Love and national reconciliation

by Walter Rupesinghe

David Jayawardena arrived at the Fort railway station and secured a comfortable seat on the Udarata Menike. He was travelling to Nuwara Eliya to assume duties as the Additional Government Agent, Nuwara Eliya. He had sent the heavy baggage by road and had opted to travel by train because he loved to watch the Menike struggling up the mountains providing vistas of great scenic beauty which made the upcountry railway one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world.

After a week of farewell parties David was sleepy and tired. Soon after the Menike started her journey David fell into a deep sleep. He was lucky that the seat in front of him was vacant providing him ample room to stretch himself out.

He awoke only after the train left Polgahawela. When he opened his eyes he found to his embarrassment that the seat in front was now occupied by a pretty young lady. He apologised profusely to her for stretching himself cut and causing her discomfort. The young lady’s response was only a winsome smile.

David mentioned to her that he was travelling to Nuwara Eliya to assume duties as Additional Government Agent and the past week’s string of farewell parties had left him exhausted. That was why he had fallen asleep. “Oh so you are a big person,” said the young lady. “By the way I am Sharmini Navaratnam. I am going to Nuwara Eliya to spend a holiday with my uncle who is the Manager of the Nuwara Eliya tea plantation. I come to Nuwara Eliya often to pick up wild flowers for a book I am writing on the wild flowers of Nuwara Eliya”.

As they engaged in pleasant conversation the Menike which was keeping to time passed Nawalapitiya, Halgranoya, Galboda, Watawala and Rozella. Soon after the Menike left Rozella there was a very loud noise and the train ground to a halt.

They looked out and were horrified to find that the engine and some carriages had derailed. Now what were they to do? David told Sharmini that he had decided to walk along the line to Hatton, hire a vehicle and drive to Nuwara Eliya. David invited Sharmini to join him offering to carry her suitcase. Sharmini gratefully accepted the offer and together they made their way to Hatton.

It was a beautiful day and they did not feel the rigours of the journey at all. Having hired a vehicle they went to Nuwara Eliya. Sharmini’s uncle was to meet her at the Nanu Oya station. When they got there Sharmini introduced her uncle Sam Gunaratnam and the children to David and explained all that had happened and how David had helped her.

When Uncle Sam was told that David was the new Additional Government Agent of Nuwara Eliya he congratulated him and said that they were sure to meet often and that he would tell him all about the problems of the district. On that note they parted company and David went to his official bungalow on Lake Drive. It was beautifully situated and David was delighted that it was a cosy cottage.

The next morning he reported to the Government Agent, a kind gentleman who welcomed him warmly and asked him to read everything about the district before he got down to work.

One afternoon David visited the supermarket. He saw a rack full of books and was browsing through them when he saw Sharmini in the music section,. He went up to her and inquired what she was looking for.

She said that she was fond of classical music and was looking for two cassettes containing the music of Beethoven and Mozart, her favourite composers.

David told her that he too was interested in classical music and that he had brought up his collection so that he could listen to them during the lonely evenings in Nuwara Eliya. He invited Sharmini to come with her uncle’s family to enjoy an evening of music and dinner.

They turned up one Saturday evening and had a wonderful time. Uncle Sam also briefed David on the problems of the Nuwara Eliya district. Before they left, David sought Uncle Sam’s permission to take Sharmini and his two children on a day’s outing to the Haggala Gardens.

Uncle Sam readily agreed saying that it would be a good opportunity to pick up some wild flowers on the way. So the following Saturday armed with a picnic lunch they went to Hakgala. They walked around and were thrilled to see the flowers. After lunch while the children walked around Sharmini and David sat in the summer house overlooking the Uva valley and drank deep of the beauty around them.

Sharmini was so happy in David’s company that she told him her life story. Her father was killed by the LTTE in Jaffna. They also did everything possible to get her brother to join the LTTE. The three of them had miraculously escaped from Jaffna and were now living at Wellawatte. She had found a job in a Colombo school as a teacher and the brother was studying for the GCE Advanced Level. David squeezed Sharmini’s hand in sympathy as Sharmini’s eyes were full of tears. He felt a strong urge to kiss her but the presence of the children made him restrain himself.

One evening David went to Uncle Sam’s for dinner. He was happy to see a piano and he started to play his favourite pieces-Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata and Lizst’s Libenstraun (the dream of love). ‘The music was not lost on Sharmini. Meanwhile, uncle Sam with his baritone voice joined the others in singing Whispering Hope and some other old favourites. It was a lovely evening rounded off with an excellent dinner.

During her stay at Nuwara Eliya, Sharmini met David often, and went on long walks ostensibly to collect wild flowers but more to enjoy each others company.

Even after Sharmini returned to Colombo, she kept in touch with David and whenever there was a long weekend she came up to Nuwara Eliya to meet David as she had now become very fond of him.

Six months had passed when one morning, the Government Agent summoned David to his office and informed him that he had been selected to follow a one-year course in Development Administration at the University of Cambridge. He was asked to report to the Ministry of Public Administration at the end of the month to finalise arrangements.

David was thrilled but sad because he had begun to like Nuwara Eliya and also because he would be separated from Sharmini with whom he was very much in love. One evening when they were walking on the Mount Lavinia Beach David opened his heart to her and asked her whether he could have the privilege of having her as his wife.

Sharmini burst into tears and said. “David from the very first day I saw you, I thought to myself what lucky woman would have the privilege of being your wife. And now you are asking me to marry you. I would love to. But you are a Sinhalese and I am a Tamil”.

“Don’t worry about that,” replied David. “We are children of one motherland and together we can do much to accelerate the process of national reconciliation. Our mission will be to heal the nation’s wounds. When I return from Cambridge, I will marry you and I will obtain a posting to Jaffna so that together we can do what we could to help the people in the North who have suffered so much all these years. They sealed their golden dream of love with a passionate embrace.

David loved Cambridge and was determined to end the course with flying colours. One day he received a telephone call from Sharmini saying that she had come on a short visit to London and would come to Cambridge to see him.

They went on long walks around the beautiful campus talking about their plans for the future. As a first step they decided that Sharmini would learn Sinhalese and David would learn Tamil so that they could speak fluently and be an example to others.

On David’s return to Sri Lanka, the two young people got married with the consent of the parents. David spoke to the Public Administration Ministry and asked for a posting to Jaffna.

The Ministry officials were surprised that while other Sinhalese officers did their best to avoid being posted to the North, here was a young man who wanted to go there. When asked why, David told them that he was married to a very intelligent Tamil lady and together they were going to help the people in the North who had suffered so much at the hands of the LTTE and thereby do whatever they could to speed up the process of national reconciliation. His wish was granted.

Once they were settled in Jaffna they toured the villages and found out the needs of the people. Before they left Colombo the resourceful Sharmini had visited several publishing houses and obtained donations of school books and stationery. Even the toy shops had chipped in with an assortment of toys. These they distributed among the needy children.

The villagers were full of admiration for the noble work of this young couple. On her periodical visits to Colombo she returned with loads of donations. David and Sharmini were very happy with their modest contribution towards enriching the lives of the young people. They worked out more ambitious plans for the future.

One evening as they stood on the ramparts of the Jaffna Fort watching a breathtakingly beautiful sunset David drew Sharmini closer to him and said. “To think that all this happened owing to a train derailment at Rozella! Truly God’s ways are mysterious. Now we can do all we can to help the people in the North and realise our golden dream of National Reconciliation”!

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