Do you see these slippers I am wearing?
One of them arrived five days after the other!”
Arriving at Thapovanam
From dawn on August 22 until the night of August 25, I stayed at Thapovanam, an ashram in the village of Allaippiddi in Jaffna. Situated beside a lagoon, it is a peaceful place by its very nature.
Thapovanam is run by Professor Daya Somasundaram, formerly Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Jaffna.
I left Wellawatte at 10.30 p.m. on August 21 on a Rathna Tours bus and reached Jaffna at about 5.30 the next morning. Mariyadas was waiting to take me to Thapovanam in a three-wheeler donated for the centre’s use.
Mariyadas works at Thapovanam. He is originally from Batticaloa and can speak Sinhala.
We travelled overland through Mandaitivu Island and entered Kayts before reaching Allaippiddi. The journey took about thirty minutes.
Thapovanam stands on a strip of land covered with coconut trees and running alongside the lagoon. As we arrived, the wooden gate was opened by an elderly man of about seventy-five. He was bare-chested and wore a short sarong reaching to his knees. He had been waiting for us.
I asked Mariyadas who he was.
“That is Professor Somasundaram.”
A Life of Simplicity
There are not many buildings at Thapovanam. A few small, open shelters with palmyrah-thatched roofs are scattered around the grounds. The small hall is built in the same style, with simple wooden benches fitted with backrests.
The only concrete structure is a two-storey building with a single room. It was built as accommodation for the commanding officer when the property was used as a naval camp.
Professor Somasundaram sleeps on the concrete terrace at the top of this building. A small, sloping roof thatched with palmyrah leaves provides some protection. But when it rains, the roof is hardly large enough to shelter him through the night.
He usually eats only one meal a day. He wakes early and practises yoga. After completing his work, he goes swimming in the lagoon at about three in the afternoon. He spends at least two hours there each day.
Three Generations of Teachers and Students
Dr S. Sivadas, one of Professor Somasundaram’s former students, is now a consultant psychiatrist at Jaffna Teaching Hospital. On some evenings, he comes to Thapovanam with students from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna, who are studying psychiatry under him.
It is a beautiful sight: three generations within a lineage of teachers and students coming together.
At about three in the afternoon on the day I arrived, Dr Sivadas came to Thapovanam with a group of students. I was resting on a folding cot in one of the open shelters, and they came directly to see me.
The group included Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim students, all together. It was wonderful to see. They were very interested in mindfulness and wanted to learn more about the different ways of practising it.
What Does Thapovanam Actually Do?
This is the most important part of the story.
Allaippiddi is a fishing village directly affected by the war. Its residents were forced to leave on several occasions. Many lived in the Vanni for a period before eventually returning.
The condition of the village today shows the long-term damage that war can cause to a community.
Almost all the men in the village are heavily addicted to alcohol. Narcotic drugs and crystal methamphetamine—commonly known as “ice”—are also widespread in the area. Domestic violence is extremely high, and many families have fallen into disorder. Men abandoning their families is not uncommon.
The children suffer most in this destructive environment.
Professor Somasundaram told me that some children do not sleep in their own homes at night. Instead, they go to their grandparents’ houses to escape the fighting between their parents.
Thapovanam tries to intervene positively in the way the neural pathways of children growing up in this environment are formed.
At present, their surroundings teach them to see drunkenness and domestic violence as normal parts of life. They may grow up believing that a man who does not drink should be ashamed of himself, or that a man who does not beat his wife is somehow weak.
These children have few role models who can help them imagine a different way of living.
Offering Children a Different Experience
Professor Somasundaram and his colleagues bring the village children to Thapovanam during school holidays. There, the children take part in drama, dance, music, drawing, karate, swimming and sand sculpture.
The characters in their plays are all animals. Yet the stories explore the real problems faced by families in the village, as well as wider social issues.
Through these activities, Thapovanam gives the children experiences they do not receive at home. Nothing taught here is aimed at examinations. The purpose is not academic competition, but the healthy development of the child.
Resource persons are invited from Jaffna to conduct the programmes. I saw for myself how talented the children are and how eagerly they participate.
Thapovanam also provides each child with a nutritious meal. Perhaps the meal is another reason why the children are so enthusiastic about coming.
The food is prepared by Mariyadas and his wife, Tamil Selvi. Selvi is originally from Mannar. Her father supported the idea of a separate state for the Tamil people, and therefore gave each of his children a name beginning with the word “Tamil.” That is how Selvi came to be called Tamil Selvi.
On August 22, around fifty children came to take part in the activities. As I was new to Thapovanam, I asked to join the kitchen team. I worked alongside Selvi, Mariyadas and several women from the village.
My task was to peel and chop about forty large onions for a tomato sambol.
All these programmes are supported by donations. If you feel inspired by this work, you too can contribute. The necessary details are given at the end of this article.
Practising Mindfulness Together
Dr Sivadas returned the following day. He was keen to deepen his understanding and practice of mindfulness.
Sitting in front of the shelter where I was staying, we practised ānāpānasati—mindfulness of breathing—together. Before leaving, he invited me to meet him at Jaffna Teaching Hospital the next day.
We met in his room at the hospital. He asked me to guide a group of first-year students studying psychiatry through the same mindfulness exercise we had practised the previous day.
I therefore conducted a twenty-minute mindfulness session for a group of Tamil, Muslim and Sinhala medical students.
Planting Lotus Seeds
While I was at Thapovanam, lotus seeds were planted in a pond dug within the grounds.
The seeds had been brought by a former combatant who had undergone “rehabilitation.” According to Professor Somasundaram, this person suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
On some nights, he wakes with the feeling that he is once again on the battlefield. He may panic and try to hide under the bed, or become distressed and begin shouting.
There must also be many former army soldiers who participated in the war and now live with similar experiences. Perhaps only the members of their families know what they are going through.
As Professor Somasundaram planted the lotus seeds, he asked me to chant something religious.
Sitting on the bank of the pond, I slowly chanted the verses of the Karaṇīya Mettā Sutta in a gentle rhythm.
It was quite different from the usual experience of chanting pirith. For me too, it became a deeply peaceful and healing moment.
The Farewell
I was due to take the 9.00 p.m. bus to Colombo on August 25. At about eight that evening, I prepared to leave Thapovanam and went to the small building where Mariyadas and Selvi lived.
I was standing on the sandy ground when Mariyadas asked me to step onto the raised entrance of the building. Although I was slightly puzzled, I did as he requested.
Mariyadas then knelt before me and paid his respects. Selvi followed and did the same.
I had not expected anything like this. Their gesture took me completely by surprise.
At about 8.10 p.m., I said goodbye to Professor Somasundaram and Selvi and left with Mariyadas for the Jaffna bus stand.
Throughout my stay, I received an extraordinary degree of love and acceptance from everyone I met—from young children to elderly people. It filled my heart with great happiness.
A Very Different Experience in Tellippalai
The only experience that stood in contrast to this warmth occurred at Tellippalai.
Tellippalai is a town about fifteen kilometres from Jaffna on the road towards Kankesanthurai. From there, Kankesanthurai is only about three and a half kilometres away.
At midday on August 25, I went to Tellippalai to meet a group associated with the Chelvanayakam Memorial Trust.
Following their directions, I travelled there alone by three-wheeler and got down at Tellippalai Junction. I then began looking for the meeting place.
The faces of the people in the shops, and of those walking along the road, showed unease, dislike and rejection. Not a single person responded to me with a smile.
Eventually, a representative of the Chelvanayakam Memorial Trust came to the road and accompanied me to the meeting place.
During our conversation, I described the reaction I had encountered.
They replied:
“Yes. After you leave, we too will have to answer the questions people ask us.”
According to them, there was one main reason for the reaction I received: a Buddhist temple called Tissa Raja Maha Vihara, situated about four kilometres away.
Because of this temple, people in the area have come to see Buddhist monks as people who arrive intending to seize land by force.
What a terrible misfortune.
Returning with a Lighter Heart
Apart from what happened in Tellippalai, my few days in Jaffna were profoundly healing.
I was healed by the companionship of Professor Somasundaram, who lives like a sage; by the affectionate welcome of the children of Allaippiddi; by my encounters with Dr Sivadas and his students; and by the hospitality of Mariyadas and Selvi.
I was also grateful to meet the dramatists, dancers, musicians and others who came from Jaffna to conduct programmes for the children.
The cool breeze that constantly moved across the lagoon brought its own sense of peace. Each day, I spent about an hour in the lagoon—swimming, resting in the water and reflecting gently upon life.
All these experiences brought me a deep sense of healing.
I therefore boarded the bus back to Colombo with an immensely light heart.
I would be very happy if this account were read by the military officers who built the temple mentioned above, by the Buddhist monks who now live there, and by the upāsakas and upāsikās who travel there from Colombo to observe the Eight Precepts on full-moon days.
“The more we try to possess, the more we lose. When we let go, a whole world becomes ours.”
Supporting Thapovanam
If you would like to help sustain the work of Thapovanam, you may contribute through the following account:
THAPOVANAM YOGA AND MEDITATION CENTRE
Current Account No.: 1000769751
Bank: Commercial Bank, Velanai, Sri Lanka
SWIFT Code: CCEYLKLX
Website: www.thapovanam.com
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