Web of Life

The woman agreed, but added, "I don't like to see animals caged or in chains. I don't even like to see elephants in chains walking in Sri Lanka's famous "peraheras" (processions) Humans and animals must learn to live and let live." The man agreed but said that today's young people have been confined to city living and only see animals in the zoo so there was no hope for elephants or other animals in Sri Lanka.

He added that he was tired of writing letters to the newspapers on the topics of wild life and environmental protection. But the woman disagreed. She said that if his letter struck a chord in one out of ten readers, then he had lit one candle to dispel the darkness around. She stopped then and told him that they had come to the parting of the ways. She wished him,"Devi pihitaee!"(May God have compassion on you.) and he responded with the Buddhist blessing, "Theruwan saranaee.!"(May the Buddha, the Dhamma(teachings) and the Sangha(priests) have compassion on you.)

Neither the man nor the woman knew each other's name, race, caste or religion. They would probably never meet again but each had saluted the other, listened to and respected each other's thoughts and learned something to help one along life's lonely journey.

Let's open our minds and hearts to the rich and the poor, the great and the small and pave the way for a truly classless society.