“Thaaththa,” Bindu Udagedera asked, “what is all this excitement about the big match?”
“What big match are you referring to?” Bindu’s father Percy was puzzled, “I thought big matches were played at the beginning of the year…”
“No, thaaththa,” Bindu said, “there are these other matches that are being played now…”
“Which matches are those?” Percy wanted to know, “are you thinking about the matches with the Australians?”
“No, thaaththa,” Bindu said, “I am thinking of these latest round of elections…”
“What about them?” Percy demanded.
“Well,” Bindu said, “I thought we have had enough of elections and that we would be free of them for some time…”
“No, Bindu,” Percy said, “we are such a vibrant democracy that we never tire of elections; we seem to have one almost every few months…”
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“So,” Bindu wanted to know, “what elections are we having now?”
“These are the elections to the local councils which could not be held earlier this year…” Percy explained.
“But thaaththa,” Bindu remembered, “I thought elections to local councils were held earlier this year…”
“Yes, they were,” Percy agreed, “but there were some local councils to which elections were not held at that time…:”
“Why weren’t elections held to those councils, thaaththa?” Bindu wanted to know.
“I believe we were told they couldn’t hold elections at that time because of the cricket World Cup…” Percy remembered.
“So thaaththa,” Bindu asked, “are these the councils to which elections could not be held due to the World Cup?”
“Really, Bindu,” Percy tried to explain, “elections to most of the councils where elections could not be held because of the World Cup were held again a few months ago…”
“So, thaaththa,” Bindu was puzzled, “what elections are we having now, then?”
“Now we are having elections to the councils which did not have elections because of the World Cup, and did not have elections in the second round of elections as well, two months ago…” Percy explained.
“Why didn’t they have elections to these councils when the World Cup was being held, thaaththa?” Bindu was curious.
“I suppose they felt that if there was any bad publicity because of the elections that would be bad for the country at a time when attention was focussed on it because of the World Cup…” Percy pointed out.
“So, thaaththa,” Bindu wondered, “how can they have elections now?”
“Surely, Bindu,” Percy declared, “there is no World Cup going on now…”
“But thaaththa,” Bindu observed, “the Australians are here playing cricket now and if there was any bad publicity because of the elections that would be bad for the country at a time when attention was focussed on it because of the Australian tour…”
“I don’t think they consider the Australian tour as being such a major event like the World Cup…” Percy said.
“But everyone seems to be worried more about the Australian tour rather than about the elections…” Bindu said.
“That may be because they don’t consider these elections to be that important either, Bindu…” Percy suggested.
“Why is that thaaththa,” Bindu demanded, “I thought these elections are for the councils of the country’s major cities and they should be worried about them more…”
“Indeed they are,” Percy said, “but it seems that the teams are not evenly matched now, Bindu…” Percy said.
“Why do you say that, thaaththa?” Bindu inquired.
“Well, after losing contest after contest, the Greens are playing a different ball game now…” Percy said.
“And what ball game is that?” Bindu wanted to know.
“Members of the Green team seem to be keener to fight for their place in the team rather than to fight the Blues…” Percy said.
“But thaaththa,” Bindu was confused, “I thought it was said that the Greens had a good chance of winning at these elections…”
“There are some who think so…” Percy agreed.
“And why do they think so, if members of the Green team seem to be keener to fight for their place in the team rather than to fight the Blues?” Bindu demanded.
“I think,” Percy tried to explain, “that is because the Greens believe these elections are being held in areas where they have traditionally won all their previous contests…”
“So, do they believe that just because these elections are being held in areas where they have traditionally won all their previous contests, they will win again?” Bindu inquired.
“Well,” Percy said, “it is like our cricket team thinking that just because the matches are being played in Sri Lanka, they will win easily…”
“And look what happened to them…” Bindu recalled.
“But of course,” Percy said, “there is an important difference between the Greens and our cricket team…”
“And what difference is that?” Bindu asked.
“Why,” Percy said, “in our cricket teams, captains usually resign when the team doesn’t perform well…”
Bindu didn’t quite know what to say to that.
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