Niranjan Selvadurai .…. May We Pass Brother? .…… Dæhæna – July 2026
May we pass brother?
But are you one of us!
Or someone other?
Roving eyes survey thus
Taking girls home from work,
Quietly I mutter,
Don’t you have sisters too
Words I dare not utter.
Rod in hand he twirls
Peers down at the girls
They of diverse race and creed
But united in the hour of need
Girls huddled in the car
All similar pensive faces
None with Pottu or Thaali,
Those give away traces
See bro, they come from far
Buses not running… blah, blah!
The accent must ring true,
So I keep talking through.
Got petrol in a tin can?
No, there’s some in tank
No time to syphon, man
Says Tarzan at my flank
Now that I’ve passed his test
Tarzan is my friend best
Clear from the road you!
This car must go through
Shops ablaze and shattered glass
Tarzan back at the helm yelling
Unruffled mates loading hand carts
Charred remnants of a once dwelling
Although you made your call
Thinking we were of one feather,
Colombo burned around us all,
When you let us pass, my brother.
– Niranjan Selvadurai
Context:
This poem recalls an encounter from Monday, 25 July 1983, the first day of the violence later known as Black July in Sri Lanka. As Colombo descended into chaos, the narrator and a friend tried to drive several young women home from work but were stopped by a mob near Town Hall. In that moment, language, accent, and cultural markers became their only protection, determining whether they would be allowed to pass.
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ALSO NOTE ….. https://thuppahis.com/2023/07/24/the-agony-and-ecstasy-of-a-pogrom-southern-lanka-july-1983/
The Agony and Ecstasy of A Pogrom: Southern Lanka, July 1983 …… Michael Roberts, ….. JULY 24, 2023 ·
EMAIL COMMENTS Via M-Roberts’s EMAILs
FROM LORENZ PEREIRIA in MELBOURNE, 11 July 2026:
A superb narrative recalling a horrendous period in SLs bitter past.
Congrats my very dear friend Nira, firstly on your noble gesture to escort those young girls to safety and secondly on the excellent poem that depicts that sensitive moment do vividly.
Love
Lollo
https://www.elanka.com.au/may-we-pass-brother-by-niranjan-selvadurai-2/
NIRANJAN SELVADURAI’s APPRECIATION –Addressing LATIFF
Greetings
Dear Latiff,
” Wow that was a beautifully articulated analysis and poetic reflection. Just took my breath away.
I am glad the poem had the desired effect on some of you. Some of my class mates have asked, Nira why do you have to bring it up now during the month of July? Isn’t that past best forgotten?
Thank you all for your observations.
That was an eventful day. I saw Ambal cafe being set on fire from the 4th floor of the HSBC building where I worked. With that the whole Bristol Building on Chatham street burned down. The roof of the State Bank of India build was set on fire. This was the building adjacent to the HSBC building. Some HSBC boys climbed the 4th floor roof with buckets and hoses to prevent the fire spreading to our building. They were successful.
Then there was the issue of getting back home. Buses were not running that afternoon. Those had come by car agreed to do what they can to transport staff home.
I did not drive that day because, I did not want to carry my driver’s license with me. Instead my friend Passa drove. I sat in the front seat next to him. There were three others in the back seat. A Tamil girl, a Tamil boy and a Sinhala girl. Well I was in my twenties too.
Regards
Niranjan