Pipe dreams while at sea

A nation choking with obscure concepts, possessing only mediocre skills and manifestly incapable of redemption, we drift from crisis to crisis

- By Ravi Perera

“ALL that glisters is not gold”; in Sri Lanka it can even be a T 56 automatic gun!

A Shakespearean caution (Merchant of Venice) we ought to bear in mind not only when looking at an object, but also in choosing our leaders.

With a language restrained and pithy, Shakespeare was insightful. Remarkable for the times (16th Century), Merchant of Venice grapples with several themes, relevant and challenging even today; religious and racial bias, property, legality, variability of the sense of fairness (from individual to individual), the concept of mercy and of course the universal theme of love and honour.

Any literature is of that people, reflecting particular circumstances; their sensitivities, preoccupations, social conditions and ideals. All races are not the same, their evolution is varied, there are noticeable differences in the literature of different cultures. That which engages certain minds will leave another unaffected. Writing that appeals to one type of sensitivity may not appeal to another.

The characters in the story of Merchant of Venice are not fanciful, they are very much of this world, with everyday ideas, emotions and desires. The story hangs on an agreement between two characters, the plot is mundane save for dramatic necessities of storytelling. Many legal/contractual fundamentals we now assume as commonplace were alive even then, perhaps unwritten and nascent in form; disputes should be heard by an independent adjudicator, matters could be argued by a pleader, an objective ideal of justice must be served or striven for.

A sorry mimic

Not every society evolved these concepts in like manner or pace. In many countries they were imposed or adopted more or less as a completed product, invariably from a colonial power. Little consideration was given to the ingrained nature or the spirit of the adopting races.