Parliamentary questions

The workings of parliament are sometimes obscure, but I think people should make the effort to try and and understand what goes on.

Last week the chief government whip refused to answer a question on the basis of national security. Why should an MP refuse to answer questions? Does parliamentary procedure allow questions to go unanswered?

Reading the Parliamentary procedure in the UK relating to questions it appears to me that an MP cannot refuse to answer. Parliamentary questions are but one way by which the Government is held to account. Accountability to its citizens is what makes a democracy a democracy so refusing to answer a question is simply 'not on'.

Even more intriguing was the question which he refused to answer. He had refused to reveal the findings of a commission set up to look into alleged irregularities committed in the procurement of arms and ammunition for the military.

As this was a commission set up by the Government to look into alleged irregularities, it seems very strange that its results cannot be made public. “The President and relevant officials will take the necessary action based on the findings of the report,” Minister Gunawardena said, which does not seem very convincing since the overriding aim seems to be to sweep things under the carpet.

This reaction seems especially odd in contrast to the conviction of Sarath Fonseka on charges of corruption in arms procurement. Sauce for the goose is apparently not sauce for the gander, so while enemies of the republic will be persecuted its friends will be protected.

There is also another question: on the quality of internal mechanisms. The Government has repeatedly boasted that the country, being a democracy, has the necessary mechanisms and processes to deal with all problems. The reaction to the findings of this commission seem to demonstrate the opposite.

Of pensions and pensioners

The Government has barely had time to withdraw the pensions bill when a pensioner has stepped into the limelight, threatening to ignite the controversy all over again.

Sanath Jayasuriya had been put out to pasture a long time ago. Following his entry to a geriatric day care centre (otherwise known as parliament) he was expected to spend long hours ruminating and peacefully chewing the cud, but no, he has vaulted over the parliament walls and is back playing cricket.

The life force obviously flows freely in the swamps and lakes that surround the parliament and sustains the life forms within that august building. Perhaps its denizens are all imbibing the Vivificus Iunvenesco Potion. Either way, the ordinary forces of time do not seem to operate within that building.

Under the controversial pension bill, a worker was paid a pension after the age of 60 and was expected to retire at the age of 55. In contrast, the Prime Minister, now 80, is by the standard of wine, of an old and rare vintage that is only available through specialist shops. Hale and hearty, he shows no inclination to retire. A founding member of the SLFP he has spent half a century in parliament.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, current leader of the opposition is 62. He has already shown keen intent on holding this position for the rest of his life, which should be long, given his considerable skills in hanging on by the skin of his teeth. Le Roi, already 65 will be 73 by the time his second term expires.

Perhaps what we need is a pension bill for parliamentarians? Perhaps someone should also drain the swamp? There is life emerging from it all right (and crawling inside the parliament), but in the words of Scotty "not as we know it".

It may even be of an everlasting type, last seen in the Doctor Who series. Who wants MP's who last forever? The whole building may be a giant TARDIS for all we know, defying the laws of time and space and lasting forever. There are certainly enough Doctors in it.

Wikileaks

Java Jones had written something on the last round of Wikileaks revelations. He felt that the leaks were helpful, I disagreed and wrote a reply that kept growing longer so I decided to post it on my own blog instead.

I had not read his blog for some time, so this reply is almost six months late but I think the point is still valid.

What the last round of Wikileaks revelations has done is damage diplomacy, which is a danger to all concerned.

Previous leaks, such as the footage of helicopters shooting civilians was in the public interest. Action needed to be taken and making the news public was necessary.

Releasing diplomatic cables revealing the opinions of diplomats on meetings, personalities and other routine matters was grossly irresponsible and highly damaging.

The fact that diplomats felt they could not trust certain Saudi ministers or their thoughts on Chinese and North Korean officials do not further anyone's interests. It is not necessary to talk to ones friends but one must always talk to ones enemies. The alternative to not talking is misunderstanding, conflict and worse.

It is not possible for leaders of countries to talk to each other face-to-face on a regular basis, so their representatives - diplomats must do do so on their behalf. They then need to make as frank an assessment of the people they meet and the situations they encounter and report these to their superiors.

They need to be polite to people they meet but they also need to be frank in their assessments. This is not double dealing or hypocrisy, this is simply good manners and necessary. We do this all the time; when we deal with unpleasant neighbours, co-workers and the like, diplomats are no different. Nothing that has been leaked is completely unknown or unexpected but it does embarrass all concerned.

Wikileaks needs to edit and release information on the basis of public interest, their last revelations have been anything but.

Food prices

People from overseas are often shocked at the price of food in Sri Lanka, visitors from as far away as England and Australia have been muttering darkly after a visit to the local supermarket. We usually reply that this due to inflation but think no more of it.

A friend of mine recently told me that the reasons for high prices are due to taxes and poor policy. Imported food is taxed (a lot of our food is imported) and this results in high prices in the local market. He gave me the example of coconut.

The Government has imposed heavy import duties on vegetable oils (soy, corn etc) thus driving up the prices of imported cooking oil. Local coconut producers thus find it more profitable to channel coconuts to oil production leading to a shortage of fresh nuts in the market resulting in coconut prices shooting up to Rs.60/- Will anybody with a coconut oil mill confirm this? The supermarket prices for coconut oil were between Rs.470-505 per litre (N'Joy and Cooks Joy) while vegetable oil ranged from Rs.425 upwards.

In the meantime, coconut producers seem to be doing fairly well, but not as spectacularly well as the nut prices suggest. One smallholder manages to still make a loss, but his holding (5 acres) is probably uneconomic and suffers from a high level of theft. Someone with a much larger holding (about 90 acres) says he is doing reasonably well, but I am not close enough to him to dig up detailed figures. again, anyone who can supply further information is welcome to do so.

Fish prices are supposed to be high due to tax imposed on canned Mackeral. The tax is supposed to be around Rs.100/- per can, a 450g can retails for Rs.215. People try to buy fresh fish instead and this pushes the fresh fish prices up. The customs website has some details of taxes, but is not detailed enough. Taxes on potatoes, onions and sugar have been revised a number of times.

The Gutterflower very kindly assisted me by compiling the prices of a few common foodstuffs in Delhi.

Indian Prices (converted to LKR @ 2.45 LKR = 1 INR)

Normal Rice 80.86
Long grain basmati 161.73
Yellow lentils 68.61
Red lentils 134.77
Potato 28.79
Tomatoes 54.64
Onion 30.63
Chicken (whole chicken, approx) 367.57
Bread 31.10 (780g sliced bread INR 22, converted to a 450g price to make comparison easier)

Local Prices

Red Raw rice 56
White Raw 58
Basmati 286
Mysore Dhal (small reddish grains) 168
Mysore Dhal (larger yellowish grains) 139
Potato 120
Tomatoes 70.7
Bombay onions 74
Small onions 173
Chicken] 350
Bread 102.75

In terms of basic cheap rice, currently local prices are lower, although there was a time a few months back when they shot up to around Rs.100/- a kilo. In almost every other item the Indian prices are far lower than in Sri Lanka. Why this should be so is the question to which I have yet to find an answer.

What is especially interesting are the prices of onions and bread. Locally produced red onions are more than double the price of imported Bombay onions. The price of bread, thrice the Indian level is inexplicable, unless wheat is heavily subsidised in India. India does indeed subsidise wheat, the extent of which on a per kg basis I need to try and work out.

Surprisingly enough chicken prices are comparable although production in Sri Lanka should be more inefficient. Chickens are fattened on grain, it takes roughly 3.5kg of feed to produce a kilo of chicken, since this country does not produce enough grain, the bulk of the feed ingredients are imported. Therefore a producer of grain such as India should have an inherent advantage that should translate to lower prices. Many years ago when someone checked on the possibility of imported frozen chicken from India, selling prices in India were around 60% of the local cost of production.

These are just a few thoughts and I would appreciate any feedback that could explain some of these questions.

Update 13-6-2011

LBO has an interesting article on the revenue raised by food taxes, see here.

Haputale

Driving up the hills from Ratnapura.



Further along the drive



Adisham, in the afternoon light



Dawn breaks on the forest









The road up to Lipton's Seat



The view of the valley, partway along the route to Lipton's Seat.



Adisham, in the afternoon light.



The headstone on W.S. Senior's grave

Haputale has some stunning scenery, about the best there is in the country, equalled only by the scenery in the Knuckles mountain range. Fortunately it to too far off the main tourist trail to become as despoiled as Nuwara Eliya. It has deteriorated in the twelve years since I first visited, especially on the road up to Adisham where part of the forest has been felled and two ugly hotels and a number of small guest houses have mushroomed.

The ruthlessness with which any opportunity for a quick profit will be exploited by Sri Lankan's needs to be seen to be believed. Endemic corruption ensures that the few building, environmental and safety regulations can be ignored and one finds spindly, ugly buildings clinging to hillsides offering board and lodging or refreshments. Why this entrepreneurial spirit cannot be channelled more productively is a mystery. Some of the hills were being logged heavily, with backhoes and other equipment leaving great bare patches on the hills. It is no wonder that with the heavy rains there are frequent landslides in the hill country.

Despite the best efforts of the rent-seekers, there is much beauty to behold and it is easy to see what captivated Sir Thomas Villiers, who built Adisham at a particularly stunning spot and Walter Stanley Senior.

Senior's love of the place was such that although he retired to England his ashes were interred at the churchyard of St Andrews, Haputale. The inscription on the headstone, taken from his own poem Lanka from Pidurutalagala reads:

Here I stand in spirit,
as in body once I stood Long years ago,
in love with all the land,
This peerless land of beauty’s plenitude

Followed by the words:

He Loved Ceylon

A fitting tribute to the craggy, smoky mountains and deep valleys. The rolling mist, which descends suddenly, together with the sparkling sunshine is a photographers (or painters) delight, possibly even worthy of Turner.

There is little do do in Haputale except breathe the crisp clean air and enjoy the magnificent scenery. An ideal place for solitude, which is probably why the Benedictine Monks turned Adisham into a monastery.

Large groups of noisy tourists please go away.

Servants, a perspective from the Raj

I am in the midst of reading Charles Allen's Plain Tales from the Raj, an author I discovered at this years literary festival.

It is about the experiences of the Anglo-Indians - used in the original sense of the term: the British who lived in India. An Anglo-Indian himself, born into a family six generations in India, he worked on a BBC programme in 1973 to record the memories of the last surviving Anglo-Indians. The book grew out of the series of recordings made and broadcast in 1974.

I found the attitude towards servants rather interesting, particularly:

The question of how to address servants varied with status. 'It was a point of honour with us in the established civil service never to talk to the servants in anything but their own language,' states John Cotton, the result was that he who spoke the language had a much better type of servant. In much the same way Iris Portal was taught that 'you must never have an English-speaking servant. My father's attitude was that if you, an educated woman can't speak the language of a man who's illiterate you really aren't fit to employ him.'............

And a few lines later

Wives who knew the customs and languages of India 'would never think of asking a servant to do a thing that was beneath him or was in any way contrary to his religion'. The pukka memsahib was never 'tactless enough to bring back Bacon from the Club and hand it to a bearer who was a very strict Mohommedan. One put it upon a table and a sweeper would come and take it away, because he was a Hindu and did'nt mind touching bacon.'

I think this is interesting because it reveals a relatively progressive, or at least pragmatic attitude towards the ruled. I suppose it is not possible to rule for any length of time riding roughshod over the sensibilities of the people.

Reconciliation: A lesson from Nigeria?

I recently finished reading The State of Africa by Martin Meredith. Subtitled 'A History of fifty years of Independence' it is just that - a broad survey of the continent and a book for anyone who believes that useful lessons can be learned from the failure of others.

Well written albeit in simple straightforward prose, the litany of the continents woes is sometimes a little overwhelming; names, places, dates tend to swim into one another, so it is best to read a chapter or two at a time. There are one or two bright patches such as the process of reconciliation in Nigeria following the Biafran war.

Meredith notes that:

The aftermath of the war was notable for its compassion and mercy; and the way in which the memories of Biafra [the secessionist state in south-eastern Nigeria] faded. Quoting Lincoln, Gowon [Head of the Federal Military Government of Nigeria] talked of binding up the nations wounds. No medals for services in the war were awarded, no reparations were demanded; Biafran rebels were reabsorbed in the Federal Army; civil servants [who served the secessionists] returned to their posts in the federal government; and property belonging to Igbos [the people from the rebel areas in the South East] in the North and other Federal areas was restored to them. In this war, said Gowon, there had been 'no victors and no vanquished'.

Bin Laden and human rights

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has called for a full disclosure of the facts surrounding the killing of Bin Laden to determine legality of the operation. This call has been echoed by both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

This underlines an important principle: human rights are fundamental and even people like Bin Laden should expect due process.

No doubt Bin Laden was a thoroughly nasty character who has claimed responsibility for the death of thousands, I have no sympathy for either his cause or his methods, but basic principles of justice need to be respected. Ideally, the team should have attempted to capture Bin Laden alive and then put him on trial. If he was killed accidentally in a shootout, then it is acceptable but the assassination, which is another term for extra-judicial killing should not be condoned. This is why the UNHCR needs to investigate the circumstances of his death.

It is easy to say that terrorists, or for that matter, criminals have no rights. The question is who determines if someone is innocent or guilty? If the authorities start prejudging guilt, what starts to happen is that suspects, rather than criminals start getting punished and a suspect could be anybody: anyone could make a false complaint that so-and-so was responsible for such-and-such a crime.

In order to ensure justice is available to everybody, certain principles need to be observed at all times. William Blackstone's formulation "better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer" is what law should be based on. It is, as Soli Sorabjee, former Attorney-General of India remarked during a debate on this subject, what marks a civilised nation.

The killing of Bin Laden- implications for Sri Lanka

There are serious issues that are raised by the circumstances of Bin Laden's death and they concern Pakistan, a country regarded as a friend by the Sri Lankan regime. The relevant facts are:

1. He was killed in Abbottabad, pretty little town in North East Pakistan that is also home to the Pakistan Military Academy.

2. He was living in a large semi-fortified compound that to some observers resembled an ISI safehouse. Neighbours claimed that the current occupants moved in some five years ago.

3. Bin Laden suffered from kidney failure and required regular dialysis. There was no dialysis equipment in the house he occupied so he had to receive regular treatment from outside. Although the city boasts of 21 hospitals (it was a centre for treating casualties from the Kashmiri earthquake) the fact that he was not noticed raises the possibility that he received treatment at the military hospital located in the town.

The awkward questions raised by these facts are:

1. Bin Laden was being sheltered by the Pakistani military or some rogue elements within the military. Given the long period during which he has held there whoever did so had have at least a few fairly senior people involved.
2. The political leadership (and the military) claims they were unaware of Bin Laden's whereabouts. If the political leadership was indeed unaware then the question needs to be raised as to whether the political leadership has control over the military. If the military leadership were also unaware this raises the possibility of rogue elements within the military at a fairly senior level.

Pakistan was supposedly a strong US ally helping them in the Afghan campaign, it now looks that they were either helping the enemy all along or that the state has no effective control over its military, either possibility being equally disturbing.

Pakistan's economy is in shambles and large amounts of US aid help things along. The US is under internal pressure to cut aid and if this happens then the state may be weakened further.

India has long accused Pakistan of assisting guerrillas and insurgents in Kashmir and elesewhere. They were also accused of complicity in the Bombay train bombings and in the later Bombay hotel attacks. The suspicious circumstances of Bin Laden's hideout will only strengthen the view that Pakistan is a sponsor of terror in India. The two countries have already fought three wars, the last in 1971.

To make matters more complicated, both countries now have nuclear weapons and the fallout from such a conflict will affect all its neighbours. Sri Lanka's relations with India are frigid, India is already suspicious of the cosy relationship with China, taking a line seen as pro-Pakistan now would be the worst thing we could do. Attempting to pay a 'Pakistan' card to try and gain leverage over India, on say the Darusman Report, would be disastrous.

Countries where the Great Game was played out generally ended up hosting proxy battles between the protagonists. This was the fate of Afghanistan, having toyed with India and China Sri Lanka should tread carefully to avoid a similar fate.


Update: NDTV just reported at 18.05 local time that there was firing at an Indian border post and that Indian forces have retaliated.

Port Sunlight

I am an unashamed Anglophone and an unrepentant capitalist, both tendencies being happily united in my admiration for the Victorian Robber Baron. Make no mistake, I am no Scrooge McDuck, rather it is the paternalistic Victorian that I aspire to, one of whom, William Hesketh Lever, built Port Sunlight.

I was reading through Engels' criticism of the cottage system, where workers in factories were provided with housing. Engels says this started harmlessly enough, to provide cheap housing for workmen but was later used as a tool to keep them restive, the threat of ejection from the cottage (and the awful state of alternative housing) sufficing to prevent excessive wage demands. Engels' also faults the industrialist for charging the normal or market rent for the property, which he feels is excessive since (in Engels view) the principal risk with property; difficulties in collecting rent and the possibility of the property lying vacant are both absent in the Cottage system. (ie As the industrialist fills his cottages with his own workers he is always sure of a tenant and since he deducts the rent from their wages he is certain of receiving payment).

Port Sunlight however was a triumph. Lever wanted to provide a healthy and pleasant environment for his workers, with schools, library, institutes and public buildings. A whole village in fact. An interest in architecture drove him to employ some 30
architects including an unknown Edwin Lutyens to design the 900 buildings. No two houses are alike.

The critics claimed that he was a despot, controlling and dominating people, the whole village being effused by the "spirit of soap".

I think he did his workers much good and built a quaint little village (now quite a tourist attraction, all buildings being Grade II listed) in the process. Have a look at the pictures and judge for yourself.

The Chinese Connexion

I have borrowed the title for this post from a book I read as a schoolboy. I have only hazy recollections of the book , but the Rice-Rubber pact with China surely featured prominently.

It is rather hard to imagine today that the world's second largest economy would enter into the most cumbersome and primitive form of trade: barter, with a tiny country like Ceylon but post-revolutionary China was a poor, chaotic, almost anarchic state. Some news reports from the time, though partial, are amusing to read.

Today things are rather different. China, a rising power seeking to dominate trade and wield its influence in the world. Sri Lanka is one of the countries that seems to be locked into the Chinese embrace, no longer an equal partner as in 1952 but a minnow, in a position familiar to many an African nation. And it is the African experience that is interesting, how the Chinese first welcome so eagerly now seem to inspire suspicion, fear and anger. The Economist has an analysis that is well worth reading.

I do apologise for the frequent links to The Economist in my recent writings. It is just that they have many interesting ideas and I am one who is stimulated by ideas. An attractive idea is absorbed, then bounced around like a rubber ball, ricocheting around the mind, stimulating thought in distant areas, reappearing in different forms and repeating the whole process all over again leaving the mind a-whirl in heady intoxication.

Rehabilitating the war zone

The Economist has suggested that one way to rehabilitate the tsunami hit region would be to turn the area into a special economic zone. Could this approach be used in the war zone? I think so.

The Government can declare several special investment zones in the North and the East. Private infrastructure developers can be invited to set up the basic infrastructure (power, water, roads drainage etc) in the zone in return for the right to lease out blocks of land to other investors (who build the factories or offices).

The market that should be targeted is South India, Indian bureaucracy is notorious and Indian investors would be quite happy to set up shop, provided duty free access were available to the Indian market. This is something the Government would need to negotiate with India but given that that India is keen to see progress on rehabilitation this should not be too difficult.

The harbour and airport would need to be brought up to standard to enable the goods to flow out and raw materials to flow in, this alone will create some jobs. This will also open up the possibility of catering to tourists, particularly pilgrims from India. It is only by catering to the Indian market, particularly pilgrims, can a reasonable tourist industry be built up in the North.

The North is too far from Colombo, the climate to dusty, hot and dry to attract anything other than intrepid backpackers and even for them the principal attraction - the Fort, is now partly destroyed. Even in the 1970's and 1980's the North was not on the package tourism trail and I don't think it will ever get on to that, even with the benefit of better roads and air-conditioned cars.

There would need to be other support infrastructure; particularly education and training institutes to ensure that people have the necessary skills in addition to things like transport, telecommunications and power.

All this must go in parallel with meeting the basic needs of the people especially housing. The Government lacks the funds but if properly managed the private sector can handle much of the investment and donors should be quite willing to pay for much of the social infrastructure.

Why so much black?

Black is a colour that seems to be in fashion now, especially amongst women. It is not unusual to find women setting out to work dressed entirely in black, something I find odd.

Not that black is a bad colour. Black is sophisticated, smart but it is an evening colour. Black in daytime is only for mourning, which implies that it should be used with a degree of sobriety. No one should mistake someone in mourning for someone heading out to a smart evening party.

Dark colours, navy or grey, are acceptable if one likes darker hues but leave black for the evening. Little black cocktail dresses are best left for cocktails.

Taxes on vehicles increased

According to a news report, the Government has raised vehicle taxes. It was only in the middle of last year that the taxes were reduced, so why the sudden reversal?

There are three factors that could be the causes:

1. There are too many vehicles on the road, there is a need to restrict the number being imported.
2. The Government is short of tax revenue.
3. Possible problems with the balance of payments.

The most likely scenario is a combination of items two and three.

Taxes on household appliances and cars were cut in the middle of last year and further cuts to VAT and income tax were announced in November. People were generally pleased and there was a marked increase in economic activity.

There was however a flaw in the budget - there was no reduction in state expenditure. Thus although the rates of some taxes were cut there could be no reduction in the overall tax collected if the budget deficit was to be met. In more simple terms the same amount of tax would be collected by different means.

In fact the Government was expecting to collect more taxes (151 billion rupees more, total tax revenue was targeted at 963.5 billion rupees, up from 828.2 billion rupees in 2010). The higher tax collection was necessary to finance increased expenditure (total current expenditure will go up to 1,017 billion rupees from 926.0 billion in 2010, the largest part of the increase - 49 billion rupees, being spent on salaries).

Therefor the Government was hoping to collect more in taxes, but at the same time tax rates were cut. How does one square this particular circle?

This is workable provided growth in volumes offsets the reduction in rates. It is likely that this has not happened. Recent price increases in fuel, gas, bread and electricity indicate a need for increased revenue, which is consistent with the increase in car duties.

Is there an issue with the balance of payments as well? The surge in imports of vehicles has undoubtedly put this under pressure, but as there are no figures available it is difficult to be certain. The recent IMF review did note that the forex reserve target was missed, although this was blamed on an early repayment of a loan from Iran.

The increase in traffic is partly due to the increase in economic activity and while this is a problem, I don't think it is enough to have caused a rethink in policy.

The increase in taxes will dampen activity and will cause worries about policy. Businesses do not like to see constant changes in tax rates, it adds to uncertainty and what changes take place should be within a clearly discernible policy framework.

People were pleasantly surprised when taxes were cut and one only needs to witness the spurt in activity in the last five months to see its benefits.

In order to reap maximum benefit the lower taxes need to stay, but to do this the Government must tighten its belt and cut its spending.

One of Them

First one, then another friend,
calls from overseas, asking for news,
of UN reports and other serious matters.

I am confounded and reply,
with trite gossip of cricket scores,
the team and the IPL.

Realisation dawns. The mind is benumbed,
critical faculties suspended,
trapped in the mundane monotony,
of everyday existence,

I have become one of Them,
the obedient, unthinking automation,
another Zombie.

Tales of the jungles

My grandfather was a sportsman, a good shot and a frequent traveler to the jungles. It is politically incorrect to even talk of shooting (other than with a camera) these days, but well up to the middle of the last century it was perfectly acceptable.

In his defence I venture that like most sportsmen, in later life he turned conservationist. After all, Yala was originally conceived as a shooting reserve, it was only later and with the support of former sportsmen was it turned into a wildlife sanctuary. Jim Corbett, the famed Shikari of Northern India was instrumental in creating India's first wildlife park.

Coming back to my grandfather, although he possessed no higher education he loved to read and had an extensive library. The library was in a separate room where few other people ventured and was my particular sanctuary, quiet and cool, despite the afternoon heat.

There was a long row of cupboards, the one at the centre contained his guns and fishing rod, on either side were the books. There were books on travel and of life in far of lands; I picked up quite a few books from Teak Wallah, Two Happy Years in Ceylon and The Kon Tiki Expedition to Country Life and National Geographic magazines and much else besides.

Naturally a lot of the books were on the jungles and in this genre one particular author was quite outstanding: Kenneth Anderson.

I am not sure how many have heard of him, he was not as well known as Jim Corbett but he was a far finer writer. I have never managed to finish a book by Corbett, I struggled with one once, but Kenneth Anderson was very special. His deep knowledge of the jungle and its denizens and his love of nature are vividly conveyed. Most of books deal with his adventures tracking down man eating tigers, leopards and rogue elephants and the killing that occurs at the end of each chapter is a little shocking today but the hold of the books is irresistible.

I thought I was alone in my appreciation for his skills but it turns out that he has a dedicated following in India and even a few in Sri Lanka. There is a Yahoo Group with about 500 members dedicated to him. That someone who wrote of his experiences in the 1920's and 1930's should be able to communicate to people in the 21st century (and more than a quarter century after his own death) is a powerful testament to his skills as a storyteller.

Most of his books are being printed in India and a couple are available free online. To whet people's appetite I quote the opening paragraphs of one chapter.

The Man-Eater of Jowlagiri

THOSE who have been to the tropics and to jungle places
will not need to be told of the beauties of the moonlight
over hill and valley, that picks out in vivid relief the forest
grasses and each leaf of the giant trees, and throws into
still greater mystery the dark shadows below, where the
rays of the moon cannot reach, concealing perhaps a
beast of prey, a watchful deer or a lurking reptile, all
individually and severally in search of food.

All appeared peaceful in the Jowlagiri Forest Range, yet
there was danger everywhere, and murder was afoot. For
a trio of poachers, who possessed between them two
matchlocks of ancient vintage, had decided to get them
selves some meat. They had cleverly constructed a hide on
the sloping banks of a water-hole, and had been sitting in
it since sunset, intently watchful for the deer which, sooner
or later, must come to slake their thirst.

The hours'wore on. The moon, at the full, had reached
mid-heaven and the scene was as bright as day. Suddenly,
from the thicket of ever-green saplings to their left, could
be heard the sound of violently rustling leaves and deepthroated grunts. What could be there? Wild-pig undoubtedly ! A succulent meal, and flesh in addition that could be sold ! The poachers waited, but the beasts, whatever they
were, did not break cover. Becoming impatient, Muniappa,
the marksman of the trio, decided to risk a shot. Raising his
matchlock, he waited till a dark shadow, deeper than its
surroundings, became more evident, and fired. There was a
snarling roar and a lashing of bushes, followed by a series
of coughing 'whoofs' and then silence.

Not pigs, but a tiger ! Fearfully and silently the three
poachers beat a hasty retreat to their village, there to spend
the rest of the night in anxiety as to the result of their act.
But morning revealed that all was apparently well, for a
male tiger just in his prime lay dead, the chance shot from
the ancient musket having sped straight to his heart. So
Muniappa and his friends were, for that day, the unsung
and whispered heroes of the village.

But the next night produced a different story. With sun
set came the urgent, angry call of a tigress seeking her dead
mate. For it was the mating season, and this tigress, which
had only just succeeded in finding her companion the night
before, was decidedly annoyed at his unaccountable ab
sence, which she quite rightly connected with the inter
ference of human beings.

Night after night for a week she continued her uneasy
movements, calling by day from the depths of the forest
and in darkness roaring almost at the outskirts of the
village itself.

If you appreciate the beauty of Mother Nature or simply enjoy a good yarn, try these books, I promise you will not be disappointed.

Simple pleasures

It is a quarter to twelve and I stepped out of the house a few minutes ago to find the entire landscape bathed in a brilliant moonlight. I stood savouring the scenery and the cool breeze of the night. There is something about the glow of the moonlight that lends even the most commonplace scenery an air of romance and mystery.

It brought back memories from a long time ago.

There is nothing I enjoy more than a good conversation, a rare and prized commodity in this country. A friend once said that the only conversation to be had in Colombo is about women, the latest deal or cricket. Fortunately I have a small circle of friends who I can converse with, one of whom lived with his maiden aunt down a lane on the seaside of Bambalapitiya.

It was an old rambling house that was falling to pieces with a small garden. I used to go over on the eve of the poya day carrying a bottle of Rockland Gin or Gilbey's Lemon Gin. He would generally have a kottu rotti or some other nibbles handy and we would take two chairs out to the garden and chat late into the night.

The roar of the ocean, the stiff sea breeze, the coconut trees swaying to the front of us, the gaunt outline of the old house behind us and the entire scene bathed in the ghostly glow of the moonlight; with the alcohol, flowing as freely as the conversation, those evenings had an atmosphere that I have not experienced since.

Sadly, the passage of time has taken those simple pleasures beyond reach. The Marine Drive devoured most of the garden of that old house, the house itself was later knocked down and the land sold; my friend migrated to Australia and I do not know what became of his charming old aunt.

I wish I were typing this post out in the yard under moonlight rather than in my room, I think I shall pull out a chair and spend some time outside now and ponder on the magic of mother nature.

Beat the heat

I have some advice for people like me who are stuck on the sunny, hot plains in April. It does not involve travel to Nuwara Eliya (and for those in Nuwara Eliya, I shall publish a guide on how to avoid crowds), nor the expensive business of air conditioning, which quite a few people now seem to have at home.

It is to do with the ceiling fan. Please do not turn it on.

Why?

Because the blasted thing keeps blowing hot air. I was wondering why the room feels hotter when the ceiling fan is on. The breeze, when it comes through the window, is fairly cool but the fan blows gusts of warm air.

I think the reason is that hot air rises to the top, so the ceiling fan simply blows the hot air back into the room. The trick is to have a table fan, the air that comes from that is much cooler. I also think its much quieter and probably consumes less electricity. Give it a try and see, there are some very compact models now that can sit almost anywhere.

Phew, according to the BBC the temperature will rise to a maximum of 31 centigrade, with 75% humidity, I'm off to sneak off downstairs (downstairs is always far cooler- the roof absorbs direct heat from the sun) for a quiet snooze. There is a promise of showers in the night, though. It is unusual, a continuation of the weird weather, but I'm not complaining.

Trolling around

The local blogosphere was destroyed by an infestation of Trolls. This week's Economist had an interesting article on the phenomenon.

It is the anonymity that the internet offers that brings out the base characteristics of people. There is a parallel with real life, I think it is the relative anonymity of an existence in a large city that brings out the worst in people. Crime always seem far worse in cities than in smaller communities.

When people know who everyone else is then that knowledge acts as a check on behaviour. A social check of sorts. There will always be a few incorrigible elements or black sheep but most would think twice if they knew that word would get round soon enough and their reputations and those of their family were at stake.

The holiday organisers burden

I have organised many a successful holiday for groups of friends. Everybody who travels has a good time and suggests doing another one, so the organiser, forgetting momentarily all the headache that he went through starts planning the next journey.

This must start with locating somewhere that is nice yet cheap. This is not an easy task but if one starts early enough there is a good possibility of finding something. I had a little trick up my sleeve - I would get in touch with a printing firm in November or December and get the list of holidays for the forthcoming year, before any calendars had been printed. I would pick out the long weekends and start calling around and getting rates, take a straw poll amongst potential trippers and book, paying whatever advance was necessary.

Since we are booking three to six months ahead everyone is enthusiastic and confirms.

About a month before the date I start calling people to remind them and then the trouble starts. Some people have extra work in the office that they need to finish, other people are going abroad, some people can't come because its lent (April is always a problematic month), others have weddings, some people are not speaking to each other anymore, other people's parents object to them going alone.

When organising an outing, a rough transport plan is also at the back of ones mind, a few people with company cars (hence free fuel) providing the transport but with the drop outs, the transport plan will also be thrown into turmoil. One may have people but no transport or the converse.

All the problems do not come together, its starts gradually and builds up over the weeks until a few days before the journey the organiser is left with just a couple of people, which means a last minute round of frantic calling to try and find replacements.

The last time this happened was in 2007, when I was left with two or three people for a bungalow in Nuwara Eliya booked for eight. Thanks to the kindness of the owner, we managed to postpone the booking, which eventually had to be re-postponed once again before the trip finally took place in September. A couple of times I have ended up giving away bookings to other friends-bungalows are much in demand close to the dates booked so have not really suffered financially but its the frustration of having a great place but not enough people to go with.

Traveling in a group is fun and cheap - if a bungalow can be filled to capacity the cost per head works out quite cheap. I dislike hotels and these days they are far too expensive so a bungalow is the only viable option, the problem is in finding people who can make a commitment. A commitment for a holiday, that's not too much to ask for, is it?