Moved!!

I've made the change..from blogger to wordpress..and so far, me likes it much better!! :D

From henceforth, I'll be here.

Isankya Wins the Gratiaen Prize!

Isankya Kodithuwakku, who used to blog as Turtle a long time ago, has won the Gratiaen award for 2006 for her book of short stories The Banana Tree Crisis. The awards ceremony was held at the Trustee's CEO's quarters in Colombo (I think!). The award for 2006 was given jointly to Isankya and Senaka Abeysinghe (for his play Three Star K). The fact that I am ecstatic about Isankya being given the prize of course is obvious seeing as I was a fan since way before..and I'd say the book truly deserved the prize..but then, I might be accused of being a bit too biased! :(

The book, when it was shortlisted a couple of weeks ago, was described by the judges as "…neither patronising nor self absorbed, unpretentious yet poetic and very simply, compelling and beautiful". The shortlist was Isankya, Senake, Ashok Ferrey (for Good Little Ceylonese Girl), Rita Perera (Coalescing with Omega) and Vihanga Perera. The shortlist announcement is here. Will update this when more articles appear about the prize.

A lot of the people who I talked to at the ceremony kept saying it was obvious from the start it was going to be a winner, including a couple of the judges and Ashok Ferrey.. So perhaps my bias is justified :oD

Anyways, If Isankya's still hanging around the blogosphere and reading this..Congratulations!! and you are a complete idiot for saying/ thinking that you weren't even going to make the shortlist! :op

Child Sex Tourism - WHAT is being done?!?!

I wrote on the issue of child sex tourism (CST) a while back (CST in Sri Lanka) and was reminded of that again by a comment left there by Brandix a few days ago...which got me thinking. Before I returned to Sri Lanka, I was under the impression that CST had suddenly, at last, become a “problem”. There was some kind of child empowerment ad released, etc to not only empower kids to say no, but also to create more awareness of the issue within society. Yet, since I’ve been back, I find that nothing seems to have changed. People are still, on the whole, unaware of the problem or are happy to look sad to 2 seconds when the topic comes up before moving on to “let’s talk how to resolve the national problem”. A problem that continues to traumatize and destroy whole future generations is not an issue that is national enough?

What bothers me is the fact that I can’t see anything that’s being done – by anybody. I’ve not even seen so much as an ad – to empower or just simply to create awareness/ eliminate its ‘taboo’ tag. WHY IS THAT?? Where is the NCPA? Whose children do they protect? Do people really not care? Have we stopped caring and have started to rationalize so much to the extreme extent that we’re afraid of at least trying to do something today for fear of it not achieving all that we expected tomorrow?

When I talk of CST, even in passing reference, the reactions I’ve seen makes me think people are generally divided into 3 categories on the issue:

1. Those that just don’t care - the kind who think “it’s not my problem”. These types of people are not worth anyone’s time or space so I’ll not waste my blog space on them.

2. Those that care. They say “oh yes, sad thing, no?” and/ or “something must be done about this”, but think they themselves are not capable of “doing anything” and so they don’t. Or they find it sad, etc, but the subject is still kind of too “taboo” to be really talked about. These people are the most important from an activists' perspective simply because they can be used to the advantage of the issue just the way a floating vote is used (exploited?) by a politician. If they are shown/ told how to make a change, if they are made aware that taboo-ing it and sweeping it under the carpet helps no one, there is always hope for change.

3. Those that reason and rationalize, sitting on cushioned arm chairs – literally or metaphorically. Those who belong to this group are generally “high up” types who carry some clout socially or politically, etc. There are two types within this group, those who listen patiently and then (very logically) reason “they are all good ideas, but where’s the money for all this?” The second type who rationalizes “…but I don’t think ‘solution x’ will work” before moving on to ponder ideas which will work such as a military solution/ peace talks to the conflict.These type of people actually have the contacts and experience to at least try to implement mechanisms to make a change...so why don't they?

And for me, being the tiny individual that I am right now, it’s doubly frustrating that not only do I have to put up with such shocking reactions, but there doesn't seem to be anything to get involved in to at least try to make a change..and it makes me feel like I, too, can’t to do anything about this at all..except for ranting about it every once in a while :(

Frozen Tear

I picked an Araliya off the mounds
That lay at my feet scattered around
The soft yellow white violently creased
You turned away scowling, quite displeased
For in that bloom you only saw
Its “fall from grace” to sands below

You don't see the defenselessness
Of crushed petals in that browning mess
You point only to the disapproved
Ignoring lost moments, almost unmoved
By the childish fragrance openly stripped
By the smiling face of a nondescript

You tell me not to overreact
But were not the blooms cruelly hacked?
And while the sun chooses to turn away
Will not the bud forced to flower early today
Be judged tomorrow eons before birth
Like an illegitimate child by the mother’s girth?

You see no debris; but only taboo;
Proffering reason to think things through
You crush the helpless, unaware,
You advise blindness of their despair
If your reasoning is what you don’t feel;
Is my frozen tear, their sole appeal?