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NEW YEAR MESSAGE FROM COLOMBO - SRI LANKA
Subject:
LM: Warm peace breezes from Sri Lanka and New Year Wishes...
From: lightmillennium@lightmillennium.org
Date: Tue, December 31, 2002 6:59 am
Warm peace breezes from Sri Lanka and New Year Wishes...
Greetings...
(Colombo
- December 31, 2002) -
Sir
Arthur C. Clarke, legendary scientific writer,
fictioning his books by imagining thousands and millions
years ahead of our time along with the Sri Lankan legends
and myths; the urge to meet him - to see the country he
lives in since 1956, brought me to Sri Lanka after a series
of flights consisting of four transfers.
Sir Arthur C. CLARKE is in his office
in Colombo.
Photo:
Bircan Unver - Dec. 20, 2002
I left New York in the morning on December 8th and set
foot on Sri Lanka early in the morning on December 11th.
I looked back in time and thought about the 6 months long
boat trips to the other end of the world and this thought
made me think that a trip for four days was nothing at
all!
I have
visited Sir Clarke twice. He himself is very gentle, warm,
and friendly. He told me you can visit whenever you like
as long as you give a call in the morning. Because he
remains on a wheel chair, he accepts visitors for a short
time.
During
first visit: Sir Clarke and Bircan Unver
Photo: Rohan De Silva - Dec. 20, 2002
At the time of my arrival in Sri Lanka, I have noticed
that the 20 years of civil war with Tamils has ended and
peace along with the winds of change has taken its place
as opposed to the direction the world is going these days.
Although people talking this and that about Sri Lanka
attempted to scare me off.
"Peace
and Harmony" signs are posted at the center of
Colombo. I am at the witnessing point of the investment
in and the application of the invitation for peace to
unite both sides with support by governmental politics.
A good example to that could be the headlines on Daily
News press in Sri Lanka that implied Tamils were aloud
to have their own FM radio station. A special event to
unite and to protect the culture along with the development
and ownership of Sri Lanka, the very "First National
Sri Lanka Dance Festival" that was also participation
with Pakistan, India and Nepal; a number of 2000 or more
dancers from 52 different places came together and I watched
this fabulous performance for three nights in a row, respectively.
On the
other hand, it is pronounced on BBC broadcast news that
a possible war with Iraq and North Korea might take place;
although with the rising rhythm of war tendencies, Sri
Lanka along with its natural beauty and destitution is
able to express official and public peaceful tendencies.
This was another wind of change but with the new hope
in the New Year...
I think,
therefore all the people with a common sense along with
a serious partnership to face the intelligent strategies,
when they are able to do that, all of the people of the
weapon industry are going to have to change their direction
to an environment such as producing weapons will not be
a profitable choice; only then they will transfer those
sources to the common issues of the earth...
The opportunity
of future is at our grasp,
only if we can own it in time. . .
With
a warm breeze from the Sri Lankan tropical climate, I
am wishing you a happy and peaceful new year.
Bircan
Unver
http://lightmillennium.org
Note:
After
visited Sir Clarke as second time in the morning
of December 31, 2002, late afternoon of the
same day, I sent out above message in Turkish by e-mail
to around 500 hundred friends of The Light Millennium
from Senkada's Internet Center in Colombo 4.
BU
Translated by Babur Albayrak from Turkish
-
- - - - -
(ORIGINAL
MESSAGE - IN TURKISH)
Subject:
LM: Sri Lanka'dan sicak baris ruzgarlari ve yeni yil dilekleri...
From:
lightmillennium@lightmillennium.org
Date:Tue, December 31, 2002 6:59 am
Merhaba...
Bilimci
ve efsanevi yazar Sir Arthur C. Clarke'in binyil
ve milyon yil sonralarini dusleyerek Sri Lanka'nin efsane
ve mitlerini gelecekle kurguladigi olaganustu kitaplarinin
etkisiyle; 1956 yilindan beri yasadigi ulkeyi gorme -
tanima meraki, dort gunluk suren transferleri iceren bir
ucak
yolculuguyla, beni Sri Lanka'ya getirdi.
New
York'tan 8 Aralik sabahi ayrildim ve 11 Aralik sabahi
Sri Lanka'ya ayak bastim. Gecmisteki 6 aylik gemi yolculuklarini
dusununce, tam dunyanin bir ucundan oteki ucuna; dort
gunluk bir yolculuk da bir sey mi dedirtecek nitelikte!
Sir
Clarke'i iki kez ziyaret ettim. Kendisi cok zarif, sicak
ve icten. Ne zaman istersen, sabahi telefon ederek,
ziyaret edebilirsin, dedi. Ancak tekerlikli sandalyeye
bagimliligi nedeniyle, ziyaretleri cok kisa sureligine
kabul ediyor.
Sri
Lanka'ya gelisimle birlikte, dunyanin gidisinin tam tersine;
burada son yirmi yildir suren Tamil'lerle ic savasin durdugu
ve baris ruzgarlari esen bir ulkeyle karsilastim. Oysa
gelmeden once ne kadar cok gozumu korkutmaya calismislardi...
Colombo'nun
merkezinde; "Baris ve Uyum" tabelalari
asili. Hukumet politikalariyla desteklenen iki tarafi
birlestirici bir baris ortamina davet, yatirimin ve ilk
uygulamalarim tanikligindayim... Ornegin; hukumet, Tamillere
kendi FM radyo istasyonlarini kurma iznini verdigi haberi,
29 Aralik gunu burada yayinlanan Daily News'un bas haberi
idi. Ayrica, ilk defa Sri Lanka'yi birlestirmek, kulturunu
korumak, sahip cikmak ve gelistirmek uzere duzenlenen,
Tamillerle birlikte, Pakistan, Hindistan ve Nepal ile
birlikte; 52 farkli yorenin ve 2000'den fazla danscinin
katildigi, "Birinci Ulusal Sri Lanka Dans Festivali"nin
gorkemli performanslarini ardi ardina uc aksam izledim.
Diger
taraftan BBC'de surekli yayinlanan, Irak'la birlikte devreye
giren Kuzey Kore'ye ileride olasi saldirilarin telaffuz
edilmesi; savasin hizlandirilan ve cogaltilan ritmine
karsilik Sri Lanka'dan, tum yoksullukla ic ice gecen olaganustu
dogal guzelligiyle, 'resmi ve toplumsal' olarak baris
ruzgarlarinin estirilmesi, ayni zamanda yeni yil adina
bir umut ruzgari da...
Dusunuyorum
ki, eger tum insanlik ortak bir bilincle, yeryuzunun her
kosesindeki savaslara, ciddi bir isbirligi ve akilli stratejilerle
karsi cikabilse ve cikabildiginde; yeryuzundeki her turlu
silah ureticileri, silah uretmenin karli olmadigi bir
ortama yonelmek zorunda kaldiklarinda,
kaynaklarini; yeryuzunun ortak sorunlarina tranfer
etmek zorunda kalacaklar...
Gelecek
bizlerin elinde eger zamaninda sahip cikabilirsek...
Sri
Lanka'nin tropical ikliminden sicak esintilerle birlikte
baris ve mutluluk dilekleriyle yeni yilinizi kutluyorum.
Bircan Unver
http://lightmillennium.org
Colombo
- 31 Aralik 2002
*
We have dedicated this issue
to Sir Arthur C. Clarke for his 85th Birthday...
* ARTHUR C. CLARKE: Links the ancient with the futuristic,
and shows how they might be compatible...
Article and Illustrations by Julie
MARDINations byJulie MARDIN
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