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Facts are Stubborn by Anton Gunasekera

During the beginning years of the twentieth century, young Mohandas Gandhi, lawyer and budding journalist, advised the vociferous, anti-Apartheid leaders of the minority Indian community in Durban, South Africa, that if they would maintain calm at the workplace, and lay down the striking weapon, the hostile Apartheid storm could be sent back to where it came from - sooner than later. Gandhi's peaceful negotiations with the ruling, White Apartheideans resulted in radical reforms at the once-neglected workplaces.

While on board the Durban-bound ship, Gandhi had observed a limitless carpet-like, grey-blue sheet of silent sea beyond the deck. After an hour or so, he had noticed foamy mini waves building up on the even sheet, with mild, soothing winds, finally joined up to form a sizeable wave. More such waves followed. With the passage of each hour, the sea was now rough enough to rock the ship.

Then, lo and behold! The violent, virulent storm struck with vehement revenge, roaring, sky high waves and skin-piercing winds which nearly capsized the sturdy ship, which fortunately leaned against a massive rock which appeared from nowhere. Gandhi, lying knocked down on the deck-floor, pondered on the age-old adage "The Calm before the Storm".

The revised version pertains to contemporary times, in this our new millennium, exactly a century after Gandhi's maiden voyage to Durban. "Beware!" says the pseudo author of the revised version; "Beware the Maiden, Uneasy Calm - the scheming culprit which plans the perfect plot which, in turn paves the path for the oncoming maiden storm.

After the initial damage has been done, it retreats as if nothing has happened. But the maiden Calm had set the stage for a chain reaction of more calms and more storms ..... until that final day, when the "Unseen Hand" summons the maiden virulent storm, along with the chain of subsequent sister storms - to herald in the islandwide Maestro Storm".

To even murmur that Gandhi was foretelling in 1903, the coming of a 'maiden, uneasy calm and a chain-reaction storm' in early 2003, and to attribute it to innocent 'unionized' mature medicos, would be the unkindest surgical cut of all; especially, when knowing people have sworn on oath that it was the "Unseen Hypocritic Hand" (UHH) which chartered the course of the 'Uneasy Calm" for the premeditated, virulent storm, ready to strike at UHH's bidding; certainly not the disciples of Pappa Hippocrates to whom the phrases "Action Committee and 'Unresolved Anomalies' would have been Greek, if at all he heard it in his grave.

Lands Minister (Dr.) Rajitha Senaratne, the only medical man in the five-man Cabinet-Subcommittee which finally resolved the Anomalies grouse, did not mince his words, when he asserted (quote): "We studied the core-content of the several one-man committees and their recommendations on the alleged anomalies issues.

The GMOA's Negotiating Committee accepted our final recommendation to the Cabinet of Ministers, the formula we worked out on the Anomalies issue, to our mutual satisfaction. They even agreed to call off the strike with immediate effect.

But then came the Big But. "Our joint decision has to be placed before our Action Committee, since it is its members who take the final decision whether to accept or not, our joint decision.

As readers would, perhaps, agree, why did the so-called Action Committee hide in the sinister backyard and front a puppet to the Cabinet Subcommittee 'Knowing people' among our people, as much as our discerning, literate readers, know too well that all Calms and all Storms were signed, sealed and delivered to "The Innocents" (we mean, the storm-strikers of yesterday, today and tomorrow) by none other than the 'Poaching Activists' in connivance with their 'Juxtaposed Vindictive Partners'.

The Seeing Hand of Pro-people has just passed down to the Unseen Hand of Anti-people, an addendum to the Ten Commandments, which simultaneously with the Fifth Commandment, goes something like this: "Thou shalt not create one anomaly after another towards selfish ends and kill the voice of the voters who know not anomalies" - sic.

The Moving Finger wrote; and having writ, moved on. But while on the move, it came across some hideous writing by some 'Unseen Hand'.

The irate Finger plucked its Nail, threw it to the 'Seeing Hand', directing it to hit the Nail on the 'Unseen Hand'. Just see will you what happened. The 'Seeing Hand', instead, hit the Nail on the Head of Someone Unseen-who seemingly hated hands-clutching, alias Koha-biting. Like they say in Sinhala: 'Viddey Haavata - Vedhuney Pandhurata".

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