Noelnadesan's Blog

Years ago, I attended a Sinhalese nationalistic group meeting in Melbourne. A special guest speaker, a Sri Lankan lawyer, was there to talk about provincial governments. I was late, and as I arrived, a client of mine (who was a client of mine who bring his dog to me) ) said they had invited me, so they would hold the meeting in English for my benefit. The entire discussion ended up being conducted in English.

Everyone seemed to be waiting for me to disagree with their arguments. I stated: “I oppose provincial councils, but not for the reasons you’ve discussed. If we don’t have enough people who trust democracy in Colombo or the central government, how can we expect to have good, democratic leaders in the provinces? We’ll just end up with more corrupt officials who abuse their power, and ordinary people will suffer.”

This took everyone by surprise.

The importance of language understanding came up again during my first year at Peradeniya University. One of our classmates’ fathers passed away in Matara. On our way back from the funeral, due to a strike by the Ceylon Transport Board (which monopolized public transportation), we had to stay overnight at a friend’s house in Ratmalana. We lacked proper supplies and slept on the floor.

We were stressed for several reasons: we were hungry, unsure if the strike would end, and I, one of four students from Jaffna who didn’t speak Sinhala, felt excluded since my classmates from Matale and other areas were conversing in Sinhala. When I asked what they were discussing and what the plan was, Tamil from Matale snapped at me, saying he wasn’t there to translate for me. While I felt the urge to retaliate, I held back, frustrated by the language barrier.

I also attend Independence Day celebrations, often the only Tamil speaker present. While I know no one listens to my speeches, I wonder what if I didn’t attend? This year, the high temperature made me hesitant to go, but I ended up giving a welcome speech. The highlight was the national anthem being played in Tamil.

These experiences convinced me that people need to learn each other’s languages for effective communication.

It’s a simple solution, yet something we haven’t addressed in 75 years.