The adult generation was comprised largely of those who’d worked for the writer several decades before, prior to his departure for northern climes, as well as more recent additions to the workforce. The group was a mix of Sinhalese Buddhists and Hindu and Fundamentalist Christian Plantation Tamils, all of whom mingled comfortably, without any of the acrimony that many of the political leaders of the two communities seem to revel in. All of their children were growing up in a Sri Lanka to which I was, essentially, a stranger. A Sri Lanka in which these Tamil children, some in kindergarten, were walking five kilometers each way to a Muslim school in a Muslim village, so that they could be taught in Tamil and where they were compelled to observe Muslim religious holidays, including being off school during the fasting period. Of Tamil culture there appeared not to be a trace in the curriculum.

Trincomalee District Development Association (TDDA) end of year get together-pic: Drs. Sarajevo

During the many years I spent among aboriginal people (First Nations/Indians) in Northern Canada, the need to preserve their languages in order to preserve the cultures of those who spoke them was brought home most forcefully to any observer with a modicum of cultural sensitivity. In addition, as one engaged in community development work in one of the larger northern Canadian Cities one could not but appreciate initiatives such as Heritage Languages programs developed to assist immigrants, ranging from those who crossed the Atlantic in the 19th Century to those who came from places such as Vietnam and the Sudan in the late 20th Century, preserve their mother tongues and the cultural pride that went with that knowledge. Here, what I was witnessing was a perversion of those principles that could not but provoke disgust.

Insult was added to injury when, during "performance time," one of the young Tamil children chose as his "item" a Sinhala song, taught him in school, extolling the virtues of Dutugemunu with particular reference to his defeat of the Tamils and Elara.

I could not but think of how an Irish Catholic would view the idea of a child of his being coached to proficiency in a song extolling the virtues of the Battle of the Boyne!

I have not ever encountered a piece of insensitive cultural imposition such as this at any time during the not inconsiderable time I have spent on mother earth. Is this what a nation once renowned for its kindness, hospitality and cultural sensitivity has descended to? This is crass brainwashing of the worst kind and it struck me as particularly harsh when I recalled what a Sinhala friend of mine who had spent most of his adult life in the study and practice of Buddhism once told me about Elara: that he was a humane and just ruler and that his choice of meeting Dutugemunu in single combat was solely to avoid the carnage that would have ensued had their two armies engaged in a huge battle. Another little piece of information my friend offered me was that, while Dutugemunu was in the prime of life, Elara was an old man approaching eighty years of age. Hardly a titanic battle of two physical equals!

The esteem in which the ultimate victor, Dutugemunu, held Elara was displayed by his order that all those passing Elara’s grave were to dismount, pass in silence, and show the utmost respect to a great and honourable man.

That we live in a land where educational policy dictates that the historical descendants of Elara are trained to sing songs of praise to the man who vanquished and killed him says more about the "victors" than the vanquished and gives this writer pause every time he thinks of where all of this is ultimately going to take all of us when the generation that is now in school does in fact become the movers and shakers in Sri Lanka.