election week
the weekend was crazy. i had an absurdly good time on saturday night, despite missing the boy terribly, between the bar at bay leaf, clancy’s and glow. i guess it all boils down to the fact that i purely just happened to be with the right-est people. my brother was around, after a long time, since we spend a lot of time making very sure that we never wind up in the same places. it was good having him there, he’s generally fun, coming with the added bonus of appearing to be somewhat intimidating to anyone who tries to get ‘funny’ with me or any of the girls i’m with. it helps, makes me feel safe etc. besides him, i was with the dancing crowd and my dear, darling girlfriend S. the girls from dancing always manage to dance up a storm, and we always enjoy ourselves thoroughly. thrown into the equation, S made things nearly perfect. we lived one night in the life of the ‘cool’ kids, who probably run through this routine (commons, bay leaf, clancy’s or h20, glow) every weekend, and found it to be insanely costly. there was one of those ‘first time’ things that happened to me and S at glow, it was the wildest thing i’ve done yet. it was fun, to say the least, if not shocking, initially. for an unbiased version of my behaviour, which i’m sure was essentially atrocious, you may inquire with indi.
its election week, so there’s little to do but study. and sit around and hope that the people in this country have some sense in them, atleast enough to keep the wrong man out of the most important position of power there is. my mother is threatening to leave the country if mr M, the all smiles family man wins, and with good reason too. suddenly, for the first time, this threat, which has only been an innocent joke in the past, seems a threat, like the only option; it seems a serious decision that we may be forced to make. i ain’t going nowhere, and i mean it. when i told her this, she gave me a long and pissed-off lecture about how i have no idea what the consequences will be of mahinda coming to power and told me i’m being immature and selfish. in my head, glimpses of something that seems from the giniralla conspiracy, by nihal de silva, (there’s a decent review here) come alive, its a scary and uncertain future right now, teetering on the edge between what’s going to happen and how we’ll deal with it. maybe i’m over-reacting a little, although i’m fairly sure i’m not, but my mother’s stories combined with the frightening and realistic scenario from giniralla conspiracy makes me very afraid for the future of this country.
on a lighter note, i love gwen stefani’s ‘luxurious’. she’s the definition of cool, after madonna. she’s as close as anyone gets to madonna, me thinks. she’s so ‘hip’, and makes really good music.
tell your mother not to panic. in the unlikely event of m getting elected, he will not do anything he is shouting about(at the behest of jvp) now, that is because the government is broke and dependent on world bank etc. to run. so he will just be there doing nothing, like cbk before him. country might not improve but nor will it collapse, more like slow decline until the next election. too bad you don’t have the vote.
you are right about gwen stefani and madonna (pre kabbalah).
Comment by sittingnut — November 16, 2005 @ 10:11 pm
I haven’t read the Ginirella Conspiracy, but I’ve heard (albeit from just here and there) that it is very judgemental of the JVP. And rightly so, I say. They murdered innocent people during that era.
However, I think what many people (including apparently this author - although once again, I haven’t read the book) forget is that the UNP regime (which was the government of that era) were also responsible for as many (or more) atrocities as the JVP.
The JVP were schoolboys with gal katas. The UNP were a democratically elected Government. So yeah, even though I have no hope for SL if Mahinda comes, I have no regard for Ranil either. They will both screw us up big time. Both Presidents have murderers and torturers backing them.
On a wholly different note, I’d just like to say I can totally identify with your stand here though. I’d probably never willingly leave Sri Lanka, except in the pursuit of higher studies.
Comment by Lastnode — November 17, 2005 @ 1:53 am
lastnode:
they were certainly not schoolboys with gal katas. but you are right about the unp of that time. but then didn’t all the governments do the same in northeast during the war? what matters is what ppl (including jvp) will do (or threaten to do) in the future. look to the future not past. vote for peace.
then we will see sri lanka and sri lankans (including you two) live up to full potential.
Comment by sittingnut — November 17, 2005 @ 2:21 am
Puh-lease sittingnut. You’re the resident UNP lover. Stop being such a suck up to political parties. Netheir camps have done anything worthwhile for Sri Lanka. Under the UNP thousands upon thousands of Lankan youth were brutally murdered. If you’re afraid of the JVP “going back to the old days” then why not be afraid of the UNP “going back to the old days”? Don’t let your bias towards the UNP stand in the way.
Comment by Amaris — November 17, 2005 @ 3:41 am
Yes the UNP did torture and kill thousands of people in ‘88 and ‘89 and that behaviour is utterly unaaceptable under normal circumstances. That said, there was *nothing* normal about those years.
The government was threatened by groups in the North and South. Immediate and firm action was necessary. This was what they did. Ranil belonged to the government and backed their actions. Full stop. Surely you don’t believe that he got any sadistic satisfaction from watching the torturers?
Not to forget that Mahinda was put in prison in the 80s for being involved in a murder. Allowed out eventually on lack of evidence but not to forget that he was actually put in prison. Serious stuff that.
The JVP - oh well, the less said about them the better but even while being a part of the ‘democratic process’ it was the JVP that launched wave after wave of strike and protest marches on the capital. There is nothing productive about taking state sector workers out of their offices and on to the streets. Actions, speak louder than words.
Comment by Muddleland — November 17, 2005 @ 6:43 am
if anyone saw my comment on scourge’s blog, they’d know that i’m under no circumstances saying that ranil is the ideal/perfect president for sri lanka right now. he’s not all that, sure. i’d say, from what i’ve observed, its become an issue of keeping mahinda and the JVP out AT ANY COST.
Comment by electra — November 17, 2005 @ 1:16 pm