Autumn Feast of Colour

by Victor Cherubim   

The falling leaves drift by the window
The autumn leaves, of red and gold
  I see your lips, the summer kisses
  The sun-burned hands I used to hold
Since you went away the days grow long
And soon I‘ll hear, old winter’s song
But I missed you most of all my darling
When autumn leaves start to fall” – Source: Nat King Cole

( November 1, 2015, London, Sri lanka Guardian) From conkers to harvesting, blustery weather and autumn leaves, there is everywhere a feast of colour, a change from the normal. This year the absence of big gales and morning frost has kept leaves on trees for longer than usual. With giant redwoods, Scots pine, blue spruce, red maple and the grand silver birch in Britain’s parks, all starting to glow with colour, change is in the air.

The leaf colour with sunnier days and cooler nights has helped to bring out the golden pigment, as well as the flaming reds of maple and cherry leaves. The main driver is the length of the day for colour changes. It’s all about chemical reactions for which the trigger is light. The pigments of yellow and reds are always there in the leaf, but as the dominant chlorophyll reduces, the radiance of the others is more visible.

Seasons change

Seasons change, feelings change, people change and nations change. There is a time and a place for everything. Who could have imagined that in a matter of ten months Sri Lanka will be on the road to recovery thanks to the foresight of our people? Who would have thought Sri Lanka is aiming to close a fiscal shortfall by raising as much as $ 5 billion over the next six months through new budget measures as it seeks to win back investors? Who could imagine that the main emphasis today is not to clean up corruption but to eradicate it altogether, a first for South Asia? Could anyone have imagined Sri Lanka co-sponsoring the Geneva HRC Resolution?

What was left for future generations to undertake was initiated by President Sirisena in his “Wana Ropa” (planting a forest) a three year program from January 2016 to increase forest cover in Sri Lanka to one thirds of the country’s land area. This is as part of the larger plan to drive sustainable development. Was it not overdue, arguably forest resources being rapidly destroyed and deteriorated over decades of war and neglect?

How the future is unfolding?

We decide how we expect the future to unfold. It is called Future Forecast. Of course no single force determines an outcome. Given the weight to multiple perspectives, we use mathematical brains to find structure amid complexity and to estimate, understand and accept probabilities; we use possibility to make our decisions, diverse estimates to make our decisions. We use fresh eyes on a complex situation.

We are not alone in making mindset change?

India is challenging China’s dominance in Africa with a promise of $10 billion in aid.

China is changing is population control policy of one child introduced and enacted between 1978 and 1980 to two children per family.

Sweden is steadily moving towards a standard six hour working day, on the premise that no one can stay focussed for 8 hours. Why spend hours at work when you can do fewer hours of quality work and spend more time with your family, exercising, or learning new skills? 

Pope Francis wins battle to let divorcees take Holy Communion after the recent Synod of the Family in Rome, when he said:”A faith that is not rooted in the life of the people remains arid rather than an oasis increases other deserts.” His reforms did encounter resistance and fierce debate among the 270 prelates who had gathered in the Vatican.

When we overcome fear, when we get rid of “being tired of being tired,” when we have the courage of our conviction that people are one, whether we live in the South or the North of Sri Lanka or any other part of the world, and we when we defeat “desire,” or wanting immediate gratification, we build purpose in our lives and change begins.