Parties and cakes…who celebrates what?

By Rypvanwinkle

"Thaaththa," Bindu Udagedera asked, "what is all this fuss about a new party?"
"Which new party is that?" Bindu's father Percy wanted to know.
"Why, thaaththa, the party that has been formed by the Greens and Uncle Mangala…" Bindu recalled.
"Ah, that," Percy said, "I am not sure whether you can call it a new party at all…"
"Why do you say that?" Bindu wanted to know.

"Why, Bindu, it is the Greens and two other people apparently," Percy said, "so whether we can call it a new party is questionable…"
"I don't think that is quite fair, thaaththa…" Bindu suggested.
"Why is that, Bindu?" Percy asked.
"Why, thaaththa, they contributed a lot to that protest march by the Greens two weeks ago, so they must be having more than just two supporters…" Bindu pointed out.
"That may be true," Percy agreed, "but one faction has just two Members of Parliament and no one knows what kind of support they can gather from around the country…"

"But you are forgetting one important person, thaaththa," Bindu said.
"And who would that be?" Percy inquired.
"Why, thaaththa, Satellite is also supporting them, isn't she?" Bindu asked.
"It does appear as if she has given her blessings…" Percy said.
"So, isn't she a person capable of gathering support from around the entire country?" Bindu countered.
"I suppose she could, but that was a long time ago…" Percy conceded, "but now, I think she is quite capable of making you lose any support that you may already have…"

"Then, what about Seeni Bola, thaaththa?" Bindu asked.
"Why, what about him?" Percy queried.
"Is he supporting this new party or not?"
"He is supposed to have made a rousing speech in support of the new party at that protest meeting…" Percy recalled.
"Is he still out and about?" Bindu wanted to know.

"Yes," Percy said, "but why do you ask?"
"Well," Bindu said, "usually, when he makes rousing speeches, he ends in jail…"
"He was certainly not in jail," Percy said, "but he was somewhere else…"
"And where was that?" Bindu asked.
"Why he was at Mahinda maama's house distributing wedding cakes…" Percy observed. "Then he cannot be supporting the new party, surely…" Bindu said.

"Well," Percy said, "apparently he is…"
"But I thought he also criticised Uncle Mangala severely for forming a party of his own…"
"Seeni Bola must be worried that he would no longer be the star among the Greens, especially after he got rid of Uncle Karu and the rest of the 'horu'…" Percy suggested.
"But I am so confused about all this, thaaththa…" Bindu said, puzzled.
"Why is that, Bindu?" Percy asked.

"Why, Seeni Bola visits Mahinda maama and shares cake with him but doesn't support his party and then he supports the party which has the blessings of Satellite with whom he is not even on talking terms with…"
"These are the games that these people play, Bindu…" Percy declared.
"But can we vote for all these people from either side, thaaththa?" Bindu wondered.

"Well," Percy said, "Mahinda maama thinks the people will vote for him as long as he captures a bit of land somewhere and makes a ceremony of it, so he thinks he doesn't need to do anything more…"
"And," Bindu said, "Uncle Ranil thinks people will vote for him as long as the petrol prices keep rising and he thinks he doesn't need to do anything more either…"
Percy reluctantly agreed.