Lessons from the neighbourhood – Daily Pioneer

A brief visit to Sri Lanka made it clear that even a war-torn history cannot stop a country from an impossible course correction if there is national will. Crime control, discipline and cleanliness have added sheen to the island nation

If you want to feel the pulse of a city, walk through its streets. This is exactly what I did in Colombo, the city I visited recently as a delegate of the Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ). I went there as part of an exchange programme through an invite by the Sri Lanka Press Association (SLPA).

As I was walking through the streets, I heard the sound of a bell ringing. From my home experience, I thought it was an alarm. But why an alarm in peace times? As I tried to guess every possible reason, I realised that I was standing near a level crossing and the gong was sounded to warn the commuters about an incoming train.

I was expecting a mad rush among motorists to cross the railway tracks before the arrival of the train but what I saw surprised me — everyone on the road there had stopped where they were on hearing the bell. In India, we are used to seeing people jostling to get past the level crossing even when the gates are closed. And here in Colombo, no one, not even a cyclist, made an attempt to cross the rail line despite having ample opportunity to do so. They patiently allowed the train to pass and moved only when the green signal came up.

Such discipline surprised me because when I landed at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo, I never felt I was in a foreign country. I felt as if I was in Chennai because people looked the same. India even made its presence on the streets of Colombo felt in the form of automobiles, Bajaj tuk tuk, autos, Ashok Leyland buses, Tata trucks and not to mention the ubiquitous Indian Oil Company (IOC) petrol pumps.

What’s the difference then? It is to do with the discipline Sri Lankans showed on the streets — two-wheeler riders were seen wearing helmets, even those on pillion. In India, wearing a helmet is mandatory but nobody follows it and crackdowns are few and far between.

Suddenly I realised that there was no honking even during peak hours. Why? Because Lankans have patience and are ready to wait for their turn.

The interaction with people exposed me to the fact that the law enforcement agency carries out its task diligently without fear of coercion or manipulation in civic issues. A tuk tuk driver said that drink-and-drive is a big no-no on the roads. “The police will fine 5,000 (Sri Lankan) rupees and take away my driving licence,” he explained when offered a free drink.

In India, crime is big news with almost all newspapers featuring it prominently. In fact, vernacular newspapers devote a full page to crime. In Sri Lanka, I struggled to find crime reports in newspapers. The only report I read during my almost week-long stay in different parts of Sri Lanka was how police arrested a man, wanted in a banana theft case, from a rally of a political party. It was a hilarious news and reflected the law and order consciousness of the country.

An Indian journalist Gitika Talukdar, who is married to a Sri Lankan, put it succinctly. “In my in-laws’ house in Colombo, they have big window panes all around the house. I told my husband if we use so much of glass in Guwahati (the place she belongs to) they would have to retrofit them with iron grills unless we wanted the thieves to decamp with valuables.”

The Lankans’ love for cleanliness is reflected in the way they keep the cities clean by not spitting on the roads or relieving themselves in the open. While travelling to Matale, (home to the famous Buddhist rock temple where monks wrote down teachings of Lord Buddha in tripitakas), one of the delegates threw an empty water bottle in the aisle of the bus. But the conductor picked it up immediately and threw it in a waste basket kept at the front, sending a message loud and clear that a swachhata abhiyaan does not always need Government push but is really about national will. It should come from the inside. This probably is the reason why Sri Lanka is fast becoming a wanted international tourist destination. Can anyone forget that just a decade ago, this was a war-torn country that everybody wanted to keep away from? But now the country has taken a stride towards bettering its markers and is leaving a positive impact. With crime control, discipline and cleanliness, it is attempting to be a model state.

(The writer is Executive Director (News) with Lucknow edition of The Pioneer).

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