On The Fountains of Paradise

"I have a problem my dear," he continued. "You have watched all the invaders of Taprobane come and go, since Kalidasa's time. You have seen the jungle flow like a tide around Yakkagala, and then retreat before the axe and the plough. But nothing has really changed in all those years. Nature has been kind to little Taprobane, and so has History; it has left her alone…

"Now the centuries of quiet may be drawing to a close. Our land may become the centre of the world-of many worlds. The green mountain you have watched so long, there in the south, may be the key to the universe. If that is so, the Taprobane we knew and loved will cease to exist" (Fountain of Paradise. Arthur. C. Clark)

There is something almost magical when reading this book and travelling in the place that it took place in. Though fiction, a lot of it is based off of fact, and a vision of Sri Lanka by a man who loved it. Its as if part of his soul is printed in the landscape, the history and the people. 

In the lines above, the main character, Rajasinge, is talking to the painted goddesses on the face of the rock. The surviving paintings can be found in a place called Sigiriya in Sri Lanka. They have become the 9th wonder of the world. They are images painted on stone, very large and in much detail. They look out onto the fountains that were created by the king, who at the time was also a tyrant, but had a vision of paradise in which he wanted to live and create for himself. The remains of this vision, and the works of artists and architectural geniuses two thousand years ago can be found in Sigiriya.

But Kevin and I are almost afraid to go and see. We are afraid that it has also become so touritified that all the magic and splendour has been drained from being over priced, over advertised, over visioned as a place to get the tourists money.

The Sri Lanka that Clark knew is still here. We see it. We see the beauty in the way the warm scented air touches or skin. We feel the kindness and generosity of the people that smile at us in warm ways, offer us most exist food with pride and sharing. We see the way the light played with the landscape, colouring it like an artist, enriching our imaginations. Or even just the simple time taken to drink a cup of tea and feel the calm of where we sit.

But reading this book has also made me very sad and talking about it with Kevin shows how much he feels the same. Its as if Clark was a beloved person in our life. We can feel what he felt by being here. But its heartbreaking because of all the huge changes that are taking place in so fast a time. Just by seeing how tourism works, how any thing that is beautiful or splendourous is milked out down to the bone. Guesthouses are popping up every month. Their construction everywhere we have been. A hotel resort is being constructed right next to our lovely Beauty Mount Guesthouse. The owner, 80 years old, was here when it was all Jungle and the only guesthouse was just next door, that costs a whole 2 rupees and 50 cents. He found this very funny, considering now, some places can cost more than 10,000!

In the story the Fountains of Paradise, a scientist wants to build a space elevator, and the only place possible for it to be build is Taprobane. Here presents the problem, because the quiet jewel Sri Lanka was left protected in the garden of Eden. But this new discovery, "a dream-or nightmare" is hard to dismiss and hard to accept. Clark was an optimist when it came to technology, as Kevin tells me, and I am beginning to see why.

But with technology comes big changes, and here is the paradox, the will to keep the past sacred and preserved verses the changing of tides and the discovery and creation of new things. But it is not simple to just dismiss the past. There are beautifies it holds, mysteries, secrets, stories, energies, dreams, all put into it. Can we just erase it, or turn these secret places into tourist schemes. What about the solitary discovery of them, the gentle unfolding of their secret. These sensitive discoveries and needs seem to be being forgotten. The privacy of pilgrimage, the ceremony of life, cannot be captured in a few shots from a camera, or guided by competing salesmen who want to guide you. 

It seems like something else threatens this quietness that was Taprobane, though not a space elevator, but perhaps something much less optimistic, a greed for money. I do not want to admit this, and I know that every place holds its beauty, but it does get harder to find. But thanks to people like Clark, we are offered glimpses of a beautiful country that is touching in so many ways. And though big changes are coming, its history cannot be erased. Thank you Clark for being such a great man and such a positive, sensitive thinker. 

Every engineer and scientist should read this book, so that they can marvel at the wonders of technology but also the wonders of the past and the old ways.