ICTA and President’s Office sponsor FREE PORN site!

Hard times make rulers divert our attention elsewhere so we no more discuss politically sensitive topics. Kurakkan unlce has decided to ban Internet porn at this critical juncture of North Central and Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council elections – knowing well their chances of winning is low – so that public attention will not be on Cost of Living.

While so-called Sinhalese Buddhist puritans (aka known as SLFP supporters) can go on hailing their dearly beloved leader for this ‘wise step’ that would ‘protect many generations to come’ bloggers can continue hitting sixers. Either way Kurrakan uncle’s objective is achieved. Price of hal messas automatically becomes a non-issue – at least for a section of the voters.

Erotic art in ancient India

To say the least, this move is ridiculous. So many countries tried banning Internet porn unsuccessfully. Indonesia, one of the strict Muslim nations in Asia once put a fine of US Dollars 100,000 (that is more than ten million rupees) or a six years jail term for accessing a pornographic site – whether the users is a child or an adult. Still they could not prevent human nature.

So if he looks for some real success, Kurrakkan uncle should try something like banning people having sex altogether. Our innovative Minister of Environment Champika ‘tax’ Ranawaka can even think of an Environmental levy on sex. At least that is easier, than preventing Internet porn.

The idea is further preposterous because President’s Office itself adds to Internet porn on the net.

Don’t believe me? Please visit ‘Nalini Jatakaya’ in the online ‘Jataka Potha’ at www.jathakakatha.org. We are told this project is funded by ICTA (which comes directly under President’s Office) in fact under the guidance of none other than the same person who now acts as a great puritan who has never seen naked flesh.

Is President eagerly reading 'Nalini Jatakaya'?

Jataka Potha is not the only ancient literature with erotic content. Ancient texts of both ancient and western worlds have enough erotic references – not to mention books that talk only on the subject of ‘Kama Sutra’ nature. (eg Denuding Draupadi in Mahabharata, the same sex love affair of Achilles with his cousin Patroclus – whose killing by Hector actually led to the Trojan War, in Homer’s Iliad and poems like ‘Sisivana vuvana inga sunga gatha heki mitina’ in Selalihni Sandeshaya)

Interesting is how these sections were blocked from children. The religious readers and parents were the ‘content filters’. In Vishnu Sharma’s original Panchatnatra the monkey who removes the wedge (kunnaya) gets his testicles trapped (a more dramatic effect!) but in children’s version it is his tail. Jataka stories meant only for adults like ‘Nalini Jatakaya’ never made in to children’s texts. (Compare this with the lack of discretion shown in making it online)

I reproduce parts of Nalini Jatakaya below, but for those don’t and can’t read Sinhala here is a summary in English (only relevant parts):

In the days of King Brahmadutta there was a hermit living in Himalayas. A doe (female deer) eats the grass where he urinates and thus gets pregnant. The result was a boy who later grows into another young hermit name ‘Isisinga’. (Don’t ask how this can happen!) Since he was born in Himalaya Isisinga has never seen women and knows nothing about sex.

Then there is a long story we skip and let’s say there was a dire need to seduce this young hermit. King’s daughter Nalini undertakes this task.

So the princess Nalini goes to Himalayas, introduces herself as another hermit and befriends him. Then by trick she let her clothes move away so Isisinga can see her genitals. Having never seen anything like that before Isisinga assumes it to be a ‘wound’. Nalini tells the only way to ‘cure the wound’ is to insert his penis into it. To make a long story short, finally Isisinga loses his virginity. The author goes into minute details in describing their sexual intercourse.

If this story of a lustful nymph seduces an innocent naïve man is not porn, tell me what name we call it?

Is this what ICTA like our younger generation to read? I report, you decide!

තාපසයෝද එබස් අසා ඈද තාපසයෙක් යයි සිතා පිළිසඳර කථා කොට පන්සල තුළට පැමිණ වැඳ හිදුව, මුව සෝදා විඩා හැර මේ මිහිරි පල අනුභව කරවයි කීහ. කුමරියද යහපතැයි ඒ තුළට වැඳ කොළ ඇතිරියෙක්හි උන්නේය. එසේ උන්නාවූ කුමාරිකාවන්ගේ දුහුල් වස්ත්‍ර පහව ලැජ්ජා ස්ථානය පෙනෙන්ට විය.

තාපසයෝ ස්ත්‍රීන්ගේ යෝනි කිසිදිනෙක නුදුටු හෙයින් පහවූ වස්ත්‍රයෙන් ඒ අවයවය දැක ඒකාන්තයෙන්ම මේ තුවාලව වනයෙක්ම යයි සිතා විචාරන්නාහු. එම්බා තාපසයෙනි, තොපගේ මේ දෙකලව අතර කළු වූ පැහැ ඇති මනාකොට පිලියම් කරන ලද ස්ප්පි මුඛයක් බඳුදෙයක් පෙනෙන්නේය. ඒ කුමන තුවාලයක්ද තොපගේ උත්තමාඞගයයි කියන ලද නිමිත්තස්ථානය නොපෙණෙන්නේ මන්ද? එය ශරීරය තුළට වැද ගියේ දැයි විචාළහ. එවිට ඈ කියන්නී තාපසයෙනි, මෙතැන වනව ගොස් කණුඩුතිය ස්වාභාව කොට ඇති මම නිතර සැපයක් නොලබමි. පින්වත් ඔබට එය ගුණ කරන්නට හැකි නම් එසේකොට මගේ දුක දුරු කරවයි කීහ.

තාපසයෝද ඈ කී බොරු බස් සැබෑවක් යයි සිතා ඉදින් ඔබට මාගෙන් සැපයක වී නම් එය කෙරෙමියි කියා ඇගේ සියුම් වස්ත්‍ර අස්කොට දෙකලව විවරකොට ලජ්ජා ස්ථානය හොඳින් බලා කියන්නාහු එම්බා තාපසයෙනි, තොපගේ මේ තුවාල වූ වනය ඉතා ගැඹුරුය. ලේ සහිත කුණෙන් ගැවසී ගත්තේය. මදක් දුර්ගන්ධයද ඇත්තේය. එබැවින් මේ වනයට මම කොළ සුඹුළු ආදිය ගෙන යොදා සුව කරන්නෙමියි කීහ. එබසට ඈ කියන්නී තාපසයෙනි, මන්ත්‍ර යෝගයක් වේවයි ඖෂධ යෝගයක් වේවයි මේ වනයට සුවයක් ගෙන නොදෙයි. එබැවින් තොපගේ අඞගජාතය මෙහි ඝෂ්ටනය කොට ඔබා මට සැපයක් ලැබෙන පරිදි කරවයි කීහ.

ඒ ඇසූ තාපසයෝද එයද වෙදකමෙකැයි සිතා මේථුන ධර්මයෙන් සිල් බිදීමක් වන්නේය, ධ්‍යාන පිරිහෙන්නේය, යනාදී ආදීනව නොදැන මෛථුන ධර්මයෙහි සිත් සේ යෙදුනාහ. එකෙණෙහි සීලයෙන් බිඳී ධ්‍යානයෙන් පිරිහුණාහ. මෙසේ දෙතුන් විටක්ම සංසර්ගයෙහි යෙදී දෙදෙනාම පන්සලින් පිටව ජලස්නානය කොට විඩා සංසිඳුවාගෙන නැවත පන්සලට වැද තාපසයෙකුයි යන ස්ථීර හැගීමෙන් යුතුව සිටින තැන් විචාළහ. ඈ කියන්නී තාපසයෙනි, මේ අසපුවට උතුරු දික් භාගයෙහි ඛේමා නම් වූ ගඞගා තීරයෙහි මිහිරි පලවැලවලින් පිරි උයන් පිරිවැරූ ගී ගයන කිදුරු ලියන්ගෙන් අවට ශොභාමත් වූ ආශ්‍රමයෙක් ඇත. මම එහි වාසය කරමි. කැමත්සේක් නම් තොපද එහි යාමට ආව මැනව, නොයනු කැමති සේක් නම් මම යෙමියි නලිනි කුමාරිකාව පිටත් වූවාය.

Lalkantha – the David to strike the Goliaths

I am no fan of Lalkantha. To give my personal opinion, taking all hats off, I am also not in favour of strikes of any kind – least the ones by professionals. Traditionally, it was the left that believed in trade union action, not the UNP. We have always believed in nation building by working more, not less.

Since independence, the damage blind trade union actions have done to the economy is only next to that caused by terrorism. Lee Kuan Yew was dead right in thanking the Ceylonese left leaders, who organized a string of strikes in 1960s which resulted diverting most Colombo port bound sea traffic to Singapore, making it the most favoured port between Europe and China. I would have some more respect for Dr. N. M. Perera, and old boy of my own alma mater, had he not been the one responsible for generating such unproductively.

Having said that, I do not deny my interest this time. It is more as an observer. What stimulates most of us is the contrast in confrontation. On one side we have the entire government mechanism using all its influences like a giant octopus. On the other side we have Lalkantha sahodaraya – who is next to nothing. He is an MP, but that is nothing when compared to the establishment he is fighting against. Lalkantha sahodaraya does not give a darn. His confidence impresses me. He is a David, brave enough to attack the Goliaths – with only a catapult in hand. I wish UNP too had more leaders of Lalkantha’s caliber.

Though I hesitate to endorse this kind of trade union action, I empathise with the public and private sector employees on a fixed monthly salary. With the sky rocketing commodity prices most of them find it hard to make ends meet.

Even the essential items now cost twice more when compared with pre-2004 prices. We hear about families that save milk only for the youngest children in the family – others have to be satisfied with plain tea. We see people buying 250 g of vegetables – they cannot afford more.

This is the ‘development’ brought by ‘Mahinda Chinthana’. Minister of Consumer Affairs is shameless in admitting he has no control over the COL. Poor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, the clueless Central Bank Governor, does not even know how much money his organization prints. The inflation level was 30% last month – the highest in South Asia. It would be a miracle if people do not protest.

Is there a solution?

Here is one: Minister Dullas Alahapperuma wants the poor people to reduce one curry from the plates – so that costs will be less.

Look who is talking. I would be very much interested in knowing whether the minister and his wife are ready to do the same. This couple, average sized human beings just one decade ago (before Dullas Alahapperuma got into politics) now look more like Mr and Mrs. Obelix. I am not kidding. They are two walking globes of fat. An observer is forgiven for wondering whether they are the singular reason for the food crisis in Sri Lanka. How come they have become so overgrown during this short period?

This is the pathetic reality in our society. Minister Dullas Alahapperuma and his wife Pradeepa Dharmadasa who once sang about Sarojaas now shamelessly maintain super-luxury lives on the money robbed from poor Sarojaas. They are light years ways from reality.

Given the enormous amount of food they may seem to consume it might not be too difficult for Minister Dullas Alahapperuma and his wife to cut down one curry from their plates. In fact it would be good for their health too. Both of them badly need reducing so many layers of fat. On the other hand, how many poor people will be able to do so?

Perhaps minister Dullas Alahapperuma might not be aware about the millions in this country who take rice only with one curry (most probably the simple pol-sambol) or those who eat rice only for one meal a day. Does the minister what them to also to reduce one curry from their plates? Does the minister Dullas Alahapperuma want children also to cut down on their food? Isn’t he aware that it might result in mass scale malnutrition? Does his wife, who was so emotional about poor Sarojaas now wants to see them malnourished?

That is why the people take trade union action. The strikes might be unproductive but maintain 109 fat ministers at the cost of poor, while they are starving is far more unproductive. Perhaps that is the point Lalkantha sahodaraya wants to make.

To kurakkan boy this action would bring some poetic justice. UNP’s stance has always been a lean government. Ranil Wickremasinghe government of 2001-4 has given special attention to developing private sector so that mass scale employment opportunities are created outside the government. It was the UPFA government that wanted to limitlessly expand public sector for its political gains. What it did not realize was the short of money to sustain such a huge work force. So it is fair that the same government that did that historical mistake now encounter this. Let us see what kurakkan boy has to say.

I nearly got arrested yesterday…

Risk is a part and parcel of the life of a lawyer or a politician. One does not become either, if not ready to take risks. The difference is, as a lawyer, one knows when it comes, so can be sort of ready for it. As a politician, it comes anytime, unannounced at most unpredictable times. Yesterday was one such occasion.

My duty was to carry out the island wide protest UNP organized at Bandaragama.

I have been involved in few protests before that but it was the first time that police was so hostile. Unless otherwise they receive instructions from the top, Police generally do not hinder any protests. They too are human beings and know the difficulties in living with the rising Cost of Living. Yesterday it was different. That means someone up in the hierarchy is worried. They might have sensed where the wind blows.

At Bandaragama junction, everybody was supportive to us. Given the harassment, though temporary, we caused to day to day activities of public I expected some form of hostility. There was none. Looks like everybody wants fuel prices down. They do not want to fund the blind war effort of a corrupt government or fill the family coffers of a self-interested, visionless ruler.  

Then came the Police. They want us to stop. As a lawyer I have always been a law abiding citizen, but this is not an occasion I would oblige. Maintaing law and order is imperative, but not at the cost of the loss of civil rights of the people. In any democratic society we have the right to protest. It may affect the lives of public, but we compromising it by winning things far better for them.

When I did not oblige, the police started threatening. The gravity of threat was an indication of the level they have been instructed. There was a brief exchange of words. They raised the voices and threat to arrest me. I was politely explained if that is what they have been instructed, to do so. Visiting courts is nothing new to me. That is what I do everyday. Realised that I would not succumb to their threats they left. We continued our protests.

However, later I learnt that not all my colleagues were that lucky. A women MP has been verbally abused and her car has been attacked by Police at Bambalapitiya.

Overall, the protest was successful. We might not have got fuel prices down immediately, but we have recorded our voice. We have registered thst it would not be so easy to take the poor people of this country for a ride.

How to cook athirasa and mun-kevum using H2O

For every Sinhalese New Year in her life his poor grandmother used coconut oil to make oil cakes (kevum) and other sweets like kokis, athirasa and aasmi.

Unfortunately she cannot do it this time because the coconut oil prices have skyrocketed. So she is asking the leaders of this government to teach us how to cook kevum using water.

Jana bala sena’ protest organized by the United National Party took to the streets at 120 electorates today. They protested the skyrocketing cost of living especially paralysing the populace from celebrating the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.

Photo from www.lankaenews.com