My personal Homage to my late friend and thinker Mr. R. Swaminathan
Now this great human being is no more. But his thoughts, his great works on India and his friends remain with us till end of our lives too. Even more, his records will remain until the end of this world. There are many clouds in our lives but the late Mr. Swaminathan was the silver line them.
by Nilantha Ilangamuwa
(December 09, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Dreams give us what reality denies us. There are many issues which mankind deal with until the end of our days. Yesterday I received email from Mr. B. Raman which deeply shocked me. The email informed me that Mr. R. Swaminathan passed away yesterday morning in a hospital in New Delhi due to a heart attack. I felt was deeply affected by the news and still cannot believe that he has left us.
I got in touch with Mr. Swaminathan after I started the Sri Lanka Guardian three years ago through Col. R. Hariharan, former intelligence chief of the IPKF in Sri Lanka during the Rajiv administration in India. After that I interviewed Mr. Swaminathan many times for the various media and his thoughts were widely published. His political ideology and understanding on common sense is comprehensive which inspired me many times.
I am happy to say that we became quite close friends and used to talk on issues related to regional security and intelligence also he explained me some important basics on his personal life as well.
I cannot summarize his wide role as a human being and how his thoughts on various subjects, but I have a few memories in mind which he shared with me.
One time we had a deep discussion on the political situation in Sri Lanka during which he inspired me to put up his thoughts with his whole observation on the situation in Sri Lanka. "Very messy and very fluid. The real problem is that neither Mahinda Rajapakse or Prabhakaran are ready to face realities; and the interests of the people of Sri Lanka . They are both prisoners of their own past and their rhetoric." Said Mr. Swamninathan.
And another time we talked about religion and eastern philosophy. It was a great and deep discussion we had and he came with a point that taught me much about reality. He said, "Reality is gray, not black or white." And further he added, "We will go wrong if we only look for black and white. There are a million shades of gray in between."
Most of the time we are seeing something in this physical world which is not reality but a mask. Most of people in this world believed in masks but others are striving to understanding what reality is.
"Rajapaksa and his advisers should be magnanimous in their victory and outline the political and economic packages quickly, before any reaction starts setting in," Mr. Swaminathan observed on the present situation of the Rajapakse's politics.
We were had long discussion when the LTTE was defeated, "I believe that Prabhakaran is dead; and that LTTE as a military force is dead. Some other group may later claim to be the re-incarnation of LTTE," he pointed out in the last week of June in 2009 just one month after to the Government of Sri Lanka declared the accomplishment of their military mission.
Meanwhile I asked whether the R&AW ( Research and Analysis wing) had plotted against the LTTE. May people believe the LTTE was crushed because of the R&AW influence on the Government's side. He answered me as a former R&AW officer while laughing, "I would be proud of my former organization if they have the capability to engineer such a thing."
And further he pointed out, "Why do we not admit that the LTTE was the primary cause of its own destruction, alienating the Tamil people of Sri Lanka, with their brutal behaviour."
But, he says, "The lesson of history is that, in such cases, military victory should be accompanied promptly by political solution."
I would say it is very hard to summarise his thoughts and the points that he raised with me many times. But at the end I would like to share how this meaningful gentleman shared his assessment on God.
"I do very strongly believe in God, but not under any specific name or identity; but I do not believe in ritualistic prayers. I do not really believe in karma, but have to accept "fate" or "luck", mainly to rationalise when events beyond the control of best human efforts. Like tsunamis, birth & death etc.", he pointed out.
"Once you understand yourself, you will understand God."
And our discussion on God was concluded with personal question which I asked him how can humans archive freedom. He answered me, "If you set yourself definite goals, you can find the time and energy for achieving them. Personal problems do tend to dilute the pursuit of goals, but one should learn to give highest priority to achieving goals."
He never kept away from me whenever I visited him with problem. At my age I thought it wonderful to see this human and the difference he made to the world. Most of the time I was desperate when the problems over came me. But there are few people like late Mr. Swaminathana who inspired and encouraged me whenever I fell down of ladder of life. At the end of every discussion he used to tell, "your most welcome Nilantha. Senior citizens should freely share their knowledge and experience with younger persons."
Now this great human being is no more. But his thoughts, his great works on India and his friends remain with us till end of our lives too. Even more, his records will remain until the end of this world. There are many clouds in our lives but the late Mr. Swaminathan was the silver line them.
Lets pray for him. May God give him eternal rest & may his soul rest in peace!
In deepest sympathy!
Please click here to read Mr. B. Raman's article on late Mr. R. Swaminathan
Post a Comment