Tamil Tigers

A very unusual day. But a brilliant one. 


LONG STORY ALERT.


We drove up to Banburyshire to help little Florence celebrate her birthday party. A bouncy castle in the village hall. 20 screaming hyper 2 year olds leaping about whilst in the room next door there was a tai-chi convention with the delegates moving around very slowly to low volume whale music in the background. Not an ideal juxtaposition of activities. Auntie Julia came up on the train, which was beyond the call of duty. She was getting the 1.50 train back to London and I walked back with her to the station.
 
After waving her off I started walking back to the party and found myself next to three gents of Sri Lankan appearance who had got off the train and were walking trying to find a taxi. No chance in this village on a Sunday I explained. Where did they want to get to?  They told me that they were on their way to a Tamil commemoration of fallen soldiers in the freedom fight of the Tamil Tigers against the majority Sri Lankan government.
 
Now, earlier in the morning when approaching Kings Sutton I had noticed rows and rows of yellow and red flags going along a farm drive and wondered what they were. The three Tamil men explained to me that those flags were the site of the Tamil convention. It was about 2 miles outside the village. So I offered them a lift there in my car because they were very polite and charming and I have a lot of sympathy for the plight of the oppressed Tamil minority that I have heard about on the news in recent years.
 
Off we went and I drove them up the lane to the farm drive. There were throngs of Tamils going in to the grounds which was a farm and the surrounding fields. I was welcomed and invited to go in for a look.
 
What an amazing site. Thousands of people in marquees listening to singers on a stage with a booming sound system. Others laying flowers at  models of tombstones with photos of dead Tiger warriors. Others worshipping at side temples. Lots of candles and smoking fires. 


And here is the amazing thing: I was the only white face amongst a couple of thousand people. But no one looked at me twice or questioned what I was doing there.
 
I asked if I could take pictures and they were happy to oblige. As I was leaving my three new friends shook hands vigorously with me. So did the car park attendants – they had let me park my car in pole position right by the main entrance.
 

It was a humbling experience. Then back to the aftermath of Flo’s party and the opening of the presents.


Extras of the Tamilfest and Flo's cake.