Dichotomy

Her hands were clasped together tightly…

her face  was contorted

her eyes closed tight 

One could have assumed she was crying

But instead she was praying fervently

That is when I saw her at church

But just a few weeks ago

I saw her in an office

She was arrogant her nose was up in the air

And she gave me a most disdainful and evil look

As if I was something distasteful that the cat dragged in

As she walked passed me

Because I had asked some wrong information

Made me wonder if it was the same person I saw this Sunday

It was… some people!

Blood in your hands...

They all knew that they will execute her in early December. By then all hopes of a settlement had disappeared.  She was to be executed by the 23rd of December.
Sadly she did not know it. In fact they had assured her everything will be ok. And that she would receive a pardon soon.
But on that fateful day they asked her to take a bath early in the morning. That was the first sign that something unusual was going to happen. Something, dangerous.
There was a lady who looked after her interests who had gone to visit her that day. She was told that she could not see her as a fire drill was in progress. Even she did not know the tragedy or is it better to call it travesty which was about to unfold.
The family of the dead child had gathered to witness the execution. So did some villagers from that area. She begged and pleaded for their Mercy. Ironically the lady of the household who insisted that she had to be executed remained tight lipped. One word from her and all this could have, NO would have come to a halt. But she did not utter a word. Her silence spoke loudly. Just like the cries of “kill her! kill her!” by her husband – the person who was open to a negotiated settlement in the first place. The villagers joined in enthusiastically and vociferously.
And thus a young and innocent life was  ended.
Many have written about this incident before and one of the most informative articles is the one by D.B.S Jeyaraj. We all know about the Indian translator who was used by the police to take her statement in Tamil. But what I have not read was about the translator who went to see her couple of hours later from the Sri Lankan embassy. The translator that endorsed the statement which she had been forced to make! Only if this official had made a hue and cry about it and protested at that point in time we would not be shaking our heads in dismay today. I think of all the people who were involved in this fiasco this guy has the most blood in his hands.

They walk amongst us...

From Thomas Cook Holidays listing some of their UK clientele’s genuine complaints.

1. "I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local store in Indian villages does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts."

2. "It's lazy of the local shopkeepers to close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during 'siesta' time -- this should be banned."

3. "On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food at all."

4. "We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our swimming costumes and towels."

7. "The beach was too sandy."

8. "We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as yellow but it was white."

10. "Topless sunbathing on the beach should be banned. The holiday was ruined as my husband spent all day looking at other women."

12. "No-one told us there would be fish in the sea. The children were startled."

13. "There was no egg-slicer in the apartment."

14. "We went on holiday to Spain and had a problem with the taxi drivers as they were all Spanish."

15. "The roads were uneven.."

16. "It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England. It took the Americans only three hours to get home."

17. "I compared the size of our one-bedroom apartment to our friends' three-bedroom apartment and ours was significantly smaller."

18. "The brochure stated: 'No hairdressers at the accommodation'. We're trainee hairdressers -- will we be OK staying there?"

19. "There are too many Spanish people. The receptionist speaks Spanish. The food is Spanish. Too many foreigners now live abroad."

20. "We had to queue outside with no air-conditioning."

21. "It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we travel."

22. "I was bitten by a mosquito. No-one said they could bite."

23. "My fiancé and I booked a twin-bedded room but we were placed in a double-bedded room.
We now hold you responsible for the fact that I find myself pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked."