I was born in a small town called Eravur. It is a town in Batticaloa district in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. But I grew up entirely in Colombo. I was taken from a small town teeming with birds and trees to a city full of bare concrete buildings on the 20th day after my birth.
Although we have lived in India for some time in between, when I think of my city, I think of Colombo. But my favorite place is Eravur. The place that I want to go to every holiday, is Eravur. The main reasons for this are my cousin brothers. If I go to town on vacation, I like everything about playing with them, beach bathing, cycling.
Since I rarely go to town and only stay a few days, everyone there treats me competitively as a VIP. My aunts and uncles would take turns inviting me to their homes. They cook and serve a wide variety of dishes. They will make my favorite desserts.
Covid 19 changed everything. My mother who came to Colombo from Thailand, and I from India were in Quarantine at our Colombo home. My mother and my little brother Eid were at home then. That’s when the phone call came. The call that my grandfather was in critical condition at the Batticaloa hospital disturbed the peace of our home.
The whole country was under Lockdown. Unable to travel from Colombo to Batticaloa as before as expected, my mother was begging the police and health officers who came to monitor us who were in quarantine, to help send her mother to Batticaloa somehow. Mummy’s efforts went hand in hand. She quickly got involved in sending my grandmother to Eravur. Since I had online classes, it was decided to send me along with my grandmother and attend online classes from there.
I was very happy getting ready to go to Eravur. I packed my books, laptop, and guitar and traveled with my grandmother to my favorite place. I started the journey thinking that I could play well with my cousin brothers, as all the schools were closed due to the Covid outbreak.
But this trip was not as happy as I thought. There is not even the urge to come back this time as quickly as it does when I occasionally come and go in five or ten days. I’m really looking forward to the day of escaping from here.
I could not stick with the people here. The culture of the people living in this small town is not like mine. I don’t care that none of them are like me. But they bother me a lot because I am not like them. My hairstyle, the dress I wear, and the accessories I wear like watch, chain and bracelets, etc all adorn me in this town. Many people make fun of me and, when I go out in the streets many people used to bully me. They have no idea how much it hurts me.
All the boys my age wear full pants and wander around like big men. Even my cousin brothers wear full pants. I do not like full pants. I will wear it only to school and nowhere else. Shorts and pants made of cotton fabric are very comfortable for me. I do not know what their problem is. What is the problem with a boy dressing up what is comfortable for him?
I often talk to my mother about this. She will always speak in my favor. “You are now in a town where religious practices and culture are strictly adhered to. This is how they will be there. We cannot change them. We don’t have to change for them either”. My mother’s advice is to adjust all this for a short time.
My mother never comes to Eravur as I know. She used to send me alone with my grandmother every time and she would stay back in Colombo. Although, I do not fully understand the reasons why she does not come to Eravur. But I can understand it now. It is not possible for someone like my mother who feels independent to live in this town where there is no mind to respect the wishes and freedom of a little boy even.
The question of what our religion was, came to me when I was four years old. That question came from the question of which God I should believe in. This is what my mother said then.
“Believe in yourself. Love is your religion”.
I firmly believe what my mother said.
I really like my grandmother. I know she loves me one step more than all her grandchildren. But after we came to Eravur she and I often had conflicts. I do not get up early and go to the mosque, like the children of this village. My speaking style is completely different. The things I talk about are also completely different. None of this seemed any different to my grandmother when she lived with us in Colombo. But I think she’s different when it comes to keeping up with other kids in Eravur. Sometimes even my grandmother used to scold me because of religious stuff. I don’t take her seriously, but I respect her much and I love her so much.
I do not like this town now and I do not intend to change myself to fit this. I’m mostly at home here. When I came here on Covid outbreak, I asked Mommy to buy me a new bicycle to ride the streets here. The bicycle she bought at a cost of twenty-five thousand rupees stands on the veranda, looking at me with nostalgia.
About the author:
Diya Al Badhri
My name is Diya Al Badhri. I was born in Sri Lanka on July 30, 2008. We settled in India in 2012 when I was three and a half years old. We lived in Chennai till 2016. That’s where I started my elementary education. My first guru was my mother who was a single mother. She and I have made numerous trips, trekking, and hiking. In 2016 I returned to Sri Lanka. I continued my studies in Colombo. Then again in 2019, the circumstances forced me to stay in a hostel in India. I returned to Sri Lanka in 2020 due to Covid -19. I am learning from the flow of such an uncertain life.
