Taking over the Tea Estates Health sector by the Government of Sri Lanka

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The pull of Sri Lanka

Originally Answered: What do you miss the most when you leave, or if you were to leave Sri Lanka?

This is a great question. I was here in the 90s and left and came back again because the place remained in my heart and my mind. Now I am back, but need to leave again ( long story ) and I will miss:

1. The people. Nothing can beat the Sri Lankan smile. The hospitality and sense of humour. The welcome and support you receive from them.
2. Nature. This country is just so beautiful. The beaches, the hill country, the dry zone, the wet zone. So much diversity in such a small space.
3. Wildlife. Sit in a garden here and be amazed by the birds, the butterflies even ….ugh…the snakes of all shapes, sizes and hues.
4. The food. String hoppers, pol sambol, wattalapan, jack fruit curry…the list goes on. All natural and delicious.
5. The history. Adam's peak, Sigiriya, Anuradhapura, Pollonaruwa… so much to see and learn.
6. As a teacher and trainer, the respect and desire that people here have for education and learning.

For the moment I have to go, but given the chance, I will be back here in a shot.

www.nearlyanomad.com

Punya Heendeniya and Milroy De Silva

Punya

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Safety matches

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A 'Tinder box'

Starting a fire using a 'Tinder box'

A  brass box of matches

Brands  of box of safety matches made in Ceylon/Sri Lanka

Dowry for a Gypsy

My contribution to a dowry :-
Continuing my piece on the Gypsies of Sri Lanka, I had a young boy from the Gypsy tribe, who had a 'green-stick' fracture of his fore-arm, taking treatment in my surgical ward at Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. The father of the child visited me at my residence in Batticaloa, to thank me for looking after his son. I had a long chat with him on the customs of his tribe. He told me that when they marry off their daughter, the dowry was, a bottle of arrack, a chicken and a dog. I had a very intelligent dog with me which was causing a lot of mayhem by bringing body parts of slaughtered animals home from a refuse dump close to our residence. I asked him whether he wanted that dog, to be given as dowry. He joyfully accepted. I told him that the dog might find its way back to our home from his residence, about 20 miles away. He said that they have herbs to give to the dog, to erase its memory. He led the dog away. A few weeks later I met him with his son in my clinic and inquired about the dog. His face broke into a broad smile. He said that the dog had a good hunting instinct and was happy in his new home.
It has been reported by Greek historians, writing around 100 AD that good hunting dogs, exported through the sea-port in Paanama, Sri Lanka, at that time were in big demand in Greece.

Gypsies of Sri Lanka

The wandering tribe of people called 'Ahikuntikayo' in Sinhalese or 'Kuravar' in Tamil is the only Gypsy tribe in present Sri Lanka. Each wandering group sets up camp almost overnight bordering a village. In the old days they used donkeys as a means of transport. After setting camp they wander in the nearby villages exhibiting, monkeys, Cobras and selling 'snake-stones' peddled as poison extractors after a snake bite.Their females read palms and do fortune telling. On a bright sunny day the man in the photo came to our house exhibiting a monkey and a cobra. The children in our house had a wonderful time, seeing the monkey's antics.Please click on the web-link below :-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Gypsy_people

Nagadipa Vihara, Mahiyangana, Sri Lanka.

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