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| Sunday, 1 February 2004 |
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The Green Elephant Blues Light Refractions by Lucien Rajakarunanayake All was not so enjoyable at the Green Elephant the other day, when my friend, Jumbo Chamber invited me for a drink. He was one of the smaller elephants of the business community who were trying their best to patch up feelings between Ranil Alirajah, the leader of the herd, and the woman leader of the Putuvegedera political clan, who had grabbed far too much of the Alirajah's powers nearly three months ago for him to feel comfortable. Alirajah's problem was that the leader of the Putuvegedera clan was able to grab the key powers from him, thanks entirely to the rule book authored by his late uncle, the wily Old Fox of Sri Lankan politics. The music was dull in the background, not the exciting stuff heard for nearly two years, from the time the elephants grabbed power at polls in the jungle, with the law of the jungle rightly prevailing. There were no elephants seen dancing to the beat of the "Tender Tango", a very popular piece at the Green Elephant in the past two years, with so much of buckshee in the award of tenders. "World Bank Rhythms" were not the most popular these days, although the "Privatize Beat" remained a favourite. Some members were angry with the governing council of the Green Elephant, for their inability to take swift action to curb the powers of Putuvegedera. In fact it was with some difficulty that they had turned down a proposal by several members to change the name of the Green Elephant to the "Fallen Elephant". It was the rearguard action by some stalwart jumbos that prevented the change. All this was the result of the Putu-Seenu Bandanaya, the new alliance between the Putuvegedera and Seenu Naada clans. Senerath Alikotuva, the keeper of the herd, was in deep conversation with several of his close jumbos about strategies to get the green elephants back to the buoyant mood of power. Milinda Alivanguva, considered a key strategist was insisting that they should enlist someone from the George W Bush advisory team, to get their act together. "It's the Americans alone and none other who can show us the way", he was insisting. Alikotuva was not too happy with that. "How can the Americans help us when the problem is with the grassroots", he asked. Many others at the table felt he had hit the nail on the head. The problem was to get at the grassroots; after trampling them for so long, there was no more grass sprouting for even a few elephants to have a good snack in the jungle. The problem is with the gate-crashers, said Alick Alihakka, that tough old elephant from the Matale hills, whose young ones were also taking after the father. "What gate crashers?" asked Gamini Athagala, the irrigating elephant in the herd. "Surely, you must know by now" said Alick Alihakka. "I mean those guys who did that jumbo leap carrying their dirty chairs with them, to help us defeat the Chair Lady in 2001. I tell you they are just no good for us. Keeping them as members of the Green Elephant, even as Guest Members means trouble all the way," he said. Dayaratne Alivedarala, another senior in the herd, was also in agreement. Just think of that Booru Bandu, who now thinks he is conducting tuition classes for the masses at state expense. Each time he talks, it is we real elephants who suffer. He made that big boast calling Mahinda, the leader of the pack across in the Chamber, for a debate to prove that VAT had nothing to do with the rise in the cost of living. Mahinda did not give him the honour of a debate, saying he would only debate with our own Alirajah. But see what happened. A few days after Booru Bandu's challenge, Alirajah himself had to tell old Alichokka, who handles the finances and the Treasury mahouts like Charitha Alibetta, to amend and reduce VAT rates to bring down the cost of living. Booru Bandu made us all the laughing stock in the jungle. "H'mm, h'mm" said Gamini Athagala nodding his head in assent. "The problem is they will not stop at just laughing. There are more things possible in this jungle, and we are not even ready for the fight," he said with concern. "I am worried about having that Kaluvara Mahinda and Sakala Banda at the Green Elephant anymore. Never have anyone of us been admonished like that by a magistrate, and all about bringing up their children." "The funny thing is that they are enjoying that the magistrate told their sons not to bring disrepute on their parents by behaving in an unruly manner in public. They consider it as a character certificate given to their own public behaviour that we all know damn too well about", said Karu Alivaligaya, the one who waits in the wings, hoping an energy crisis will not descend upon him. "How can children spoil the reputation of parents whose record stinks for miles, and adds a lot to the stink in our herd too?' he asked. "I am also worried about that Mahacharya Vaag Paachana, I mean Professor Verbal Diarrhoea," said Dayaratne Alivedarala. "Each time he twists his highly flexible tongue he says something new that is of no help to us. The worst thing is that he insists on talking, talking and talking. Put a camera before him, and that's all needed for a whole lot of crap, that ultimately rebounds on our leader". Senerath Alikotuva, spoke after a long time. "Do you really mean we must get rid of those jumbo leap champions? Let us know. Milinda Alivanguva and I can speak to Malik Alihenduva, who in turn can tell the Alirajah. If we have to shed them for our good, so it shall be," he said quite firmly. At the very mention of Malik Alihenduva, Karu Alivaligaya had a question. "How is our Alihenduva doing with the tricks of that real jumbo, Mano Gajagawella? Do you think all these talks will help give our Alirajah more power in the coming days and months ahead?' he asked with some concern. Alikotuva did not give a direct reply. "Well, like all good things we have to wait and see. After all, one of the greatest strengths of us elephants is our patience and long memory. I'm sure that Mano Gajagawella must be aware of that too," he said. Mahinda Gajarekiyaawa, the one who labours to finds jobs for favourite elephants, joined the group. He was quick to order a round of drinks. "Is it Johnnie Walker Black or Blue?" he asked, and then told the waiter to give the choice of the jumbos present. "You don't seem to have any worries," said Senerath Alikotuva. "What is there to worry about? As long as there are fall guys to take the rap, there is no need to worry at all. Better than that, why worry when the May Day funds are kept in my part of the kraal". "Don't you think it can be real May Day for you and Yaansally, our very special jumbo at the CMC?" asked Milinda Alivanguva. "Who cares I can now buy up some of those chair raisers, although I've not written off the bell ringers. I realized that politics had a price some years ago, and I'm now ready for it," said Mahinda Gajarekiyaawa exuding great confidence. Not everyone at the Green Elephant was happy with this turn of events. There were many who were trying to get over a crisis, and here was Mahinda Gajarekiyaawa, dressed as a night rider but in national, talking of the price of politics. 'Why all this worry? What about the safety net that the leader spoke so confidently about not so long ago?' asked Gajarekiyaawa. "Now that you raised the issue, that's the problem we are all worried about" said Gamini Athagala. "The general impression is that the leader of our herd is seeing the safety net supporting the Chair Lady more than him. There are holes in the net that he did not know about, and I must say that Milinda Alivanguva with all his American expertise did not know of either. It is becoming increasingly clear that the safety net cannot hold him if he falls. It is up to all of us to put our trunks together and do it". "So what, don't we have strong enough trunks?" asked one member. "The problem is that we don't know how many will stretch out their trunks in support" said Gamini Athagala. Meanwhile, at the Putuvegedera and the Seenu Naada, the celebration was somewhat muted. There was great confidence shown to the public, who were rallying round them, all too fast for their pleasure. The Putuvegedera Clan was learning how to ring a bell the proper way, so as not to cause any jarring noise to the Bell Boys. The Seenu Naada cadres were taking their first lessons on the use of chairs, the delays that it could lead to, and all those intricacies of alliance politics. There was plenty for both sides to learn about each other, apart from trying to reach more agreement on policy. Away in the Vanni, in the Tiger's Den too, there was not too much joy. They were licking their lips in hope, but only with cautious optimism. |
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