THE VANISHING ACT

By Bernard VanCuylenburg

An appropriate title for this article would have been “The Dorai” the “Swami” and the man who disappeared ! But for reasons of brevity I have confined it to three words although the essence of this story is the Hindu priest (Swami) who would put Houdini to shame !

Wanarajah Group Dickoya, is three miles away from Hatton and a mile away from Dickoya on the Hatton-Dickoya road. It is set amidst the beautiful tea growing regions of the Dickoya district and had an acreage of 1595 acres when the incidents depicted in this article occurred or, in theatrical prose, when the events related were played out. The Manager of Wanarajah at the time was an Englishman, Mr.Sinclair. One evening returning from Hatton, and branching off on the estate road leading to the estate, he noticed a statue of a Hindu deity with a garland or two draped around it. This was the first time he noticed the statue which was placed on estate property, on the countless times he had driven to and from the estate. Not giving it further thought he drove on. Three weeks later he observed that somebody – or some persons,,had attempted to construct a structure by way of a small temple of sorts, to protect the statue from the elements.

He then went away on a weeks leave, but on returning was amazed to see that a structure with four posts for support had been set up albeit rather crudely, in
his absence. This annoyed him very much because at no time was he approached by anybody for permission to construct or set up a place of worship on estate property. He also noticed that in addition to the garlands placed near the statue, there were flowers of every description heaped close by along with some oil lamps burning. But what incensed him more than anything else was the figure of a holy man, or ‘Swami’ in saffron robes seated in a meditative pose as if in a trance near the statue, with many devotees visiting the site to pay homage. What initially turned out to be a trickle of devotees, soon resulted in a steady stream of pilgrims which were making this site a place of pilgrimage !

The ‘Priest’ meanwhile would sit by the statue chanting prayers like some mystic from the Himalayas while the devotees would place gifts of loose change, cash in some instances, and other gifts in two boxes placed there for this purpose. As it transpired later (talk about being wise in hindsight, or after the event) this priest was a total stranger, unknown to anybody in the area, least of all to the labour force on Wanarajah. When money was collected, one would think that somebody in their
right mind would have taken the trouble to check the bona fides of this supposed ‘Priest’ who seemed to have materialised out of thin air !

It was now time for a showdown thought Mr.Sinclair, regretting that he had left it a bit too late. He confronted the priest and warned him that he had trespassed on estate property, had no authority to erect a structure without permission, and requested him to demolish the whole box and dice and vacate the site. The ‘Priest’
meekly pleaded for permission to use the land for religious purposes which he said would be beneficial to the estate labourers and the Hindu devotees in the vicinity. His plea was met with a cold refusal. He was given a deadline set for a week, by which time the structure had to be demolished and the statue removed. An uneasy truce ensued. Each time Mr.Sinclair passed the site he noticed that the religious activity had only increased and the ‘Priest’ seemed to be lost in meditation sitting cross legged near the statue. Worse, he now had two assistants by his side and had managed to construct a small room of sorts in which he spent the night. No doubt about it – the Gods were on his side !! He now decided that the time for stronger deterrent action had come and decided to read the riot act to the ‘Priest’. Confronting him the next day he threatened legal action if the structure was not demolished, the statue removed, and the land vacated. The ‘Priest’ defiantly stood
his ground, and through the company, Mr.Sinclair sued him for illegal trespass, encroaching and occupation of private property. Prior to the case going to court, the prosecution and the defence through legal channels attempted to settle the matter out of court through some form of mediation, but the battle lines were drawn and
neither party would give in. Finally the case was listed to be heard in the Hatton magistrate’s court. A long legal wrangle was to follow.

And this is where fate intervened in a manner which was almost surreal. The Magistrate assigned to hear the case had just been transferred to Hatton from Jaffna. When he served in Jaffna, he had to pass a junction each day on his way to the courts – actually a confluence of three roads – where there was a shrine which housed a Hindu deity. At this spot, many passing motorists would stop, spend a few moments in worship and make an offering to the statue. Although the magistrate was a Buddhist, he did the same. On his way to and from the courts he would stop, make an offering and pay obeisance to the statue as a mark of respect, perhaps in deference to his Hindu colleagues and friends. After he was transferred to Hatton, the case of the Company vs. the “Priest’ was the first one he had to deal with. Consequently having been briefed by the respective lawyers he made a thorough study of the facts before him, and familiarised himself thoroughly with the pros and cons of the dispute. And it was then that he was struck by the proverbial bolt of lightning in a literal sense ! He discovered that the statue of the deity placed on the land belonging to Wanarajah estate, WAS THAT OF THE SAME HINDU DEITY HE HAD WORSHIPPED ALONG WITH OTHER MOTORISTS IN JAFFNA ON HIS WAY TO WORK EACH MORNING !!

Convinced that this was some sort of message from the Gods he spent many a long hour wondering how he would adjudicate in this particular case, and should the prosecution win, if the wrath of the Gods would follow !! On the first day of the trial the case was postponed for a new date as a verdict could not be reached. When the case was heard again, the defence mounted a very strong case pursuing the line that the Company in question owned thousands of acres of tea all over the plantations not only in the hill country, but also in the low country districts. Surely it would cost them nothing to grant a few acres to a Hindu ‘Priest’ for religious purposes which could only have beneficial results to the wider populace. A daily dose of religion did nobody any harm ! It is alleged the Magistrate had even remarked that donating a few acres for a temple would ultimately result in good Karma for the company !!! After a lengthy trial, the jury ruled in favour of the ‘Priest’ to the delight of his supporters and the many pilgrims and devotees who had followed the case with interest. Not contending with the rights and wrongs of the dispute, somebody remarked that this particular case further enhanced the phrase, “The Law is an Ass !!!”

This defeat was a bitter pill for the company to swallow, particular Mr.Sinclair, who was in the frontline right from the start. He had to pass this spot twice daily, on his way to and from the estate. Worse, the site was now very untidy due to the scraps of paper, empty soft drink bottles and other rubbish strewn along the area due to the influx of many worshippers from other estates in the vicinity, and residents of the area. The days passed into weeks, the weeks into months, and time marched on. It was feared the “victory” of this ‘Priest’ was a bad precedent for other plantations in the district !

Until finally came the day of reckoning ! One morning Mr.Sinclair in his bungalow received a telephone call from one of his Assistant SD’s stating that there was some sort of commotion at the shrine and a multitude of people had gathered there in an agitated frame of mind threatening violence. It transpired that one of the ‘Priest’s’ assistants had called as usual very early to open the shrine, unlock the boxes for collection of offerings, and tidy up the place with the flower arrangements, and generally get the site ready to welcome any worshippers who would call. Knocking on the door of the tiny bedroom in which the ‘Priest’ spent the nights, he received no answer. Repeated knocks did not bring any results, so fearing that the Priest’ could be ill, he forced the door open. He almost collapsed in shock on
noticing that the bed had not been slept in, and the ‘Priest’ was nowhere in sight. With his heart hammering as if to break open his rib cage, he went to the tills to get
them open, only to discover that there was not a cent in sight ! All the cash, gold chains, gold rings, bracelets, amulets, any items of silver – in short anything of
value – had vanished along with the ‘Swami’! Nobody had seen him leave, nobody knew or even suspected where he could have gone, because not a single person knew anything about this ‘holy’ man who materialised from nowhere, and had now vanished into space !!!

In a nutshell, he appeared one day, disappeared in the dead of night – and vanished into his own Bermuda Triangle !

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Many years ago I spent a few days at the home of Steve Morrell when he was Superintendent on St.John Del Rey Estate, Dickoya. Steve is a family friend and also a college mate. It was he who told me this enthralling tale, the drama and mystery of which I have attempted to describe in this article. He also took me to the exact spot near the turn off to Wanarajah Group from the main road, where the de facto ‘Swami’ encroached on private and tried to erect a temple which was the genesis for this story. He then mysteriously vanished with his treasure , thus taking the simple, well intentioned but gullible folk of the area for one long ride !

Bernard VanCuylenburg.