| Plus |
|
|||
|
Revisiting Trinco with memories and hope
The change in the climate and the physical features was discernible as we crossed the border from the North-Western to the Eastern Province. This was my third visit to Trinco. I had first been here when my father was stationed in the R.A.S.C. camp situated in the Portuguese fortress, Fort Frederick built in 1675. That was at the time that the Armistice was to be signed, bringing an end to a bitter World War Two.As a child the memories I latched on to are the fascinating and hoary tales of Lover's Leap, the Swami Rock, Marble Beach, the spacious living, the velvety, smooth sea, excursions to Pigeon Island and striking up acquaintances with the soldiers. Life was on the easy track and people would exchange smiles and pleasantries with strangers. My second visit was when we went to Trinco on our honeymoon, which lasted one whole month at the measly cost of Rs 600 for the entire duration including petrol. Petrol in 1970 was Rs 2.40 a gallon and a bottle of pure bees’ honey which we purchased in Dambulla cost only five rupees. Trinco had remained idyllic and bathing in the Hot Springs, taking a boat ride to Muttur to pray in the majestic Hindu temple, enjoying platters of seer fish and jumbo prawns, washed down with copious draughts of Adam's ale as I had temporarily abandoned Bachchus, are thoughts that I would like to hold dear to my heart. Driving out of Trinco to Nilaveli, the environment looked ravaged. Hulks of homes where once the chatter of kids and parents made life worth living, dotted the drive. New houses were being built to bring back the gladness of paradise but it will take years for Trinco to smile again. Grief has had a long cry. One of the first things we did was to take a boat ride to Pigeon Island. At 10 in the morning we were the first amongst the pigeons but within the hour its fame as a choice resort asserted itself with clutches of tourists coming in to dip in the natural pool, formed by crag and coral. Palmyrah fences and also improvised fences with the use of straightened out barrels and stems of coconut and palmyrah branches were a feature. The clusters of palmyrah trees rising majestically in close proximity to the coconut trees made my heart bleed to think that we humans couldn't take a lesson from nature. The Nilaweli Beach Hotel where we spent three nights in sloth and languor has an abundance of slim berry trees around it. It was akin to living in the forest but with creature comforts. Hemingway would have found it a part of paradise. The compelling lure of water, is it a throw-back, I wondered, to a time in pristine history when man was once a fish and woman, a mermaid. The fine grains of unpolluted, golden sands flaunt a mockery to the beaches at Dehiwela and Uswetikeiyawa. Life is as leisurely as the sea waves that sweep gently over the beaches. I would be up hours before the crack of dawn, spend an hour, mulling over the past, the present and the future. My nine and seven-year-old grandsons, are normally, avid 'explorers' and although I tried, they would not be awoken an hour later, fatigued by long swims. The other three grand-children have yet not come of age for ‘manoeuvres’. One stark reality which forced itself on us was that Trinco is indeed quite vulnerable to attack. Lakshman Kadirgamar has brought to surface this matter of paramount importance which Sunday Times defence columnist Iqbal Athas highlighted several weeks ago. Trinco’s natural harbour, the fifth largest in the world and one of the most beautiful was of great strategic importance to the Allies during the Second World War and is likely to be of concern with the stop-start progress of the peace talks. A Trinco resident, Mr. Perera whom we met in Trinco town says that life is tolerable in Trinco, movements are unrestricted and household items are now freely available at inexpensive prices. Milton did say "Peace hath her victories no less renowned than war." |
||||
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
