By Vishwamithra –

“If they answer not to thy call, walk alone, walk alone…” ~ Rabindranath Tagore

The hinterland of the country is sleeping. Its landscape is more conducive to a laidback life rather than a rat-race that is driving the urban dwellers to a mindless frenzy; its denizens have been used to the practice of agriculture for centuries. For them, the priorities are rooted in their family matters. Schooling for their children, repairs for the broken culvert close to their homestead and primarily putting food on the table are surpassing the absurdities of political rivalries and neighborhood disputes. Their religious activities are centered on Poya day visits to the closest temple. Interaction with the chief Monk has stimulated spiritual results and they keep their faith profoundly entrenched in the unquestioning fidelity to the teachings of Buddha.

With the first rays of the sun, the man of the household wakes up; mother of the children, one 7 years old and the other 11, makes the morning tea for the entire family and at the same time begins preparations for morning breakfast comprising of rice, dhal and pol sambol enough for the children’s midday meal too. The routine of rural life, totally dependent on agriculture, starts its regular cycle of universal existence which is harder for those who fall below poverty level. And those whose daily consumption exceeds one whole month’s earnings of a rural family have resumed their gross display of wealth in the fancy restaurants and five-star hotels in Colombo and other big cities. Such cruel disparities do exist and the politicians do not care whether such inequalities matter so long as they, the rural folks, cast votes at the next election.

Nishantha, a third generation settler in Galnewa who claimed ownership of the two and half acre irrigated land and half acre homestead from his father, has trained his entire family to dedicate their free time to the land that feeds them to engage in the basic agricultural practices. They comprise of releasing the water from the field-channels to their plot, maintaining elementary manuring of the home-garden vegetables, feeding the cattle (two of them) and other rudimentary chores that any rural family engages in their daily lives and so forth. Life is hard; its demands are never ending and despite the scorching sun in midday, Nishantha has learnt that its ‘gives’ and ‘takes’ are intermingled with desire and joy as Leonard Wolf explains so richly in his celebrated novel, ‘The Village in the Jungle’.

Nishantha’s story is just a microcosm of the whole settlement zone. Some settlers have reached the end of the line; they have mortgaged their land to the village boutique Mudalali on ‘Ande’ basis. They have become laborers on their own land. Such cruel realities have emerged to show the aftercare is far too behind the dreamy promises of the politicians who originally settled these hapless men and women on the dry-zone settlements. They can’t complain of the dire need and total lack of fertilizer. It was caused by the stupid and unscientific policy and its accelerated implementation of conversion into organic farming.       

The country nearly saw its economic death at the end of a couple of months ago; those who felt the scarcities which should not have occurred but for the fact that those who ruled the country engaged in barefaced corrupt practices and nepotism-oriented treatment of the general public. Dearth of tools necessary for those who experience luxuries of life, those who cannot walk one kilometer without a car were clamoring for petrol and diesel, those who are not used to cooking without gas were on the streets in Colombo and other urban townships were appeased by provision of those luxurious amenities. No more petrol or diesel lines; no more lines for cooking gas. But those who feed the country by tilling the land and planting the seeds of rice and vegetables were left in the lurch. But the total or near absence of fertilizer resulting in meager harvest and therefore meager incomes for the farmer community will have their telling effects in a couple of months. Will there be another ‘Aragalaya’; will the current ruler also run away from responsibility and duty? Nishantha couldn’t care less, for his priority is to feed his family and look after his two sons so that they could have undisturbed education. 

The gulf between the haves and have-nots is enlarging. The inequalities between the urban and rural sectors are threateningly snowballing. Will there be an explosion at the end of this maddening rush to self-satisfaction? Can the present ‘system’ of government withstand that explosion? Can the social-fabric enrich itself by change or will it be torn to pieces forever? Nishantha has studied the nuanced aspects of societal development and their inscrutable elements in the University when he was student of social science. But that education would not qualify him for a government job, for his political allegiances have been totally opposed to the winning party and its representative who had not passed GCE Ordinary Level in school.

Nonetheless, Nishantha is fortunate to inherit the land from his father who in turn inherited it from his father. Nishantha’s grandfather was the original settler. It so happened that the grandfather had only one child, Nishantha’s father. Nishantha does not have any siblings. But Nishantha has two sons. That is why he is so keen to provide a better than good education to his two sons. His efforts have been so far better than good. His elder son has passed the fifth standard scholarship and awaiting entry to a so-called posh-school in Colombo. But the costs are so much and belt-tightening at home is a necessity. No more birthday celebrations, no more new jewelry or sarees for his wife. The discipline that Nishantha has instilled in his two sons is paving the way for a more ordered life for them too.

Nishantha does not own a smartphone. He could afford it, yet there are more urgent needs in his life apart from the gossip and rumors that float around the social media; but he has told his two sons that such luxuries are just that – luxuries, not an essential. Nishantha’s education has afforded him that rare quality of intellectual curiosity. After each day’s tiring and weary labor on the field, he sits on a comfortable chair and reads; his particular interest in social change and systems of government and constitutional affairs have directed him to read more and more. He never tires of reading new ideas and new ideals. He is trying to train his two sons along the same path. His wife who was GCE Advanced Level-qualified gave up her teaching job to dedicate her labor and life for the betterment of a family she is trying to raise with her loving husband. They have identified their priorities, well and absolutely. It’s an exceptional and uncommon family indeed.               

The more and more Nishantha reads, the more and more he is convinced that the solution resides in a total change, a ‘system change’. But how could a farmer in Galnewa settlement start a system change. Rohana Wijeweera with his Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) tried his hand at changing the system and in 1971, the results were disastrous. Then he tried again in 1987 which ended up even in greater danger and calamity to our youth and the country. Wijeweera’s ideal seemed to be invested more in grabbing political power than instituting a system change. He borrowed, not ideas and ideals but empty slogans from Fidel Castros’ Cuban revolution. He wanted to be Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin on one. Today Anura Kumara Dissanayake is suffering the public’s hangover of such a misguided methodology of system change.

In such a chaotic and damaging context, how can Nishantha even think about a system change? But he realizes the validity and indispensability of writing down what his thinking is; where it’s leading him and whether his writings could effect a change in thinking of at least one more person. The constitutional changes that would be essential in order to contain corruption, do away with nepotism and enhance the economic stature of the country while safeguarding the fundamental human rights as pronounced in United Nations (UN) Charter occupy his mind now. He needs a person who has a legal and clear mind, another mind who feels the need for a system change. He needs a another mind that is totally engrossed in finding solutions for the precarious economic situation the country has been subjected by corrupt and dishonest politicians. It’s a monumental task, but a beginning has to be made. If his two sons are going to inherit a land and circumstances that could be better and more evocative than the ones that prevail today, he indeed has to make a beginning. And Nishantha made up his mind. He needs to act and he needs to act now.

He was reminded about an essay written by Margaret Mead, Anthropologist, author and speaker: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Nishantha realizes the value of reading, a habit and a good one for that, and he wishes to instill in his two sons that great habit. He called his two sons and spoke to them for almost half hour, before his wife spread the dinner on the table. Nishantha, after a long time, felt at home, relaxed and relieved. 

He found the answer to his question: a system change is necessary. 

*The writer can be contacted at vishwamithra1984@gmail.com