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.
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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. |