The last subject of the curriculum called "Legal Protection of the Environment" commenced a few weeks ago. This was the first time any of us had any exposure to environmental law. The administration sent a genius to teach us the subject. My mind exploded on the first day of lecture. I've never felt more awake and alive in a lecture (except maybe when I used to listen to my favourite lecturer Dr Phil Chan at my previous university).
Our new lecturer for environmental law was a soft-spoken, simple-looking old gentleman. Nothing about him strikes as out-of-the-ordinary until he starts to speak. That's when the magic starts.
The first thing that struck me was how captivating he was as a speaker/ story teller. He was able to use words perfectly, precisely and logically with so much conviction in his delivery that I could have been easily fooled into thinking everything he said was true (without any further verification) and that being an environmental lawyer might have been an interesting profession for me to try out. I suppose his long years of professional training as a lawyer made him a naturally convincing speaker.
The next thing that struck me was his extraordinary knowledge on a broad variety of topics like history, war strategies, psychology, philosophy, politics, zoology, botany, chemistry, art and (the obvious) law. He was clever at weaving his knowledge across the sciences and the arts, much like a crochet pattern, to send his point across and draw the interest of the audience. This coupled with his sharp memory of historical facts, dates, locations, scientific names of animals and plants, etc, made sure that no one in class nodded off during his lectures. I sat in the front row on all three days, listened intently, and like a puppy waiting for treats, I picked up tidbits of interesting information that fell out of him, savoured some rightaway and pocketed the rest to go read up later.
And then there was his passion for nature, his country and his lifelong mission to fight against environmental injustice. With this came stories of various cases he had handled over the years as well as ongoing cases in the country. He was very outspoken and critical in his statements. He invited us to find out about current issues and bring them up for discussion in class. He even offered to speak on topics outside our syllabus, if it piqued our curiosity and that he was open to discussing it to the best of his knowledge. He slayed every case that the class brought up for discussion (he seemed under-challenged by what we could present), gave us insider details and led us through the logical sequence of his analyses.
He drew parallels between winning court cases and winning battles with sound military strategies. He also introduced us to John Boyd's OODA Loop which I found fascinating. It implies that the key in winning is to obscure your intentions and make them unpredictable to the opponent while simultaneously clarifying their intentions. Operating at a faster tempo generates rapidly changing conditions that inhibits the opponent from adapting or reacting to those changes, which will suppress or destroy the opponent's awareness. Confusion and disorder that follows causes the opponent to over or under-react to conditions or activities that appear to be uncertain, ambiguous, or incomprehensible. With this understanding, an individual or an organization that can process this loop quickly, observing and reacting to unfolding events more rapidly than an opponent can, is able to "get inside" the opponent's decision cycle and gain the advantage.
That is also, I assume, how he left us in a state of disorientation, awe and surrender to his speed of delivery and vast knowledge of facts.
One day, he asked us to find the significance of 24th June for discussion at the next class. The only clue he gave was that it involved Kandy, my hometown. I asked around, tried Google, but had no luck.
Later, we learned of this interesting historical fact (in his own words):
"24th June marks the 214th anniversary of the successful guerrilla campaign (or, peoples war) waged by our forces against the British who occupied the Mahanuwara and Kadawath-satara for four months in 1803. The British forces under Major Davy surrendered in the afternoon of 24.06.1803 but used it as a ruse to make a counter-attack two days later near the Mahaweli Ganga at Watapuluwa on 26.06.1803 from where they were allowed to go back across the river.
This attack was repulsed with no casualties on our side but only their commander Major Davy and two others were left alive to be captured. This place where the Colombo International School (in Watapuluwa) is at present, marks that decisive victory (which has, as can be expected is depicted as a massacre by British). The Bo tree, named Davies Tree by the British in 1906, and which is the only living testimony to the battle is also within the school premises.
It was Pilimatalawe Maha Adikaram and his deputy Ehelepola who devised the long-term offensive and effectively executed it. They became more popular and the king got jealous and others carried tales to widen the rift. This led to the sequence of events that culminated in our surrender in 1815. However, the British learnt their lesson and used intrigue and guile, not military might, to subjugate us.
The OODA Loop. Source: Wikipedia
One day, he asked us to find the significance of 24th June for discussion at the next class. The only clue he gave was that it involved Kandy, my hometown. I asked around, tried Google, but had no luck.
Later, we learned of this interesting historical fact (in his own words):
"24th June marks the 214th anniversary of the successful guerrilla campaign (or, peoples war) waged by our forces against the British who occupied the Mahanuwara and Kadawath-satara for four months in 1803. The British forces under Major Davy surrendered in the afternoon of 24.06.1803 but used it as a ruse to make a counter-attack two days later near the Mahaweli Ganga at Watapuluwa on 26.06.1803 from where they were allowed to go back across the river.
This attack was repulsed with no casualties on our side but only their commander Major Davy and two others were left alive to be captured. This place where the Colombo International School (in Watapuluwa) is at present, marks that decisive victory (which has, as can be expected is depicted as a massacre by British). The Bo tree, named Davies Tree by the British in 1906, and which is the only living testimony to the battle is also within the school premises.
It was Pilimatalawe Maha Adikaram and his deputy Ehelepola who devised the long-term offensive and effectively executed it. They became more popular and the king got jealous and others carried tales to widen the rift. This led to the sequence of events that culminated in our surrender in 1815. However, the British learnt their lesson and used intrigue and guile, not military might, to subjugate us.
It is sad to note that we neither commemorate this victory, nor are aware of this brilliant episode in military history as it is not taught to us. Today marks the 214 years of this victory, and it was sad to see that this day was forgotten by everybody. No one has written any papers on the strategy adopted by us in this war. History books do not mention it either. Therefore, we cannot blame the people to have missed this occasion because hardly anyone is aware of such an episode. This is what the British always wanted, to glorify their victories and hide their defeats. We have still to come out of this rut.
I take this opportunity to bestow merits on all of our valiant troops who made this possible and those who planned and led them to battle."
To think that a bloody battle of this scale took place 214 years ago, 4 kilometers from my home, left me speechless. And I am not even a big fan of history.
While I was reading up on him, I learnt that in 2016, he was given a lifetime award by the President of Sri Lanka for the service done for wildlife conservation. He had also won a special jury award in 2016 for being a key person on environmental conservation and for representing civil society to fight on environment destruction for more than four decades. The internet is peppered with various articles with his mentions.
His life story as we learned through an article was an inspiring one. He had faced adversities in his life like being displaced by the war, and not being able to follow the degree or profession he liked. Despite being a great lawyer, he maintains that his true passion is being a naturalist and that he would have been happier as an environmentalist, writer or artist. In his free time, he draws sketches of various animals and birds, voluntarily lectures at academic institutions, travels to conduct field research, etc. He had recently stopped attending courts (except for special cases) citing being "sick, sad and disillusioned about the systems in Sri Lanka." He further added that "There are hardly any results of the work we do and that is not because we are not doing our best, but merely because of the way the systems in this country function."
He stressed that his expectations from us at the exams were to make sure we grasped the concept of the subject. Knowing that we were not law students, he didn't demand we regurgitate sections (word for word) from various environmental laws, ordinances and acts in the country. Although he was well versed in the English language, he reminded the class that he was not here to test anyone's language skills. As long as he understood what the students were trying to explain, he would be satisfied.
What he said brought home another point. Present-day education systems often fails us. Too much importance is given to theory, rigid assessments and regurgitating facts by recent memory. Lesser importance is given to hands-on learning and the simple joys of learning. Subjects are taught within the confines of narrow compartments. There are less linkages across various subjects like how things are in reality. Skills for lifelong learning are given less priority. The combined result is that our education stops when we step out of the educational institution's doors. We think and solve problems through compartmentalised thinking patterns. We are poor in critical thinking. Our knowledge on areas besides our major is poor. We have less appreciation of the arts if we are science folk and vice versa. We haven't made proper left and right hemisphere connections in our brains to make well-rounded decisions. Our passions, if they weren't sparked during the course, die with time. We move about in society like emotionless robots with little concern for people and our surroundings. After we've long forgotten what we memorised from books, we are left wondering what we gained from our long years of education. And looking at our report cards and university transcripts, we wonder if our grades are an all-round reflection of our true abilities.
I'm very thankful that my path crossed with this personality. In the three short days of his lectures, he went beyond the syllabus to open our minds to think more critically, to keep reading and educating ourselves, to keep a healthy curiosity, to not follow the herd blindly, to appreciate the arts and to never stop fighting for justice. I personally felt what he taught us in three days was more useful than all the lecturers of the course combined. His style of teaching stretched the mind and extended beyond the course. For that, his love of nature, and the service he has done for wildlife and the environment, he has my deepest respect.
References:
Paranamanna, L. "Jagath Gunawardena - A naturalist at heart". Retrieved from http://www.nation.lk/2008/10/05/eyefea3.htm on 7th July 2017.
His life story as we learned through an article was an inspiring one. He had faced adversities in his life like being displaced by the war, and not being able to follow the degree or profession he liked. Despite being a great lawyer, he maintains that his true passion is being a naturalist and that he would have been happier as an environmentalist, writer or artist. In his free time, he draws sketches of various animals and birds, voluntarily lectures at academic institutions, travels to conduct field research, etc. He had recently stopped attending courts (except for special cases) citing being "sick, sad and disillusioned about the systems in Sri Lanka." He further added that "There are hardly any results of the work we do and that is not because we are not doing our best, but merely because of the way the systems in this country function."
He stressed that his expectations from us at the exams were to make sure we grasped the concept of the subject. Knowing that we were not law students, he didn't demand we regurgitate sections (word for word) from various environmental laws, ordinances and acts in the country. Although he was well versed in the English language, he reminded the class that he was not here to test anyone's language skills. As long as he understood what the students were trying to explain, he would be satisfied.
What he said brought home another point. Present-day education systems often fails us. Too much importance is given to theory, rigid assessments and regurgitating facts by recent memory. Lesser importance is given to hands-on learning and the simple joys of learning. Subjects are taught within the confines of narrow compartments. There are less linkages across various subjects like how things are in reality. Skills for lifelong learning are given less priority. The combined result is that our education stops when we step out of the educational institution's doors. We think and solve problems through compartmentalised thinking patterns. We are poor in critical thinking. Our knowledge on areas besides our major is poor. We have less appreciation of the arts if we are science folk and vice versa. We haven't made proper left and right hemisphere connections in our brains to make well-rounded decisions. Our passions, if they weren't sparked during the course, die with time. We move about in society like emotionless robots with little concern for people and our surroundings. After we've long forgotten what we memorised from books, we are left wondering what we gained from our long years of education. And looking at our report cards and university transcripts, we wonder if our grades are an all-round reflection of our true abilities.
I'm very thankful that my path crossed with this personality. In the three short days of his lectures, he went beyond the syllabus to open our minds to think more critically, to keep reading and educating ourselves, to keep a healthy curiosity, to not follow the herd blindly, to appreciate the arts and to never stop fighting for justice. I personally felt what he taught us in three days was more useful than all the lecturers of the course combined. His style of teaching stretched the mind and extended beyond the course. For that, his love of nature, and the service he has done for wildlife and the environment, he has my deepest respect.
References:
Paranamanna, L. "Jagath Gunawardena - A naturalist at heart". Retrieved from http://www.nation.lk/2008/10/05/eyefea3.htm on 7th July 2017.
