I’ve read a couple of posts recently that piqued my considerable mental prowess and got it ruminating on the issue of a ‘national’ identity, primarily a Sri Lankan identity and what seems to be a never ending quest to find/formulate one. The posts in question included this one addressing labels and purpose and another one entreating Sri Lankans to join hands in preserving ‘traditional’ Sri Lankan music.

The first post I found intriguing in its critique of ‘labeling’ which though I feel is a valid criticism is to me pretty much unavoidable. I need to label people, not just with names but where I met them, their backgrounds, preferences, religious beliefs, etc. This is simply because I need a ‘context’ to the people that I know. To me it’s unrealistic to behave exactly the same with every person I know; knowing their ‘cultural’ backgrounds, personal preferences lets me tailor my behaviour to each person individually. The negligible minoritist made an interesting point about purpose, but it hurts my head to think of anything meaningful to say about that, but it does make for some interesting pondering.

The second post I read I wasn’t too fond off, especially because it seemed to make certain assumptions of what constitutes Sri Lankan culture based purely on the authors personal preferences and exhibited what to me is a somewhat ‘fishbowl’ attitude in a fear of all things ‘foreign.’ What I found even more annoying actually was the condescending view the author had that just because I left Sri Lanka when I was 18 and though being a regular visitor (well more than regular on some occasions) somehow I had given up the authority to discuss Sri Lankan culture. Actually a sentence that I found telling and a little scary was “…as a Sri Lankan, I’d love to request u to come home and spend some time here, see if u can find that old Sinhalese spark u’ve lost.” Funny because nowhere did I make the insinuation that I am Sinhalese and though being Sinhalese is for sure part of being Sri Lankan it doesn’t give me any more ownership over the Sri Lankan identity than anyone else. I in fact could not be bothered responding to the last comment I got in response to mine simply because I see no point in arguing with idiots, especially those with a ‘holier than thou attitude’ but reading the comment did spark a light bulb over my noggin when I thought of it in the context of the minoritist’s post.

Here’s the thing, I think barking up the tree of a “Sri Lankan national identity” is a mistake, especially when it seems to involve pigeonholing people into being Sri Lankan. I mean what makes a Sri Lankan, our ancestors landing here 2000 years ago from North India, coming in with the invading armies of Elara, evolving in Balangoda, coming to trade with the Arabs or being brought as slave labour by the British. There are so many people who do not fit into the traditional pigeonholes that have contributed so much to Sri Lanka in both traditional and non-traditional fields.

Are we to discount Bawa’s contributions to Sri Lanka’s evolving architectural heritage either because he was a burgher or because he spent time abroad being exposed to (shock, horror, gasp) foreign influences? Are we to turn our back on Arthur C. Clarke’s achievements and contribution to Sri Lanka’s literary and technical development just because he wasn’t born in Sri Lanka? Or similarly Romesh Gunasekera or David Blacker simply because they spent or spend significant time away from Sri Lanka or don’t fit what the ‘traditional’ pigeonhole of what being a Sri Lankan is?

I say fuck national identity. It’s enough being concerned enough about Sri Lanka to write, sing, take photographs, and think about Sri Lankan matters and issues. It’s enough to feel it in your bones that you are Sri Lankan. Who gives a shit where you’re from, what your genetic makeup is or any other of those insignificant little things that make us who we are on the exterior. I think we should be looking for a policy of acceptance, of people of all origin, colour, race, sexual orientation, etc, as long as they are proud of some part of them being Sri Lankan. 

P.S. If you like my ideas I might run for presidency in 2015, vote for me and I shall give you not bread but cake for five rupees a pound…and not just any cake, chocolate fudge cake…