THE HINDU ONLINE : Ravana, Radio Ceylon and tea... Date: 24-03-1996 :: Pg: 31 International News DURING our childhood. Sri Lanka, then called Ceylon, did not appeal to us much. Das in and day out, we listened to stories from the Ramayana and grandfather who told us the stories did not paint a flattering picture of the island. Our images of Sri Lanka were rather negative. I often thought of the Ashoka Vanam where Sita was kept imprisoned by Ravana. In numerous pictures, plays and films. I saw the Rakshasis (demons) who were portrayed as gargoyles Grandfather gave chilling accounts of how the demons threatened Sita. Some of them warned her that if she spurned Ravana's advances, they would drink her blood. Ugh, what a place and what kind of inhabitants, we shuddered. And then, there were numerous accounts of how Ravana and his brothers functioned in the stories we heard, the len heads and twenty hands of Ravana were often emphasised. But we feared another citizen for Sri Lanka even more than Ravana. That was the giant. Kumbhakarna, who spent his life eating, sleeping and taking care of the enemies of his brother. This giant also was caricatured in most of the books and magazines. Such was our dislike of Lanka, that we applauded the stage for performances of Lanka Dahanam where an irrepressible Hanuman, with his tail aflame, set fire to the entire city. Father had a friend, Subbiah Pillai who worked in Colombo. He visited out home once a year and always brought wonderful gifts - chocolates, wristwatches and so on. He used to laugh when I asked him how anyone could live in an island which had caused so much sorrow to Sita Devi. He assured me that Lanka was not such a had place and that millions of people from Tamil Nadu were working there peacefully. I also asked him about the damage the city had suffered from the fiery tail of Hanuman. That stumped him. "Oh, the kings who succeeded Ravana much have rebuilt the city, he assured me. "Today, the buildings in Colombo do not show any sign of the fire caused by Hanuman." As I grew up, my negative impressions of Ceylon began to change. During the early 1950s, when the then Minister of Information and Broadcasting. Dr. B. V. Kesar, banned film music from All-India radio, the commercial service of Radio Ceylon, came to my rescue. The 1950's were the golden age of Hindi film music and Radio Ceylon broadcast the songs round the clock. Who can forget Amin Sayani's "Binaca Geetmala." Balraj Dutt (later on Sunil Dutt) interviewing our favourite film stars and other such programmes." We never went out on Wednesday nights when the Geetmala was broadcast. Some months back. I was introduced to the famous. Amin Sayani and could not hide my here worship. He was a hit amused, but I think, was also touched. The English language commercial broadcasts from Radio Ceylon also included interesting quiz programmes. I remember the `Honk Honk' quiz and another one sponsored by Doric Products. The Bournvita quiz show came much later. These programmes were far superior to anything that All-India offered in those days Tamil film songs were also broadcast frequently. Radio in those days, came to mean only Radio Ceylon. Apart from entertainment. I also closely followed the sporting links, particularly cricket, with Ceylon. TheHinduand Sport & Pastime, covered in detail cricket matches in the island and the Madras vs Ceylon matches. Names like F. C. De Saram. M. Sathasivam, Stanley Jayasinghe, Laddie Outschoorn and Gramini Goonesena spelt magic in those days. Sathasivam had the grace of Roy Dias and the power of Duleep Mendis. I keenly followed the M. J. Gopalan Trophy matches between Ceylon and Madras which provided excellent, entertaining cricket. All those bad memories of rakshasa infected Lanka, were by then, completely erased. Finally, in December 1977, I visited Sri Lanka to do an article for the Reader's Digest on the Boys Town project which was in the hands of some French missionaries Colombo, in those days, was very much like Madras. The weather was hot and humid. The people were dark but with clean cut features. The native food smelt too much of coconut oil Sri Lanka, in those days, was paradise. I still remember the unforcegettable jeep ride from Colombo n Boys Town, which was located beyond the tea estates of Nuwar Eliya. The weather was cool, the sky blue and the lush green ten tea gardens were like magic carpets. The priests who were with me briefed me on the history of the place. Most of the planters were British. During leisure hours they played cricket and rugby and turned Eliya into a leading venue for horse racing. Till my Sri Lankan visit. I had been drinking tea as a daily chore without without paying much attention to the procedure. But the week I spent in the emerald isle opened my eyes to the pleasures of tea. I tasted several varieties of tea, each had a fragrance and taste, which were differnt from the previous one. At Boys Town, High Tea was served. Freshly haked bread, cakes and scones and Tea! It was a meal I still dream about. Unfortunately, my recent memories of Sri Lanka are painful. The beautiful island has been bled white in the civil war. The Tamils need all the sympathy but can anyone justify the excesses of the LTTE? Violence will not achieve anything and only make any compromise or settlement, more difficult. It is high time the LTTE sat down and negotiated an honourable settlement with the Sri Lankan government. The night Sri Lanka won the Wills World Cup in that enthralling final in Lahore. I sat down and went down the Sri Lanka Memory Lane. What a wonderful bunch of crickets are. Arjuna Ranatunga and his merry men! The skipper is always smiling and pleasant and his men. I am sure, will die for him. That is what leadership is all about. Earlier in Australia and then in the World Cup, the cheery men from Sri Lanka Jayasuriya. Kaluwitharana, Arvinda, Mahanama, Muralidtharan and company, brought new joy to the wonderful game of cricket. Unlike our cricketers who are surrounded by representatives of ad agencies, moneybags and chamchas, the Sri Lankan players appeared to enjoy their cricket which they played in an aggressive, uncomplicated way. When they were beaten. they smiled. Finally, now, they are winning and the Lahore triumph pushed them to the top of the cricketing ladder. I hope that in the days to come, the Sri Lankan approach will remain the same. How nice it would be if the World Cup triumph brings a healing touch to the ravaged island and makes it a paradise once moral."