Rally For Unity – It Can Be Done!

April 30, 2013 | Filed under: Colombo Telegraph,Opinion,Popular | Posted by: COLOMBO_TELEGRAPH

By Ajita Kadirgamar –

Ajita Kadirgamar

There is an American expression “sometimes you can’t see the forest  for the trees” (used of someone who is too involved in the details of a problem to look at the situation as a whole). That’s somewhat how I felt today viewing all the photos and videos of the Rally for Unity held in Colombo on Sunday, April 28, 2013.

I was there, I walked with the crowd of an estimated 400 – 500, I can be seen lurking in the background of several published photos.  But because I was there, living the moment, apprehensive about “exposing” myself at such an event, fearful of  the outcome, I did not see or appreciate the bigger picture till now. The sheer diversity of those who gathered was mind blowing —

There was a grand assortment of professionals, social  and political activists, students, enlightened politicians and parliamentarians, born again Christians, Muslims of all factions (based on colorful head gear witnessed) Colombo socialites, GLBT pioneers, old grey haired men and women who probably remember and yearn for the Ceylon of days gone by,  kids and youth, bloggers, journalists and advertising agency members; oh yes, and BBC reporter Charles Havilland accompanying the procession and filming his news story which has proved impossible to view online. It could just be my internet connection…or not.

There was  a group of nuns and sisters at the rally, (were these the same ones that braved pelting rain and wind at the Nugegoda Women’s Day Rally back in March?) Is there a faction of activist nuns and sisters who attend such events? Are they on Facebook? How do they find out about these events? Who instructs them to participate? Or is it an inner call of conscience, sorely lacking in so many of us. Whatever their agenda and wherever they hail from,  I love and respect their quiet, dignified aura. More power to them!

However, when I saw a single robed monk in the throng I must admit my spirits sank a tad. Was this a lone rebel, a rabble rouser, and were there more skulking in the bushes of Vihara Maha Devi? I asked a key civil activist standing close by, what “kind” of monk he was. I was told he was one of the ‘good’ ones. It was the Ven. Samitha Thero who in fact make a short speech in praise of the rally and its goals, which was received with applause.

If you were afraid of being photographed, then you were right to stay away.  Cell phones were snapping, and clicking photos left, right and center and tweeting them together with live updates. Everyone was recording everything. Each of us was a witness, come what may. Photographers and video cameramen were hustling and jostling for the best positions and the scoop of the day. Was this event history in the making? Would it be headline news? Would there be drama and confrontation? Would they get a prize-winning photo out of it? No doubt there were less artistically inclined undercover photographers  in the crowd too, snapping away headshots for THE database and future nefarious use. Enough said…

Thankfully there were no vulgar, obtrusive loud speakers or megaphones shrieking maniacally at the crowd as so often happens at such public events. There was a dignified quietness about the event that fit the mood and intent so well. Apart from welcome speeches in all three languages and video clips of well known personalities extending their support, it was a low key demonstration of unity, indeed, silent strength from individuals, who amassed as a group, demonstrated that there is an existing moral conscience after all, perhaps one to be reckoned with in due course.

It must be noted that the police presence was well managed and orchestrated. Obviously lessons have been learnt from a similar recent event. The organisers of this rally, who we assume were mainly young citizens of the Facebook generation, had sought prior permission to hold the rally, and as a result police ‘protection’ was part of the show. The procession was flanked on both sides by a line of outward facing  policemen as it proceeded past the National Art Gallery. In fact earlier the police swiftly  disposed of “anti rally” elements distributing “rogue” Sinhala pamphlets. I was handed one, but sadly  had no idea what it said, till it was translated for me several hours later. What a pathetic waste of paper.

Food is a great uniting force  which cuts across all ethnicities in this island as proved by placards like “Keep Calm and Eat Kiribath” “My Wattalapam is Your Wattalapam“ .

In a pervasive national atmosphere of suspicion, fear and uncertainty,  kudos to the  organisers and all those who attended for forging ahead with this concept and indeed for using social media as its main channel. While mingling with the crowd several people asked me who the organisers were. Beyond the common knowledge that the event was organized through Facebook (thumbs up for Social Media) my answer was “does it really matter? do we need to know?” I believe part of the success of the event was the very  fact that there was no main sponsor, no vested interests, no political affiliations. This was a gathering by the people for the people, with promises of more to come. More publicity, larger crowds, more slogans and placards, more widespread locations, more feedback. Just more please…

The nagging thought at the back of mind however was, why  weren’t more people at the rally? Was it too hot? Was there too much to do on a Sunday morning? Was everyone at church praying for peace and unity rather than taking to the street to make it happen? Are people all talk and no action? Has everyone given up on the notion of strength in numbers and the belief that one person can make a difference in a crowd? Whatever the reasons and excuses for those who did not turn up,  one believer can make a difference. I did.

Power to the people!

*Photo by Ajita Kadirgamar

The Mixed Choir

July 18, 2013 | Filed under: Colombo Telegraph,Opinion,Popular,Popular Columns | Posted by: COLOMBO_TELEGRAPH

By Ajita Kadirgamar –

Ajita Kadirgamar

I’m not a religious person. I don’t go to church very often. But I was in church last Sunday because my beautiful and talented Hindu friend invited me to listen to her choir at an event titled HymnFest ’13 – a festival of hymns for brass, organ, choir and congregation. So there I was at the quaint old St. Andrew’s Scots Kirk, Kollupitiya, listening to the powerful voices of a very ethnically mixed choir, including my Hindu friend.

When everyone is dressed in nondescript black, singing in one voice, you don’t see the individuals, you see one unified body with a single thread that binds them together – a love of music and singing. A glance at the names in the programme revealed a Malay (making his debut on Timpani), Burghers, Tamils, Sinhalese, a Colombo Chetty and a few foreigners. Yet little did it matter what their denomination or ethnicity was. No one questioned the appropriateness or their right to be in a church singing hymns to an audience that was equally diverse. There were even some seemingly foreign Muslim ladies dressed in shalwars in the gathering!

My friend may be a devout Hindu, but she has been singing in choirs all her life, thanks to her open minded parents. The youngest of six siblings they were all encouraged to go beyond their cultural and societal boundaries in their quest for hobbies, interests and pastimes.

While I listened to hymn after hymn and observed the ‘congregation’, I marveled at how unique and special this country is, for it affords us such a mixed tapestry of citizenship.

Having lived for long periods away from Sri Lanka, the one thing that lures me back time and again is the rich and varied friendships I have here. There are my two Bora friends. One I met through a common social circle and though years may pass with no contact, the bond of friendship is renewed in an instant from the first welcoming hug. The other who I met during a diploma course in the 90’s, is a sane voice in a mad world and keeps me grounded. My long time “Sinhala Buddhist” friend who calls me her sister and who felt abandoned when I left the country ten years ago, is delighted I am back and has been a source of tremendous support as I readjust to life here. My European friend and former neighbor was born a Catholic but converted to Islam when she married a Sri Lankan and moved here over 30 years ago. We were the kind of neighbours who were in and out of each other’s homes, borrowing eggs, sugar, needle and thread, whatever the need of the day. Her home was our second home. As a young child my son thought he was a Muslim too, especially during the month of Ramadan when he would rush there to ‘break fast’ with them in the evenings. He loved the samosas that uncle would bring from the mosque.

Our lane in fact was a picture book microcosm of a harmonious Sri Lanka, for there were Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim families wall to wall, living and socializing in perfect coexistence. The kids would play cricket and basketball, the women would stand around chatting in the evenings, we would visit the homes of newborn babies and condole when there was a death in the family, food would be shared at festivals and special events. Such joyous times! To top it all the house next to me functioned as a Montessori. For nearly a decade it was home to children from every community and walk of life.

All of this is in stark contrast to the few friendships I developed in the US.  For instance my first friend there, a Greek Orthodox American on a spiritual quest, once said she should not even be friends with me because I was not a ‘church going Christian’. We remained friends even though she moved to another state, but this comment always bothered me. Was religion a deciding factor in friendship? This was an alien concept to me.

Meanwhile the Sri Lankan model of neighborliness can never be replicated elsewhere. Though I did associate with one neighbour in the US, through a shared interest in gardening (there were no fences separating our properties) and invited them over a few times over the years, never once did they reciprocate.

Friendships aside when I look at professional and other relationships I realize that here too the diversity is plainly evident even though is not a conscious choice. My dentist is Muslim, my doctor is Sinhalese and my lawyers are Tamil. Do we not select them for their professionalism and expertise first and foremost? Dr. Lakshman Weerasena who I have known for nearly 30 years now, speaks English, Sinhala and Tamil and with equal ease. He will speak to a patient in the language they are comfortable in and whether prince or pauper they will receive his expert prognosis with equal care and concern. This man is the true essence of a real Sri Lankan whom I hold in the highest esteem.

Never, never have I questioned the multi ethnic, multi communal makeup of this country. It is and will always be what makes this island unique. Shame on those who think otherwise.

Human Rights In A Brutalised Society

September 3, 2013 | Filed under: Colombo Telegraph,Opinion,Popular,Popular Columns | Posted by: COLOMBO_TELEGRAPH

By Ajita Kadirgamar –

Ajita Kadirgamar

It was exhausting — mentally and emotionally — to sit and listen to Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu  reveal fact after fact, story after story to illustrate the hellish depths to which Sri Lanka has sunk in terms of abuse of human rights and the brutalisation of society.

The executive director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives was guest speaker at the 13th  Convention of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Foundation (SLHRF) held in Colombo on Monday, September 2.

He began by picking a bone with UN High Commissioner For Human Rights, Navi Pillay‘s speech at her recent press conference before departing Sri Lanka where she stated, ” I am deeply concerned that Sri Lanka, despite the opportunity provided  by the end of the war to construct a new vibrant, all-embracing state, is showing signs of heading in an increasingly authoritarian direction.” We are not heading in that direction he told the audience emphatically, this IS an authoritarian state!

In a civilised society he said, people do not humiliate each other, institutions do not humiliate people. Yet on a daily basis we see example of such base behaviour. People of this country live in fear because of their ethnicity.

“We live in a country where there is a complete collapse of rule of law, underpinned by a culture of impunity.”

The LLRC report is a key document, one of the most critical to be written in recent times in the country’s history. The international community , not to mention the people of the country are saying,  please implement the recommendations! Why then he questioned, was the document given to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to translate? Why did it take eight months?

While Saravanamuttu battered and pounded away at the audience’s moral  and intellectual conscience all the while bombarding them with hard hitting stories, facts, statistics and quotes (all delivered off the cuff)  the one salvo that hit me like a fist in the stomach had to do with International Day of the Disappeared which fell on Friday, August 30.

A public vigil was organised at Independence Square in the presence of around 200 family members of the disappeared to highlight the crime of enforced and involuntary disappearance in Sri Lanka. I had planned to be there but my visiting foreign guests turned up back in Colombo that evening. Saravanamuttu though not there either because of election related work in the north, was told by a known source that while the vigil went on , the hoards of  Friday evening walkers, joggers and fitness freaks just went about their business with not even  an ounce of curiosity and certainly not an iota of sympathy displayed for their fellow citizens’ pain as they held candles and clutched photos of their disappeared.

“What kind of a society are we?” he lamented. Do we care more about recreation, burning calories and watching our kids ride their bikes around Independence Square? Could these people not have paused for a moment in silent solidarity? Could they not have sat or walked with the families, asked a question or two, held an age-speckled, wrinkled hand, patted a weary shoulder, ruffled a fatherless kid’s hair? Are the denizens of Colombo so blind and deaf to others’ suffering? Is this how desensitized we are now, Saravanamuttu demanded?

It appears the parks, jogging tracks, pavements, roads  and superficial beautification of the city have bedazzled the people into a sense of misplaced euphoria. We the people of Colombo, for whom the partying never really stopped over the past 30 years in our little corner of the world, we seem to feel no pain for the raw and still bleeding wounds of the war survivors, those left behind, those still waiting for a loved one to return. Those with no closure.

If this is the case and we have become so brutalised, then the government has won on several counts. Distract the people from grim realities. Check. Pamper them with small luxuries they think they have earned. Check. Sidetrack their attention from the burning issues of the day. Check. The enforcers have created a nation of zombies.

The very nature of our humanness is our capacity to feel compassion for one another. Human rights is about what we are willing to do to stand up for EVERYONE’s rights, because it is a violation of OUR rights, Saravanamuttu reminds us.

The Sri Lanka Human Rights Foundation under the presidency of B. M. Murshideen may regret inviting Dr Saravanamuttu to speak at their convention.  If those present understood the urgency of even a fraction of what he threw their way, they would have gone home in a sorry, despairing state of mind. SLHRF’s current list of 23 “Present and Future Activities”, just got a whole lot longer.

Saravanamuttu left the audience with a forceful, grave challenge. “The majority of Sri Lankans don’t know or don’t give a damn about what is going on. What is the Sri Lanka you want? What can you do to achieve it?

Is Comfort More Important Than Looking Professional?

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• Published on November 15, 2016

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Ajita Kadirgamar

Writer and Social Media Manager

There are thousands of articles on the internet that tell job seekers to dress professionally when going for a job interview. That same advice however does not seem to apply once you land the coveted job and somewhere down the line are sent out into the big, wide world of corporate events to represent your company.

I recently attended Inbound2016, the largest gathering of digital sales and marketing professionals worldwide. There were upwards of 18,000 attendees from 92 countries who made their way to the Boston Convention Center in Massachusetts, USA. Last year it was a mere 15,000.

Call me old school (I've been attending events internationally for over 25 years), but I was rather appalled on the whole by the way people were attired. If you are wearing a name tag which includes your company name and if you are handing out company business cards, should you not be appropriately dressed so as to be a brand ambassador for your company? It’s been drilled into us as professionals that appearance does matter – you have between three to five seconds to make a good first impression and what you’re wearing is part of that impression.

Donning legging with boots, super short miniskirts over leggings, jeggings, skinny jeans, woollen caps with pompoms, fuzzy, fleecy scarves, sweat/track pants, sneakers of all hues and styles, and heels that belong on the catwalk do not qualify as ‘business casual’. And yet that is what I observed en masse, regardless of age or gender.

Yes, Boston in November is cold and windy. Yes, the Boston Convention Center is massive and a lot of walking between breakout sessions was involved so comfortable shoes were certainly a need (I pitied those in stilettos). Yes, you had to lug your laptop and other stuff around the massive venue, so hello backpack, that schoolkids' accessory that has now become every adult’s prized possession. Sigh.

Is under-dressing, even slumming it, the American way I wondered? Maybe I’d forgotten, after having lived in Massachusetts for ten years and then moving back to Asia, where we still care about appearance. That could have been an explanation if not for the fact that there were people from 90 other countries at this event, some of those countries ranking among the best dressed in the world.

Comfort is important, I totally agree, but surely also is a sense of propriety? Attending a convention or conference is not a vacation, therefore why would you dress down? If the company is paying all your expenses shouldn’t you at least make an effort to look your best?

While we generally accept that techies and geeks are exempt from any sort of dress rules, surely marketers and sales folks are a bit more concerned about image. Would you seriously go and meet a potential new client dressed looking like you're off to the supermarket or the mall?

Conferences are as much about networking as they are about learning. Who knows, your next big client could be someone you met, say at Inbound2016. And you’ll be lucky if they remember you for your charm and wit rather than the unflattering skinny jeans and Ugg boots you were wearing.

So, don’t spend too much on that interview suit, you might not get much wear out of it once you secure the job. If the comfort factor continues to trump professionalism in the business world, you might soon be going to work in your pajamas and flipflops.