A FORTNIGHT IN SRILANKA

A FORTNIGHT IN SRILANKA


I visited Srilanka from 2nd to 13th December 2013. It was a group tour organised by and for the Fourth Batch of AIIMSONIAS, the MBBS class which joined AIIMS in 1959. I am writing this on 11th December. We are 32 persons in the batch. The names etc. of persons constituting the group are given separately, as also the itinerary of the tour (to be added later).

I am recording below some general observations as occur to me without much forethought.

1—The Fourth Batch—We were 51 when we joined. It seems about 5 are no more and about another 5 are rather out of contact. Those who are in regular contact and are willing to or able to meet each other at periodic intervals are about half the original batch. About 10 of the fourth batch are in India and the remaining mainly in USA, some in UK and a few in other countries. This is probably a unique batch in the sense that many of us have made a significant mark in their respective fields and also because they have retained a degree of coherence that is the envy f many other batches.

2—The choice of Srilanka—We have had reunions at Sariska, Bangalore, Goa and Udaipur earlier. This one is probably the final major reunion and hence we wanted to celebrate it in style (as exemplified by foreign location and an 11 day long itinerary) Srilanka was the choice of many. Spadework was done by Dr. Lal and Dr. Dutt. There were initial doubts abut the suitability of Srilanka because of internal disturbances in the country. These doubts proved to be unfounded.

3—The land—Sri Lanka is tropical, with distinct dry and wet seasons. In other words, the country knows only two seasons—rainy and non-rainy.
The seasons are slightly complicated by having two monsoons. From May to August the Yala monsoon brings rain to the island’s southwestern half, while the dry season here lasts from December to March. The southwest has the highest rainfall – up to 4000mm a year. The Maha monsoon blows from October to January, bringing rain to the North and East, while the dry season is from May to September. The North and East are comparatively dry, with around 1000mm of rain annually. There is also an inter-monsoonal period in October and November when rain can occur in many parts of the island.

Colombo and the low-lying coastal regions have an average temperature of 27°C. At Kandy (altitude 500m), the average temperature is 20°C, while Nuwara Eliya (at 1889m) has a temperate 16°C average. The sea stays at around 27°C all year.

4—The people—Srilanka has a population of 20 million, of which 72% are Sinhalese, mostly Buddhists. The rest are Tamilians, three fourths of which are Hindus, the rest being Muslims and a small percentage of Christians. There is some evidence that the Sinhalese came from Orissa at the time of King Ashoka, probably to escape his wrath when he attacked Kalinga. It is unfortunate that at present there is animosity between the Sinhalese and the Tamil, both of whom came from India. There are different versions as to the causes and contours of this animosity. An accusing finger is pointed towards the Srilankan Sinhalese government which has violated human rights in its fight against the LTTE. On the other hand, the LTTE, which has been decimated now, is accused of severe and uncalled for atrocities on the Sinhalese in retaliation against the government policy of suppressing the Tamils. The truth, as usual, lies probably somewhere in between.


5—The religion—The major religion in Srilanka is Buddhism.The school of Buddhism followed here is Theravada . The other major school of Buddhism is Mahāyāna (Sanskrit: महायान mahāyāna, literally the "Great Vehicle"). Mahāyāna Buddhism originated in India, and some scholars believe that it was initially associated with one of the oldest historical branches of Buddhism, the Mahāsāṃghika. The Mahāyāna tradition is the largest major tradition of Buddhism existing today, with 56% of practitioners, compared to 38% for Theravāda and 6% for Vajrayāna, the third Buddhist School which is sometimes coupled with Mahayana. Mahāyāna Buddhism spread from India to various other Asian countries.
The two main schools do not, in fact, differ in fundamentals but rather represent the different expressions of the same teaching of Buddha. For example, there may be points of difference over the monastic rules and academic points such as whether an enlightened person could lapse or not.

i)--Theravada (The Teachings of the Elders)—
It is found mainly in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, and Thailand. The earliest available teachings of the Buddha are found in Pali literature and belong to the school of the Theravadins, who may be called the most orthodox school of Buddhism. This school admits the human characteristics of the Buddha, and is characterised by a psychological understanding of human nature; and emphasises a meditative approach to the transformation of consciousness.
The teaching of the Buddha according to this school is very plain. He asks us to ‘abstain from all kinds of evil, to accumulate all that is good and to purify our mind’. These can be accomplished by The Three Trainings: the development of ethical conduct, meditation and insight-wisdom.
The philosophy of this school is straight forward. All worldly phenomena are subject to three characteristics - they are impermanent and transient; unsatisfactory and that there is nothing in them which can be called one's own, nothing substantial, nothing permanent. All compounded things are made up of two elements - the non-material part, the material part. They are further described as consisting of nothing but five constituent groups, namely the material quality, and the four non-material qualities - sensations, perception, mental formatives and lastly consciousness.
When an individual thus understands the true nature of things, she/he finds nothing substantial in the world. Through this understanding, there is neither indulgence in the pleasures of senses or self-mortification, following the Middle Path the practitioner lives according to the Noble Eightfold Path which consist of Right View, Right Resolve, Right Speech, Right Actions, Right Occupation, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. She/he realises that all worldly suffering is caused by craving and that it is possible to bring suffering to an end by following the Noble Eight Fold Path. When that perfected state of insight is reached, i.e.Nibanna, that person is a ‘worthy person’ an Arhat. The life of the Arhat is the ideal of the followers of this school, ‘a life where all (future) birth is at an end, where the holy life is fully achieved, where all that has to be done has been done, and there is no more returning to the worldly life’.


ii)--Mahayana (The Great Vehicle)

The Mahayana is more of an umbrella body for a great variety of schools, from the Tantra school (the secret teaching of Yoga) well represented in Tibet and Nepal to the Pure Land sect, whose essential teaching is that salvation can be attained only through absolute trust in the saving power of Amitabha, longing to be reborn in his paradise through his grace, which are found in China, Korea and Japan. Ch’an and Zen Buddhism, of China and Japan, are meditation schools. According to these schools, to look inward and not to look outwards is the only way to achieve enlightenment, which to the human mind is ultimately the same as Buddhahood. In this system, the emphasis is upon ‘intuition’, its peculiarity being that it has no words in which to express itself at all, so it does this in symbols and images. In the course of time this system developed its philosophy of intuition to such a degree that it remains unique to this day.
Mahayana Buddhism is divided into two systems of thought: the Madhyamika and the Yogacara. The Madhyamikas were so called on account of the emphasis they laid on the middle view. The Yogacara School emphasises the practice of yoga (meditation) as the most effective method for the attainment of the highest truth (Bodhi).

6—Impressions and observations—

i)—We stayed in six hotels, all arranged beforehand as a part of the package group tour through Jetwing Travels. The remarkable thing at all six hotels was the wide variety of food available at each hotel. For example, it is no exaggeration that the number of items for breakfast or buffet dinner would probably easily exceed hundred in almost each hotel. Service was nice and courteous.

ii)—The tour guide—Mr. Amar Tunge (Amare for short), was a wonderful guide. He, along with the bus and bus driver, was present with the group throughout the tour and this was a great help. Amare is 51, a Sinhalese, with a genial and gentlemanly expression and a genuine sense of sincerity dripping from his voice, particularly the way he laughed innocently. He has had a modest origin but has apparently made a great name as a free lance tour guide. He has worked in hotels in India, Saudi Arabia and England. I am sure he will rise much further.

iii)— The politico-cultural divide—I had a feeling that all is not well at the level of socio-political-cultural currents in Srilanka. The following observations support that feeling:

a)—Srilanka is a country with two major population groups—Sinhalese and Tamil. A minority is the Muslim population which is expanding. Attempts at equal treatment to various groups in the context of religious and cultural rights and at ensuring rights of the minorities are not conspicuous.

b)—Most sign boards / announcements in public places are only in Sinhalese alone or along with English. It was uncommon that there is an accompanying Tamil version.

c)—There seems to be rather too much prominence given to Budhism. One gets a feeling as if the state religion is Budhism. Referring to other religions or displaying other religious symbols is not as common as one would expect in a democratic, secular country.

d)—There have apparently been attempts at state level to suppress the propagation of Mahayana school of Buddhism. This does not gel with the concept of a secular state.

7—Health—Srilanka has long been known for its health model characterised by marked longevity (life span) in spite of low per capita income. It seems tha a good public health system is in place.This characteristic has also been reflected in Kerala in India. It is likely that health conditions might have been affected by the great civilian unrest associated with decimation of the LTTE. Hopefully, Srilanks will move on and get over the scars.

8—General—Srilanka is a nice country with much calm and quiet and natural bounty and serenity. People are nice and courteous. The level of cleanliness is better than in India. The difference might be partly related to the fact that population density is higher in India and per capita income is a bit lower. It is worth a second visit.

--M C Gupta