Gamman Pillars

By Nishthar Idroos –February 14, 2016

Nishthar Idroos

Member of Parliament Dilan Perera said something interesting recently at one of those ubiquitous press briefings. What he took great pains to enunciate momentarily confused me. Referring to an action of a colleague known for his noisy political aspirations in the muddied milieu of turbulent politics of Sri Lanka, Mr. Perera mentioned for some odd reason two strange and incomprehensible words and attributed it to this individual .i.e. Gamman Pillars. An awkward yet hilarious set of words that had the potential to induce laughter in anyone. I for one was laughing.

Incidentally this individual’s legendary notoriety to capitalize on scarce opportunities for political fame and subtle maneuvering was doubtless second to none. His persona and character interesting artistic material for a discerning scriptwriter with eyes set on a magnum opus. It’s not for any reason we say Sri Lanka is a country like no other. Its insouciant politicians thrive on all kinds of opportunities. Trying valiantly to fabricate phantasmagorical tales either to woo people or being booed by people.

This youthful Member of Parliament in question reminds a lot about another former parliamentarian all be it a senior one, prone to similar theatrics. We all remember A J Ranasinghe of the “Serappu soup” fame. Arthur Jayasena Ranasinghe former State Minister, diplomat and ardent confidante of President Ranasinghe Premadasa. The bloke rose to a powerful position from a relatively insignificant one. I think the youthful Member of Parliament too would one day soar to greater heights when his masters are returned to power, until such time he has to do one thing very right – keep his eyes strictly focused only on the script.

Why did Member of Parliament Dilan Perera say Gamman Pillars? He separated the two words clearly, possibly using it as some kind of a proper noun. Why would he refer to his colleague as a pillar when actually the bloke is a Pilla? More precisely Udaya Gammanpilla? It did not make much sense initially. My first reaction nonetheless was to acknowledge the need for pillars in the country, I mean all kinds of pillars.

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