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by Factotum

What could the tenant at Temple Trees do but escape to safety in the North when university graduates scaled the walls in cap and gown, seeking employment within the precincts of the abode of the governing chief? If the intruders were disappointed in not finding vacancies at this place which was at one time a brewery and later the residence of the editor of this newspaper long before the colonial government acquired it and later bequeathed it to the natives, as the invader handed over the reins to the sahibs who took over in 1948, well that couldn't be helped.

At least they enjoyed a bus ride home. Time was when a former occupant took refuge in a steamship in the harbour when the populace staged an uprising. Discretion has always been the better part of valour for incumbents of this barricaded abode. Another tenant who promised to stun us in three months certainly kept his word by raising the parapet to heights that could not have been cleared even by pole vaulters. That, was ever so long ago.

While those in cap and gown retreated the other day, Big Chief made capital of his escape to the peninsular appearing in picture frames among welcoming milling crowds, not job seeking agitators, at kovils and temples where green bills were tendered as peace offerings forging links that must stand in good stead for all those yearning for the restoration of communication lines to bring about the elusive peace that should help ameliorate those very conditions that the graduates parading the streets in the south vociferously complain about.

If the timing of the demonstrations in other university campuses were in accord with the agitation of those who took to the streets they complemented the very efforts of those who took wing to the north to test the lagoon waters. Although the caps and gowns were missing over there, there would have been many of that ilk who shared the plight of those in the south. The hopeful reception accorded to the escapee from the south augurs well for us all.

Of course, a balance has to be struck. When all this is over and the dust has settled on those lands, with the parties at peace with one another those who were martialled for the fighting may end up the same way facing like plight as the agitators in cap and gown. So they had to be assured lest they scaled the barricades in their berets and fatigues.

It is an unenviable position then - all this tight rope walking but we have the goodwill of monitors to match the courage of the latest foray to bring about peace on the land. Who knows! the caps and berets may be flung in the air in cheerful response to an amicable settlement.

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