There was no electricity or petrol here, bike meant bicycle, movies were out of question, smoking and drinking were banned by the LTTE and as for soft drinks, a local amla drink called Nellie Crush was as far as it got.

Today, guns hold no attraction. Instead, another symbol of power, Hero Honda motorbikes imported from India is a rage here though petrol sells at Rs 77 per litre, 27 rupees more than in the Capital. Coke is available in cans, and Padaiyappa, the latest Rajanikanth starrer, was released at Mini-cine, the town's video-driven cinema, just two days after its Chennai release.

After the army took control in June 1996, along with petrol, electricity has also been restored by the Government to some parts of the peninsula giving education, the town's biggest industry, a big boost.

"The dayno longer ends with daylight. We can study as late into the night as we wish, and if we want to take a break, there is entertainment - television, videos, films at the theater. It's like Singapore," said a medical student.

Jaffna's still near-basic lifestyle being compared with glitzy Singapore was rather pathetic. But it was a telling comment on the long years of government-imposed deprivation combined with the regimentation of Tamil society by the LTTE and its disciplinarian attitude, especially towards the youth.

A generation that entered teenage without knowing telephones has now been fast-forwarded into the age of the internet. Urban youth, with relatives abroad and remittances to burn, have taken to it like fish to water. The bonus is that there is no more an annual general knowledge examination in schools on the LTTE's struggle for Tamil Eelam.

"We are sick of politics. Guns and politics have ruined us. Our main priority is studies, but television and movies are a big temptation now which I mustadmit I have not been able to resist on several occasions," said a 20-year-old A-level student.

That could mean bad news for Tamil political aspirations in Sri Lanka as the 15-year-old struggle has so far mostly been sustained on the blood of teenagers and 20-somethings. In the '70s and early '80s, among those who joined the militant groups were youths from Jaffna University and even professionals. Today, the vice-chancellor complains that the campus is deserted by 3 pm because all the students have gone off to watch the latest episode of a Tamil serial on Doordarshan, which is easily received here.

There are also numerous complaints that children are going wild on blue films, cigarettes and drink. Could this be a strategy by the government to finish off the Tamil struggle by buying off the new generation of Tamils and lull them into a false complacency, wonder many in the older generations.

"Young people may be swayed by all those imported goods they see in the town shops now. If the government isdoing this deliberately, it is a short-term formula to hell. Just because I have a telephone in my house after 18 years does not mean my quality of life has improved. There can be no improvement till the main issues are settled," said a senior doctor.

According to him, sooner than later, the absence of job opportunities for Tamil youth and the resultant frustration would once again rebound on the government.

Others too warned that a fascination for `cosmetics' amongst the youth was a temporary phase. "For the youth, any respite from war is welcome. To a certain extent, there is a release from the militarisation and the regimentalisation. But without peace, all this is artificial," said Daya Somasundaram of Jaffna University's department of psychiatry. Also, it would take just one incident of violence to change the relaxed look on the faces of these youngsters, because inevitably such incidents are followed by an army crackdown on the youths. In fact, the army's presence looms large everywhere in thistown, at various checkpoints and in the 9 am to 6 pm curfew.

However, for the moment, youngsters seem quite oblivious to their parents' concerns about the future of the struggle, and far-removed from the Tamil cause that drove youth like them to militancy in another time.