thoughts on a train and elsewhere

This doesn't really fit into my denmark blog, so I'm writing it here.

I realised that as a child I was horribly patriotic. And I do mean horribly. In my head, I judged everyone who criticised Sri Lanka, or said they probably wouldn't want to live the rest of their lives on the island. So yes, I was patriotic, but obnoxiously so.

As the years have gone by, I find that I still love Sri Lanka and her people immensely, but I don't expect everyone to do the same, or even if they do, to articulate it by living a life exactly like the one I want to live. I find that it is all right to love my country, but also to be intensely critical about what is going on. I find I am a lot more accepting when friends leave for other shores and decide they like those other shores better. I once would have tried to argue them into staying in Sri Lanka. Now I feel that may not necessarily be the best ocurse of action. People have to do what they want to do, where they want to do it. And one must begin to think holistically. Perhaps it is best that I live and work in Sri Lanka, but in the greater scheme of things, perhaps it is best that other Sri Lankans live elsewhere, and use their talents and abilities for whatever goals they wish to pursue.

Sometimes I wish more people wanted to change the world. But then the world would also be in a constant state of ridiculous flux, with EVERYONE trying to change the world to conform with their view of 'better.' At other times, I realise that I may be looking at the problem in entirely the wrong light, and that there may be another way in. How I evolve.

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Meanwhile, does anyone think that English would be the solution? The problem being the inadquacies and unfairness that crops up when using two different languages, namely Sinhala and Tamil. I don't relaly think so. It could definitely be a third language, but I think just switching to teaching English in schools just makes people familiar with a language they should admittedly know, but does nothing to solve the problem of people refusing to accept that we ARE different. We have different languages, often different habits, religious festivals. The works. It's NOT all the same; we re NOT all the same. But at the same time, it's really all right. We don't have to fit a mould in order to be Sri Lankan.
But admittedly it's difficult to implement this beautiful idea practically, so I would like to see what options we have besides just make everyone learn English. Because that doesn't really get to the root of any problems, and creates problems of its own.