Growing to be A World Citizen

We believe with Sir Richard Livingstone, that “Men are born to FOUR CITIZENSHIPS.. They should be able to live as good members of their Family, of their Community, of their Nation and of the Whole Human Society and that “many of the world’s troubles can be traced to a failure in one or other of these citizenships – to our never mastering the art of living with others in the family, in the community, in the nation , in international relations “ We also realize that these four relationships must co-exist and that the transgression of one of these loyalties must necessarily bear the transgression of the other three”. These words echoed by none other than that undisputed educationist, Iconic Nation Builder and  International citizen, A.M.A.Azeez, was a source of inspiration to many a student of  Zahira College, Colombo. Yes, today there are many world citizens with high achievements, from Zahira that from time to time acknowledge their achievements, were a result of this very pragmatic philosophy of world citizenship. For my part, not only did this philosophy guide me towards enriching my life with countless genuine friendships from all communities and many countries, but it also gave me a deep seated satisfaction that we are ALL One Family – The Family of Man.

First Citizenship –The Family

The pleasant journey of imbibing the qualities that should make one travel through these four citizenships, will here be seen, as to what it takes to be actively involved with the family of Man. Foremost and most naturally, it is that inborn quality of LOVE towards others that the family unit must nourish .It is an inalienable fact of life that we love those who love us. This is first epitomized in ones love for his mother. There is nothing more realistic than the love shown by the child to his or her mother and visa versa. Today, we see Sri Lankan trishaws or tuk tuk’s painted behind them with the words “Ratharang Amma” (Golden Mother) – we must understand full well the very deep human relationship of mother and child. We must believe that ALL of us are born with the gift of love within our hearts. Someone quite rightly said that, “it is LOVE that makes the world go round”. What parents must do is further strengthen and sustain this quality of love of the child with other members of the family. This is the sacred duty of every responsible parent. When my wife and I travel through rural Sri Lanka and see mothers carrying their precious infants in their arms – We feel privileged and blessed for the rest of the day. Indeed it epitomizes the close bond between mother and child. When the Prophet Mohamed was asked by someone, who it is that he must love most in this world? He said “your mother”. When asked, “who next”?. He said “your mother”. When asked again, he said “your mother”. When asked for the fourth time, “who next “? He said “your father”. God says, in the Holy Koran “reverence the womb that bore you”. Like most mothers, my mother worked tirelessly in making for us our Home. Children must be taught through this love, to reverence their parents. Without this deep respect and reverence there can be no discipline in the family and could spell the beginning of disaster for the child’s entire future. Hence, cultivate respect and reverence for parents and elders in your children with their natural gift of love with them. Don’t ever let love and kindness be mistaken for weakness. Be kind and loving, yet be firm in discipline. Don’t ever spoil your own child. If you spoil your children they would take mean advantage of you and make you miserable for the rest of your life and you will forever regret it. Parents would have failed both their family and in their social responsibility, when children are spoilt and they will be social misfits and suffer tremendously. Society too suffers with anti social children who dislocate the smooth working of our society. Hence, the Paramount importance of the sacred institution of The Family. Family groups within the Animals Kingdom inculcate discipline within their group. Hence  there must essentially be a  natural discipline  inculcating Love and Kindness within our families — including Sharing, Uniting , Co-operating and Bonding to achieve family goals. Caring or helping each other, being respectful to senior members of the family are also as important.. Most of this was inculcated to us by our father, who  insisted that we all sat together at the dining table at meal times.. Most respected and well mannered families make meal times a family affair; where family values of love, kindness, sharing, co-operating, uniting and respect for elders and the weak are taught and appreciated.. Even the cleaning up and washing were done with these values. No one ever complained as that was an unthinkable thing; but we gave thanks to God most Gracious for the meal.  These qualities are the firm foundation that becomes our second nature on which we build on our relationships within the community, nation and the world.. Many families share their daily household chores, such as, sweeping, cleaning. cooking. washing, gardening, etc. Also uniting and co-operating in family functions or the weekly event of buying groceries, washing clothes, or monthly event of washing the  house or spring cleaning, are  examples of the co-operative effort of the family  This co-operative family effort, also teaches us a disciplined unity within the family; which binds us together lovingly, as a closely knit family unit. Similarly the annual painting of our homes if accomplished by members of the family;  ingrain us with self reliance and an  understanding of the dignity of labour and importance of a co-operative and unified family effort. We also learn to appreciate each others characteristics and learn to love them for what they are and not for what we want them to be. Anyone can build a house but Homes are built by members of the family, and there is no place like Home.

The Second Citizenship – The Community

Our next family is the community; which was our immediate neighbors. We bonded well with our neighbors, the Silva’s, the Cramer’s, the Jayasooriya’s,  Dissanayake’s , Fernando’s and Gregory’s, Careem’s, DeMotts, Abdus Salam’s, Fernando’s  etc. so much so that we had our own neighborhood club, which apart from challenging other neighboring clubs for matches, we had our annual sports meet,  fancy dress competitions and drama competition. All parents in the neighborhood, encouraged us both materially and financially since it brought great joy and togetherness to the neighborhood. The drama competition was a great draw, as it attracted visitors from adjoining areas. We gave them a good evenings entertainment for which they thanked us profusely. All club house meetings were held in our verandah. There were no minutes, but everyone listened eagerly to their assigned chores. There was no lapse on the part of anyone of us, as we worked in total unison and with a spirit of community responsibility; which we all considered sacred. There was no strict delegation of authority or responsibility, which you have today in all businesses. When there was an almsgiving (Dhana) at the Jayasuriya’s; Mrs. Jayasuriya used to harness my mothers help and she lovingly and willingly helped her. In fact when Mrs. Jayasuriya entered our home, my father is to announce to my mother “your sister has arrived”. On festivals and other happy events the neighbors send each other some tasty dishes, again bonding the spirit of community. My father’s pet habit was reading voluminous books in Tamil literature. Palamoli, Tirukkural, Arabic Tamil texts on religion and of course the only English daily at that time, the Daily News. His reprimands and cautions to us were verses in both English and Tamil, They were so apt, concise and effective that they still echo in my mind. As I grew, I too acquired an insatiable appetite for books and built up my own library. In fact, the only anti-social habit I had, was to be reluctant to lend my books to my friends, who invariably kept the books with them. I was too embarrassed or forgot to ask them back. The schools we attended (Wesley and Zahira) as children were also part of our second family. There were no denominational schools. At Wesley we learnt the Holy Bible and it was called the Scripture class. As a member of the coir, I learnt voice articulation  thank you Mr. Lanerolle, Sir!. My father enjoyed my narration of Bibical stories and ventured to give me the Quranic version, since they were both books that we Muslims believed in. It was no surprise to him when I came out on top of the class in Scripture.  Zahira was about the best example of a multi-ethnic multi-cultural school and the school benefitted by its variety of languages and religious mix. With a colossus like A.M.A. Azeez at the helm, every student felt he was part of this great family. Many Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim scholars emerged from Zahira, that are too numerous to mention here. Even in the arena of extra-curricular activities, Narenthiran was the Badminton National Champion as a schoolboy, Dharmadasa Banda was our Volleyball captain, Devaraj was our cricket captain. Albert Perera and Percy Wijesuriya weren national boxers. We won the English, Sinhala and Tamil inter school debating contests. Our Senior and Junior Cadets who won many competitions had a large number of Sinhalese and Tamils members. We had two Queens Prize winners in Rifle Marksmanship and even beat the Army in .303 shooting.

The Lord De War Shield for  rifle shooting was a permanent fixture in  A.M.A. Azeez’s office  Above all our teachers were pragmatic people who treated everyone alike and made us all feel as humble members of a well bonded family. They taught us Love, Sharing, Caring, Co-operating, Uniting and working for the common good, with an ever willing enthusiasm and discipline. We revered them all and listened to their sincere advise. Hundreds of Zahirians entered the University, during this time. Our teachers were also a fine ethnic mix and they too seemed to enjoy each others company. This, I came to know when I became a teacher in my own school. Hence it became very natural that I was consciously duty bound and cared very much for my protégés and endeavored to make them citizens of the world. Today’s schools produce ethnically and religiously biased citizens, which is counter-productive for national unity. No school can ever succeed in molding its students to be citizens of the world, unless and until there is a good multi-cultural and religious mix with which there is much inter –action and mutual appreciation. This also fosters greater communal harmony, economic prosperity, enriched co-existence and peace. Whither Sri Lanka

The Third Citizenship – The Nation.

As a school teacher at Zahira, I used to avoid the staff rest room, since I considered my ex-teachers as unmatched giants whom I revere even now. One day a senior teacher advised me that I would both do well and be better off as an officer in the armed services. Again being obedient and respectful to my teachers I took this advice and applied to join the Air Force. I was the only one selected after an exhaustive process of a War Office Selection Board Examinations held in Diyatalawa for two days, a couple of interviews, medical examination, a confidential police report on my character. With some basic training, I was packed off to the RAF in the UK. Whilst the training was rigorous and demanding I realized that I was being trained to serve my country –hence the Third Community of the Family of Man. With my experience in the earlier  two communities I was so well equipped with the disciplines of Love, Sharing, Caring, Kindness, Uniting, Co-operating, and a deep consciousness of commitment to whatever task; so much so that  – The RAF in the UK said in their final report, “This officer held his own with his British colleagues”. Many a Sri Lankan officer won very high honors in the United Kingdom. At RAF Cranwell, Sqn.Ldr. Situnayake won the Groes Memorail Trophy for the Best All Round Performance, Sqn.Ldr.Nicky Ratnayake for Aerobatics, Sqn.Ldr. Les. Rajapakse for  the Best in Ground School and many more. I won the Subject Prize of a Chartered Institute in the UK. We encouraged each other in achieving academic and professional excellence. My commitment to my job in the Air Force made me set up new management and operational systems. To some, I was a threat. Their faults were the necessary compliments of their merits. Fortunately my brother officers were thorough gentlemen and we bonded well as a family – what comradeship. Whatever we did, we served Mother Lanka well, and we ALL loved Her so much. In the attempted armed forces coup de tat of 1962 no Air Force officer was involved. In the 1971 insurgency it was the Air Force that played a major role in suppressing the insurgency. Every time I stood on parade and the National Anthem played; my eyes welled with tears. Frankly I do not know weather they was tears of joy or sorrow, but it was largely because I had an opportunity to serve my Third Community – My Nation.

After leaving the Air Force and seeing all the wheeling and dealing in the in the city of Colombo; I decided to break loose from this mafia and set up a mixed farm about 100 miles from Colombo in the Dry Zone. It was in a very remote village which had deer, pythons, monkeys etc. We ran it for 20 years with solar and wind power with local labour, who were partners in the project. It was not a stereotype profit oriented commercial venture but an exercise in learning to live in cohesion both with the simple Sinhala and Tamil village folk and the beautiful and tranquil natural environment and the good earth that surrounded the farmstead. Our children played with children of our village partners and bonded with them firmly as a family; whilst my dear wife visited the humble dwellings of the womenfolk in the area and built a loving relationship that lasts until today. It brings great mutual joy when we visit them from time to time. When I had to leave for Colombo; the village folk used to ask “why are you going to that place where there are many suicide bombings. See sir: we are Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims living in peace and harmony in this village, why cannot others live like us.”. The mutual love, kindness, uniting and sharing in the spoils of the chase, surprised the local mudalali’s (landlords). Subsequently they too began to understand, that, that is the way we should all live, if are to succeed as a Community and a Nation. “Riches are not found in worldly possessions but in a contented heart” – The Holy Prophet Mohamed.

The Fourth Citizenship – The World.

To equip the children to face up to a challenging world, there must be a good selection of books to inculcate the reading habit.. Reading whilst broadening one’s horizons, stimulates discussion in an otherwise stale domestic or community environment. Our boys were educated at Ananda College,  Colombo, and did well to earn the respect of their teachers. Apart from their professional excellence in their universities, they earned the respect of their professors as loving, obedient, honest and committed citizens who could be relied upon under almost any situation. Being city dwellers, I keep telling them to go out into the villages of Sri Lanka and the world and keep making relationships and keep learning to understand the human quantity and its insatiable spirit of discovery. Indeed life is a great adventure, especially for those who relish sampling human nature. ”We have given you tribes and nations that you may all understand each other”- Holy Quran.. This is not an idealism but a stark reality; which if acted upon, could bring you a supreme joy and enlightenment to embrace ALL Mankind as your family and  emancipate yourself from the chains, that today’s society binds you and leads you astray.

The foremost social diseases today, are family band-ism, tribalism or communalism and nationalism. Do not ever trust anyone who tries to divide your family, your community or your nation. They are the very selfish and filthy scum of the earth, who should be ostracized at every level of our society. Everyone of us, must be bold and willing to grow spiritually and intellectually to the higher level of social integration.  It is of paramount importance that we treat our families as sacred institutions, since it is the fountain from which we derive our value base of Love, Kindness, Sharing, Uniting, Co-operating, and Bonding, with which we interact with the Community, Nation and the World at large. We know for a fact, how broken homes and families have contributed to an utterly selfish world. We are ALL from the same creation and part of the Grand Design and as Shakespeare says “ All the world’s a stage, and all men and women are merely players” So let’s play our part bonding with each other, desiring for each other what we desire for ourselves, like brothers and sisters of the family of MAN, treading gently on our Good Earth,. This is the supreme happiness, when the Creator will accept you with open arms, as the best of His creation.

Mulaffer Khalid.