Serendipity Part 1

The word Serendipity means unexpected blessing				crowd disburse.
and unsought forgifts. The word was coined in				After awhile, when the crowd went away,
1754 by Horace Walpole. In a letterto his friend,				Thomas came in search ofme, and helped me to
Sir Horace Mann, Walpole wrote that he found a				get back into the house. The next morning Ifound
Persian fairy tale about three princes in Serendip				the crowd gathering and I concluded it was
(the ancient namefor Sri Lanka) . The princes				unsafe to stay inthe village. I decided we should
happened to come across unexpectedgifts and				make a dash for safety before thecrowd
fortunes and valuable things not sought for. Such				became very large, because at any moment the
thingshappen occasionally to many of us.				mood of thecrowd could change. I was
Sometimes the events start withthe appearance				endangering the lives of my hosts andour own.
of calamity and we may not recognize that				The roads were crowded with roaming Singhalese
pleasantsurprises are on the way. Let me quote				searching forescaping Tamils. I was afraid that if I
some personal experiences.				was caught driving in thedirection of the Tamil
I was in Nikaweratiya forest in Sri Lanka				villages we may be caught, assaulted andeven
inspecting fence postsfor use in one of the				killed. However, we had to escape because the
livestock farms. When I finished the work, thesun				situation wasgetting worse. I got my family in the
was setting. I hastened on my bicycle along a wild				Gal Oya Land Rover, given tome for my use, put
animalstrack under a canopy-like covering in the				the blinds down to avoid being identified andgot
forest. I had to goabout five miles to get on to a				ready for a dash to escape.
human foot path and another fivemiles to reach				I had to go through the crowded road. I drove
the road. After going about two miles,				slowly withdetermination to go through the crowd
Iencountered a herd of elephants. Immediately I				at a steady, slow speedgiving time for the
back tracked andtried to find another trail to get				unwilling mass to move and give room. The
away but could not find any. Theonly route was				crowdmoved and we were out of the village. Still
the one blocked by the elephants.				I had to go about 15miles to reach the safety of
Hoping the elephants would move off, I waited. It				the Muslim village across a river. Idrove as fast as
was getting darkand I had only a three-cell torch				I could. We safely reached the river and I left
for light. Luckily for me, a herdof water buffaloes				therover as arranged, took my family across the
came along. I moved aside, allowed them to				river in a canoe andsettled them in the house of a
pass,then followed them with the assurance that				Muslim friend.
they would warn me ofthe elephants. Fortunately				There were three Singhalese men in the Muslim
for me, the elephants had moved off andthe				village who wereafraid for their lives from Tamil
buffaloes went along and I along with them until				marauders. They begged me to savethem and
we got out ofthe heavy forest. I could ride my				transport them to Uhana. They were in the same
bicycle and leave thebuffaloes. It was pure				predicamentin this Muslim village as I was in the
serendipity that the buffaloes came alongwhen I				Singhalese village. I agreedto take them within a
was in a predicament.				mile or two of Uhana if there was no crowd
During the 1956 racial riots in Sri Lanka, I was				onthe road. Otherwise I would drop them where I
caught up inanother dangerous situation. The racial				felt unsafe and theywould have to find their way
riot started because the				back to Uhana.
Government of Sri Lanka cleared about 100,000				I managed to come close to Uhana from where
acres of forest landin Batticaloa, a Tamil district.				they could walk into thevillage. There was no
D.S.Senanayake, the then prime minister,				crowd on the road. On my return trip, when Iwas
constructed a dam acrossthe Gal Oya river and				about five miles away from Uhana, I saw dust
created a 35 square mile lake to irrigate thisland				rising from asection of the road and realized that
and convert it into paddy fields. The government				a lorry was coming from theopposite side. Not
distributedthe newly cleared land to Singhalese				wanting to be caught in a narrow part of the
peasants from the south. Eachfamily got two				roadwhere the two vehicles could not pass each
acres of dry land and three acres of wet land.				other, I spotted a widearea where I would not be
Inthe beginning, the settlers occupied the upper				blocked by the lorry, stopped and waitedfor the
valley. Later theywere given lands in the lower				lorry to come.
valley, adjacent to the Tamilvillages. The Tamils				Seeing the dust raised by my land rover, the
objected to their land being given to				lorry driver stopped,evidently to block the road,
Singhalese. This created friction between the				and waited. A while after the dustsubsided, the
Tamils and Singhaleseliving in the valley. The				lorry came forward to investigate. When the lorry
Singhalese majority with a Singhalesegovernment				sawthe rover, he stopped to block my track. On
and Prime Minister felt that they were superior.				the lorry was a largegroup of men armed with
In the Gal Oya Valley the Tamils were the				rifles, machetes, and clubs. By a
majority. So theythought they were more				commandingwave of my hand I ordered the
powerful. Small discords between individualsspread				driver to move out of my way. Mygesture was
to groups and it flared up into an uprising against				so forceful that the driver moved the lorry to the
the Tamilsin the Gal Oya Valley.				sideand I drove off with a cheer i o-wave. The
At this time, I was the veterinarian in charge of				driver did not get a goodlook at me to ascertain
livestockdevelopment for the Gal Oya valley. I				wether I was a Tamil or Singhalese drivingthe Gal
wanted to duplicate the work Ihad done in				Oya land rover. So he turned around and followed
Chilaw-Puttlam Districts to improve livestock				me but Idrove so fast that the lorry could not
therebefore I moved to Gal Oya.. That earned				catch up and abandoned thechase.
me meritorious citizenship. Iwanted to make the				From the Muslim village we went over to
Gal Oya valley a showplace of				Batticaloa and stayed therefor about a month until
livestockdevelopment. As part of this program, I				the rebellion settled. My escape from Gal Oyawas
supervised the distributionof dairy cows, draft bulls				an episode of daring, uncertainties and luck.
for plough, and exotic poultry by the Gal				However this wasthe best thing that happened
Oya Board. So I was liked by all colonists.				because it forced me to leave Sri Lanka.
Simon is a common name among the Singhalese.				I searched the world over for opportunities to
Therefore the Tamilsthought that I was a				migrate.
Singhalese. But I could not speak the				During this time, Dr. Evans Hardy of Saskatoon
Singhaleselanguage fluently. Therefore the				was working in Gal
Singhalese thought that I was Tamil.				Oya as the FAO representative in assisting the
Thus, I was the target from both groups but				Gal Oya Board tostart a Technical Training
more so by the				Institute. One day, we happened to meeton a
Singhalese when there was a racial conflict.				narrow bund of an irrigation canal where the
During the riot, Singhalese mobs wandered the				vehicles could notpass each other. I backed my
district looking for				vehicle a few hundred yards and gaveroom for
Tamils in the neighborhood of Uhana, a center for				Dr. Hardy to go by. Thereafter, we had many
Singhalesecolonists. My residence was in an				opportunitiesto meet and discuss professional
isolated area about ten milesaway from Uhana.				matters. We became good friends and
My friend, Mr. Thomas, the office				I discussed my future plans with him. When I told
administrator,thought it unsafe for me and my				him that I wouldlike to go for higher studies to
family to stay in that isolatedarea. So my wife				Canada, he immediately wrote aletter to his friend
and I with our four children moved in with him				Dr. Stan Wood at the University of British
andhis family in the Singhalese center at Uhana				Columbia requesting him to help me. In that letter,
village.				he described meas an industrious person and
The rioting continued for a few days. One				ended the letter with the remark "Simonwill be an
evening, we saw a Tamilman about 500 yards				asset to Canada." He gave me a copy of this
away being beaten by a crowd of Singhalese.				letter. Thispleasantly surprised me and I
Wecame to know that the mob wanted to				immediately wrote to Dr. K.F. Wells,
search the houses of Singhaleseofficers for				Veterinary Director General, Department of
harboring Tamil officers. At nightfall, we				Agriculture, Health of
receivednews that a crowd of about 200				Animals, Ottawa. for employment as veterinarian.
Singhalese people were comingtowards our house				Dr. Hardy wasknown to Dr. Wells. When he saw
to see who the guests of Thomas' were. That				such a compliment from Dr. Hardy,he was
meantdanger for us.				impressed and lost no time to get me recruited.
Knowing that mob behavior is unpredictable, I				He sent mea Civil service application to fill in and
walked out by theback door and asked my wife				send to him. He forwardedit to the Civil Service
and children to follow me into thejungle at the				Commission and I was selected. He asked meto
back of the house. I run out towards the forest				join duty immediately. This was in May 1956.
in theback of the house. During my blind hurry in				But I could not leave without a substitute
the dark, I fell intoa ditch, hurt my leg, and could				veterinarian for the
not get up. That was my luck. aserendipity.				Gal Oya Board and in addition I had to move my
Before the children could clear the compound, the				family from Gal
crowd surroundedthe house and my wife and				Oya Valley to some safe place in Sri Lanka. So I
children were taken captives.				needed time andwrote back that I would report
Fortunately for us, the leader of the group				for duty in May 1957, a year fromthen,
happened to be one whoseson I had saved a few				requesting that the vacancy be kept open. Dr.
months earlier from drowning in a lake.				Wells was goodenough to do me that favour.
Herecognized my wife and told the crowd how I				Thus my agony and troubles ended as
risked my life to savehis son and he made the				aserendipity.

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Serendipity Part 1