On being Sri Lankan…

It is no secret that my personal attitude towards being a Sri Lankan is not one that can be simply described in a sentence. Or so I hope.

To those who’ve known me over the years, it has been quite clear that I have many problems with the country, from certain things about its people to factors that make up everyday life. This is all quite true, however I have come to the belief that many people think that is all there is to it, and that I appreciate or love nothing about the country. This is quite understandable because many times in moments of frustration I have, you could say, gone overboard with my criticisms.

But as I have discovered since moving back to Australia last year, there are many more things about Sri Lanka that I do appreciate that I had somehow managed to ignore. If this was due to me subconsciously blocking them out so I would have something to grumble about and avoid dealing with more realistic problems, or if as I’ve grown and developed as a person their importance has grown as well, I will probably never know.

 

Before leaving Sri Lanka, I was not exactly proud to be Sri Lankan. If I had to write it down in a form I would, but that is perhaps as far as I would go. Since moving to a great nation of hundreds of different cultures and nationalities, I have found that I am quite proud to include the name Sri Lanka in many an opening sentence. I know what you may be thinking, I was shocked myself. I find myself drifting into stories from or about Sri Lanka in many conversations without really having planned it beforehand. Following these occurrences I’ve finally come to realize that despite what I may have thought (or made myself think before), I am Sri Lankan. That does not make me any less of an Australian, this is a country made up of immigrants after all.

I am an Australian of Sri Lankan origin, but I am more a Sri Lankan who lives in Australia. While these two statements are seemingly identical, they are quite different.  I believe the major difference is what one associates with a country. Australians of Sri Lankan origin will associate beaches, holidays, a few family members, occasional interest in the Lankan cricket team, and some stories their parents or grand parents tell. A Sri Lankan who lives in Australia associates Sri Lanka with certain restaurants, school stories, politicians, the War, many friends, certain brands (Bata, EGB, odel, keells, cargills etc), the cricket team, road names, hospitals, shops, their own special lamprais dealer….. the small things.

 

The things I miss about Sri Lanka aren’t things like the music, the local TV or the weather. In fact those are three things I like the least about Sri Lanka It’s the small things.

• My beloved Chinese Dragon combo of hot butter cuttlefish, sesame chicken, foo yung hai and mixed fried rice.
• My bedroom.
• My dog (the chubbah).
• My family (though my family was split up well before I came here).
• My girlfriend and her family.
• My car.
• Dialog TV (cable TV here sucks for sports).
• My school.
• The list goes on.

Of course there are those things I do not miss, and am in fact glad to be far from.

• Very nosy people.
• People’s lack of respect for anyone around them… anywhere.
• Lankan queues.
• Lankan drivers.
• The roads (though they’re improving very quickly which is great ).
• Driving (yes kinda contradicts me missing the car, but beats public transport!).
• Unbelievably poor internet connections.
• Rather limited variety in cultures and foods.
• GETTING ANYTHING DONE IN GOVERNMENT OFFICES.
• The very small community in which privacy is a wishful dream.
• Again, the list goes on.

Overall I’d have to say that the list of things I don’t miss does outweigh those that I do miss, and I just feel much more comfortable living here in Australia. It may well be far too early to make that kind of a statement, as I have not worked or made a life for myself in either state, but I do feel my opportunities are far wider and the standard quality of life here fits my desired lifestyle better.

Of course as these lists continue to run through my mind, I do finally understand why some people would prefer to live in Sri Lanka. Some things are more important to me than to others, and vice versa. Fair enough.

You definitely do appreciate certain things more when you don’t have them, and I sure do miss more about Sri Lanka the longer I am away from it. Oh the irony.

Well I realise I’ve been babbling on here and chances are I’ve drifted all over the place and I’m not making much sense… this is a thought of a fuddled mind, so it should’ve been expected

Anyway as someone said,

Life is like playing the violin in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.

Couldn’t be more true…

 

PS – I think it is very important it be known that while I may complain a LOT about Sri Lanka to many of you, I have NEVER, repeat, NEVER badmouthed Sri Lanka to anyone else. Quite the contrary. I’m sure quite a few of my uni friends are sick of hearing me tell them they should go by Sri Lanka some time. Many tell me I should be working at the tourism office. Perhaps I should be!I’d like to think many of you have heard me saying that Sri Lanka is easily one of the best countries for a tourist to visit. It has EVERYTHING in a tiny little island and you don’t need a massive budget to travel around.