After witnessing massive bursts of
applause intermittently while announcer recites the achievements and accolades
of the all-time great Kumar Sangakkara in an event which is dedicated to
celebrate Tamil literature, I paused and reflected does Sanga really deserve
all these honors and applause?
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| Sanga is on the stage amidst a traditional setting |
Mind you, the crowd is not only
comprise of cricket fanatic, I would say only fourth of an audience would have
followed Sanga closely as a cricketer, the rest probably may have heard about
him only for his off field deeds. He is a well-known personality among
minorities not only for his cricketing styles, but also for his sensational
speeches, and activities towards uniting people of Sri Lanka. Though his vision
is yet to be achieved fully, he managed to garner a special spot in almost
every Tamil speaking people's heart, hence the roar of applause he got, I
realized he is worth every bit of it.
The magic happened when the
highlights of his MCC cowdery lecture being played in the auditorium, I hope
all would agree this as his top notch speech among all the wonderful speeches
he has delivered on and off the fields across the world to-date. After the
historical lines of "I am Tamil, I'm
Sinhalese, I'm Muslim and Burgher, I'm a
Buddhist, I'm a Hindu, a follower of Islam and Christianity, but above all,
today and always I will be, proudly, Sri Lankan", the entire
auditorium stood and given a well-deserved standing ovation to this wonderful,
Kumar Sangakkara.
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| Sanga is getting a prompt standing ovation |
As he mentions in that MCC
lecture, as well as way back in his Cricinfo interview, he and his family has
always lived in harmony with their minority neighbors, and he made lot of
friends from those communities, that says a lot about his greater involvement
with the other communities. Personally, for me, he is seen as a good human
being and a true Sri Lankan, above all his cricketing achievements, when he
said that their family had given shelter for Tamils during a brutal attack
unleashed on them in July'1983, widely dubbed as “black July”.
I strongly believe, the sense of
belongings would be at peak when, and only when people are being involved.
Hence, Sanga, in my humble opinion, is the only Sri Lankan celebrity who has
been involved in the pains of minority communities, and could really be a
healer of our past wounds, and act as a bridging person between the
communities.
I also wanted Sanga to be a Sri
Lankan Justin Trudeau, Emanual Macron and the male version of Sanna Marin. But
I then realized if he plunges into the politics he will inevitably being
portrait as a traitor by our main stream media, and the real politicians would
get better at him for his greater involvement in the bridging activities.
Hence, now I sincerely don’t want him to enter the politics but wish he
continues to involve his life in bridging the Sri Lankan people, and I strongly
believe this island will one day be truly united not by force but by love and
affection.
