New Year, Easter amid COVID-19 Pandemic
As we prepare for the Avurudu, Pudu Varusham and Easter celebrations which we must do within our own homes this year, we can be thankful that no more COVID-19 infections have been detected in the 24 hours ending last evening. And the death toll remains at seven.
The traditional Sinhala and Tamil New Year will be celebrated tomorrow and on Monday, while Christian Sri Lankans observe Easter Sunday tomorrow. Both festivals are powerful symbols of human renewal. And they are moments of significance for us individually as well as a community.
Given that food production is at the core of human survival and that agriculture is essentially a community activity, this moment of re-starting the cultivation cycle is imbued with a powerful symbolism that emphasizes both the community life and the renewal of life cycle of the community. It is a time of celebration of communal togetherness which is critical for the tight framework of collaboration within the community that is crucial for optimum productivity.
It is ironic that this year we observe Avurudu and Pudu Varusham at a time of a dangerous pandemic which we must counter by the strict practice of being physically distant from each other as much as our social survival allows. We know that this physical distancing is crucial to defeat this contagion for which we still do not have proper cures or preventive measures such as a proven vaccine.
Thus, our enforced discipline of social distancing is itself of immense social importance, significant for the very survival and well-being of the national community. At this time of the New Year, therefore, this strict practice of a new, urgently essential, social discipline of hygiene and sanitation, is itself the best celebration of the richness of our community life.
Our post-pandemic production cycle can begin only after we have brought this deadly contagion under control. In the millennia of our agricultural civilisation this is certainly not the first time that the New Year has not been observed in unusual, disruptive (if not traumatic) conditions. With this civilizational strength, we Sri Lankans will naturally adapt to the observance of ancient rituals in accordance with the compulsions of our current crisis.
Christian Sri Lankans will be filled with the inspiration of the New Life promised by the Resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ as they observe Easter Sunday tomorrow. This promise and shared experience of spiritual renewal as individuals and, as a faith community, has new meaning in the face of the critically urgent need for a disciplined social practice in order to save our whole nation.
All Sri Lankans simply must work together as a tightly co-operating society of people on this island if we are to survive and recover from the ravages of COVID-19 and, Easter Sunday becomes a moment of affirmed commitment to this societal endeavour.
An even greater poignancy for all Sri Lankans this Easter Sunday is the marking of the anniversary of last year’s terror bombings of selected churches and hotels. Even though the exact anniversary is around a week away, the parishes and families that suffered from this inhuman attack on last year’s Easter Sunday will commemorate their lost loved ones while the rest of the nation must reaffirm its commitment to preventing such violence in the future.
In all, tomorrow and Monday will be a time of social observances across the island by millions of people and we can only hope that these observances will be practised with the new anti-pandemic social discipline that is necessary to protect our society. Pretension and carelessness in our celebrations will be a possibly fatal betrayal of the very traditions and faith that we collectively profess to uphold.
President consults the experts
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s meeting with the representatives of the top medical experts’ bodies on Thursday is a demonstration of the President’s commitment to a technocratic approach to governance, an approach that is crucial at this critical juncture of our nation.
At the same time, the various medical specialist bodies that have engaged with the Presidency are also demonstrating a significant level of technocratic leadership which is also crucial to meet the national crisis. The news media previously reported the consultations among the key specialist bodies responding to the pandemic and their joint preparation of material to share with the Government at the highest level of State.
The meeting with the President on Thursday, therefore, may become a milestone in the national endeavour in managing the greatest disaster this country has experienced since the Tsunami. The President has now brought on board the medical scientific leadership in what should be a systematic collaboration that will demonstrate the triumph of Sri Lankan science and disaster management in the face of this pandemic.
As we prepare for the Avurudu, Pudu Varusham and Easter celebrations which we must do within our own homes this year, we can be thankful that no more COVID-19 infections have been detected in the 24 hours ending last evening. And the death toll remains at seven.
The traditional Sinhala and Tamil New Year will be celebrated tomorrow and on Monday, while Christian Sri Lankans observe Easter Sunday tomorrow. Both festivals are powerful symbols of human renewal. And they are moments of significance for us individually as well as a community.
Given that food production is at the core of human survival and that agriculture is essentially a community activity, this moment of re-starting the cultivation cycle is imbued with a powerful symbolism that emphasizes both the community life and the renewal of life cycle of the community. It is a time of celebration of communal togetherness which is critical for the tight framework of collaboration within the community that is crucial for optimum productivity.
It is ironic that this year we observe Avurudu and Pudu Varusham at a time of a dangerous pandemic which we must counter by the strict practice of being physically distant from each other as much as our social survival allows. We know that this physical distancing is crucial to defeat this contagion for which we still do not have proper cures or preventive measures such as a proven vaccine.
Thus, our enforced discipline of social distancing is itself of immense social importance, significant for the very survival and well-being of the national community. At this time of the New Year, therefore, this strict practice of a new, urgently essential, social discipline of hygiene and sanitation, is itself the best celebration of the richness of our community life.
Our post-pandemic production cycle can begin only after we have brought this deadly contagion under control. In the millennia of our agricultural civilisation this is certainly not the first time that the New Year has not been observed in unusual, disruptive (if not traumatic) conditions. With this civilizational strength, we Sri Lankans will naturally adapt to the observance of ancient rituals in accordance with the compulsions of our current crisis.
Christian Sri Lankans will be filled with the inspiration of the New Life promised by the Resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ as they observe Easter Sunday tomorrow. This promise and shared experience of spiritual renewal as individuals and, as a faith community, has new meaning in the face of the critically urgent need for a disciplined social practice in order to save our whole nation.
All Sri Lankans simply must work together as a tightly co-operating society of people on this island if we are to survive and recover from the ravages of COVID-19 and, Easter Sunday becomes a moment of affirmed commitment to this societal endeavour.
An even greater poignancy for all Sri Lankans this Easter Sunday is the marking of the anniversary of last year’s terror bombings of selected churches and hotels. Even though the exact anniversary is around a week away, the parishes and families that suffered from this inhuman attack on last year’s Easter Sunday will commemorate their lost loved ones while the rest of the nation must reaffirm its commitment to preventing such violence in the future.
In all, tomorrow and Monday will be a time of social observances across the island by millions of people and we can only hope that these observances will be practised with the new anti-pandemic social discipline that is necessary to protect our society. Pretension and carelessness in our celebrations will be a possibly fatal betrayal of the very traditions and faith that we collectively profess to uphold.
President consults the experts
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s meeting with the representatives of the top medical experts’ bodies on Thursday is a demonstration of the President’s commitment to a technocratic approach to governance, an approach that is crucial at this critical juncture of our nation.
At the same time, the various medical specialist bodies that have engaged with the Presidency are also demonstrating a significant level of technocratic leadership which is also crucial to meet the national crisis. The news media previously reported the consultations among the key specialist bodies responding to the pandemic and their joint preparation of material to share with the Government at the highest level of State.
The meeting with the President on Thursday, therefore, may become a milestone in the national endeavour in managing the greatest disaster this country has experienced since the Tsunami. The President has now brought on board the medical scientific leadership in what should be a systematic collaboration that will demonstrate the triumph of Sri Lankan science and disaster management in the face of this pandemic.
