Jaffna Returns

I was born in Jaffna, and except for two years of primary education, I did all my primary and secondary education in Jaffna.  My grand parents, parents, uncles, aunts, teachers, school mates and neighbors shaped my ways as I grew from a kid to an adult.  Although my life in Jaffna is only 15 years, about 25% of my life, I proudly claim that inside of me there is a boy from Jaffna.

Except for two weeks in August 1984, I was absent from Jaffna from 1980 till 2010, for many reasons.

My first return to Jaffna in 2010 was arranged by my close friends from Bibila!  During the 30 years, I have pretty much lost all contacts in Jaffna.  The trip was brief, just four days.  We, my friends and I stayed in a hotel, drove anywhere and everywhere I could think and remember.  My family home, our neighborhood temples, my school, and of course the land marks like Keerimalai and Nallur temple.  Only the priest at our family temple recognized me from my voice.  Few others have heard about me or remembered my mother or grand father.  I was a stranger in my own land (Sometimes I wonder how dare I make this claim!)

I felt that Jaffna was frozen for the 30 years I was away.  Nothing has changed, except some remnants of the war such as the bullet ridden railway station.  There was no trace of the railway track, it has now become a dirt road.  Steel and timber have disappeared.  Bicycles are being replaced with motor bikes.  Temples, Tuition Centers and Schools looked healthy.  Army check posts all over.  Most damaged government buildings - post office, high court, library, Municipal Council etc. had been rebuilt.  Bus stand was busy, so were the street hawkers.

My second return was in 2011, again for four days.  This time I went alone, but my Bibila friends' friends provided accommodation on Wyman Road.  The host was very warm, showed me the room.  I set my bags, and went for a walk, looking for a bicycle.  I walked into a corner shop, and asked the manageress where I could rent a bike.  She looked at me quizzically, and asked if I had come from overseas (Must have thought I am from a different planet).  I said, yes, and waited.  She then said that there are no such things as bicycle renters in Jaffna anymore, but she would not mind lending her bicycle for two to three hours.  I was happy, went to Nallur, which was nearby, and then to Kalladdy, my neighborhood, and cycled around for three hours through the streets and lanes, I thought I knew well.  Well almost.  At one intersection, I could not remember if I should turn left or right, a good Samaritan walked to me and offered direction.

I returned the bike and went to my accommodation.   The host was worried that I have disappeared.  I told him what I was up to, he wondered why I did not take his vehicle.  I said Jaffna is better on a bike.  I then asked if he could arrange a bike for me for the next three days.  He did not have one, but someone who worked for him was able to lend one.  I was happy as if I was a boy, I went around two to three hours in the mornings and two to three hours in the afternoons.  Always returned before sunset, there were still some Army check posts.  It was then I realized, that my Jaffna was a circle with two km radius with my home as the center.  Kalviankadu to the South, Manipay to the north. Pannai to the west, and Kokuvil to the east.  Is this all, I knew?

Jaffna still looked like an orphan, there was no signs of reconstruction.

I have just returned from my third trip to Jaffna.  It was the first trip for my daughters, and a trip after 23 years for my wife.  I am now bold enough, got a friend in Colombo to arrange a guest house and a car for us, and we were on our way. The car was a new Prius, Toyota's new Hybrid car.  Very comfortable.  The driver spoke a bit of English, polite and helpful.  The roads from Colombo to Jaffna is second to none in the world, but there was hardly any traffic, once you are out of Colombo.  Having lived in Delhi, I started to wonder where people have gone.  There were still a few check posts, but, largely the Army is invisible.  If you pay close attention, then you will recognize a few camps.

Met a childhood friend who too have returned to Jaffna after living in Colombo and Vavuniya.  Had dinner at her place, typical Jaffna dosai with chutney powder, and curry leaf sambol after many years.  Very good.  Drove around Jaffna, to temples, to Casuarina beach and so on, mostly for my satisfaction and my wife's.  I also took my family to an islet -Nagadeepa - their grandmother's roots.  My girls were amused at the way we lived as kids.  They were polite and cooperative, but not hugely excited.  They were in a foreign land.

This time Jaffna showed some life.  Houses inhabited were done up, had a new coat of paint - multi-colored I must say.  Very typical Jaffna walls.  Most streets in Jaffna are done up too.  Many bottle necks for traffic have been removed, and many roads have been widened.  Some land marks are GONE.  Subhas Cafe and Damodara Villas are no more.  There are guest houses in every street.  Mostly empty homes owned by Tamil Diaspora are now converted into Guesthouses.  The guesthouse we stayed was almost new, just 40 USD per night, clean room, clean bed and clean bath room.  Served Jaffna cuisine and western.  They even had a wood-burn pizza oven, just the way they are in Italy or elsewhere.

Uninhabited houses were falling apart, in most cases fenced well.  Well we are talking about Jaffna, we are particular about our fences here.  A mixture of well renovated houses and dilapidated houses, dotted with well maintained temples and schools now define Jaffna landscape.  The bazzar shows life too, shops filled with goods, mostly cheap Chinese and Indian products.

Overall, Jaffna is returning as a hub of economic activity, but there are casualties.  In particular, Vavuniya, the frontier town for thirty years, is now losing its importance.  With very good roads and public transport, no-one even stops there for a drink.  The population is about 25% of what it was during the war.  People have returned to wherever they were from.  So, are Colombo suburbs like Wellawatte.  Pressure on housing is less here.  There is virtually nobody in the islets around Jaffna - Velanai, Pungudutivu, Karaitivu are all EMPTY.

I have now returned to Jaffna thrice, and I can see Jaffna too is returning.  Over all, I felt some connection, but not a strong one.  Affection to land is there, but, without friends and family around, it is not home.  I will keep going to Jaffna, the temples in Kaladdy are draw cards.  Else....