On journeys of W G Weerasinghe
They
say a man roams the world in search of the truth and comes home to find
it. This is basically an observation that things are never as far as we
might think they are or are led to believe they are. Distance is
erroneously defined and measures in terms of miles or kilometres,
flight-time or road hours, number of coffee/tea stops, night-stops and
fuel-fill-ups. These 'real' things do exist of course but when it comes
to truth-elicitation the perspective and experience that travel gives
can be adequately compensated by a more conscious engagement with the
hear and now and the physical-social vatapitaava or environment.
Some people travel far but not necessarily in search of truth. Some
leave home in search of greener pastures, some to obtain better training
and some because they just cannot stay at home and not just because
they've been afflicted with the Rahu Maha Dasawa, that particularly
pernicious (but to some heaven-sent) planetary configuration which makes
home-stay impossible. There are those who go away and are happy to be
away or even if not exactly thrilled are resolved to inhabiting what
they believe is a better option all things considered. There may be
moments of doubt and even pangs of nostalgia but the bottom line or
rather the last word remains 'settled'.
Native village
Some have the choice of staying or leaving, others do not. Some can
travel far, to the other end of the earth or to the moon, while others
don't make it outside the borders of their country. Indeed, some spend
lifetimes within the boundaries marked by a radius of a few dozen miles.
Some change residences like changing shirts. Some not only change
residences but move from city to city as well. Some make their village
their universe; some out of choice and some due to lack of choice.
I know of someone who could have gone far but didn't. He remained
close to his native village not because travel never appealed to him or
he was not interested in seeing the world. He was the eldest. He had to
help his parents, educate his three brothers and two sisters. University
was known but only as a possibility if a one-time A/L attempt yielded
good results. He didn't enter university. He became a teacher.
I know him because his brother was a batchmate at Peradeniya. The
brother was an excellent public speaker. He told me how this happened.
Apparently the older brother had got a teaching appointment when my
friend, Premasiri, was in Grade five. The Loku Aiya had insisted that
the little brother prepare a speech, a short three-five minute affair,
on some pertinent topic to be delivered at school during the period set
aside for such innocent exhibitions.
I first met W G Weerasinghe about 22 years ago. At the time he was
teaching in a school in Udayapura. Quiet. He helped their father in the
paddy fields. Was happy that his brother Premasiri had 'made it'; even
though a university studentship was more a liability than a passport
into the good life at the time.
I met him again a few months ago. This time he told me his story. He
had passed the O/L Examination in six subjects with a single credit
pass. On July 2, 1977 he was appointed as an assistant teacher to the
primary school in Arantalawa. Two years later he went to the teachers'
training school in Polonnaruwa. Upon completing the two year program, he
was sent to a school in Bandaraduwa, remote and with hardly any
facilities. The following year he was transferred to Udayapura that is
the village next to his own, Kumarigama.
Scholarship exam
'No one had ever passed the scholarship exam. I was given the Grade
five class. Two children passed the scholarship exam that year. They are
both teachers. I was in this school until 1997. On June 1, 1991 I was
made Principal of the school. By the time I left we consistently had the
best results in O/L Mathematics in the Uhana Division.'
There was so much pride in the eyes of this soft-spoken man. On
January 1, 1997 he was transferred to Werenketagoda MV, Uhana. He had
five months to prepare the children for the Scholarship exam and the
school had the best results in the Eastern Province. That year 16
passed. In 2001, 74 out of 171 who sat the exam passed the Scholarship.
That might be an island record, I am not sure. The following year,
Weerasinghe Aiya was transferred to Udayagiriya, a school that was about
to close down. It was not closed down because the school started
producing decent results.
I think all this constitutes a journey. All within the Digamadulla
District of course but then he's planted so many seeds that burst into
plants and grew into trees, sprouted wings and flew to places he never
knew existed or worried about the relevant ignorance. In 2008 he came
home, so to speak. On October 23 he came back as Principal, Kumarigama
Maha Vidyalaya, his alma mater. A year later, the school was No. 2 in
the District in terms of performance at the A/L.
Building blocks
It was not just the education. 'There was a dilapidated well. There
was no water. Now there's a tank. The toilets were unusable. I got all
of it repaired. There wasn't even a flowering tree to pick some flowers
to worship the Buddha. Now there are. Earlier parents didn't want to
send children here. Now they do.
The teachers chip in with money. The Civil Defence Unit provided some
material. The parents contributed labour. Ven. Senapathiye Ananda
Kumarigama Sri Pushparama Viharasthanaya helped set up a library. We
need to rebuild this school. It is my school. I have to do it.'
Some journeys take us far. Some people don't travel but they
precipitate unbelievable journeys. Some build the building blocks, some
build upon the building blocks. We must all do our little bit, not so
that our children get to travel but they have the choice to do so.
Weerasinghe need not have done any of this. He did. Some journeys are
worthy of salutation. His certainly is; hence this tribute or sorts.
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