M. L. Wickramasinghe, courtesy of the Sunday Island and http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/37708 where the title is “It is Because of Mahinda “Mahattaya” that we can now walk Freely on the Roads Like this”
I am persuaded to write this short opinion piece due to a short dialogue a shop assistant had with me last week at a suburban town. I kept a small parcel including two newspapers in a transparent cellophane bag on the shop counter and went in looking for a few items. On returning, I saw a person reading the newspaper through the cellophane bag. He smiled apologetically. I smiled back in a relaxed and empathetic way indicating non-verbally (hopefully), that he could finish reading if he wished to do so.
Saying ‘a menna sir’ (‘here it is sir’), he handed the parcel back to me. As he handed back the parcel he said “Basil mahattaya penala gihilla kiyala kiyanne? Apahu enna kiyala niyoga karanavalu neda”? (‘it is said that Mr. Basil has run away? He’s been ordered to come back isn’t it?’) I was taken unawares, but said, “Basil mahattaya apahu eyi; parajayata wagakeema bara gannawa kiyala Basil mahattaya kiyala thibuna ne” ( ‘Mr. Basil would come back. Mr. Basil had said that he is taking responsibility for the defeat’).
Pic from dbsjeyaraj.com
Then he got into a short dialogue with me and said that the way ‘some of them’ treat the Rajapaksa Pavula and Mahinda mahattaya is not quite good; how they talk about them is not in good taste. I said that I tend to agree, and that type of talk would gradually stop. “Sir, Mahinda mahattaya hinda ne den apita mehema nidahase pare behala yanna puluwan” ( ‘Sir, it is because of Mahinda mahattaya that we can now walk on the roads freely like this’). I walked away reflectively. Continue reading →
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