I might never see Govinnaswamy Anthony Suresh again
I am friends with many three-wheel communities. If I were to work
somewhere for an extended period of time I end up going somewhere in one
of the ‘three-wheelers’ nearby and after a while, courtesy chit-chat and
ennam (see you sometime), there is exchange of life-slices. Both ways. I
don’t know all their names but this does not mean I know nothing of
their lives. Some are closer than others on account of greater frequency
of contact or more stimulating conversation. Among them is a man called
Govinnaswamy Anthony Suresh.
Suresh parks his vehicle near Rahumaniya Hotel, Town Hall, ie
opposite the Davatagaha Mosque. He lives down a small lane known to
residents as CWW Kannangara Road.
I’ve known Suresh for almost seven years now and although I don’t
spend as much time near Town Hall as I used to, whenever I stop at
Rahumaniya for thosai or a cup of plain tea, it is customary for me to
see if he’s around and if not inquire after him.
Broken pathway
He and I never haggled over the fare. He would say kemathi gaanak
denna (give whatever you like) and I would respond by offering a note
that was large enough to exceed the fare and say kemathi gaanak ganna
(take whatever you like).
He would give me some notes by way of ‘balance’ and say kamak nedda
(is this ok?). Hari, hari, (ok, ok) would be my response, followed by
ennam, budu saranai (May the blessings of the Buddha be on you; I will
come again).
He would say ‘God bless, Sir’ in return (he’s a Christian, wears a
cross and in my opinion more a child of Jesus Christ than those who
scream and shout about faith and call non-believers heathens).
I’ve been to his house. It was about four years ago, late at night.
There were no ‘wheels’ in the park. I asked someone to direct me to
Suresh’s house. I had to wade through puddles along the broken pathway
that led to the seven or eight ‘houses’ on that 28 perch block of land
few know about, one of the 550 plus slum areas or wattas in and around
the City of Colombo. It was a tiny house with a low roof.
The light was too dim to make an assessment of the building material.
All I gathered was that Suresh and his family was making ends meet with
a lot of difficulty. Suresh crawled out, greeted me warmly and invited
me in as is customary among friends. I was in a hurry. He put on a shirt
and took me to where I wanted to go in this vehicle.
Suresh ages fast, I noticed. He seemed young when I first met him but
the last time, about six months ago, his was almost completely grey. I
went to see him this morning (March 6, 2011), after my thosai breakfast.
Court decision
There’s a car park just behind Rahumaniya and off the CWW Kannangara
Road, a road, by the way, which is less than 10 feet wide. I had my
thosai and went to the car park. An old man sits at the entrance
industriously making bulath vita (betal, arecanut, chunam and tobacco,
all rolled in a piece of paper). Before I could ask him about Suresh, a
lady who was chatting with him spoke to me. She said oya reporter kenek
neda? (You are a reporter, right?).
I said I wrote to newspapers and putting two and two together asked
if she was Suresh’s wife. She said yes and before I asked said that
Suresh was away. She had a story to tell. There are seven families
living down that lane. Four of them pay rates. Suresh’s family has been
living there for more than 40 years. The property was originally owned
by a Tamil person. Somewhere down the line, someone (a Muslim, according
to the lady) had forged a deed and used the tensions of ’83 to threaten
the owner into silence regarding the validity of the claim. He had
subsequently secured a court decision ratifying the claim.
Legal claim
The ‘owner’ has offered Rs 200,000 to each family to leave without a
fuss. They can take it or leave it and be evicted to boot. None of them
have the resources to take up the issue in any court of law. I don’t
have to talk about the land value in Colombo 7. In fact I cannot because
the magnitude of any figure that has over five zeroes at the end is
beyond comprehension.
All I can say is Rs 200,000 is a pittance in comparison not to
mention. All I know is 40 years is a long time in a man’s life. All I
know is that I might never see my friend Suresh again, for I have no
idea where he would go and what he would or would not do tomorrow. All I
know is that he’s an honest man who does not drink or smoke or engage in
any illegal activity, that he works hard to feed his family, that even
he if had no legal claim to the few square inches of earth which he
calls ‘home’ he remains a citizen and deserves a status other than
‘homeless’.
I have no idea what to do right now. Perhaps President Mahinda
Rajapaksa would know; he is, after all, by assertion and in terms of
officer, custodian of all creatures, human and otherwise, on this land.
Including Govinnaswamy Anthony Suresh.
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