VENDETTA

VENDETTA

By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando

“I left my country, Sri Lanka, because of political skullduggery and instability. I may never see my wife and children again! What am I to do?” Tikiri poured his heart out to the Manager of a Sri Lankan restaurant in London, seeking a job, any job, even of a menial nature, to supplement his social security benefits from the British government.

The psychological upheaval, the intensity of his mental trauma and the resultant overwhelming heartache that kept haunting him, day in and day out, could not be conceived or put into words, as the possible or foreseeable hope of a reunion with his family seemed remote.

He was, in actual fact, not a political victim in Sri Lanka, but one of those who was obsessed with the idea of ‘economic migration’, envisioning England as a paradise, with the roads paved in gold and that he could find a lucrative job that would earn him a remunerative wage, which, when converted into rupees, would enable him to remit a substantial sum to his family back home. With that aspiration, he paid a colossal sum of rupees to a dubious agent in Colombo, and obtained a forged passport and false visa documents to enter Britain. How many more, like Tikiri, may have fallen prey to this trap before? Had he been fully conversant with the latest immigration laws in the UK at the time of his travel, and how difficult life would be for a refugee, he would certainly not have thought of leaving Sri Lanka or the creature comforts he enjoyed in his estate bungalow.

He had been employed by a reputed tea estate in Sri Lanka as an Apothecary, with the full status of a ‘doctor’ and all the perquisites afforded to one holding a management position on an estate. Tikiri was barely proficient in the English language, but could manage to read the appellations of medicine. However, the moment he started a conversation in English, he could “murder the Queen” millions of times! With a handsome salary, free lodgings, and provisions supplied by the Tea Estate, as part of his employment contract, he enjoyed quite a comfortable life in Sri Lanka, with his wife and two young children. But why, then, did he want to cast aside all that and spend hundreds of thousands of rupees as commission to a deceitful agent, to enter Britain as an illegal immigrant?  His justification was that he was ‘unhappy’ with the direction in which Sri Lanka was heading, and, particularly, as he felt there was no future for his children; but it was too late for him to repent

Like Tikiri, there were many others who were in the same situation - too late to reverse the ill-fated decision taken. In mitigation, he submitted an application to the Home Office, in London, seeking political asylum on a fabricated story, crafted and drafted by an immigration lawyer, who made a living out of such hapless cases. Tikiri’s future hung in the balance ever since, pending a vital decision to be taken by the Home Secretary on his asylum application.

Whilst awaiting a final decision, he was granted leave by the Home Office ‘to enter in Britain,’ but not permitted to seek employment. Additionally, his local council helped him with accommodation and the Department of Social Security allocated a weekly allowance as supplementary benefits, at the expense of millions of British tax payers. He had no option but to remit money back home, by hook or by crook, to support his wife and two children, as his family now depended solely on his mother-in-law in Sri Lanka. Such worries seemed to affect his health to the extent that he developed gastritis, which was later diagnosed as two peptic ulcers in his stomach.

The Manager at the Sri Lankan restaurant was a kindly, but shrewd man. During his short stay in London, Tikiri quickly learnt that Sri Lankans living there were a strange lot and, unlike at home, many Sinhala folk appeared to be cold and unhelpful, as opposed to the vast Tamil community, who were knitted together and helped each other - from financial to personal and psychological needs. Had he been a Tamil, he thought at times, he could have found a job in one of many flourishing Tamil business enterprises, which had developed across the whole of London, but regrettably, he did not have the right connections in that quarter to do so.  However, he was determined not to give up and his dire circumstances inspired in him the fortitude to strive with greater resolve. That was why he was now standing before the Sinhala restaurant Manager, seeking any kind of a job.

Whether the Sinhalese manager at the restaurant was genuinely empathic towards Tikiri’s desperate situation, or was motivated by pragmatic circumstances, on account of the constant turn-over in his staff, was immaterial, but Tikiri was offered an evening job at the restaurant as a kitchen hand for a pittance, in blatant contravention of the statutory minimum wage per hour, which not many others would have accepted. Tikiri paid no heed to such issues, but was happy that he had a supplementary source of income, which would help him to remit a greater sum of money back home, considering the favourable rate of exchange. This also meant that he had the entire day free to spend the time as he wished, with the single exception of his weekly visit to the post office to collect his social security payment.

While intermingling with the Sri Lankan staff and customers who visited the restaurant, Tikiri soon learnt of many opportunities for the improvement of one’s prospect that were available to immigrants in Britain, particularly, asylum seekers. Realizing his own limitations in regard to proficiency in the English language, he enrolled in a course called, “English as a Second Language, for foreigners”, which he could follow free of charge, being officially registered as a (pending) refugee in Britain.

Tikiri enjoyed the English lesson for more than one reason. Firstly he was very comfortable with the rest of the students in the class - a mini United Nations, which included many from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Ethiopia and other East European countries like Bosnia, Kosovo and Croatia. Though his knowledge of English was limited, he was considered as a king reigning an empire! Most importantly, he was quite pleased to see a young, pretty, and charming lady teacher conducting their English class.

Tikiri attended his English lesson regularly and unfailingly. His part time job at the restaurant and other arrangements fitted his needs like a glove, because he could attend classes in the morning, and still go to work in the evening, whilst also ensuring that he kept his weekly appointment with the post office to cash his social security cheque.

Natalie, born to Italian parents in England, was a picture of beauty. She had long dark shoulder length hair, tied into a ponytail, which projected her beautiful facial bone structure. With her ‘olive tan’ skin, shapely body curves in perfect proportion, charming smile, pearl like teeth and tall figure, she should have taken up to modelling, rather than teaching English to a few foreigners, thought Tikiri. Mesmerised by her beauty and her seductive voice, Tikiri was physically attracted to her, more than the desire to learn English.

Natalie was a good teacher, no doubt, and she encouraged students to not only converse in English in the class room, but also genuinely afforded them the full benefit of her teaching skills. One of her favourite and effective teaching approaches was to urge students to express in writing their inner feelings on any subject close to their hearts. So, every week there were numbers of essays written by students, out of which the better examples were selected and pinned on a notice board along the corridors of the college, as a morale booster.

Having, obviously, benefitted from Natalie’s English teaching, in a compelling short essay, which made an immediate impression on her, Tikiri expressed himself eloquently, thus.

“I left my country where I was born, where I laughed, where I cried and where my relatives and friends live. When I came to this foreign land, I felt as if I was deaf, as I could not comprehend everything they spoke. I felt as if I was blind or dumb. I had eyes, but I couldn’t see. I had ears, but I couldn’t hear. I had a mouth, which I used, most of the time, only to eat. I felt bored, frightened, and irritated. Each day, I wrestled with my emotions and told myself, ’be patient for a short while more; things are bound to improve’ and take it easy’. Those were beautiful words in my mind, in my own language, but sometimes I lost control of my frustrations. But then, I began to realize that in life, bad things and good things are partners all the time. One overwhelmingly positive aspect was that I found a gifted teacher by the name of Natalie, who stimulated my latent talents in English. She trained me to express my feelings. Thanks to her effective teaching, she enabled me to speak properly, express essentially and paved the path for me to revive my life in England.”

Naturally, his expressive English touched Natalie. After all, she had noticed that Tikiri was not only an intelligent guy, but was quite handsome and attractive, too! Gradually something seemingly started to germinate in her uncommitted heart towards Tikiri, but she did not want her thoughts to get carried away. Every time her heart tried to overpower her thoughts, she told herself, ‘NO! Don’t be silly’, and always controlled her emotions.

On the last day of a mid-term, just before the college broke for two week’s vacation, Tikiri approached Natalie and invited her out to lunch, as a gesture of appreciation, for all the effort she had exerted on his behalf. Spontaneously, Natalie agreed, and Tikiri accompanied her proudly to the Sri Lankan restaurant, where he worked, for a rice and curry meal.

Following a glass of red wine, and as a means of starting a conversation, Natalie enquired into Tikiri’s past and some personal details. He told her that he had been a ‘native doctor’ on a Sri Lankan tea plantation, where the work force consisted entirely of Indian and Sri Lankan Tamil labour, and had to leave his job and his country, because his life was threatened by Tamil terrorists during a thirty-year war between the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka! Natalie trustingly believed every word he uttered and was moved by his charm and the way he related his sad story. Since he had some ‘medical knowledge’ she suggested that he could enroll for a Pharmacist’s course in the UK, and assured him that his English was quite adequate to do so.

Seemingly, as the days and weeks passed by, Natalie and Tikiri became closer and closer together. Both began to realize secretly that the chemistry between them was right, and a touch of unspoken romance was in the air, but they carried on regardless, more like friends, with lunch dates extending to dinner night outs and nightclubs.

One day, Natalie invited Tikiri to an Italian restaurant in the evening for a candle light romantic dinner. He could not possibly tell her that he had to work in the Sri Lankan restaurant in the evening, and wondered what was in the air. When he arrived at the Italian restaurant, overcome by curiosity, Natalie was already waiting for him and greeted him with a broad smile. While enjoying the dinner, Natalie, quite happily, broke the news to Tikiri that she was carrying his child! Although quite perturbed, but pretending not to be so, he tried to find an escape route by saying that his continued stay in the UK was not certain and it all depended on the Home Office decision, as he was an asylum seeker. To his dismay, Natalie proposed marriage, so that he would qualify for a resident visa, based on the fact that he was ‘married to a British citizen,’ and, thereby, they could live together happily. As a bonus, she offered to sponsor him to follow his pharmacology degree course, which would enhance his future prospects considerably. Tikiri was caught in a “catch 22” situation, unwittingly.

A few weeks later, Natalie Adamaris became Mrs. Tikiri Banda at the Marriage Registry office in Wood Green, North London, and started a family life together. Weeks passed by, but Tikiri still continued to go for his evening restaurant job despite Natalie’s requests to quit the job and pursue his pharmaceutical studies. Seemingly, Natalie began to notice a complete change coming over Tikiri, where his charming smile disappeared and, instead, he looked confused, agitated or in an angry and unapproachable mood most of the time. To make things worse, he arrived home very late at night, after work, and slept the whole day, leaving hardly any time for Natalie to have a rational conversation with him. She found this to be rather irritating while her pregnancy was advancing, since, at a time like this, she certainly could have had some sympathy and help from her husband; yet, she never complained.

One night, he did not return home at all after work. Natalie panicked and naturally became worried. In the morning when Tikiri returned, she politely enquired as to what had happened to him on the previous night! His abrupt answer was that he had to go to his cousin’s place for an urgent matter.

“Cousin!” She barked at him. “You haven’t told me that you have a cousin or anyone here in this country! From where on earth, did this cousin of yours descend suddenly? After all, you could have, at least, phoned and told me about it”. She certainly sounded angry for the first time. Tikiri was taken by surprise.

“You don’t know Natalie the amount of pressure I am under. I have to send some money to my two children in Sri Lanka, and I had to borrow money from my cousin”, he muttered quietly.

“What? Your children? You never told me that you were married, and how about your wife? I suppose, she is also there with the children, and you are still feeding them from here? Bloody liar and cheat!” She sounded furious.

“I’m sorry Natalie, I never had a chance to explain anything to you, and things happened so fast that I could not disclose this to you when you suddenly broke the news to me that you were carrying my child? I had to conceal this and try and reach a compromise that would satisfy both parties at the same time. That was the reason I did not want to embark on my pharmacology degree course either, because I needed the money to send home regularly to up-keep them, which the evening job helped me to do. You see, when I got married to you, my status changed in the UK. I was not considered a refugee any more, and the British Government stopped all my social security benefits. This was where everything went wrong. I am sincerely sorry about all this”, he pleaded helplessly.

“Sorry! Sorry!! I will show you, who will be really sorry”, she roared in rage.

Sri Express -2013