How I extended my trip to Sri Lanka

 

In April I took a one-week trip to Sri Lanka for Eid.  It was a magnificent journey as I enjoyed the people, the landscape, the food, and the culture very much.  I spent four days in Kandy, the traditional capital in the center of the country and a few days in the modern capital city, Colombo.  I climbed a historic monolith, visited multiple temples, viewed elephants bathing and roaming about in the Pinnawala River, took a cooking class where I learned to make traditional Sri Lankan dishes, toured a tea factory, visited two tropical herb gardens where they made natural medicines, and strolled the urban beaches of Colombo.

I was a little sad to depart Sri Lanka, I had enjoyed my visited so much, but the last couple of months I've been extending my trip and continuing my Sri Lankan experience.  How?

Instead of buying a wood carving or similar souvenir, I found a wonderful bookstore in Colombo and purchased three books on Sri Lanka that provided me additional perspective on this beautiful nation with a tragic recent history and helped me put the observations I had gathered into better context.  It's such a great way to make one's travels more meaningful and a more profound learning experience beyond simply consuming the culture that is offered.

Here are three very brief reviews of the books I purchased, each one serving as a window into the Sri Lanka that I had a small sense of, but couldn't experience fully in merely one week.

Fifteen Short Stories, by Ameena Hussein (*** 1/2)

This wonderful collection of short stories focuses on on Sri Lankans trying to navigate social, cultural, and religious constraints. Much of the focus is on how women particularly are forced into roles and situations imposed upon them by traditional society that negate their humanity. For example, the story "Celibacy" examines sexual relationships in modern Sri Lanka and the challenges faced by a particularly non-conformist young woman.  But gender issues aren't the only ones tackled in this collection.  "Dragonfly Summer" looks at the Sri Lankan civil war through the eyes of a child and provides the reader with the sense of how the conflict had an impact on even the most innocent childhood experiences.  After reading Fifteen Short Stories, I had a much stronger sense of the clash between tradition and modernity in Sri Lanka, as well as a keener understanding of the restrictions women still operate under. All of this was adeptly handled by Hussein as many of her stories had a sassy, humorous tone which added to the pleasure of the reading experience.

Crossmatch, by Carmel Miranda (***)

This debut novel was written by a veteran of the Sri Lankan medical profession.  It's a combination murder mystery and medical school drama.  The narrator, a medical student named Lotus, who is working a shift in the ICU as part of her training, encounters a patient who has been involved in a traffic accident and ultimately dies.  What everyone tries to pass off as a routine accident seems to have a few irregularities that Lotus decides to investigate.  Eventually the reader is led on a journey of intrigue into the underworld of illegal organ transplants that Lotus uncovers.  The mystery is somewhat convoluted and has a bit of a melodramatic ending, but the strength of Crossmatch is its incredibly detailed view of Sri Lankan medical school and its examination of how poverty permeates Sri Lankan society and how it causes great misery to those who must endure it.  I also enjoyed how much of the action took place on the street next to where my hotel was located.  It was fun knowing some of the places in the novel from firsthand experience. Reading Crossmatch helped me understand the social realities that urban Sri Lankans must struggle through and it's a fun book to read too.

Voices of Peace, by Sarah Kabir (****)

This book was definitely the highlight of my reading.  Throughout the 20+ years of the Sri Lankan civil war I occasionally heard news stories on BBC or read something in the International Herald Tribune, but I really had limited knowledge of what was happening between the rebel Tamil Tigers (the Hindu fighters primarily based in Northern Sri Lanka) and the government-led forces made up of the Buddhist Sinhalese majority of the southern and central portions of the country.  And the Muslim population was caught up in this conflict too, in various ways.

Voices of Peace is an extraordinary text where 10 Tamil Tigers and 10 members of the government army tell their stories.  In each chapter the 20 combatants discuss the civil war from their individual perspective, often telling horrific stories of deep tragedy.  The first chapter talks about how each person ended up joining the conflict with subsequent chapters narrating their direct war experiences.  The narrations continue by chronicling how each person experienced the aftermath of the war and finally the participants discuss how they've attempted to find peace and reconciliation. It's interesting to note that several of the narrators are women, as women on both sides were actively involved in the combat.

In addition, many of the participants ended up as amputees or disabled in various ways.  The narration also discusses the struggles these veterans faced after the war...all in their own words.

It's one of the most powerful books I've ever read.  It ends on a somewhat hopeful note as most of the narrators, despite their suffering, have empathy for the other side and a determination to forge a lasting peace for Sri Lanka.  As one of the 20 soldiers said, "We gave up so much to end the conflict, it pains us to see our efforts treated so carelessly...I hope through this book people can understand everything we sacrificed.  I hope they learn about the war, all the sadness and pain, so that we don't have to ever experience another war like that again."

That's what makes this book special.  It's stated purpose is to serve as an educational guide to help Sri Lankans continue to follow a path toward peace and to understand that despite their differences, as one soldier described the other side:  "they were exactly like us."

It's a phenomenal book, even if you don't have a particular interest in Sri Lanka.

So, that's how I extended my trip, by gathering a deeper picture of the dynamic, beautiful, and fascinating nation of Sri Lanka, through reading three books.  My reading has also served as a motivation to revisit Sri Lanka, particularly the Tamil region of the north and east that I didn't see during my trip.  I would enjoy observing how the minority region of Sri Lanka differs from the more affluent and dominant Sinhalese area where I spent all my time.  Next time you visit a new land, I recommend purchasing a book or two. It will enhance your knowledge, insight, and understanding and add an additional dimension to your journey.