Winds Of Change In Jaffna
Dr Noel Nadesan
The war radicalized Jaffna and it was inevitable that we could never again return to the good old Jaffna we knew. There were signs of a new Jaffna emerging imperceptibly even during the war years. I have visited Jaffna 13 times in the last five years. But nothing signified the change better than the international symbol I saw in Jaffna when I visited the place last in January 2014. For the first time ever I saw one of the best international symbols in the heart of Jaffna. It was the face of the bearded Colonel of Kentucky Fried Chicken. It was a giant leap for Jaffna to abandon the traditional “porichci koli” and go for KFC. To me it was like our people abandoning betel and opting for chewing gum. This to me is the ultimate symbol of Jaffna breaking away from the feudal past and arriving at last in the 21st century.
Talking of climate change one cannot feel it better than in Sri Lanka. We travelled from north to south and east to west. There is a palpable change that you can feel and see. Just not the roads but the attitude and the new spirit that is visible in the faces.
One bright evening, as I was walking with my wife on a narrow street in Wellawatta, Colombo, — a predominantly Tamil suburb – I received a mobile call from a young widow in Kilinochchi. I have sponsored her for last three years. I was to meet her on the way to Jaffna. She rang to regret that she would not able to meet us at Kilinochchi as she had begun teaching voluntarily at a local school. She thanked me profusely for the financial help given to raise her family. She informed me that her children were doing well at school. I was happy to learn of her progress which I took as a general indicator of the progress made by the twelve other widows who had lost their husbands during the war. I have been helping them for the last three years.
The widow who spoke to me was Lakshmi. She has two children below the age of ten. Just a year after the war I saw her in a rebuilt house, which was built with government assistance, but did not have any door. She did not have any money to install a door. Nor was any financial support forthcoming. With the backing of a local friend I was able to organize some help to her family and I was happy to learn that the domestic situation had improved.
