Musings

The big world is indeed very small

by Padma Edirisinghe

Browsing through the daily papers I found them all saturated with, better say, infected with politics. One page however carried a respite announcing Barack Obama's visit to Ethiopia, the neighbouring land of Kenya that boasts the progeny of the Obama family.

It’s a small world... Picture courtesy: toomanymornings.com

Here too the present ignited condition of the world has not been totally left out. For example, the country is described as the key but much maligned ally in the fight against terrorism. Further the president himself is to parade the roads in his bomb proof limousine nicknamed The Beast through which he will view Addis Ababa's tower blocks coming up and the emergence of Sub Saharan's first modern tramway.

Memory

What attracted me to Ethiopia further to all this is was a memory that I carried for years.

In fact the raconteur of the tale is now dead and gone. While living, she was just florid and even carried the name Florida. Her father certainly had some premonition of how her daughter is going to turn out. She made pals with me in the 60s at the Exams Dept. then stationed in Malay Street, where she worked. Since the fact is connected to the topic better trace the antecedents of this street. It was baptized so after hordes of Malay people began settling don there after having vacated their own peninsula.

Today they form a vital component of our population and seemingly have no wish to return to Malaysia despite its burgeoning prosperity. Coming back to the tale my friend commented that I looked just like her mother. Noticing my abashed look she was quick and tactful to add that she did not mean that I was old as her mother but something in my gestures and movements reminded her of her dead mother. We settled the issue by that without going to blows.

Globetrotter

A globetrotter while she lived she represented the country at many an international seminar. On one of these missions she had to share the room with a dusky hued partner.

Overhearing a long tele conversation by this roommate probably with her own home crowd, she had heard the familiar word Thaaththa being used often and rather emotively too.

Florida at the end of the talk could not help asking who this thaaththa is.

"That is what we call father or daddy" she had answered much to Florida's amazement.

"Even we call our father that "she had said much to the other's surprise. Miles and miles apart they were using the same word for a dear relative. Not having much to do as night advanced they sat down to decipher the riddle using a world map too and reached this conclusion. Ethiopia lies on the East coast of Africa, just jutting out. Most probably many years back, a ship carrying voyagers from Ceylon adventuring in the Arab seas had lost its direction and got stranded in this country and the passengers had finally decided to settle there off shooting the population of Ethiopia.

Reason

At this time I got interested in the Dark Continent for another reason. It was a lady named Lucy who triggered my attention this time. Today she adorns the cluttered office table of my brother who is a medical officer who uses it to frighten overworking housewives whose spines get bent before the due time. Really it was I who had authored the piece years ago, titled "A lesson from Lucy" but the real credit for finding her should go to Professionals in Africa who discovered her bent skeleton. What lesson does all this teach us? That the world is a very small one where we come across so many likes. Never will I forget Harriet Douthirt, an American who kindly hosted me for a few weeks at her home in the US. In an upstair room lodged an Indian lady, once a nun. Harriet got her down to chat me while she busied herself in the kitchen.

After she came out to the dining room with a plate loaded with her fries, she was horrified to hear the two of us chatting away in English.

Almost stretching out an accusing finger she remarked, "You from India and you from Sri Lanka, don't you have a common language to use being so close?"

"Never heard one" I replied while the ex-nun stated that even the many states of India use English to co-relate.

"You are telling me!"exclaimed Harriet holding out the fries to us. They looked so succulent.

There was something familiar about them and I burst out, "This is Kokis from our land. How did you learn to make them?"

"From my granny who is a Dutch."

Races

That the United States of America is a hotch potch of races come from all over the world need no further recounting. Further better go unsaid that the Dutch were the third Western power to politically straddle our land. While the Dutch males battled and made laws their women too did not stay idle. They taught the local counterparts how to knit beeralu and how to prepare kokis or cookies.

In fact it is much rumoured that the dress queen Rengammal wore which makes her just beautiful as she adorns the royal section in the Museum had been sewn by their deft hands as they roosted in Colombo Fort to which they withdrew after Dutch capitulation to the British.

What is the lesson learnt? That the world is a very small place so small that the Ethiopians years back called their fathers, Thaaththa. Do they still do so? Better check.