Pespective after "Anil's Ghost"

In the past weekend I finished reading a book by Michael Ondaatje. He is an author of “the English Patient”, but what is more important to me, he was born in Sri Lanka. After coming back from this beautiful country I wanted to read something connected with it, so I borrowed “Anil’s Ghost”.

It is a very difficult book to read. At the beginning I could not get used to the idea of a plot construction. Furthermore, this book tells the history of a few people during Sri Lankan Civil War, so the topic is deeply moving. And more, the main character is a medical examiner and her job is told in details. Anyway, I found a few parts there which made me stop and think more. I wondered if they are facts or they are only the imagination of Michael Ondaatje, but they seem to be real.

1. “A dog followed them and she remembered Tibetans believed that monks who hadn’t meditated properly became dogs in the next life”. There is a lot of dogs in Sri Lanka. They are quite similar in appearance to each other. They seem to be obedient and friendly, even people of Sri Lanka tell to be rather cautious with them. Could you imagine the fact that those dogs are potential former monks?

A dog in the ruins of ancient city of Polonnaruwa

2. “Do you know the tradition of Netra Mangala? (…) Netra means »eye«. It is a ritual of the eyes. A special artist is needed to paint eyes on a holy figure. (…) The eyes must be painted in the morning, at five. The hour the Buddha attained enlightenment. (…) Without the eyes there is not just blindness, there is nothing. (…) The artificer brings to life sight and truth and presence. (…) He moves forward accompanied by a second man, who carries brushes, black paint and a metal mirror. He climbs a ladder in a front of the statue. (…) The painter dips a brush into the paint and turns his back to the statue, so it looks as if he is about to be enfolded in the great arms. (…) The other man, facing him, holds up the mirror, and the artificer puts the brush over his shoulder and paints in the eyes without looking directly at the face. He uses just the reflection to guide him”.

The standing Buddha in Gal Vihara in the ancient city of Polonnaruwa with a dog and monkeys in a full coexistence

3. “It was a slow train, travelling through rock passes, then emerging into sudden vistas. He knew that a mile or so before they got to Kurunegala there would be a tunnel and the train would curve into the dark claustrophobia of it. A few windows would remain open—they needed fresh air, though it meant the noise would be terrible. Once past the tunnel, back into sunlight, they would be getting ready to disembark. (…)The man moved quickly to where he remembered the government official was, beside the aisle. In the darkness he yanked him forward by his hair and wrapped the chain around his neck and began strangling him. (…) He stood and lifted the man into his arms. Keeping him upright, he steered him towards the open window. (…)He jerked the official off the ground and pushed him through the opening. (…) He pushed him farther and then let go and the man disappeared into the noise of the tunnel.”

A slow train somewhere between Haputale and Hatton

I wondered about putting the last point into this note. It sounds even more terrible to me, because I was travelling by such a train, among nice and friendly people, without realizing that it might have happened. And “Anil’s Ghost” moved me so much, because when I came back home, I came back in love with Sri Lanka as a gorgeous place. This book sometimes made me smile, when some familiar places were mentioned, like Bandarawela or Trincomalee. But most of the time it made me think a lot — I couldn’t imagine how the life of my new Sri Lankan friends had been so tough and my heart is in pain even now, especially that I have the feeling it is not the end of their problems as a community…