My Dear Ranjan,

I thought I must write to you instead of sending you a ‘get well’ card, especially after you were badly beaten up by your rivals recently. Apparently one shot is not enough to silence you, but that is only to be expected, isn’t it?I suppose now you would have to do what everyone else does these days-file a fundamental rights case and ask for more security although I doubt whether those learned people in Hulftsdorp will believe that you have as many enemies as Janaka! Still, it may be worth a shot, Ranjan.Of course, we do understand why the Greens chose you to stand as the Chief Ministerial candidate for Sabaragamuwa, Ranjan. The simple answer is that there were no takers for the task and even then, they didn’t want to appoint you for the job.But you are a new face in politics-and a handsome face at that-and yet known to the people through your antics in the movies. In a sense, therefore, I suppose your selection was more logical than choosing a tuition master who speaks in riddles and says he doesn’t know whether he is coming or going…

Still, I do admire the manner in which you extracted the title from your leader, getting on stage and publicly declaring that he had a degree in procrastination. I am told they are now calling it the ‘one shot method’ in the Green party and are planning to ask for party reforms in the same manner!

But it has always baffled me as to why actors take to politics. I know Reagan succeeded really well and in our own country Vijaya would have done so too had his life been spared but everybody else-including the great Gamini- hasn’t done really well.

What you must remember, Ranjan, is that while you actor chaps play their roles in the celluloid world the politicians are far better actors because they play their roles in real life. So, don’t forget that all politicians are acting all the time even though all actors are not politicians!

But I suppose, you have nothing to lose by coming forward for this election. At worst, you will be the leader of the opposition in a provincial council if not its Chief Minister and you will get much, much more publicity than you would have ever got had you been just ‘one shot’. So, in that sense, it is indeed a smart move.
But what can even you do, Ranjan, to awaken the sleeping elephant? It is now a far cry from the giant it was in the seventies and eighties. The Green Man seems to think that by getting people like you to contest from his party, he can find a quick fix to his problems, but I am not quite sure that this is the way to go about it…But, you will have to use all those tactics you displayed as ‘one shot’- and more-if you are to make a match of next Saturday’s contest, Ranjan. Come Saturday, it will be all action until someone says ‘cut’-remember, in this game, there are no second takes!

But I must thank you for at least giving everyone something to talk about during the past few weeks. Now, at least there is some debate about the outcome of the elections and I suppose that is partly because you and Janaka are contesting. If not, the outcome of the polls would have been as predictable as Sri Lanka ’s performance at the Olympics!

Yours sincerely,

Punchi Putha

PS-And now I hear Mahinda maama wants to dissolve the other provincial councils as well. Ah, spare a thought for the Green Man. Now he has to find ‘new faces’ to contest these elections as well. Well, if everybody else says no, he could always try Ajantha Mendis-and he could be a winner too!