Sri Lankan Cricket – An Observer Perspective

Fernando, R. (2023, November 4). Sri Lankan cricket: An observer perspective. Colombo Telegraph. https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/sri-lankan-cricket-an-observer-perspective/

Sri Lankan Cricket – An Observer Perspective

The ICC One-Day-International Men’s Cricket World Cup is still underway, and the wounded Sri Lankan Lions just had yet another battering defeat not second to the one they had recently suffered in the Asia Cup finals against the subcontinent’s champs. Undoubtedly, the team Sri Lanka has its movements to celebrate in the biggest stage of the game. Among them, being victorious over the defending ODI World Cup champs of England is a mighty team moment to relish. Similarly, even though the chase against South Africa was a lost war, the manner in which the battle was fought is something to take note of as it gives enough room to realize what the Lions are capable of doing when they wake up from their slumber. Similarly, it is also good to bear in mind the fact that the Sri Lankan Team defeated their Dutch competitors who, in turn, went on to beat the rainbow-flagged South Africa later in the tournament. One should not also forget the personal excellence showcased by individual players in all three departments of the game - batting, bowling, and fielding. Put together, these instances help ascertain the belief that, if cricket is an unpredictable sport, the Blue Lions are the true patrons of the game, and their unpredictability seems to be second to none. 

It may be true that unlike Sri Lanka’s 1996 WC Cricket Team led by Arjuna Ranatunga, the Team Sri Lanka 2023 led initially by Dasun Shanka and later by Kusal Mendis was not the favorite for the current edition of the competition. Also, while the Lankan squad is quite young in their international cricketing experience, the alleged injuries have further crippled the camp right from the time of the WC team nominations. As a result, the team missed some of the key performers in the party who happened to be the IPL stars and, therefore, would have been so useful in the Indian pitches. Nevertheless, it would be unjust to say that no Sri Lankan fan believed that the Lions could win the cup. For example, given the unpredictable nature of the sport and of the team, I for one, believed that the Blue Lions could perhaps do the unthinkable and create a young revolution. 

It is, therefore, with that affinity that I wish to engage in this reflection in-and-on action of the national cricket team’s performance in the ICC WC 2023 as seen through the sport’s live television broadcasts and streaming. It is so done with the faith that as a young team, such reflections would benefit the team (players as well as those responsible for making decisions on their behalf) to make the national cricket better in the future. Additionally, it is hoped that through such reflections these privileged national players and their mentors would take to heart that the presence of their team supporters, no matter where they are in the world, is not something that they could take for granted as in Sri Lankan politics today. Rather, it is something that they should not only always be conscious about as they rally around the ‘One Nation-One Team’ banner but also inevitably give respect to through their actual display of performance, decision-making, and overall conduct both individually and collectively as a team. 

 

Constant Player Changes V/S Team Building

To begin with, there had not been any other team in the 13^th edition of the ICC Men’s Cricket WC 2023 that had its players changed so often than the team Sri Lanka. While there might have been legitimate reasons to do so, such changes did not seem to have created a better climate within the team/management or stronger coordination/partnerships in the game. Be it the batting department or the balling division, while such quick changes do not appear to have given rise to better fixes, my fear is whether or not they have contributed toward further loss of confidence in players yielding to subsequent instability in the team. 

 

One Team V/S Many Outlooks

In the same vein of thought, it was often a good sight to see how teams share their moments of the game together as one unit (management, players, officials) be it in their dressing room or in the duck, tensed and nail-biting when things go tough and relaxed and smiling when things are under their control. When it comes to Sri Lankan camp, however, while its freshmen, and youngsters together with the yellow-jacketed substitutes often had the duck out occupied at the boundary line, their dressing room hardly had any close conversations or team spirit displayed. I remember seeing South African and New Zealand captains, upon being made substitutes, seated at the duck out with the rest of the teammates sharing their joys and pains. While I failed to see such a sight in the Sri Lankan camp, all that my mind could grasp through the camera footage shown was that it appears to be an individualized team rather than a team with different individuals. Do we maintain a certain gradation or differentiation of treatment in Sri Lankan Cricket? 

 

Team Captaincy V/S Personal Best

Be it Angelo Mathews, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, Dasun Shanaka, or Kusal Mendis, the role of captaincy in the Sri Lankan team has been thoroughly shaken in the recent past. Undoubtedly, the role is beset with a unique set of challenges as compared to their personal best. For example, one such challenge would be that captains often have to face interviews before media, cameras, TV shows, spectators, etc., and speak in English, which they might not be proficient in. This linguistic barrier by no means a small stress to the leadership and his confidence in the self that permeates to all aspects of the game. As a result, balancing the demands of leadership with personal excellence can be a daunting task, especially when the team is going through a transitional phase or struggling to find its rhythm as in the case of Sri Lanka. Take for example Kusal Mendis. Until the day he was appointed as the captain of the team for the rest of the WC 2023, he was ranked the highest scorer of the game for this edition. Unfortunately, from the day he was called to shoulder the new responsibility, his personal best suffered, and he has never made a ton of scores ever since then. If the demand for a particular role is way too far beyond one’s personal best, should the management burden the players with such decisions in the first place? At the same time, cannot the players say ‘no’ to such offers if they are able to assess that such opportunities are nevertheless stumbling blocks to realizing their personal best and giving their best to the team and to the country? What is more important, contributing one’s best for the betterment of the team or performing a duty at the expense of one’s personal best? 

 

Playing Cricket V/S Representing the Country

The journey from playing cricket to representing the country is a remarkable transformation that highlights the unique and demanding nature of international cricket. While the pursuit of professional cricket at the international level is a prestigious honor, the realization that, in so doing, one becomes a representative of one’s country, culture, and identity comes with added pressure, expectations, and responsibilities, as national pride is at stake. As a result, the transition from playing cricket wearing the national colors to representing the true national identity is a significant one requiring not only skills and talents to excel in the game but also a deep sense of commitment and loyalty to the nation.

Taken in that light, we have had players speaking to the public media and the press, not always in English, but in their own mother tongue and with translators. It has always happened in the past and it happens to date in the 2023 edition of the WC as well. For example, we have seen the veteran and the Hall of Famer Muttiah Muralitharan in his early stages of cricket speaking with the help of translators. But he ended his career not only with unbreakable records in his personal best in the game but also as a fluent English speaker. Today, we hear Russell Arnold in his clear English in the commentary box. We see how Kumara Sangakkara is appreciated for his fabulous dictions. They too have received these praises not at the expense of their personal best in the game. It goes to say that while the players' talents for the game should not be determined or curtailed on the basis of their extra skills such as the use of language, one should always ask if it makes a player or a team small if one chooses to speak in the language that is unique to one’s motherland? On the other hand, if we could sing the national anthem in front of the world in its original language and with full passion and emotions, I believe, speaking a language that one is capable of is more noble and patriotic than trying to match up to popular demands and making oneself a laughingstock in social media, live telecast, and before the multitudes of learned spectators. I believe it is often by speaking either a foreign language accurately or one’s native tongue passionately, that the ‘One Team- One Nation’ band could make not only the presence of their worldwide supporters appreciated and respected but also their patriotism witnessed and upheld.

 

Injuries V/S Preserving Energy

While the ICC Men’s World Cup 2023 is played in India where the climate and pitch conditions are no different from that of Sri Lanka, it was surprising to see that Asian teams were the ones that seem to have suffered more player injuries and replacements than non-tropical participant countries in the context. Among them, Sri Lanka ranks at the top. While it is true that we have found a few promising and talented bowling battalion who has been making a statement in the WC 2023, at times as one bawling unit and at other times as individual players, even when the team failed in one aspect or the other in the game, I believe, giving a serious thought to reducing the length of the run-up that the seamers make is something that merits for several reasons. By shortening their run-up, bowlers can conserve their energy more effectively, especially in challenging conditions, and this conservation of energy allows bowlers to consistently maintain their line and length throughout their spell which is a crucial aspect of successful bowling. Likewise, a shorter run-up can reduce the strain on a bowler’s body minimizing the risk of overuse and overexertion injuries which is crucial for preventing injuries and sustaining performance.

Moreover, a shorter run-up can enhance a bowler's concentration and rhythm, enabling them to focus on their delivery technique and variations. This could also reduce the time given to the opposition batters to settle at the crease, making it more challenging for them to adapt to the bowler's strategies and pace and, thereby, putting pressure on the opposition. This aspect, I believe, is something that we need to learn from team India whose seamers have a fairly short run-up but very high success rate to batter the Sri Lankan lions not just once in the Asia Cup, but repeatedly in the biggest stage of the game in WC 2023.

 

Losing Battered V/S Losing Gracefully

In the context of Sri Lankan cricket today, discerning between ‘losing battered’ and ‘losing gracefully’ seems to be extremely difficult. While all teams experience losses and it is a part and parcel of any sport, the manner in which those defeats are invited and handled can have a profound impact on the team's reputation and morale. By ‘losing battered’, therefore, I refer to suffering defeats in a manner that is demoralizing and marked by poor sportsmanship, controversies, and internal strife. This not only damages the team's standing but also erodes the spirit of the game. On the other hand, ‘losing gracefully’ signifies not only losing with dignity but also determining to learn with humility and commit to improvement. It further indicates the need to play smart cricket and always fight a good battle with a positive mindset to foster resilience and unity within the team. For example, battered and wounded so badly after the Asia Cup finals 2023 against India, and having the pitch forecast so favorable to the batters in the first go, what would have been the choice that the Sri Lankan captain would have made upon winning the toss against the same opponent in WC 2023? Did he make a choice between fielding first and batting first or between losing battered and losing gracefully? 

Even if we keep losing in the future, I believe, in the context of Sri Lankan cricket, the choice to ‘lose gracefully’ can help rebuild the team's reputation, refine its outlook toward the national and international supporters, enhance its performance, and reinforce the values of sportsmanship that the One Team-One Nation has long been associated with in the past.

Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola 2022 Marks the Closure of Jesuits’ Ignatian Year

Fernando, R. (2022, July 31). Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola 2022 Marks the Closure of Jesuits’ Ignatian Year. Messenger, p. 4-5.

Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola 2022 Marks the Closure of Jesuits’ Ignatian Year

The 31st of July, according to the liturgical calendar of the universal Church, is the feast day of Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), the founder of the Society of Jesus (1540) commonly known as Jesuits all over the world. This year, the celebration of this feast is particularly important to the entire Jesuit family numbering over 15,000 members worldwide and belonging to approximately 80 provinces and regions spread across 112 countries in the world. In Sri Lanka, over 100 Jesuits are working in all but the Anuradhapura diocese in the fields of social service, education, retreat, spiritual accompaniment, pastoral care, dialogue, reconciliation, ecological awareness, and justice. The feast of St. Ignatius this year is important because this day marks the end of the quincentenary year (1521-2021) of the conversion of St. Ignatius of Loyola proclaimed as the ‘Ignatian Year’ (20^th May 2021 – 31^st July 2022) by Very Rev. Fr. Arturo Sosa, SJ, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, in his letter addressed to the universal body of the Society dated 27^th September 2019. 

Why was the Ignatian Year so important? 

The Ignatian year marks the cannonball moment or wounding of the founder of the 16^th-century Company known as the Society of Jesus. A noble Basque knight he was, Ignatius of Loyola was defending the city of Pamplona (Spain) against French troops when his legs were shattered by a cannonball in 1521. It was indeed a cannonball moment because with that turn, his previous dreams for worldly honor, pride, glory, and fame were also shattered. Instead, his newfound joy was to do things that would bring more honor, glory, and fame to God than to himself. It indeed marked the conversion of Saint Ignatius popularly highlighted by the three introspective questions he himself asked while convalescing on the bed: “What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What ought I do for Christ?” It is that event that changed the course of not only the life of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, but it is that which led to the foundation of the 16^th-century Company which in turn provoked dramatic changes in the Church as well as in the history of Catholicism.  

 

With the motto chosen as “To see all things new in Christ”, therefore, the Ignatian Year was heralded by the Superior General as an opportune time for each and every Jesuit and community a) to be renewed by God himself; b) to be in touch with and make known to others their spiritual root (i.e., Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius, the Constitutions of the Society of the Jesus, and Our Way of Proceeding exemplified by the First Companions headed by St. Ignatius himself); c) to relive one’s own cannonball moment or conversion experience; d) to hear the cry of the poor, the excluded, and those whose dignity has not been respected in diverse social and cultural circumstances in which we live and work in our day-to-day life; and, e) by accompanying the youth and participating in the collective effort that seeks to heal the wounds of nature and prepare a better world for future generations.  

Closure of the Ignatian Year 

With the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola celebrated on the 31^st of July 2022, the Ignatian Year comes to an end. Once again, given the situation of the island nation, while the closure is going to be at the personal, community, or district levels, each according to its need and capacity, the Roman Curia has recommended that each of these celebrations should culminate with the renewal of the consecration of the Society of Jesus to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

 

On the 1^st of January 1872, Father General Pieter Jan Beckx consecrated the Society to the Sacred Heart of Jesus which was approved by the 23rd General Congregation in 1883. Later, in 1915, as a means of embracing the "munus suavissimum" entrusted to the Society by the Lord to promote devotion to his Sacred Heart, the 26^th General Congregation of the Society confirmed the Apostleship of Prayer (AOP), which was approved by Pope John Paul II in 1986 and developed today into the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (PWPN), as a good way to carry out this mission. On June 9th, 1972, one hundred years after Fr. Beckx, SJ, Fr. Pedro Arrupe SJ, the then Superior General of the Society of Jesus (1907-1991) commonly known as the second founder of the Society, reconsecrated the Society to the Heart of Christ. This year, Very Rev. Fr. Arturo Sosa SJ, the incumbent Superior General of the Society, will renew this consecration once again on the 31^st of July 2022 on the feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola. 

 

Therefore, while celebrating the feast of its founder is a good occasion to live and share the joy of the moment with Jesuits, friends, benefactors, beneficiaries, and collaborators of the Jesuits’ mission, the recently elected Provincial Superior of the Sri Lanka Province of the Society of Jesus, Rev. Fr. Sujeewa Pathirana, SJ, in his feast day message, highlights the need for disciplining one’s spirit. Accordingly, he calls for a personal conversion of its members which includes coming to terms with evil in the world as well as in oneself and accepting forgiveness and change.

 

Aragalaya - Struggle For A Classless Sri Lanka

Fernando, R. (2022, June 28). Aragalaya (struggle) to create a classless Sri Lanka. The Morning. https://www.themorning.lk/articles/208633

Fernando, R. (2022, June 24). Aragalaya for creating a classless Sri Lanka.Colombo Telegraph. https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/aragalaya-for-creating-a-classless-sri-lanka/ 

Aragalaya For A Classless Sri Lanka

Today, 21 million Sri Lankans are facing almost two-hour-long daily power cuts, steep price hikes of goods and services, and scarcity of fuel, food, essential items, and medical facilities. The worst affected by the prevailing situation are the poor and the daily wagerers of the country who consist of most of the population as against the privileged few who are the elite. It is at a historical moment like today that the youths of the country -the future of the nation- have got themselves organized for an incessant struggle, known as the Aragalaya, against its corrupt politicians, political allies, and the system of government, and it continues for the successive third months.  

While the Aragalaya continues to happen in various parts of the country, its epicenter is commonly agreed to be in front of the Presidential Secretariat at Galle-Face Green, Colombo, not far away from the so-called Supreme Assembly of Sri Lanka -the parliament at Diyawannawa, Colombo. While the parliament is expected to acknowledge the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which in its Preamble says, “whereas it is essential if a man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law” (United Nations, 2015), the people of the Aragalaya believe that all three main pillars of any democratic system of government, namely the Executive, the Legislature, and the Judiciary, are either dysfunctional, or malfunctional, or corrupt or non-sovereign in the context of the island nation today.  

Therefore, faced with Sri Lanka’s worst-ever economic and political crisis since its independence from colonial rule in 1948, of course for reasons which are either obvious and/or made oblivious to the citizens by the authorities of various governments existed for the past 7 decades. If the people’s struggle has become so intensified and incessant today, it is mainly because of the family politics of the Rajapaksha regime which is believed to have ruined the country given to their pride, non-patriotic decisions, corruption, and the use of thuggery, especially since 2019. The Catholic Bishop Conference of Sri Lanka (CBCSL) explains the current economic and political situation thus created in the country in their recent statement as follows:  

People are stranded on the roads without basic needs such as food, fuel, and domestic and industrial gas. Patients are left in the lurch without the medicine needed to sustain their life. Parents are yearning to find milk food for infants and children. The tragedy that has struck our nation is in no uncertain terms the worst of our times. The political and economic crisis has made people suffer unjustly. Those responsible for this horrendous economic crisis are yet to be exposed. The country has been brought to a standstill and a hand-to-mouth existence (CBCSL, 2022).  

What has come to the fore, therefore, is a tug-of-war between two camps – the camp at Diyawannawa consisting of the 225 parliamentarians and their allies, and the camp at Galle-Face Green consisting of the classless, colorless, creedless struggle of the common people who are battered both directly and indirectly by the whims and fancies of those in the first camp. In other words, what we have here in Sri Lanka at the moment is indeed yet another tale of two cities of our time –the city of Parliament, and that of the Aragalaya also known as the ‘Gota-go-gama’ (gama meaning ‘village’), not vastly different from Dickens’s (1859) A Tale of Two Cities which was set against the conditions that led to the Reign of Terror and the French Revolution.  

It is here that I am tempted to believe that the values exemplified and the battles-fought-for-future at each of these two cities, while they are very different from each other, their differences are nevertheless similar to the ‘Two Standards’: the ‘standard of the Christ’ and the ‘standard of the world’ spoken by St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus (commonly known as the Jesuits), whose conversion experience following the battle in Pamplona, Spain celebrates 500 years this year (1522-2022), and that of the Church’s age-old treasure of the Spiritual Exercises. Taken in this light, it could be said that the Aragalaya launched in front of the Presidential Secretariat is indeed a common struggle of the ordinary masses for creating a classless society in Sri Lanka. It is because, the Aragalaya aims at creating a just and equitable society marked by modesty, simplicity, and humility by annihilating the privileges enjoyed by the class of powerful Sri Lankans by way of their unquenchable indulgence in the benign secularisms, search for pleasure, and remorseless succumbing to wises in the world. 

Therefore, if whoever wants to see a classless country in the future, the making is already here and now at Aragalaya and, therefore, it is my belief, that despite all the hurdles that come on its way, the struggle should continue if it is to create a classless better tomorrow. In so doing, let us not be demoralized when we lose a battle or two at one barricade or another because of teargassing or water attacks or lathy-charges or unwarranted arrests made by the duty-bound, government-deployed, uniform-bearers of the Sri Lankan police and the triple forces or, as ordinary people, by the lengths of the lines we stand in or by the hunger we feel for ourselves and in our children. Instead, let us get together and push the limits of our tolerance, both individually and collectively, to fight, not some isolated battles, but a common war, the Aragalaya, until we create that desired classless Sri Lanka tomorrow. 

Satyodaya - Creating Multipliers of Change

 Satyodaya 

Celebrates 50 Years of Service in Transforming the Plantation Landscape

It is indeed a significant milestone that Satyodaya Centre for Social Research & Encounter celebrates 50 years of its service to the plantation sector in Sri Lanka, and I deem it to be an honor to be the active director of the Centre at the time of its Golden Jubilee.

History

First and foremost, it is with immense gratitude that I remember the great stalwarts who had prepared the ground, sown the seed of Satyodaya in 1972, and stewarded it to grow and become what it is today. The first among them is the founder Fathers of Satyodaya, late Fr. Paul Caspersz, SJ, and late Rt. Rev. Dr. Leo Nanayakkara, the then Bishop of Badulla, the theoria-praxis duo who put both research and encounter together in a harmonious whole at Satyodaya to uplift the living conditions of the plantation peasants in Sri Lanka. To mention a few among them, creating local leaderships, launching women’s self-help and empowerment activities; establishing preschools, village gathering halls (praja shala), providing purified water, rope-pump wells, sanitary facilities, home kitchens, and roofs; and introducing leadership training programs, study, exchange, and excursion programs, village libraries, vocational training, scholarship schemes, language, and computer skills learning for students, etc. It was these invaluable services that won the ‘Visva Prasadhini’ Sirimavo Bandaranayake Award in 1995 and various other achievement awards to Satyodaya Centre during the past 50 years. It is with equal reverence I remember the former Directors of the Centre whose awareness, ingenuity, love, and heroism have paved the way for Satyodaya to become what it is today.

Overcoming the Obstacles in Educating the Poor

The service of Satyodaya in the plantation sector during the past 50 years (1972-2022) was not at all an easy affair. It has evolved over the years and it still does. There had been epochs where thorns were banaler than flowers. While there were epochs when external thorns had caused us hurts, there were some other times when our own internal thorns had torn us to bleed. Despite them all, the followers always blossomed as beautiful as ever, and significantly different from others in the field. Among the sundry achievements it has had since its inception in 1972, one of the most concrete, durable, and structural changes that Satyodaya could arrive at over the past half-century years was that it could prioritize its mission towards transforming the plantation landscape in the Central Province of Sri Lanka.

Accordingly dawned the educational program of Satyodaya, known as the ‘Overcoming the Obstacles in Educating the Poor’ (OOEP Program) catering currently to 12 plantation divisions in the Central and Sabaragamuwa Provinces of Sri Lanka (10 in Kandy district and 2 in Kegalle district), and has established (currently at 8 out of these 12 divisions) a preschool with one or two trained preschool teachers, a Study Centre (currently at 11 out of 12 divisions) with one or two computers, a mini library, study tables-chairs, writing boards, etc., and a trained social worker to frequent and facilitate them periodically. The OOEP program is arranged in such a way that a child first joins the preschool, then the children’s club (from Grade 1 to 13), then the youth association, and finally the Community Based Organization (CBO) in the plantation. At each of these junctures, there is a series of programs conducted periodically and consistently to motivate, update, and empower them to transform their oppressive social structures. Among them are preschool Teacher Training Program (done twice a year), Tribasha (Sinhala-Tamil-English) Study program for Children,

Leadership Training Program (done 4 times a year), additional classes for school subjects, GCE O/L, A/L, Scholarship Grants, CBO Leaders’ Program, etc. At present, we have 143 preschoolers, 320 children from grades 1 to 5, and 425 children from grades 5 to 13 as registered beneficiaries of the Satyodaya OOEP Program. As Satyodaya celebrates 50 years of its service, we are proud to say that we have 53 students who have either secured government university entrance or pursue higher education and vocational training in both private and government institutes as a result of the aid received from the OOEP program of Satyodaya.

Today’s Context

It is quite unfortunate that in a country like Sri Lanka, education is by and large evaluated in terms of paper qualifications and passing rates of government exams which are primarily more paper-pencil-based than skill-oriented. However, not everybody is capable of passing those exams and, unfortunately, that number is alarmingly big. Worst still is the fact that those who have formal qualifications do not have chances for fair job opportunities according to their aptitudes. While the dignity of labor in Sri Lanka is still less or null for the skill-based professions as compared to paper-qualified personnel, one has to be the best to survive in one’s domain of expertise. One of the uprising consequences of this situation is that there is an increasingly high demand, for better or for worse, for voluntary outsourcing of one’s resources to the international job market. It has indeed been the trend of the new normal era which perhapswas forced to dawn with the spread of the Covid 19.

Therefore, the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Satyodaya’s service to the plantation sector falls at a decisive time in the history of the world for a good number of reasons. First of all, it is the 500th year (1522-2022) of the conversion of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. Given that and the Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAPs) of the Society of Jesus promulgated in 2019, namely Showing the way to God, Walking with the Excluded, Journeying with Youth, and Caring for our Common Home, it is also the time that Sri Lanka Province of the Society of Jesus is inclined towards revisiting its roots and restructuring its Province Apostolic Priorities (PAP). Moreover, it is also the time that the Order of the Sylvestro Benedictine monks celebrates 175 years of its service in the island nation of Sri Lanka. Furthermore, the 50th anniversary of Satyodaya has fallen during the time that the universal and apostolic Church has already embarked on its two-year-long synodal journey (2021-2023) marked by communion, participation, and mission. It is also the time that the Covid-19 pandemic has, by and large, become the conditioning factor of almost every activity in the world be it personal or communal, mini-scale or mega-level.

Avenue

Celebrating 50 years of its historic journey is nevertheless an opportunity to revise its Missio Dei (Mission of God) to be better effective in transforming the planation landscape in the next 50 years to come. Therefore, keeping in mind, particularly the charisms of the said two Major Religious Orders of the Catholic Church, the Jesuits, and the OSBs, the very Congregations of the founder-duos of Satyodaya, it is my fervent hope, therefore, to transcend the scope of the OOEP Program of Satyodaya beyond the formal boundaries of education to skills-based training understood in terms of music, dancing, theatre, hairdressing, information and communication skills, etc., in the years to come. This is done with the belief that, in life, the more worth, value, and recognition one acquires, the more transformative he or she becomes and the better agent or multiplier of change he or she be in transmitting that transformation in society. It is my humble plea, therefore, that we put our hands and heads together in transforming the plantation landscape in Sri Lanka because the need is so vast out there in the field but the resources are few, and together we can make more difference than what is separately achieved.

Fr. Rashmi M. Fernando, SJ 

Director of Satyodaya Centre for Social Research & Encounter (2021-2022)

Priestly Experience in Hingurakgoda, Sri Lanka

Fernando, R. (2021, December 18). Priestly experience in Hingurakgoda: Part II. Daily FT. https://www.ft.lk/harmony_page/Priestly- experience-in-Hingurakgoda-Part-II/10523-727751

Priestly Experience in Hingurakgoda, Sri Lanka

It brings always joy to recall my first-ever pastoral experience in Hingurakgoda church in the very first year of my priesthood. 

Upasaka Thaththa in Mission House

It was 16^th September 2017, the first day of my arrival at Christ the King Church, Hingurakgoda. The first sight I had ever had of the place elated my spirit in that pleasant morning. An elderly person dressed in a white sarong with absolutely nothing to cover his torso was sweeping the compound just the way I have seen it being done by the samaneras (novices) and monks in the temple with quiet composure, serenity, and art. “I was told about your coming, Father. Have you eaten?” was the first-ever welcoming words I heard of anybody of that place and I am happy that they came from that upasaka thaththa (worshipful elder) who had some drops of sweat on his chest while speaking to me. ‘Could there be any better way to welcome a stranger than inquiring whether or not he or she is full’, I wondered. 

This mature being whom I soon learned about as the cook of the lagum ge (mission house) was an unmarried elder in his late 60s who had once been a monk in his youth. It was a different joy altogether to share the space with him in the same lagum ge. He was more than a cook to me. There was hardly anybody in the whole of 550 odd families in that church who had not drunk a cup of tea or eaten a piece of biscuit that this person has offered, often against the rule of the Fathers, because the observation of one hour of fasting before the Holy Mass is encouraged for all Catholics as a preparation for receiving the most precious body and blood of Christ during the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. His justification for doing so, more sneakily than overtly, was as simple and humane as ever: “Where on earth do people go to temples and churches having had their full? They all come not only to fill their souls but also their bellies. Don’t they, Father?” I was dumbfounded at his human-centeredness and I had nothing more to say than to nod affirmatively, “Why not, thaththta!” It has often been noted that he was the first person, even before the priest, to visit whosoever he heard of been hospitalized in the village for one reason or another, be it a pregnant mother, a sick child, or an ailing elder, etc. regardless of his or her faith. All of these visits he made were never empty-handed. He made sure to fetch something or the other from the mission house to take to that sufferer, be it a towel, a packet of milk or biscuits, etc. 

This devoted elder died on the way to Ederamulla during the Christmas octave in 2017 as he was going to see his beloved babies of a Christian household where he had worked earlier. There too he was found carrying a box of Christmas edibles collected from the mission house to be given to that family. The scene created at his burial in Kegalle, the far interior of a rubber estate, should be recounted. There was an extra enthusiasm of the Hingurakgoda parishioners to participate in this virtuous being’s last rights. Upon arrival at the place, almost at the time for pansekule (final rights according to the Buddhist rituals), we found this upasaka thaththa, dressed in a white sarong and a white shirt, lying in a very ordinary coffin with hardly anybody to cry over his death. It was however difficult for the Hingurakgoda parishioners to hide their tears. The priests were the first ones to burst into tears no sooner than they saw their feeder. Then the congregation joined, and I saw those babies and their parents too (confirmation of which I had much later) weeping hideously. As we were about to depart, the key organizer of the funeral household approached me and asked: “Sir, nobody cried from our side over his death, but from the time you all came, you have been crying unceasingly. What has he done so much that all you feel for him so much? It wasn’t the time for a lengthy explanation of what this noble person has been and done to us. Nevertheless, he should be witnessed. Thus, recalling chapter 25 of St. Mathiew’s gospel, I said: “We were hungry, and he gave us to eat. We were thirsty, he gave us to drink. We were sick and hospitalized, and he came to see us”.

Christmas Carols in Bana Shalawa  

In the same year, the Hungurakgoda church had an issue finding a place to have its annual Christmas carols. The next-door school hall (as it had usually been done in the past) too had become a no-entry zone for us because of its preoccupation with the GCE O/L exam preparations. Christmas was approaching and the children in the church were getting ready for their big day of the year. It was during this time that I paid a visit to the Hingurakgoda Buddhist temple as it was customary for me to visit the chiefs of co-denominations at the locality wherever I am and serve during the time of Christmas. This, I believe, is something that my family upbringing has bestowed on me. It is because at home we have been trained from our childhood to share food with our neighbors irrespective of their faiths, religions, beliefs, etc. during the time of Christmas and the Sinhala Tamil New Year. In my conversation with the chief monk that day, it happened that the issue of the concert hall that the church was facing popped out of my mouth. “Don’t worry Father. You can come and have the concert in the bana shalawa (temple hall). And for your tea, I will arrange fish buns for everybody. How many of you?” I became speechless. 

With joy, I came back to the church and recounted the good news to the church congregation which felt relieved. But there was a concern. “Father, what about that huge Buddha statue kept on the stage of the bana shalawa?” asked a person of mixed marriage who was familiar with both the environments in the temple as well as in the church. “Will not Lord Buddha be happy to see our children singing, dancing, performing, and shouting on the stage?” I asked. “But Father, we have to make the crib there as well” another added. “True, we’ll make it. I think it’s not that Lord Buddha and Jesus cannot live together on the same platform. Rather, it is we who cannot see them living together, not only on the stage but also in our day-to-day lives”, I was determined. 

It wasn’t however the first encounter I have had with the chief monk of the Hingurakgoda temple. Before that day, we had several occasions frequenting each other, during the time of the annual temple perahara (street procession), Sinhala-Tamil New Year, Ayurudu Uthsawaya, etc. with mutual support, invitations, and reservations. To name a few, while it has been the tradition of the youth association of the church to organize a dansala (almsgiving) during the time of perahara and on the day of Wesak, during the year of my stay in Hingurakgoda, the same dansala was conducted, but differently, in the form of shramadana launched to plant flag poles along the main street of the perahara. This was also participated by the young novices of the Jesuit Order who happened to be in the church at that time for their pastoral experiment.  

Rice, Seasons, and Life

The agricultural landscape in Hingurakgoda in the ancient waw badi rajye (kingdom of tanks) of Rajarata is seasonal. However, these seasons I found were not according to how they are being considered in Europe, or America, or elsewhere in the world. Rather, they were based on the rhythm of the activities attached to people’s main occupation - rice cultivation. 

When the fields were getting ready for sawing, it is the season of hard labor, plowing, and tilling the ground which I would call the gray season after the color of the fields, the color of the plowed earth. During this season, it is often hard to find men regular in the church or the temple. Then comes the vegetative phase of the rice plants which, according to me, is the green season, again after the color of the fields. It involves relatively less labor and, hence, more time for one’s personal, familial, social, and worship activities such as Sunday Mass, temple rituals, etc. The following season, according to me, is the blue season characterized by the reproductive phase of the rice plants. It is blue because of the anxiety that the season brings in. People are anxious during this stage of farming as to whether or not the plants would open up, be attacked by the insects, be destroyed by the elephant, or be supported with enough and regular water supply, etc. In short, during this season, they are anxious about protecting what they have labored for and maximizing the gain. It has been my experience in the church that adults are often reluctant to commit themselves to common responsibilities during this season because they need time for themselves to deal with the anxieties of life. Finally comes the harvest time or the golden season, named once again after the very color of the fields. It is during this season that one generally sees many smiling faces, loud talking of people, the town becoming increasingly active, people getting organized, family events, communal functions, and village carnivals being organized, and the church and the temple getting crowded. 

Thus, the seasons of life associated with the rhythm of people’s major livelihood in Hingurakgoda have a direct and significant influence on their religious observances and adherence to faith-related activities, thus witnessing the age-old symbiotic system of living in Sri Lanka known as Gamai, Pansalai, Wewai, Dagabai (Village, Temple School, Tank, Shrine). It was indeed important for me to be aware of the dynamics of these seasons to understand why people in Hingurakgoda behaved the way they did whether in the church, or the temple, or elsewhere in the village. 

Finally, one of the unifying factors I have experienced among the people of Hingurakgoda is their augmenting willingness to coexist with other faiths within and outside the marriage which is nonetheless not without troubles altogether. While visiting families and attending the funerals of both Catholics as well as Buddhists of the place, I had ample opportunities to experience their harmonious living, collective struggles, difficulties, and pains, as well as joys in life. I still remember the day when the parishioners came to know about my living in the lagum ge without a cook after the sudden death of that upasaka thaththa. The ones who became increasingly troubled upon realizing it, if I am not mistaken, were those in mixed marriages who got themselves hurriedly organized to bring meals to the church as it is been done in the temple by way of giving alms to saffron bearers who have voluntarily chosen the path to nibbana (enlightenment). 

Easter Amidst Bombings and Pandemics

Easter Amidst Bombings and Pandemics

        Easter is where there is despair. This is what the experience of the women and the disciples, including our Blessed mother as St. Ignatius would put it, at the First Easter at the empty tomb. When their so-called Saviour was crucified, they lost their hope. To add insult to injury, even the faint hope they had of seeing His broken and torn body laid inside the tomb while running to it early in the Easter Sunday morning, was denied to them upon seeing the tomb empty, the stone rolled open, the swaddling clothes of Him wrapped up where His legs were, and not finding Him inside the tomb. But, according to the scriptures, that’s when the resurrection has meaning and the Resurrected is indeed witnessed. In a gist, Easter is where there is despair, where there is emptiness, and where there is vulnerability in the utmost sense of the word.

        On Easter Sunday 2019, the day of this cruel incident at St. Sebastian Church, Katuwapitiya, I rushed to the church (since I was already in Negombo at that time), and upon seeing the raw bloodbath inside, I was trying to control my tears, anger, as well as despair out of which I found myself asking, “Why, God? Why is it that it had to be this way?” Then, the turned pages of the Lectionary in the pulpit took my attention. There were human flesh, hair, blood stains, and glass pieces all over them. What attracted me the most was the Scripture verses I read amidst them. Though it was during the Easter Sunday Morning Mass that the attack took place, the pages of the book at the time of the bombing had turned back to the readings of the Easter Vigil Mass which said: “Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth”; “The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.” Ever since I saw that, I was consoled as much as I was in bewilderment. Even though I was determined not to capture and keep any photograph of the massacre that my eyes had then seen inside the church, if I have captured anything on my own in my cellphone camera then, it is the following snap of these Scripture pages on the lectern.

        History has proven that one disaster is indeed worse and the other has never been any better either. As it is said, caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the current global lockdown situation in and around Easter 2020 might become worse before it gets better. In repeated events such as these, the above Scripture verses amidst a real human ambush, on the day of the Resurrection of our Lord, and inside a church can be seen as nothing but a paradox. Or can we make sense of the triple gems of easter: hope, faith, and love? The sure hope where there is despair, uncertainty, fear, and insecurity; the sure faith where there is nothing to cling onto, including any advanced development of science whatsoever; the sure love where there is an immense need for it, irrespective of any human-made distinction whatsoever. As these pages witness it, it is in that emptiness that God created the world, it is in that vulnerability that Abraham found God in faith, and it is in that despair that God led the Israelites out from the Egyptian bondage. 

        From one Easter to another, life has never been easy for those who had lived the real flesh and blood experience of the Easter Sunday bombings in 2019 at St. Anthony’s Church, Kochchikade, Colombo, St. Sebastian’s Church, Katuwapitiya, Negombo, and Sion’s Church, Batticaloa, in addition to several tourist hotels in the country. It has ever been easy for those around the world at this very moment are fighting the deadly battle against the Coronavirus. As easter approaches, therefore, my heart goes to survivors of those attacks, the wounded, the traumatized, and those who continue to grieve over their lost ones, be it daddy, mummy, husband, wife, son, daughter, grandma, grandpa, friend, neighbor, relative; to those thousands of people who laid their lives in the fight against the Coronavirus; to those who are at the frontline risking their lives for the good of others; to those who are under lockdown and not being able to practice their religious observances, especially participating in the Holy Mass at this time of the Holy Triduum of the Paschal Mystery. 

        I honor a word here about St. Sebastian Church, Katuwapitiya, where alone the death toll of the bombing mounted to 115. It has already given four Priestly Vocations, counting not the one currently in formation, to the Society of Jesus in Sri Lanka. I am the fourth one and I am ever grateful to God that he has chosen me for a reason which I am trying to understand every day amidst all that happens in and around me. Please click here to read more about the relief activities done for the bomb victims at Katuwapitiya, Negombo

        May this blessed season of Easter, amidst all its despair, bring us that hope, faith, and love that the Risen Lord alone could give us so that we may be able to be born anew and be rebaptized in our closeness to God, to fellow human beings, and to our Mother Earth by realizing, repenting, and rectifying our fallen ways in the Light of the Easter!

Happy Children's Day, Dear Little Ones!

Children...

Did you know

How Joyful I was

Each time you lingered around me?

You elevated my drooping spirit

Every time you laughed stealthily or aloud;

You soothed my unwanted worries

Each time I heard your voice, so sweet;

You gave me a deep sense of responsibility

Every time you listened to me so carefully;

You enhanced my capacity to forgive

Each time I saw yourselves reconciling, with no strings attached;

You wide-opened my doors of love

Every time your love reached beyond caste, class, colour or creed barriers;

You made me hopeful for a better tomorrow

Each time I think of you as “God is still hopeful of the world”;

Above all my dear little ones,

You make me a child again and again

Every time I experience your touch, so pure, and your love, so tender;

May you have a happy day!

I Love You All!

විවර කරනු මැන සමිඳුණේ...

විවර කරනු මැන සමිඳුණේ 

වාන් දොරටු මගේ ජීවිතේ 

මම සූදානම් අස්වද්දන්නට 

සාර කෙතක් සමිඳුණේ 

ගලමින් තිබු මගෙ ජීවිතේ 
අයාලේ යන ගඟක් සේ 
වාන් දමා ඔබ පොහොනි කලේ 
ජීවන ජලයෙන් පිරවූයේ 

අස්වනු හිඳිලා හිත් ඉරි තැළිලා 
සාර කෙතේ දැන් ව්ල් බෝවීලා 
වාන් දොරටු මගෙ විවර කරනු මැන 
මම සූදානම් කෙත අස්වදනට

Inside This Robe...

Inside this robe

How much I feel love!

To touch and to be touched,

Tender caresses and gentle embraces

Both to render and to recieve ;

Inside this robe

Full of flesh and full of blood ;

Can I scream aloud what my flesh so desires 
When my blood rushes through deep inside me?

And How I listen indefferently when she feels for me!

Inside this robe

Is a man fully alive and fully divine,

Sensitive to human and attuned to Divine;

Yet, the divine touch is more gentler than the humans',

Yes, it pierces my skin and touches the finest of my being. 

Instead, I Bid You Farewell...!

Dear friend,

Today is yesterday’s tomorrow;

And it reminds me of the yesteryears

I coped with you;

You filed me with little things

But they meant so much to me;

You didn’t teach me to write a master thesis

But you helped me to pen my life degree;

Honestly, I tell you

Sometimes I was late to understand you,

And so I failed to derive the best of you;

Though what you did was just a drop,

No one would have done it

In the way you did it,

Thus you are special to me;

Hope you would walk with me

Tomorrow’s journey,

As we both are on the same journey;

And so, I’ll not say “Good-Bye” to you

Instead, I bid you “Farewell”;

Heavenly Father

Listen to my prayer,

Keep my friend always

In your loving care...