Sri Lanka is on my mind as I write this Easter day. Recently, on a trip to Bermuda, we were served by a very polite middle-aged man whose accent and looks seemed to indicate an ethnicity far to the east of our hotel. He would usually bring us ice or fulfill some other menial request that hotel guests often have.
On one of his "visits," he happened to engage me in a conversation. It was the usual "where are you from" and "are you enjoying your stay" kind of back-and-forth. When he asked if we had traveled here before, I replied no, but that we had been to the Bahamas two years before.
I joked that it seemed like we were only traveling to islands lately. He surprised me by asking if I had ever been to Sri Lanka. My answer, like probably 99 percent of Americans, was no. He proceeded to describe it as one of the most beautiful places on Earth, with waterfalls, fabulous beaches, and interesting cities. Sri Lanka was his homeland and he was obviously very proud of it.
I told him that I knew little of Sri Lanka except what I had read in the newspaper, and thought that there had been "troubles" there. I meant violent revolution and terrorism but was trying to be polite. He understood my reference immediately and told me that was all in the past--that things were fine now.
I asked him if he got to visit Sri Lanka and he smiled and said "Oh yes, about once a year. I visit family and friends." I told him that was great--returning home is always a good thing.
For a brief moment, he and I shared a genuine connection--a mutual understanding of the love that most of us have for our homeland and family. For me, it is the beautiful coast and beaches in the Florida panhandle and the rugged mountains, streams, lakes, and the vista out the back door of my house in Arkansas. For him, now a longtime resident of Bermuda, it is still Sri Lanka.
I know nothing about this man's politics or religion. But his smile was genuine, and his radiant description of his homeland was compelling. I did not exactly put Sri Lanka on my bucket list, but his description of that island off the coast of India made me see it in a much more attractive way.
So I'm thinking about this gentle, polite, and smiling man from Sri Lanka today. I pray that he and his family and friends there are safe and well this morning. I do not know anything about the other victims of the horrific bombings. But he and I had a brief connection and some shared humanity, so he has become my reference point on the people there.
And then the bombs went off ...
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Boyd Ward of Mayflower is retired, former executive director of ARORA, and author of a novel, Journey Through Chaos: The Valley.
Editorial on 04/24/2019