When mosquitoes bite, why does it have to itch

Visitors to Sri Lanka quickly learn that mosquitoes are a fact of life. This is especially true if one lives, lives, as i do, in an older Sri Lankan house and do not use air conditioning. I’m not quite sure why screens are not part of Sri Lankan architecture, however I can only recall encountering them on one occasion, many years ago, in a home that had been rented by the US Government for one of its staff members.

Sri Lankan mosquitoes come in several varieties. By far the most common one, is virtually invisible. In English, it is nicknamed a ‘noseeem.’ It specializes in biting around the ankles, leaving an irritating, painful itch. (As I was writing. a noseeem alighted briefly on my computer screen and zipped about for a few moments, perhaps to remind me of type’s ubiquitous presence). Noseeems are silent, but there are also varieties that emit the characteristic mosquito whine. This variety typically appears when one is sleeping or attempting to go to sleep.

Mosquitoes, must be taken seriously in Sri Lanka. In Colombo, malaria is no longer a problem but in other parts of the country to which I travel, it is, Dengue fever is another threat to health, with occasional cases being reported in Colombo, as well as rural areas. Some years ago, three of us living in a residence owned by the University of Colombo contracted what we believe was Dengue. One, the wife of a colleague, died in the middle of the night, while being taken to the hospital in a trishaw taxi.

Probably it is foolish (especially in light of my Dengue experience), but I don’t sleep under mosquito netting Colombo, though I do in ‘outstation’ areas. In my experience mosquitoes get through the netting anyhow, unless it is repellant-treated, and sometimes even then. I simply slather myself with citronella and hope for the best. Often I get through the night with no bites or only one or two, typically noseeeem bites on a finger or toe. But the itching from these is particularly irritating. The tiny bite is, initially difficult to locate (scratching does help) and the itch seems to permeate one’s entire hand, or foot.

One thinks of strange things when awakened in the middle of the night by the itch from a mosquito bite. The other night, I was wondering why humans and mosquitoes could not have a more symbiotic relationship. When mosquitoes bite, why does it have to itch? Buddhist doctrine reminds us that all sentient beings want happiness and do not want suffering. We should view all beings with compassion. But I find it difficult to generate compassionate feelings towards mosquitoes when my hand or foot is itching so badly that I cannot get back to sleep. Being compassionate to a carrier of Dengue or Malaria would be even more difficult, though I would not become aware of the culprit until after the fact.

The amount of blood that individual mosquitoes extract is miniscule. It is certainly not life threatening. I would gladly share with mosquitoes whose bites did not itch, if I could be assured that they would be malaria and dengue free. Since the goal of a species is survival, one wonders why God did not create, or evolutionary processes did not select, non disease transmitting mosquitoes with bites that do not itch.

PS. The night after writing this blog, I started using mosquito netting once again. In Kandy, from where I am posting this blog, there is no question. In the screenless room where I am working, listening to the sounds of Buddhist evening chants, the noseeems are nipping at my ankles, while their larger uncles whine and buzz, looking for a place to alight.

Honoring an old friend on his 75th birthday

Not long ago, I was contacted by a friend and asked to contribute a reflection for the 75th birthday of her father, also a friend. Both are from Sri Lanka and they were in my thoughts, this evening. With minor editorial changes to preserve anonymity, here is what I wrote.

Dear Sunil,

Congratulations and best wishes on your 75th birthday. Ours is one of those special friendships that I have valued and treasured for more than twenty-five years. In many visits to Sri Lanka, your home on Suleman Terrace was always a secluded, welcoming oasis after the rigors of international travel. On most trips you and Dushi were among the first friends who greeted me when I arrived and the last whom I saw before my departure. Your beautiful living-room, secluded garden and Dushi’s immaculate kitchen no longer exist, but will remain a vivid, living memory for as long as I have memories. [The new owner tore down their home to build a larger one.]

When I think of you, qualities that exemplify the best that Sri Lankan culture has to offer come to mind: warmth, a sense of humor, civility, hospitality and unflinching integrity. I have seen you sustain and hold fast to those qualities under the most challenging circumstances. If Sri Lanka is to resume its place among the world’s development success stories, it will be individuals such as yourself that will make it happen.

A particularly fond memory is the time we spent together visiting Thailand. One learns a lot about someone on an intense trip such as that one. It didn’t surprise me at all to discover that you were a graceful, accommodating and most congenial traveling companion.

No acknowledgement would be complete without highlighting your role as a family man; a devoted husband, father and, more recently, grandfather. In fact, it is hard to think of you apart from the effervescent Dushi. I think of you and Dushi as a unit, bound together by love, a lifetime of shared experiences, and deeply held spiritual values. After years of marriage, you have sustained the ability to remain best friends and have fun together, whether it is over the breakfast table, at an elegant social event, helping out with your grandchildren, or on the dance floor. How many couples can say the same?

So again, congratulations on your 75th. Thank you for serving as one of my valued mentors and role models for many years. I pray that, God willing, we will have many more years of friendship, shared experiences and good times together.

Dormgrandpop

When I write a letter such as this - one gets more of such requests as one ages - I often think of it not only as an acknowledgement, but as an imperative to do better. I cannot help but wonder what my friends might wish to write about me, assuming they wrote candid, if faced with a similar request..

Hubris - a cautionary tale of my adventures in the Frankfurt Airport

I learned the word hubris (hybris) in a sophomore classics class at Dartmouth that focused on the Greek tragic cycle. In brief, hubris is a consequence of ‘the sin of pride’ (ate). At a personal level, I try to anticipate hubris, or at least accept the reality of it, when things are gong especially well. Practically, it means that when things are going especially well, you should anticipate that trouble lies ahead.

This phenomenon seems to be part of my Karma when visiting Hungary where, thanks to the Balaton meetings and the efficient, considerate Hungarian people, things always seem to go well. Last trip, I left my computer at a security check point. This morning, I misplaced my luggage tags, with, I was told, potentially catastrophic consequences.

And things were going so well. I retired early, arose promptly, completed last minute packing expeditiously. The taxi arrived punctually. When the desk clerk forgot to return my credit card, I alertly caught the oversight. Airport formalities were without a hitch. All was well.... until I arrived in Frankfurt Airport, my transfer point.

Germans are renowned for their efficiency, but I found little evidence of this at the airport. The procedures for passengers transferring from ‘domestic’ (within European Community) to international flights were unclear. There were no signs locating Sri Lankan Airlines. Seemingly simple questions I posed to Lufthansa and other airport officials elicited puzzled discussions. When I began cross checking the information I received, there were contradictions. Signs identifying places I was seeking were nonexistent or unhelpful.

But these were minor irritants, easily resolved. I had ample time between flights and complemented myself in threading my way through the Frankfurt-Lufthansa maize with relatively little difficulty and a calm disposition, ...until I arrived at the Lufthansa business class lounge. When I presented my boarding pass (obtained with complications) the business-like attendant said she would need my luggage tickets, ‘because Lufthansa and Malev Hungarian Airlines have different computer systems.” The transfer desk said that lounge attendants could help solve the the problem, but they were mistaken. When I asked, the attendant’s response was an unequivocal ‘no - I can do nothing.’ How to track down the missing codes? Her only suggestions were to go back through security to the baggage claim area and check at ‘lost and found’ or the ‘information desk.’ Perhaps, she said, I would have to return to the ‘domestic’ terminal where I had arrived. If I did not find the missing codes, so they could be entered in Lufthansa’s computer, she emphasized firmly, not only would my bags not be shipped to Colombo, they might be relegated to some Lufthansa limbo where they would be lost forever. “I have explained everything,” she concluded firmly as I stood there, probably looking somewhat bewildered.

My journey back through the maze began. First back to the baggage hall, then to the information desk. I was told I would need to return to Terminal 2 and speak to Malev, but the Malev desk might be closed. That could be a problem. Any way of reaching them if that were the case? The attendant didn’t know, but called to see if they were open. They were, he reported. Back to Terminal 2, where after several queries I tracked down the Malev check-in desk. It was closed. I was directed to the Malev service desk. It was closed. I asked nearby officials when It would be open or how I could reach Malev. No help. “We’re from a different company,”they told me. I located a different information desk and once again explained my dilemma. A kindly man took pity on me and personally escorted me to the lost luggage desk. Progress! There was an attendant on duty; not a Malev staff member, but an employee to whom Malev or the airport had subcontracted the ‘lost luggage’ task At each stop I had to explain that my luggage was not lost; they were correctly tagged; it was only the codes which could not be entered into the Lufthansa computer which would not talk to the Malev computer unless I provided them.

Lost luggage must be the travel services job from hell and the subcontractor’s employee showed the strain. First, she told me that luggage tag receipts were very important documents and should not be lost. By now I needed no convincing of this. Then she explained that she could do nothing because her computer system was down. “How long until it will be fixed?” It might be minutes, hours or days, was the response. Even then, it might not provide the necessary information. “Any other suggestions?.” “No,” was the response, “I have explained everything to you.” Fortunately, there was ample time before my flight. I decided on a strategy that sometimes works with employees of government bureaucracies in developing nations - I sat down to wait in a plainly visible location in front of the lost baggage employee’s counter. Mostly there was only me and the employee in a cavernous, quiet room. It was a good place for a small meditation exercise, which I interrupted by making eye contact with the employee, periodically, despite her attempts to look elsewhere. (In fairness, I should say that I think she was doing her best, within the parameters of her job description and resources.)

An hour elapsed. Good news! The computer systems was up. But bad news. It only provided information on outgoing flights, not incoming flights. The employee would have to telex Malev. Whether they would respond and if so, when, she couldn’t say. Another hour elapsed. I new employee arrived and the one with whom I had been interacting made motions as if she was about to leave. I walked over to the counter to remind her of my presence and problem, also requesting her name. She was calling Malev, she said. Malev responded with the necessary information at once, which, they said, they had also telexed in response to her telex, some minutes before. She had not received it, perhaps because of “problems with the system, she told me.” They process had taken about two hours, but I had the codes that Lufthansa needed. The employee and concluded our business congenially and she left me with the parting reminder that ‘baggage receipts are important documents.”

I threaded my way back from Terminal two to Terminal One passing through passport control and security for at least the third time - I had lost track by now - and presented myself at the business class lounge, a different one - with the vital codes. My triumph was short lived. “We can do nothing with these,” the Lufthansa staff member said. “You will have to present them at the Sri Lanka check in counter.” Leaving the lounge (there would be no lounging today) I reported to the check in counter, which was also staffed by Lufthansa employees. However they had a different protocol. “Yes” the attendant told me, “we do need the codes. Your baggage can now be loaded.”

Will the bags arrive in Colombo? Since I am writing this en-route we will have to await the next installment.

My thanks to all those who helped me during this full morning (and early afternoon) my sympathy to all those whose job descriptions and circumstances of their jobs lead them to believe they could not.

PS: The bags did arrive safely.

Father and son - a story

Balaton Group activities divide roughly into four categories. Formal presentations (held in the mornings), more informal spontaneously organized workshops (held in the afternoons) events - the ‘outing’ (this year, a hike followed by a wine tasting), the Hungarian Cultural Experience (dancing), the final banquet (completed this evening) - and, best of all, informal conversations. As i have mentioned earlier no more than about fifty members are invited to attend the Balaton meetings, each year. The reason is that over the course of five days meetings, when a group of fifty members are gathered, there is an opportunity for each member in attendance to have a mealtime or ‘free time’ conversation of 45 minutes or more with every other member.

Here is a conversation I had with one very eminent member about his son, who was also present at the meetings. When my son was in high school, he told me, his grades were bad. I suggested he drop out, mentioning that there many ways to live a good life that do not require education. After a year or so, he began to study on his own and express an interest in returning to school. He did not return to his formal studies, but did so well on his own that I suggested he write to elite prep schools in the United States. Explain that you have little funding because your father works for an NGO on sustainability issues and has little income. He did so and his letters were so effective that he received three scholarship offers and, subsequently, continued his studies in an elite undergraduate university and then in graduate school. Now we are colleagues, each learning from the other. Our work expresses a shared commitment to sustainability.

A tweet-length Balaton Group characterization

I wrote this brief characterization as part of a message to a young colleague who is a staff member in Anderson Hall

Lake Balaton is beautiful. The 45 or so colleagues at this meeting are a multicultural group of over achievers, passionately committed to sustainable development. They are also great fun to have as colleagues and friends. These annual meetings are always totally engaging and sometimes life-changing.

Introducing 'The Balaton Group.'

On Monday, I traveled via Maalev, Hungarian National Airlines to Budapest. The trip brought back good memories of how helpful Maalev staff members were on my last Hungarian trip, when I left my computer at airport security. How different from the indifferent treatment that is now provided by US ‘legacy’ airlines such as US Air and the carrier on which I flew to Europe, United. More about that later.

My ultimate destination was the Hotel Semmes, located in Balatonsemmes, a small resort village on the shores of Hungary’s iconic Lake Balaton. Hotel Semmes, a modest but comfortable Communist Era resort (not refurbished) is the site of this year’s meeting of The Balaton Group, the 28th.

Dennis Meadows, Donella Meadows, some other global modelers and a few others concerned with what is now known as ‘sustainable development’ founded the group in 1982. It was envisioned as a network of individuals, sharing a common vision and with professional backgrounds similar enough to facilitate communication. The group’s goal was simple: empower members through a culture of mutual support and intimate annual meetings in their endeavors to make human life on planet Earth more humane and sustainable.

I must off to dinner. More about the Balaton Group later. You can also find more in my blogs about the 2007 meeting.

Opportunities for Peace and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka

OPPORTUNITES FOR PEACE AND RECONCILIATION IN SRI LANKA

I haven’t been blogging much these past few days, which doesn’t mean I haven’t been writing. Not long ago, as those who follow the news from South Asia will know, the Sri Lankan army won a decisive military victory. Government forces virtually obliterated the cadres of the ‘Tamil Tigers’ and killed virtually all of the militant group’s top leadership. This confounded the predictions and advice of ‘experts’ including myself, who believed that a military victory was either not desirable or if desirable, was simply not possible. (My own view was the latter).

Last week ago, Monday, the US Department of State and US Institute of Peace Sponsored a full day ‘roundtable’ on the topic ‘Opportunities for Peace and Reconciliation In Sri Lanka.’ The question on which the roundtable organizers sought guidance was how the U.S. Government might play a constructive role in moving towards peace and reconciliation during the post conflict phase. I was asked to write a give and present a paper, from a historical perspective, that could contribute to the discussion. In my typical last minute style (I rarely complete writing tasks until faced with an imminent deadline) I researched and wrote for most of the week before leaving on an extended trip (I am writing this note from Hungary) and did not finish the task until about 8 PM on the day before the roundtable. Students have nothing on my when it comes to pushing deadlines. The title of my talk was Opportunities for Peace and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka: Drawing Lessons from Recent History so as not to be Doomed to Repeat it. Here is an abstract of what I wrote.

What opportunities exist for peace, reconciliation and development in ‘postwar’ Sri Lanka? Can Sri Lanka once again become known as an exemplar of development success, rather than protracted civil war? These questions are overriding concerns of Sri Lanka’s political leaders and will remain so in the near-term future. Along with the question of possible roles for the US government in a hoped-for process of peace, reconciliation and accelerated economic development, they provide the rationale for today’s roundtable. What lessons can be drawn from Sri Lanka’s post independence history that might help those seeking answers?

The search for historical lessons must begin by understanding how Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict experienced a qualitative change, becoming protracted, in the 1980s. Conditions contributing to protracted conflict are social, political and institutional, particularly a combination of development failures and security force ineffectiveness. But protracted conflict is, invariably, organized conflict. Militant groups are the organizers. It was the misfortune of successive Sri Lankan governments to have faced a militant group that was both extraordinarily well lead and, through the ebb and flow of violent conflict and negotiations, unwaveringly single-minded in its objectives.

Examining post-1985 negotiations that attempted to reach accommodations between Sri Lanka’s government and the LTTE will remain a matter of historical interest. But it will offer relatively little of value in determining what comes next. Rather it will be useful to focus attention on the period before Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict became protracted. This is what my book, Paradise Poisoned: Learning about Conflict Development and Terrorism from Sri Lanka’s Civil Wars, sought to do. Its lessons about how conflict escalation could be prevented were directed at audiences in other countries who might learn from Sri Lanka’s experience, however they have now become relevant to Sri Lanka as well.

While circumstances differ, Sri Lanka’s government, civic society leaders and business community leaders once again face circumstances where the Tamil Community’s aspirations are not irrevocably (if unwillingly) tied to the LTTE’s agenda. In a landmark UN address, President Mahinda Rajapakse stated his government’s commitment to ‘effectively implement political and constitutional solutions to meet the aspirations of all communities.’ He has reaffirmed this commitment in subsequent addresses. In seeking to attain these goals, Sri Lanka is favored with advantages that many nations emerging from protracted ethnic conflict have lacked. There is an opportunity to learn from history rather than repeating it.