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Thursday, 8 December 2011

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Rambles in Kandy:

Unforgettable faces of a busy city

Two hours after I arrive in Kandy I step into an opticians and buy myself a pair of sunglasses. The sun is so fierce overhead I find myself squinting the way Clint Eastwood used to do in old Western movies.

Saturday morning Kandy

The lady at the counter shows me an array of glasses ranging from floral designs to aviators, to the hottest types to the coolest. I try several and find myself being transformed into an Arnold Schwarzenegger look alike, the twin of Mr. T and a Ninja Turtle in quick succession, thanks to the black plastic frames. When I finally settle for a modest pair which I hope does not change my ordinary appearance too drastically the lady quickly packs it into a black plastic case. Then I ask the price. Rs. X she says. Higher than what I expected, but I decide to go ahead with the transaction. She consoles me saying if I am paying with a credit card I will get a ten percent discount. I walk out of the shop wearing my new glasses, into a surprisingly gloomy, semi dark street. Where had the sun gone? Why did ten in the morning look like six in the evening?

Growing up by the seaside in hot, humid Galle, I always imagined Kandy to be a city as cold as Alaska. Sure, there was no snow but the temperature would be near zero, people walked around wrapped in mufflers, wearing the kind of overcoats spies wore on Tv and breathed smoke from their mouths the way dragons do. An uncountable number of moons later, I realized my imagination had been miles away from the mark. Rarely did I spot a muffler and never a heavy overcoat on my rambles along Kotugodalla Veediya or inside the legendary Bake House cafe. The only consolation was the bit about the smoke. On chilly, sunny days people did breath smoke through their mouths almost like the dragons in Harry Potter.

One thing was for sure, I thought as I walked out of the opticians. This was something I'd never done in Kandy before - had never even imagined doing - and that was exactly why I was here today, to see what new experiences I could encounter in a city I have visited every two or three years since 1996. I knew Kandy, but not perfectly. I wanted to discover more; to ramble through the streets as if this was my first trip to this great city where History still lingers as if the Hantane mountains are holding her in a tight embrace.

But today I decide to give history a break. Today I decide to make friends with some "real" Kandyans. Avoiding the two main bus stands, Goodshed and the one near the clock tower, and Torrington, the best place to be if you are travelling on a budget , searching for nicknacks for family and friends, and the Central market where you are bound to find every edible vegetable ever discovered, I walk along the Dalada Veediya.

Stanely with hisalmanacs

Samaratunga, over nineteen years on Dalada Veediya

Abeymenike with her flowers

Kalum singing for a few rupees

My heart skips a beat when I see Kalum at the entrance to the Cargills supermarket; the white cane leaning against the wall is a forceful reminder of how lucky most of us are to be born with our eyesight intact. His eyes half closed, his fingers moving rhythmically over the flute, his head swaying gently from side to side, Kalum seems to be in a world of his own as he stands at the busiest part of the town.

I listen to the music recalling Nana Mouskouri singing "A sidewalk rehearsal for nickels and dimes" till Kalum finally pauses for breath. I ask him who had taught him to play the flute with such skill. "I learnt to play by myself" he says, his eyes resting on the pavement. He was at the school for the physically impaired "the madama" as he calls it, when he was younger, but now lives with his brother in Pilimatalawa.

Every morning he makes his way to the town to collect a few rupees in exchange for the soothing music he provides to the busy shoppers. He says he never spends money on lunch because a kindhearted passerby almost always donates a packet of lunch to him. "This money is important to me" he explains. "I must collect enough to live on, when my brother will no longer be there to look after me."

"Three quarter, half quarter, kotai, digai" the shouts of Samaratunga over the mid morning traffic draw my eyes to the colourful pairs of shorts hanging from the railings of the pavement on the other side of the road, as if they have been newly washed and kept there to dry. "I have been here on the pavement for over nineteen years" says Samaratunga. "For the past ten years I have been selling these cotton shorts for ladies".

Even though it is already eleven thirty in the morning he has not been able to sell a single pair yet. "If I sell two pairs of shorts a day, I feel I made a fortune" he smiles resignedly, then, brightening up, asks me if I would like to buy one. Fate rescues me from this predicament by sending two customers to him in the form of two teenagers who giggle over the "kotai, digai" three quarter two quarter trousers and decide to buy a pair each.

Samaratunga grins happily. He has already made his fortune for the day. Then, realizing he had not sold me anything he begins all over again. "How about this green and yellow pair? How about the pink and blue pair?". But I see the glint in his eyes and hear the laughter in his voice. "You brought me luck" he says as he waves me away.

The black grey fish lurking near the banks of the Kandy Lake, waiting eagerly for a snack is a pleasing distraction from the busy streets on a Saturday morning. "Don't dream of catching them" says a voice behind me. I turn to see Stanley with his almanacs standing near me. Together we gaze at the water, then he gives me a red grin revealing teeth stained with betel juice.

"If you catch them the CID will come and take you away" he warns me. Stanley says he lives in Ampitiya and makes a living standing around the Wava Rauma selling almanacs to the visitors who come for a stroll round the lake. "I earn around two hundred rupees a day" says Stanley. "My wife works in a factory that manufactures umbrellas. We have four children." He smiles. His eyes glisten with mischief. "It would be so great to catch some of those fish and take them home for dinner".

"Leave those poor fish alone" says the lady seated under a tree with bags of white flowers in her lap. She smiles at Stanley and me. "Fishing is a sin." Stanley laughs and walks away searching for other customers (he had made me buy not one but two almanacs). Abeymenike says she cannot remember for how long she has been selling these bags of flowers here in front of the Dalada Maligawa. "I remember I was here on the day of the bomb blast. I am old now and my memory is not that good." She lives in Mahaiyawa with her sister. "Both of us are unmarried." she sighs. "If only I had got married when I was young...I would have my children taking care of me now."

Every morning she plucks the white flowers growing around her house, makes ten bags and comes to the Weva rawuma. A bag costs Rs. 20. "I leave for home only after all the bags are gone. With the two hundred rupees I earn my sister and I buy food and medicine". She shows me her swollen legs.

"Don't worry, they have been like this for a long time" she assures me seeing the look of alarm on my face. I leave Abeymenike with her words of advice lingering in my ears. "Ikmanata kasada bandina eka hondai" (It's good to get married as soon as you can.)"

I call it a day. I had wanted to see if it was possible to re-experience Kandy as if for the first time. Through the new friends I made (and the new pair of sunglasses), I realize I did just that. I had seen a "new" Kandy.

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International Day of People with Disabilities was on December 3:

Let's give them their rights

United Nations International Day of People with Disabilities which was on December 3 splashed many discussions and programmes. A friend of mine who was an organizer of such an event told me he is not satisfied with the public participation and also with the public awareness.

Manique Gunarathne, an executive in The Employer's Federation of Ceylon, who was visually impaired in 2000 also pointed out that the public awareness about people with disabilities is insufficient. She holds many top positions in different organisations and contributes to people with disabilities.

She has represented Sri Lanka in international context for about fifteen times and has won three National awards including 'Diriya Kantha Award' 2007.

According to the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, No.28 of 1996, persons with disabilities have been defined as "any person who, as a result of any deficiency in his/her physical or mental capabilities, whether congenital or not, is unable by himself /herself to ensure for himself/herself, wholly or partly, the necessities of life". According M D C. Jayamanne, Director of National Secretariat for Persons with Disabilities the population of people with disabilities in Sri Lanka is about 7 percent of the country's population.

A proper methodology for recording comprehensive data on them should be implemented. But many initiatives have been taken for the betterment of the persons with disabilities which are like Sri Lanka. This is becoming signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on March 30, 2007.

The legislation has been passed by the Disabled Persons (Accessibility) Regulations, No. 1 of 2006 to bring it is mandatory to be "accessible to all" creating a disabled-friendly environment.

This insists the need of ramps, specialised toilet facilities and other ergonomically user friendly features to make public buildings accessible for people with disabilities and the elderly. According to Director of National Secretariat for Persons with Disabilities, it is going to call for financial estimates to construct accessible facilities in the government buildings for the persons with disabilities and then planning to allocate financial provisions.

He moreover says that the allowances for the persons with disabilities given by the government will be increased. The housing grant will be increased to one hundred thousand rupees to one hundred and fifty thousand rupees. Self employment, medical, education allowances and the number of families receiving the allowance paid to families with persons with disabilities are also increased. The number of families would be increased from 35 families to 50 families in a Divisional Secretariat Division. When considering persons who became disable by passed conflict, he told that, community based rehabilitations programs are conducting especially in North and East. Manique says that, with all these support definitely there should be attitudinal change in the society about persons with disabilities.

"We expect a change from sympathy to empathy, from dependence to independence, from exclusion to inclusion. People help us with charity based attitude by sympathizing. But what we want is our rights" Her words imply there is a misconception in the society about people with disability which is felt by them. What the people with disabilities demand is not special focus on them, but accepting them. She moreover mentioned "being a woman with disabilities is like double handicapped. There is a judgment in the society that a women with disabilities is unable conduct a good marriage life or unable to have children. But they have right to marry.

And also though there are a lot of women organisations; they do not munch concerned in inclusion of women with disabilities, but we do like to be part of them." She also reminded that legislation ensures 3 percent of the workforce in public services has to be much more considered by government and private sectors. But she also pointed out English knowledge and computer literacy of the people with disabilities should be improved to increase their working opportunities. She has becoming strength to other persons with disabilities by giving them her knowledge in Information Technology and English. "There are families that do not tend to send the persons with disabilities to schools or release them to the society though they like to mix with others."

It is time to change. Change the way you think about them. But they think big. They have stable dreams. At least we should give them the way to make the dreams real.

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