I don’t have a bed, I sleep on a mattress, the room I have is small and I share my life with a sixty three year old man , my Landlord, who takes care of me better than anybody I have ever known for some time!!! He ensures that nothing apart from making me feel wanted and ensuring both my wellbeing and security are guaranteed.
We listen to music of his era, we talk politics, he gives me fried fish and when on occasion has one too many reminisces about the good old days of his child hood and the Woman he married when he was just twenty years old. She was also of the same age and they have been together for forty three years!!!
The village has a feast every year which is a tradition that I was able to witness and participate in for the first time even though I have been living in this area for a better part of the last four years. The preparation and the effort that this occasion demands are fascinating to say the least!!! The whole village contributes to raising a forty foot tall flag pole on which a cross is mounted. The process is something one must witness to understand the emotion. This in spite of the fact that half the population of the village aren’t even Christians!!!
The tradition of a flag pole was initiated by my Landlord and three others several years ago. He is the only surviving member of this pack and what was used was a tree trunk that was not even eight feet tall and wasn’t illuminated or decorated. A benefactor of the village then funded a flag pole made out of steel around nine years ago, and the tradition has been firmly engrained in the young to ensure it is continued every year.
The sections of the flag pole are brought to the playground and the young assemble it and the elders raise it when the designated day dawns and the feast commences. The Church which commemorates this occasion officially gets loudspeakers installed all around the village to sermonize every night and ensure the Pastor of the day gets his voice heard till ten PM and none of the priests ever visits to bless the Flagpole!!! That is done by an electrician who wires the system to illuminate the Cross!!! The Church is too busy demanding donations and can’t be bothered!!!
The sense of unity at this time is very obvious, sworn enemies forget grievances, children gather to play together and there is an air of joy that the young and old enjoy together. The climax is on the first Sunday after the flagpole is raised when each home in the village prepares sumptuous meals to be distributed and shared!!!
It is a fascinating social phenomenon that I have had the privilege of participating in. To me it was even more special as my Landlady stayed at my home and the sense of a family that I had become a part was so evident not only to me but to everybody who visited my home!!! My Mother is not in Sri Lanka My father passed way so many years ago and I have been drifting in my life for so long. I am very lucky to have experienced and be a part of the feast!!! It’s wonderful to belong to and live amongst them!!!!
