The Black Australian:

Chapter 17 (Part I)

Painted faces

by Sunil GOVINNAGE

Siri knew that he had to be at the Brisbane airport at least two hours before the time of departure, as he was scheduled to take an international flight to Cairns. It was the last lap of his journey to the East. So far he had travelled from Perth to Sydney, then to Brisbane, and now, finally on to Cairns, before returning home again.

After checking in, Siri browsed through the newspapers in the bookstore. He then chose a corner table at the far end of the airport cafe. Opening his briefcase, which was old and worn from constant use, he took out a tourist brochure on Cairns and studied it. Soon afterwards, a waitress approached him for his order. Irritated by the disturbance, Siri replied without looking at her.

"A cappuccino and a croissant, please."

That done, he returned to planning his next five days in Cairns. The only arrangement he had made was reserving a hotel room. As he turned a page, he noticed someone approaching and sat at a nearby table. Siri turned another page, and his breakfast arrived. He paid for his order and looked across at the stranger. He smiled faintly, sipped his coffee and returned to study the tourist brochure again. His concentration was interrupted, however, by the stranger.

"G'day, You're a special visitor from the West! A Sandgroper and a West Coast Eagles fan!"

"G'day," Siri replied. "You are like Sherlock Holmes! Great deductive skills! How did you know that I'm from the West, and an Eagles' supporter?"

The stranger smiled and pointed to Siri's briefcase. It had a West Coast Eagles' sticker and the name of the computer seminar that Siri had attended last year.

"We Queenslanders are great rugby fans, but I like Eagles too. Sorry if I'm disturbing you. My name's John Palmer," he said as he extended his hand. John's handshake was firm and warm. John was of medium height and had a prominent forehead. Siri immediately realised that, unlike him, John didn't earn his living in an office. Dressed casually, he carried a duty free bag.

"I'm Siri Wickramasinghe from Perth. But my tanned skin, that is now almost black, originally comes from Sri Lanka." Siri introduced himself with an unusually accurate description. On this occasion, Siri did not want to introduce himself, simply, as a 'Black Australian.'

"John, you have been travelling, too! I can tell that you spent a lot of money to buy presents for your family."

"Yes, there are a lot of presents for my family. Three kids and two are teenagers!"

"You are lucky to be the father of two teenagers. You've managed to keep all your hair too, unlike most of my friends with teenagers. Even without a single child, I've become older. Can you see my bald patch?"

John's smile disappeared. "Actually," he said, "they are not my children! They are my partner's kids, but now they are mine, too." He breathed deeply and then continued his story.

"She was my high-school sweetheart. We were very close friends, but she married another fellow. But he left her for a younger Sheila just after the third child was born! I ran into her again at our high-school reunion and now we live together. I haven't seen her for nearly two months. I've been travelling on my own. Jenny couldn't join because of kids. They couldn't be away from school that long. The eldest son, James, had his HSC exam." John stopped abruptly. He watched a plane taking off and glanced at the flight path for a few seconds, and asked: "So is this your first trip to Cairns?" Siri nodded his head in agreement.

"Then, let me recommend a few good places for you to visit. They're usually not in the tourist brochures. First, you've to visit my office!" "Why?" Siri asked. "Why is your place special?"

"It's a personal joke. I'm a fisherman and I've got shares in a trawler that goes pawning off the outer Barrier Reef. It's a great place to visit, perhaps even a great way to make a good living." He paused and said sadly: "It'll come to an end soon, though. The reef is dying! When that happens, we can't make a living off of it."

"What's really happening?"

"Pawning! We fishermen are somewhat responsible for the damage already done. Some trawlers fish inside the reef illegally and destroy the marine life. You see, you have to pick up everything off the sea-bed to catch prawns. That's not good for a living reef. Anyway, commercial shipping and human pollution add more pressure." John sighed and continued, "The reef will probably die in a few years, and the next generation won't be able to see what we've enjoyed. It's very sad. That's where this country is heading: Economic Rationalism! Not even my Labour Party mates have done much to help."

"Why isn't the government doing anything about it?" Siri asked innocently.

"Votes Mate, votes! It's a political issue. Some politicians also have a vested interest. Their families own fishing trawlers, or have shares in commercial boats. Anyway, we can't do much about it unless someone makes a full commitment. It's not on anyone's agenda right now, even though they talk just as we talk about Aboriginal problems." John shifted in his chair.

"So, let's think about a few places for you to visit." His eyes followed another plane coursing down the runway and then taking off.

"You must try and visit Cooktown. At least arrange a day trip. It's a historical place. Have you read Captain Cook's journal? It has been published in New Zealand recently. Captain Cook was a man with humble beginnings. He was the son of a farm labourer from Yorkshire and not the pirate that some people portray him to be. It was the British rulers and their agents who did damage to black fellahs by robbing their land and culture. We're still trying to deal with those scars." He sat back in his chair and continued, "I just got back from L.A. I've an American friend who is a photographer, and he's always asking me about the condition of the Aboriginal people. I can't do anything about the Aboriginal issue as an individual. Speaking of friends, I met my friend two years ago in a pub in Cairns, just like I met you today! A great fellow. I took him to the reef in my boat. Sometimes you meet great people by accident!"

"So, what do you do for a living?" John asked, changing the subject again.

"I'm an engineer by training, but now I work as a Computer Systems Manager for a private firm in Perth."

"What are you planning to do in Cairns?" the talkative fisherman asked.

"I'm just visiting to explore. I attended a computer conference in Sydney and my travel agent gave me a good deal to travel in the east.

Someone cancelled a trip and I managed to get a cheap ticket around Australia. A friend of mine recommended that I visit an Aboriginal dance group in Cairns. I can't remember it?"

"Ah, that Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park! Well, it's not a bad idea. I'm not sure whether it'll give you a good sense of Aboriginal culture, but I don't know what you're after."

"I must confess," Siri said apologetically, "I don't know anything about Aboriginal culture, even after living here for over eight years. I've never made friends with any Aborigines. There's not a single Aboriginal person working in our company."

"Well Si-ri, you are no different to many white fellahs who have lived here generation after generation! In my case, I went to a primary school in Cairns where there were a few black fellahs, so I know a little more about us and them than an average Australian! I've heard their stories.

If you speak to an Aboriginal elder, he would tell you a different version of our Australian history. White fellahs have written history ignoring black fellahs. Some of the white Australians who established towns in Queensland are decent businessmen according to white fellahs. For black fellahs, they are murderers and slave traders!" John changed the tone of his voice and sighed deeply.

"Well, that's very interesting. I never thought about that. I think most of the migrants who come to live in Australia are learning the wrong version of history! They think Aborigines are useless and lazy mob," Siri gave his interpretation.

"Most people haven't had an opportunity, or the interest to understand the truth. History is an interpretation of events by those who had won! Anyway, that's what I think. I'm not a man of letters. I don't belong here. I want to be a travel photographer, not a rights activist for Aborigines. Of course, I haven't done anything so far. I've been doing other things with my life. I haven't followed my dreams," John confessed sadly.

"At least you have found the woman you wanted," Siri countered.

"Yes, I suppose you're right."

"I'm a failure in that department as well! I was once married to a woman, a Tamil woman in Perth. But it didn't work out. In my case, I wanted to be a writer. Not an Engineer or an IT specialist," Siri confessed in response.

"Have you published any of your work?"

"I've written in my own language, Sinhalese. I've published poems in magazines and newspapers in Sri Lanka. While at uni, though I studied engineering subjects, I joined a few arts and cultural groups. But, it's no use writing in Sinhalese in Australia. There's no place for non Anglo-Celtic writers in Australia. Australian literature is dominated by white writings. I took a couple of English units and all the courses focused on white Australian writers like Les Murray, Patrick White and Peter Carey. In any case, I don't think that I could write creative stuff in another language. I can speak and write in English in relation to my job, but I can't write poetry or short stories in English."

"Umm" I don't know much about the literary scene in Australia. You apparently know more than I do," said John. "I really want to be a photographer, but I haven't done much to achieve my goal. I travel, of course, like what I did during this trip to the U.S. I spent seven weeks there. My friend Andrew said he will collaborate with me. In fact, he's keen to do a photo-essay on unknown islands off Queensland. I've Jenny now, though. I need to look after her and the kids. I can't be the happy-go-lucky guy I used to be. I've got family responsibilities now. See I have to buy gifts for them, John pointed his duty free bags.

The two men continued conversing touching on a wide variety of subjects. Many cups of coffees later, the final boarding call prompted them to board the plane.

Siri was impressed with John, his interests in life.

What a fisherman he is!

Siri's mind wandered over some key points John had spoken of frankly. He drew parallels between John's love for Jenny, the woman he cherished, and his lost love for Anula. Memories of the past, particularly of his first love, came and disappeared like the cloud paths that the planes were leaving behind. Siri's mind wandered aimlessly with the unanchored clouds.

Where is Anula now? The last I heard of her, Anula was in Seattle, married to a doctor. Will her husband leave her for an American woman? A rich old widow, perhaps one of his patients? Will I be able to marry her and look after her children one day, just like John managed to find his high school sweetheart?

Siri started to nod off, but was awoken by the flight attendant serving breakfast. He politely refused the meal in favour of a nap. Unfortunately, all the coffee he had drunk with John kept him awake. Despite the onset of a headache, however, Siri managed a cat nap.

Siri woke up when the plane started its descent to Cairns. As he looked through the window, the captain addressed his passengers: "Ladies and Gentlemen, we are on our descent and will be in Cairns in approximately twenty minutes. The weather is not looking good. It's humid and weather-watchers are keeping an eye on a tropical storm building off-shore. The good news is, those on the right-hand side of the plane will be able to see the Great Barrier Reef, one of the wonders of the world, as we fly over it on our way into Cairns.Thank you for flying with Qantas, and we hope your stay in Cairns will be a pleasant one."

Siri met John again at the baggage carousel. His excitement at coming home was evident. "Jenny must be waiting for me. I rang her from Brisbane." Far from forgetting his new friend, however, John added, "you must visit us.

I think I wrote our address in your diary.Here's my business card. My mobile phone number is on it. I would love to catch up with you," he said exuberantly. "I want to learn all about your country. Andrew almost visited Sri Lanka last year for a photo shoot, but couldn't make it. He plans to go there next year, though, and I might join him!"

They watched the luggage pass by on the carousel, while they were waiting for their bags.

"I've heard a lot about Sri Lanka , but haven't read much. I can't find good books on Sri Lanka. I know it's a great country, though, but now there is a civil war, isn't there? What's that all about?"

"It's a long story," Siri replied. "Not as simple as the plight of your office, the Reef."

Siri spied his luggage and pulled it off the carousel. "Well, here is my bag. Yes, I'll meet up with you before I leave Cairn. I'll be staying here five days, but I'm not sure I can visit all the places you have mentioned. Of course, I can always come back, now that I know you."

"Yes, please," John said, shaking Siri's hand firmly. "You are most welcome to stay with us, "collecting his bags, John said in parting, "it was nice meeting you Si-ri. Please call us. Goodbye for now. "Siri watched as John rushed to meet his lover.

What a lucky fellow he is!

Siri entered the arrival lounge alone. The hotel had a representative waiting with a placard bearing Siri's name.

Outside the wind was loud and there were signs of heavy rain.

To be continued

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Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.