Airport: Flying high and falling low
I visited the Bandaranaike International Airport twice in the past three months to pick up and drop a relative. When I was waiting at the arrival section exit on the first occasion,I saw Deputy Foreign Minister Harsha de Silva coming out pushing a trolley. He was closely followed by a lady, whom I presumed to be his wife. I learnt that they were coming from Vietnam, having participated in the inauguration of a factory built by a Sri Lankan conglomerate. My relative who was also coming from Vietnam told me that Dr. Silva travelled first class but his wife travelled in the economy class. At the exit, I saw the economist turned politician making a phone call. A few minutes later a car stopped in front of him. Dr. Silva was seen loading the bag with the help of the driver into the boot before being driven away. It was a refreshing sight to see a ruling party politician departing from the usual practice of travelling with siren-blowing police cars and retinue of bodyguards. Hope other politicians will also follow this example.
On the second occasion, which was only a few weeks ago, I happened to be at the departure lounge to see my relative off again. A stocky person, fitting the description of a state bank official, came pushing a trolley to join the passengers who were entering the airport. His mannerism suggested he wanted to go in unnoticed by others. Then a lady staffer in ground crew saree harried up to him, touched his feet and worshiped him. She was followed by another who did exactly what her colleague did. A third in her middle age joined them but seemed contend greeting him with clasped palms in the traditional manner. She inquired from him of his whereabouts, for which he rather reluctantly tried to answer but then decided not to.
This made me inquire from the third lady who this gentleman was. She replied in Sinhala that he was a former chairman. This made me think why a person who held sway in an organisation could not revisit it later as any other citizen, with his or her head held high, unless he or she had reasons to behave like a fugitive. A sad state of affairs! Jayadewa Mayadunne
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