The long break from blogging had its reasons which are hard to explain

I have spent the past few months in contemplation in realigning my life to take account of the new circumstances, and did not wish to use the blogosphere to air my thought processes but rather in reflective evaluation of the options available to me, to make the appropriate choice of work.

After my second more painful operation of taking pieces of bone from my hip and implanting them in my leg as it had not healed after the first operation, the setback affected me a lot, as I was without the help I was used to, and had a long period of recuperation as somehow the pain seemed that much greater and my indisposition that much harder to come to terms with.

It has now been almost 3months since the operation, and I am now walking with crutches and getting about from place to place, so am feeling far more at ease and despite a part of the leg still remaining numb, I am able to get about with ease and with rare bouts of mild discomfort from time to time. I still have no transport, my vehicle being written off due to the accident and the insurance payout not sufficient even to replace half a vehicle, I have had to consider other alternatives.

I attended the Dudley Senanayake commemoration lecture last Friday and the Bandaranayake Center for International Studies at the BMICH complex and was seated at the front row only two positions away from the Minister of Justice, whose security vehicle it was that put me in this state. It was ironic that the Minister himself admitted his culpability to other distinguished guests, when we were engaged in idle chit chat, and spoke to me asking me if I had resumed my farming activity. I just asked him to look at my state to ascertain if could as I was the driver and was in no position to find alternative person for that post, that is if I had a vehicle in which to do so.

Ironically it was a very comprehensive lecture by an eminent lawyer from Malaysia, Pram Coomaraswamy on the “independence of the judiciary.” The lecture could have been directed at the Minister as it was partly on how to choose judges for their independence and impartiality, something which is lacking and was the reason behind my not suing the President or the Minister for damages, as the Judges being paid by the Ministry of Justice, would hardly likely hear a case against their paymaster, opting instead to delay or postpone hearings, meant to wear down the litigant until he walks away empty handed.

I was not in a position out of respect for my hosts to put the minister on the spot as he too was a director of the Dudley Senanayake Foundation, which held this event, and remind him that he had promised some form of redress, but it was clear to him that I was not all hunky dory and the time that has elapsed since the accident, namely January 30^th 2011 was indeed extremely difficult and life changing, not to say hugely financially debilitating, if I could not resume my farming activity.

I believe that I should be out of the requirement for a walking aid by years end, and to that extent will hopefully resume my agricultural activity in a limited way, and will not be able to do the extremely tiring schedule that I had got accustomed to.

I would therefore need some other form of remunerative employment, and was fortunate to have been offered a post in assisting an opposition MP in the Sri Lanka Parliament with his various official and private matters. I am therefore working with him in organizing a very comprehensive project to regain a political following as an alternative to the present regime, completely contrasting ourselves from the current untenable system of Government that these days seems to be a nation floundering in a web of underworld gangsters whose Godfathers are either members of the Government or the ruling family.

This challenge is immeasurable and the goals extremely worthy to empower the youth with a different set of values and morals to move forward in the future. The initial surveys show the lack of discipline and commitment amongst youth to attain the goals they have set themselves, and this will have to change if the country is to move forward from an easy come easy go laissez fair attitude.

I live in an apartment on Gregory’s Rd and my office is just up the road. Due to my inability to walk to work, a vehicle is sent for me and I accompany the MP on most of his out of town engagements and meetings in the district and electorate, along with many an interesting rally during the recently concluded Minicipality elections islandwide, where he was called upon to speak on behalf of many of the young candidates who are expected to develop into a new breed of civic and socially minded leaders, a huge contrast to the current state of play!

My impressions of one aspect of an MP’s duties, namely of attending numerous funeral houses, was one of horror at the realization that more than half are those where the dead are younger than me. Many are for young boys being killed while riding their motorcycles. Just last week it was a boy of 19 and a neighbor of 16 dying in one accident, with the former having forced his father to buy him a Motorbike on his return from overseas, and losing his life within a month of that.