics which is fundamentally corrupt, amoral, debasing; a system whose only purpose is the gaining of power. Any means; ruse, subterfuge or fraud is acceptable as long as it brings power. When in power, all’s forgiven, the powerful are feted. The voter is abject, he wants jobs, appointments, promotions, transfers, roofing sheets or at least the honour of the presence of the powerful man at a personal event like a wedding or a funeral.

To the Sri Lankan eyes, JR Jayewardene cut an impressive figure in Washington. The elderly leader in the silky white kurta and sarong; apparently well read, seemingly cosmopolitan, measured, he moved with a practiced ease amidst the rich and powerful of the World’s superpower. Although entirely home-grown, in   his formative years JR had enjoyed the advantages of an education in English, an introduction to a broad culture and the company of educated countrymen. Due to that grounding maybe, there was this sense that JR Jayewardene was an ampler personality than his political colleagues.

Soon after JR Jayewardene gained power in 1977 Sri Lanka got television, through the generosity of the Japanese. Now, we did not have to attend political meetings to see our leaders, they were addressing us at home, through our Sony /Grundig TV sets. At the time JR Jayewardene and his UNP were all powerful, seemingly nothing could stand in their way.

I have two distinct images of JR Jayewardene from this era.

As we know many public events in this country begin with religious observances, it was more so then. President Jaeawardene would regularly observe the five precepts with a most devout and grave demeanour and sometimes this would happen several times in a week. A dialectician might conclude that such repetition would lead to true piety, quantity into quality.

The other image is of Jayewardene on political platforms, surrounded by his eager lieutenants. On stage these governing political leaders would often whisper things to each other and then break out in loud uncontrolled laughter. Not only did the laughter appear inappropriate on a public stage, there was a disconcerting feeling that the private humour was at the expense of opposition members who were constantly being harried and bullied by various methods by that government.

These were hard men, calculating, greedy and devious. Even in their laughter there was a put on quality, something nearly obscene. It was as if they had heard that laughter, like dark chocolate, was good for your health, and were indulging heartily in the exercise. In India there are places where some well-to-do elders gather to laugh, an induced therapy which apparently gives long life.  And of course, these men on our public stage want to live long. For the people of the country, especially after 1983, there was nothing to laugh about.

Heads of State do not visit empty handed. What will a leader from a poor and much troubled country take the leader of the most powerful country in the world?

It cannot be something made by human hands, an area in which we hold no real proficiency. But nature has been generous, we have cute baby elephants in the island. At that 1984 function in Washington President Jayewardene gifted a baby elephant from the wilds of Sri Lanka to President Reagan. If the baby elephant was asked, it would have surely preferred roaming the tropical jungles with his herd than to live the rest of his life as a captive curiosity in an American zoo!

The gift was given with a few words.

Jayewardene referred to the Elephant which was the symbol of the American Republican Party (President Reagan was a Republican) drawing a parallel with his own UNP which also has the elephant as its symbol. He said “the elephant brought us luck at the last election and I hope it will bring you luck too”, or something to that effect.

A person may speak a foreign language, yet he cannot transcend his own culture, what is deeply native to him. It would be very rare for a European leader to use the word ‘luck’ on an election victory, a national election at that. For the native English speaker, electoral victory and ‘luck’ are not concepts naturally aligned. Such a victory means an extremely onerous undertaking, a public endorsement of a candidate, a mandate which carries a heavy responsibility.

On the other hand, the word ‘luck’ has a certain connotation, a personal element which stands in variance with a vision and a mission concerning millions of people. For example, let us say a person is elected President of the Sri Lankan Cricket Board or the Olympic Committee. If he uses the word “luck’ to describe his victory, what would that mean? Is he going to benefit financially? Will he be elevated artificially to a social status that his person does not merit? Will he have access to vehicles, accommodation, foreign travel and other benefits which he considers matters of luck?

JR Jayewardene used the word ‘luck’ to define an election victory of his political party (which was brought about by its symbol-the elephant! A typical Sri Lankan thought process- assigning the cause of various events to symbols or superstitions!)

Not to make too fine a point of the speech, one is compelled by the gaping discrepancies between the words used and the actions taken by leaders like JR Jayewardene to consider the suggestion that for them the foreign concepts, necessarily expressed in a foreign language, was just another tool in a very private quest. Concepts like freedom, the law, elections, parliament, democracy and even fairness are only of relative value, to be manipulated to suit his personal requirements. For such a mind-set, interpreting an electoral victory as a ‘lucky’ break, will come naturally.

Going by that way of thinking, we can say that many politicians have been ‘lucky’ since 1948. However, whether this nation has been as “lucky” in these years, is another matter altogether.

Soon, we will be facing yet another Presidential election. There are more than twenty candidates vying for the high office. They all claim ‘visionary’ quality.

Who among them will be ‘lucky’ on the election day?