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    Dare to Dream: Heroic Tales for the Tamil Diaspora
    Dare to Dream: Heroic Tales for the Tamil Diaspora
    Dare to Dream: Heroic Tales for the Tamil Diaspora
    Ebook53 pages41 minutes

    Dare to Dream: Heroic Tales for the Tamil Diaspora

    By JK Sivalingam

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    “I had been looking forward to sun, sea and catching up with some old friends. Dodging murderous crowds and discussing political murders were not on my list of top things to do.” The holiday in Sri Lanka does not go exactly as planned in ‘Prison Break’.

    “The Colonel would like a word with you”. The past catches up with a taxi driver in London.

    “The lady in the house across the road used to give piano lessons. I can still hear the tinkling of the keys as they smashed the pianos.” Shan reminisces in ‘Business Angel’.

    Snipers took out the bodyguards. The Indonesian driver was allowed to run away. In all it lasted less than two minutes from start to finish. Ravi corners his prey in ‘The Defendant’.

    This diverse collection of short stories will warm the hearts of the Tamil Diaspora. JKS has a knack of putting a positive spin on some of the saddest events in the history of the Tamil people. One or two brought a tear to my eye but I laughed out loud at the sheer audacity of some of the tales. JJS

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJK Sivalingam
    Release dateDec 30, 2012
    ISBN9781301686179
    Dare to Dream: Heroic Tales for the Tamil Diaspora

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      Book preview

      Dare to Dream - JK Sivalingam

      Dare to Dream

      Heroic Tales for the Tamil Diaspora

      JK Sivalingam

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright 2012 JK Sivalingam

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      No other profession calls on its practitioners to lay down their lives for their art save the armed forces and, in Sri Lanka, journalism.

      ‘Letter from the Grave’

      Lasantha Wickramatunga, January 2009

      Contents

      Preface

      Introduction

      Prison Break

      The Colonel

      Defenders of the peace

      The Wall

      The Defendant

      Eelam Archives

      Tea Estate

      The Publicity Agent

      Business Angel

      Footnotes

      Preface

      An idea, once it takes hold, is like a virus. It pervades all parts of the mind and grows until it cannot be shaken off even with the strongest of medicines.

      The idea of Tamil Eelam, a state for the Tamils in the north of the island of Sri Lanka, has been taking shape for decades. Proposals for devolution of power to District Councils, or a federal form of government all fell by the wayside in the face of opposition from self-seeking politicians and religious fundamentalists keeping the government in power.

      The Sri Lankan government’s strong medicine of choice, to fight the idea of Tamil Eelam, was to unleash violence on the civilian population. From the burning of more than 90,000 books in Jaffna library to politically sponsored riots that saw thousands of Tamils killed on the streets of Colombo.

      The conventional wisdom is that most Tamils wanted a separate state for some historic reasons. The fact is that the majority of Tamils were content with life in Sri Lanka until it became clear that the government could not provide the one thing they asked of it; Protection from acts of violence committed by the majority community. From the very first riots of 1956 when nearly a hundred Tamils were killed, the government has made its position clear. No one would be brought to justice for any of the riots if the victim were Tamils. No stone would remain unturned in the search for justice if any Sinhalese were killed in self defence or reprisals.

      The burning of the Jaffna Library in 1981 and the island wide riots of 1983 was a watershed in terms of majority Tamil opinion. For the first time Tamils started to realise that the only way they could protect themselves, their family and livelihoods was to have their own state.

      Those that could, left the country in droves. Currently nearly a million Tamils live outside Sri Lanka. Those that couldn’t or wouldn’t leave took one of three paths. The majority tried to live quietly and carry on with their lives. Others took up arms to defend themselves and their family. Some worked within the political or media framework to change things for the better.

      Those who worked in the media and were critical of the government like author and journalist Sivaram have been dealt with by white van abductions and subsequent murder. Those that took up arms

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