Sunday, April 24, 2022

GotaGoGama

The protests and demonstrations have swollen and ebbed. For the moment. In outrage over a hike in gas prices, a crowd in Rambukkana set tuk-tuks and tires ablaze. When they turned their sights towards a fuel-filled bowser, the police dispersed the crowd with live rounds leaving many injured and one dead, not the first -- but hopefully the last -- death of the current crisis. 

It's been quieter since in what has become a war of attrition. A trickle of diesel shortened queues at service stations for a day or two and, perhaps, mollified the populace for the time being. Yesterday morning, I ran down to the tent city, dubbed "GotaGoGama" (the president's name is Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and "gama" is "village" in Sinhala). It was serene, devoid of the usual raucous crowds, though there were more than the usual number of youth in black t-shirts milling directionless about, almost as if in a haze. Banners and flags flapped in the light breeze coming off the Indian Ocean. I was impressed to see medical tents, the Red Cross, and water stations set up throughout the village. 

Most Sri Lankans I talk to never fail to mention the crisis has brought Sri Lankans together.  Most any narrative on Sri Lanka references the bloody 26-year civil war and the deep ethnocommunal divisions. And yet, the people have come together. 

We try to maintain some semblance of normalcy around the house. For two years, every decision was predicated upon whether it was safe enough to do a certain thing because of the coronavirus.  Now, every decision is predicated upon whether we have enough petrol. Plus, a weekly -- if not daily -- hunt for provisions, milk, butter, eggs. Frankly,  it's exhausting. 

This week, it looks like we'll make it to the end of the school year. Two more months. We'll see what next week brings. 

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