Online edition of Sunday Observer

Although for the past 20 years the Tamils and the Sinhalese have been celebrating New Year, with much fanfare, it has always been as seperate entities as Sinhalese and as Tamils; never as Sri Lankans.

but today, as the peace process gathers momentum and the leaders prepare the groundwork for lasting harmony, ordinary Tamils and Sinhalese too appear to have shelved their differences and are preparing to celebrate the Sinhala and Tamil new year as true Sri Lankans. The Sunday Observer takes a look at how the prospects of peace is transforming `Avurudu' into a truly joyful event, filled with feelings of communal harmony, brotherhood and love.

Crowded Pettah looked like a prep ground for a mini fiesta. The blazening sun did not look a hindrance to the `Avurudhu' shoppers. Little ones who apparently could not be left at homes, tagging along with parents... frustrated ones. "Ammi buy me that, buy me this.." Very customary - the very reason folks are more than happy to leave them at home. Trying to remember not to bump into someone, we moved away to have a better observation. "Ah, enda,enda nangi.." somebody called out...Ravindra-19. Although busy arranging many clothing items, he was eager to put in his oar.

"There is a definite change in the country. People around me look unusually relieved. I think we all can be truly happy .." He has experienced the dark side of life already. "They finally decided to call it a truce. We have been waiting for this moment since the time we realized our lives could be anything but certain. I am Tamil and I am living my life again." He truly meant those words. Poking fun at each other, he and his companions hug the winds of change.

Shoppers did not seem to care much about the highly populated pavement and they seemed to crash into each other continuously. A bunch of colourful rugs caught our eyes. Check out the price..."you will get the rug for 20 bucks if you insist on them lifting all that taxes. Write to the papers.." Mr.Sherrif, a shop owner who accused us of being a racist for asking if he was a Hindu and celebrated New Year. "It does not matter if I am a Muslim or a Tamil, all that matters is the fact that we are all humans".

"Lots of freedom in the air. We are able to breathe again. We have got a locker at the Bank of Ceylon. it is after five whole years that We walked into the bank to see what has happened to the locker. We are seeing the authentic meaning of freedom after 20 years. I never felt like taking a chance, coming all that way from Horowpathana to Pettah just to please our family for the New Year, before. but now, knowing we will not have to stop at each and every check point, We are quite happy to walk into Colombo.

Don’t ask me - just try the “Asmi”.

S.Kumaralingam is beaming.There is a smile on every face; a smile we thought we would never be able to have. Hope it lasts..."

`Avurudu' means a lot to Sonali too, who is a child of God. " My family does not celebrate New Year but they will be happy to receive gifts"

" This year is the year of hope, a turning point for all Sri Lankans irrespective of their religion or caste. It will re-build the bond we had lost due to the ethnic conflict.

For Majestic City (MC), the haunt of the Colombo fashionable middle class, the tremors of Avurudu has just set in. Resting at the lounge, a pretty lady With her, sat an aged lady - the pinnacle of grace in a red "thilaka" and Indian saree - and school-aged boys. Malathi Udayachandran, had just flown in with her family from Sydney, Autralia.

Dreaming of a traditional Hindu Avurudu in Batticaloa. Home she abandoned seven years ago - when she fled agonies of a civil conflict which she hoped would now recede to be a "thing of the past."

"We stopped in India to get my mother treated for cataract," said Malathi, a medical doctor before her domicile down under. "This is our seventh day of travel. We'll spend the night in a hotel and start for Batticaloa early tomorrow."

At home, Batticaloa, one was scared stiff to venture out of home after twilight, recalled Malathi. "This year, we can celebrate Avurudu in a free and relaxed atmosphere. There were no security checks at the Katunayake Air Port or on the way here and the people were friendly - I found that most welcoming."

For Malathi, home was where heart, and "real" Avurudu flourished. "Australia doesn't give us a Avurudu holiday. We wait until evening for work to be over and go to the near-by Hindu temple to observe traditions." Though she expressed ignorance as to what would be thrashed in Thailand peace talks, love for home reigned queen. "If the peace negotiations succeed, every April we can come to celebrate Avurudu with our relatives in Sri Lanka," Malathi dreamt happily. A wish which echoes in every nook and cranny of the globe where conflict-stricken Sri Lankans have taken shelter.

Just beyond her, an "Avurudu Kade" tempted shoppers with pots of Konda Kevun, Mun Guli, Mun Kevun, Asmi and Aluvaas as big as kiribath squares from a well-know food city. Teacher, Asoka, a seasoned Colombo urbanite, frisked the display and observed, "I feel more relaxed this Avurudu, with peace in the air."

He believes it is a pity that Tamil and Sinhala do not share their common bond of Avurudhu festival together in their homes. "We treat it as a family thing and have not had any Tamil friends coming home to celebrate with us. Avurudu should be the day we share the spirit of unity with our friends and neighbours."

Sujith, a Buddhist who daily trudges the morning miles from Peliyagoda to MC steps to cry "Kapuru, kapuru," has graduated from modest ten-rupee packs to hundred-bucks-a-mega-pack this New Year. How come, we asked this unassuming, shorts-clad, camphor-ball-vendor, running up to us grinning from ear to ear, "Miss, can you remember me ?"

The removal of security checks has given him the freedom to carry on with his trade with no heed of troubled winds brewing around. "Now I do better business and get a profit of hundred rupees per kilo. Those days (the days pre-MOU, he implies) the Police chased me off from the MC steps. 'Me Avurudu jayai wage'(looks like this New Year will be prosperous), though camphor sells more during the Chirstmas season than Avurudu," he says. "I am so happy that this Avurudu will be a peaceful one for Sinhalese like me and also Tamils. All of us deserve fulfilling lives no matter what race or religion we come from."

When we asked the thirty-something Sujith, "What new Avurudu clothes will you buy for your family ?," his hands flew to his face and he twittered as a blushing bride. "Not married...yet, Miss. I'll deck my own self in something new." And he scuttled away, still covering his face, probably seeing in his mind the wonder garments he had planned to gift the secret one stowed away in his heart.

Visharadha Gunadasa Kapuge comes to the mind..."Uthuru koney nuba hinahe Nadaraja malliye, dakunu koney nuba hinahe Sumanasiri malliye"

Yes, Nadaraja would always smile, so would Sumanasiri ... not from a cribbed corner as yesterday, but from a land where no boundaries hold them back to share the undying spirit of humanity.

Padmasshri Award winner Pandit Dr. W.D. Amaradeva says...

'This Avurudu, we Sinhala and Tamil should celebrate as one, forging a link in the spirit of togetherness. This festival offers many traditions common to both our communities, for example, in both Hindu and Sinhala homes, Kiri Bath heads the Avurudhu Table. I am quoting from one of my songs :

"We are the sky which brings rains,
We are the ocean which bears pearls,
We are the earth which hides gems,
We are one country, Sri Lanka,
Sharing one sky, one earth and one ocean."