Last night I was watching CBC's "Greatest Canadian" special. They're out to find the greatest Canadian according to the regular population. It's really fascinating (no really, it is), last night they went through the top 50 nominees and some of the people that were on the list, were names I remember because they're considered "important" but that's about it. I was drawing a blank as to what their contributions were. There were the obvious ones, like Alexander Graham Bell. Sandford Fleming was on the list too, I had no clue who he was, the place where I had all my psych exams last year were in a building that had the same name, that's as far as my knowledge went on him though. Anyways, turns out he's the man who standardised time! Go figure eh?
(*sigh* remember Heritage Minutes? They're online now! You can WATCH them and relive the "Burnt Toast" moment as if you were still in grade 3! And you can learn more about Sandford Fleming too. It's win, win)
Internally Displaced
(- Feel free to skip this, I promise, it will make your eyes bleed and you will have sudden urges to stab yourself with small pointed objects. Trust me. I did.)
{This morning in my French class we had a laboratoire, and we had to listen to a thing about Mordecai Richler "L'héritage d'un grand écrivain." Yeah, who has time to think coherently on a Monday morning let alone in French. Anyways since Richler was a Jew who grew up in Montreal, he had this sense of duality. I think that's a trait that all "immigrant" kids feel. I'm not just a Canadian. And I'm not just a Sri Lankan. Canadians don't view me as a "real" Canadian, and Sri Lankans don't think I'm really Sri Lankan. It's almost as if I'm in limbo, living in a parallel "bizarro" world.** The best way to put it is that I sometimes feel like I'm an internally displaced person. I'm not the only one, and it's always interesting to meet other immigrant kids who feel the same way. I think we're the better for having those two distinct cultures and mindsets living in one body. At times yes, it's like a complex form of schizophrenia. But then again you can't have everything.
Sometimes I wonder where to draw the line. Our family isn't hardcore paked out, and I don't think it's b/c we "assimilated." Even back in the motherland we weren't hard core. The other day on my way home on the subway I was chatting to an acquaintance of mine who I went to Jr. High with. She's Sri Lankan too, but jebus, our families could be from two different planets. She was so surprised that we were not steeped in the whole arranged marriage culture. I told her that none of the people in my parents social circle had arranged marriages. I didn't think it was that much of a big deal. That whole issue of dealing with parents who are totally far out there (like hers) was never ever a problem with our parents. Even after they became Christians they're still really liberal minded, more liberally minded than some of the non-religious parents i know. I'm glad that my parents never forced us to go to Sinhala classes, one of the pluses of being a minority in a hugely Tamil Sri Lankan population. (Then again though they brought Piyo [my childhood nanny] to Canada to teach us Sinhala. We ended up teaching her English. What. She was a fast learner!) Sometimes i feel like a traitor because I can't speak it. When I went to Senegal i felt so guilty b/c I could speak French better than my own "mother tongue" (lol and my French SUCKS, Gina can back this up). I try to embrace as much of my "culture" as I can, but sometimes it feels so overwhelming. I don't try to run away from it like Salman Rushdie's Saladin Chamcha from The Satanic Verses or Michael Ondaatje's Anil Tissera from Anil's Ghost. (Both are amazing books! Go and read them.) I'm trying to juggle and walk in that middle ground all at the same time, where I can still listen to the music I like and wear the clothes that I like without being termed "white washed." Yeah we always joke around about how I am, but if I was more like my compatriots and listened to Hip Hop, R and B, dancehall, and wore clothes from Stitches, would I still be washed? Pfffft. (*shudder* i'm going cold just imagining that)}
Esto Perpetua
I like to see Sri Lankan people succeed and get recognition for their work. So what would that be? Me feeling patriotic or rooting for the underdog (like Greece at the EuroCup?) Who cares. I saw this article on the BBC and it made me happy. Home Truths For Sri Lankan Film. On the subject of Sri Lankans in general. I love Michael Ondaatje. Not only is he a Sri Lankan, but he also did some growing up here in Toronto. (Read some of his early poetry, there's a lot about the city in it.) He doesn't come across as someone who champions his roots, especially in interviews and stuff. But it's obvious that he is aware of them. (He wrote an entire book about it ;)) I wonder what he "does" to keep himself in check with Sri Lanka. He's burgher, so maybe he likes to berate people in Sinhala like my parents do (apparently it's the only way to successfully malign someone). I know for a that he doesn't take huge pride in his Alma Mater. He's an almunist of St. Thomas' College (if I had gone there, I wouldn't blame him from not participating, that many Sri Lankans in one place is just dangerous). Like Thathi and Aiya. Funny thing is I don't ever remember him showing up to the children's Christmas parties! He would have made a MUCH better Santa Clause than my bribed and humiliated brother. (Who was in the height of his rugby days, so he didn't even have the fat to pull it off unlike now.) And let's not forget that right of passage, the "Big Match" aka getting a chance to watch all our decrepit fathers take to the field for a game of cricket against their arch-rivals Royal College. If he came to that, the social secretary would probably have combusted. Good ol' Uncle Chicko. There is always hope that he might grace them with an appearance at the "Thomian Dance." LOL talk about trying to relive your youth. A bunch of past-their-prime old Sri Lankans getting together to relive their high school prom. It's hurting. Trust me. I'm glad that I left you with such a sweet mental image.
*First three lines of the Sri Lankan national anthem
Translation:
Mother Lanka - We salute thee!
Plenteous in prosperity, Thou,
Beautous in grace and love.
(Entire lyrics and translation)
**Remember that episode of Seinfeld with Bizarro Jerry? :)
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