DEFINING GOOD AND BAD GUYS IN SRI LANKA..

..FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A MID WESTERN AMERICAN PHYSICIAN

MY doctor finally decided it was time to quit his practice and retire on a beach. He certainly should be able to do so, given the lucrative practice he's had for decades.

Getting introduced to my new doctor was an eye opener. Younger Dr. Schneider was not the typical mid-westerner to whom 'world' meant the landscape from Florida to California. He even knew that there was more to the world. He even had heard of Sri Lanka and had an idea of what has been going on there. His first questions after inquiring where I was from gave me an idea of how simplistically the average American defined events and people in their world.

Dr. Schnieder wanted to know whether I was a 'Tamil Tiger'. I told him I was from 'the other side'. To that he responded ' ah, so you are one of the good guys'.

As we discussed more about the conflict in Sri Lanka, it was almost amusing to note how he debated within himself whether or not to accept my insistence that not all Tamils are terrorists. I even brought out the argument that not all cholesterol is bad, in order to convince him how easy it is to mistake one for the other, and the absolute necessity for clear understanding of the issue prior to passing judgement.

Given the amount of effort I put into convincing him that all Tamils are not terrorists, here's hoping that at least one American has learnt that all societies cannot be categorized along the lines of good and bad based on the actions of a few.