I refer to the letter of Prof. Sunanda Degamboda (Sept. 4)). In spite
of the circular logic put forward in an attempt to confirm the existence
of God, can God, as some major religions teach us, be the One whose
physical image we are created in; the Eternal Father; the Omnipotent;
the Alpha and the Omega; the ultimate Judge of good and evil; the
Creator of the universe; the All-Merciful?
From most perceptions, God is an awareness of a certain kind of human
mind which stops short of the infinite. The unexplainable, projected
into an eternal being which embodies the eternal. Creator for the sake
of thought which is illogical and irrational, and judgment for the sake
of disarrangement proceeding into arrangement.
As God cannot be sensed with any of the five senses, God is a
projection of holistic feeling; a conceptual thought projected into
realness by a certain kind of human mind.
But God, as some major religions teach us, can never be so elusive.
He is to be experienced firsthand as a divine being, real and solid. He
is also to be found everywhere and in every nook and corner - pervading
the whole universe - every bit of atom and sub atom, moulding into the
image of God.
He is to be found within and without one's physical and psychological
being. He has been experienced, but only by a certain few - audibly in
most cases.
Then from these entire points, one questions legitimately where God
was on the day of the tsunami - where was His transcending mercy so
bespoken of; where was His safeguard so anxiously awaited; where was His
justice?
Why should human intellect, reasoning and wisdom to be condemned when
debating such issues, and religious thought not to be questioned when
one feels the inherent need to do so?
If God is an entity which is unfathomable to the human mind, how and
why should one rely on such an entity to fulfil even some of human need?
Yes God was there on the day of the tsunami - a static, unconceivable,
unmovable force; totally, awfully and eternally present.
Is not God then merely the constant of which every dew-drop of life
will slip into, once it has achieved same consistency thereof? (Dharma
of Buddhist thought)
RAMONA T. FERNANDO,USA
The operators of private bus services have become a law unto
themselves over the years. Their callous indifference to commuter
comfort, safe driving, norms of human decency and behaviour have been
silently borne by the commuting public.
One of the offences is the non issuance of tickets. Are they above
the law? After a lapse of years, tickets were issued in the first few
months of this year. One thought ticketless travel was a thing of the
past. But, it was wishful thinking. We are back to square one again.
Tickets are not issued most of time. Passengers are entitled to
demand a ticket. But they never do so for fear of rude and crude
remarks.
They are only interested to rake in shekels, yelling at the
passengers, 'issaraata yanna' or passata yanna', to accommodate more
people. Now, there is a 'middle row standing passengers' trampling,
pushing, peeping, touching, sometimes 'embracing and kissing' as the bus
is jampacked, bursting to its seams.
The hapless victims are the fair members of the species.
As the buses are driven at break neck speed, they are prone to
accidents. If that is the case, commuters are unable to seek redress by
way of compensation since there is no evidence to prove they are the
victims of that particular vehicle. Daily the travelling public are at
the mercy of these speed maniacs.
During the previous fare hike, we were assured of tickets,
improvement in the service, ticket inspectors would be deployed and
errant bus crews taken to task.
Were they enforced? Did we see any improvement? Absolutely nothing,
only broken promises.
Once again, harassed commuters had to face another upward revision of
fares in July. But we are dished out the same shoddy service.
Fares keep on rising while the service keeps on deteriorating. During
rush hours, passengers are packed like sardines inside while a few cling
like corals outside.
Drivers are notorious for snailing and speeding to suit the needs of
the hour. They waste our precious minutes, waiting at bus stands to
collect more passengers.
They speed when they want to compete, throwing caution to the winds.
They are more interested in earning a fast buck than the comfort and
safety of those that travel.
It is a common sight to see buses pulling off before an aged person,
a pregnant woman or a child alights.
To cap it all, most of the time, tickets are not issued. This depends
on their whims and fancies. Passengers dare not question their
'prerogative'.
The management and supervision of the public and private road
transport comes under the purview of the Ministry of Transport, National
Transport Commission, Provincial Ministry of Transport and Private Road
Transport Authority, institutions maintained at the expense of
taxpayers' money.
Despite these, our private busmen act with impunity, paying lip
service to the rule of law.
Have the aforementioned institutions become impotent, toothless to
the dictates of the private bus mafia? Are they above the law?
M. AZHAR DAWOOD
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