A dreary day

By the time he reached home night had fallen, a dark deep feeling had descended upon him. Codwin wondered dully what he could do. He wanted to stay up till late but he couldn't because he had to wake up very early and make the long journey back to work. It went on like this the whole week, like clockwork, the whole thing depressed him, so this is what the pursuit of money had lead to, it had turned everyone into some kind of trained, tired, animal. When the weekend comes he would sleep the whole day through exhaustion. Through the window he looked out at the sky, the stars had come out. The night was infinitely dark and strange, but the stars made the whole thing worthwhile. It was then that it occurred to him,  what he needed in his life were stars, something to dream about. He would travel to different parts of the island, and write about it, it would be part travelogue, part history lesson, part novel, part autobiography, he would even write about the stories people tell. Then weekdays and work would not be so depressing after all.

Sadly his knowledge about history or anything else about the island was very poor. He vaguely remembered from school that Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948. He did not know the exact dates but the Portuguese, Dutch and the English each ruled for roughly 150 years, although the last Sri Lankan Kingdom in the Hill Country fell only in 1815. Before that Sri Lanka was one of the great kingdoms of the ancient world, with Engineering feats which could match any in it’s time. A king named Parakrama Bhahu the Great once proclaimed  that he would not let a single drop of water flow to the sea without making use of it, and built an artificial lake which was so big it looked like the ocean, and he was but one of the many great  kings who ruled the Island. Another good example was a king named Dhatusena, who was famous for building tanks (which were really enormous reservoirs used to irrigate the land, especially in the dry zone and are still being used today). His son kasyappa who was a strong headed lad once demanded to see the treasure his father was always talking about, so Dhatusena took him to the lakes he built and said “this is the treasure I have built all my life”. This infuriated Kasyappa so much that he built a wall and sealed his old father behind it, and fearing the wrath of his half brother who was the rightful heir to the throne he built a fortress on a gigantic rock in the middle of the jungle. This fortress which really was also his palace is called the Sigiriya Rock Fortress and is said to be the eighth wonder of the world. And that was about all he knew about the history.

Written by: RJX

We all have to be the way we are made

As the bus moved slowly over the Kelani bridge, silent, mysterious and fatal the river moved below. Inside sat Codwin, who had to take this route everyday to and from work. It was hot inside and he wondered dully whether this was due to global warming, or because the monsoon rains had been delayed, or was there some other factor at play. Then he wondered whether there really was something called global warming for there were many scientists who said it was all rubbish. How do...es it all work he wondered, this whole global warming thing, the traffic congestion, the heat and everything else. Just then a gecko made a hideous chik chak chik cry.

Codwin knew well that geckos are found only in households so how did this one get into the bus?. Maybe it should be made the national animal instead of the stupid jungle fowl. The heat was getting to him and he was thinking rubbish, if the bus moved faster this would create a kind of “artificial wind” which would cool things down. Self consciously he tried to read the newspaper he bought, but then he gave it up in despair.

In another half an hour when they were around Wattala the sun would set over the sea to the west and with it his mood. It was not going well for Codwin, but in a way he really liked the weather. He knew that despite the oppressive heat the weather here was good. The sun shone a little brighter and when it rained it rained a lot harder. He would have hated to have been born in a country where the sun was dull and all the trees looked like Christmas trees or a country where the sun was hot and there were no trees at all. And then he realized he liked his country........... we all have to be the way we are made…..thought he…..and we all have to be where we are made……….and for him it was this Island.

Written by: RJX