Red-wattled Lapwing

A Red-wattled Lapwing seen in the premises of the Wattarama Raja Maha Vihare, Polgahawela, Sri Lanka.

Cadju sellers, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka.

Cadju plants grow naturally in the arid sandy soil of Batticaloa. The nuts were collected, roasted, split open and sold on the pavements of Batticaloa. Now the sales point is restricted to an area close to the Childrens Park in the centre of the town. I took this picture around 10 am. The current price is Rs.1000/- per Kilo of roasted nuts.

Kallady beach, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka

The vast expanse of sand  at Kallady beach is shown in these two pictures taken by me. It is a place for morning walks, to watch the evening sunsets and to be under a full moon merry making and having dinner.

Old and new bridges at Manampitiya, Sri Lanka.

There were two bridges accommodating both rail and road traffic at Manampitiya and Ottamawady on the road to Batticaloa in Sri Lanka. New separate concrete bridges have been built for each of these now. The bridge at Manampitiya spans the Mahawely Ganga the biggest river in Sri Lanka. I took these pictures of the old and new bridges recently while on a trip to Batticaloa.

The slide and toy-house, Kallady, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka

There is a lovely enclosed childrens park at Kallady beach, Batticaloa. I took these pictures there. These are all part of the post-tsunami rehabilitation project.

Orphan elephants at a milk feed at Udawalawe, Sri Lanka.

A good grip on the feeding tube is needed to see that no precious milk is spilt on the ground. Orphan elephant centre, Udawalawe, Sri Lanka. Feeding time 2pm every day.

Video taken by me of the same on YouTube. Click on the links below:-

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM31sVP8NMA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtNwPei39xY

Casuarina trees, newly planted, Kallady, Batticaloa.

The newly planted Casuarina trees lining the landside of the Kallady beach are very hardy plants and will give many years of shade in the future.

Outrigger canoes , Kallady, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka

Outrigger canoes beached caught my eye. I took these photos at Kallady, Batticaloa.

Kallady beach, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka.

The beach at Kallady in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka has for generations attracted people. The acres of treeless sand and the ocean breeze on moonlit nights called for group singing, booze and dinner. What a lovely time we had in days gone by. After the Tsunami it has been made into a lovely spot. There is an elevated board walk, halls to rest in and an adjoining play ground for children. I took these pictures on the 13thAugust 2011.

Wayside boutique, road on the right bank, Randenigala.

 At a wayside tea boutique the female owner had a pet squirrel runner all over her body and hiding under the tresses on her scalp. The owner said that the squirrel had fallen from its nest and she had fed it milk and was now her constant companion.

Road to Mahiyangana

The road to Mahiyangana on the right bank of the Mahawely from Kandy is well maintained except in the early stages. It runs for quite a distance on the side of a hill overlooking the Mahawely downstream. It is sparsely populated and has a sense of peace and serenity. I took this picture of the road.

The Batticaloa Lagoon, Sri Lanka

 Batticaloa in Sri Lanka is known as the land of 'milk and honey'. It has buffalo curd and bee honey, it has cadju nuts and very tasty rice, sea food like crabs, prawns, lobsters and crayfish from the lagoon and fresh sea fish. It has the beautiful lagoon which at sunrise and sunset are paradise itself. Its people are very hospitable and they love their leisure. I took these photos of the lagoon during a recent visit.

Pied Kingfishers

Photo taken from the ramparts of the Dutch Fort, Batticaloa.

Indian Pond Heron

Photo taken at Rekawa near Tangalle, Sri Lanka.

Buddha statue being constructed at Rambodagala Moneragala Vihara

 

 Turn to the right from the Kurunegala - Dambulla road near the 51st mile post to go to Ridivihara. Go past Ridivihara and you will come to Rambadagalla Moneragala Viharaya. A stupendous Buddha statue is being carved out of solid rock by some artisans from Thamilnadu. The Chief of them is Padmashree Muthaiah M Stapathy. Work started in 2002 and has already cost I am told 350 lakhs of rupees. It would be 'in the round' and would be double the size of the Aukana statue. I went to see it being made. The above is a picture I took. Do go and see it being constructed.

On the approaches to Mahiyangana from Kandy, Sri Lanka.

The Mahaweli Ganga flows from Kandy to Mahiyangana in Sri Lanka. It reaches the Indian ocean at Trincomallee on the Eastern coast. There was a hilly road passing along the left bank of the Mahaweli in the past. This had eighteen hairpin bends close to Hasalaka and passed through Teldeniya, Hunnasgiriya and the old Madugoda. The Mahaweli was crossed at Tennekumbara close to Kandy and again at Mahiyangana. With the developement of the Victoria and Randenigala Projects a new roadway was constructed on the Right bank of the Mahaweli. This route is longer but gives a view of these new projects. I took this picture from the latter route.

Remembered Vignettes - A story of a Medical student's life in Colombo, Sri Lanka between 1960 to 1965.

Extract from a review by Senaka Abeyratne, winner of the Gratien Prize 2006.

..."This is, indeed, a little gem of a book; wickedly funny, entertaining and deeply evocative at times; a lovely slice of topical, Sri Lankan, post-colonial history. The stories and characters are as real as they are unforgettable. Veerasingam is a fine storyteller and has shown considerable skill in the way he has used the valuable template provided by his batch-mates to create a fascinating picture of what life was like at Medical College in the sixties. The editor too has done a good job in cleaning up the manuscript ..."

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The Cry of the Devil-Bird

Sri Lanka through the Eyes of a Surgeon      

by

Seneka Abeyratne

Philip Veerasingam’s second work of non-fiction (The Cry of the Devil Bird) is even a better read than the first (Remembered Vignettes). Like the first, it is written in the entertaining style of an autobiographical or anecdotal novel. The overarching theme is “incidents in the life of a surgeon, working in Ceylon, from 1965 to 2005.” Some of the stories are extremely witty, while others are very sad and moving. The author shuttles back and forth between past and present, thereby giving his book a non-linear temporal dimension. One of the most poignant stories he relates is that of a dying mother who breathes her last while breastfeeding her child.

Dr Veerasingam is a fine storyteller. We are made acutely aware of the fact that doctors work in a sea of intense suffering and despair; and at times we feel ourselves being swept away by the tide. The author periodically indulges in introspective speculations cutting across politics, culture, religion, ethics, ethnography and history. These intellectual nuggets provide the novel with a rich philosophical perspective that greatly enhances its literary appeal. They are like the sauces that give body and flavor to a buffet of real-life incidents and encounters. One cannot fail to appreciate the skillful manner in which the author has woven his thoughts, ideas, convictions and real-life stories into a sumptuous literary montage that delves into his professional and personal life and simultaneously provides fascinating insights into five decades of tumultuous Sri Lankan history.

In the sixties, foreigners who visited Sri Lanka would comment on how idyllic life was in this tranquil little island, no larger than the state of West Virginia. The JVP uprising of 1971 changed all that. From then on, Sri Lanka became a nation sharply divided along social and ethnic lines. The late eighties was perhaps the bloodiest period in our postcolonial history with the JVP rampaging in the South and the LTTE wreaking havoc in the North and East. It took the State about three years to crush the second JVP insurrection and twenty six long years to defeat the LTTE and vanquish their dream of a separate homeland. Finally, peace has returned to the island but fundamental values, beliefs, traditions and institutions have undergone radical and irreversible change. To compare the political and ideological landscape of today with that of the sixties would be like comparing apples and oranges.

How did an eminent surgeon like Dr Veerasingam cope with all the bloody conflicts and upheavals that shook the nation and gravely affected public life for several decades? How did he perceive what might be called the brutalization of Sri Lankan society vis-à-vis the rise of the gun culture and the breakdown of law and order? Why did he not pack his bags and leave the country, like many other doctors did? What made him cling to his lofty personal ideals and continue serving the country even though the gruesome communal riots of 1983 (engineered by the State) left the Tamil population utterly bewildered, terrorized and disenchanted?

To understand why he put service to the nation above all other considerations, we must read the book. We will then discover that men like Dr Veerasingam belong to a dying breed of professionals who toil ceaselessly without seeking personal glory or aggrandizement and have metal in their soul. They will face any kind of hardship or adversity with true grit and courage. Furthermore, they believe wholeheartedly that actions speak louder than words and that professional integrity is something which should never be compromised; that we must give back to the nation more than we have received; and that compassion is one of the noblest qualities a human being can possess.

Dr Veerasingam joined the Department of Health as a Medical Intern in 1965 and retired thirty five years later, after having held the post of Consultant Surgeon at the Colombo General Hospital for several years. At the GH he introduced many changes to improve efficiency and efficacy and quality of service. Through his rich anecdotes and narratives, which blend imperceptibly into one another, we learn about all the people who figured prominently in his life during this period – his mentors (some of whom are still living), colleagues, friends, companions, subordinates, patients, and last but not least, his family. He describes with deep feeling and affection all the places where he worked (Koslande, Kandy, Batticaloa, Ratnapura, and Colombo) and the special moments and incidents associated with each of them. He touches on his sojourns overseas as well, and these charming little stories provide an interesting comparison of life abroad versus life at home.

The Cry of the Devil Bird is indeed a voyage of discovery and could well be titled Sri Lanka through the Eyes of a Surgeon. Few autobiographical novels written by local authors provide an in-depth, authentic account of life in the public service, and this is one of them. The wealth of detail, the profound insights, and the warm, humanistic sentiments, constantly expanding through the book like ripples in a pond, are what make it a fascinating read. I, for one, found the book “unputdownable” and was sad when it ended. I flipped through it again randomly, wishing there were a few more tasty morsels in this delectable buffet.

The book is written largely from a medical perspective, but in a language that could be easily understood by the layman. (It is pity, though, that one encounters typographical or syntax errors at frequent intervals. The author is encouraged to clean them up before publishing the second edition.) Dr Veerasingam has a good story to tell, and from it one can discern that he is a larger-than-life kind of person and a humble, sincere and noble human being as well, who has served this nation in a way that few others have done. His thirst for knowledge extends way beyond the medical field and the book confirms that he is not just a surgeon but a man of great compassion and wisdom.

As part of the lectures on general topics he gave medical students who clerked with him, he used to include a talk on ‘Race as a Concept’ (reproduced in the chapter titled The Oneness of Mankind). Here is a quote from this lecture which illustrates the author’s deeply humanistic convictions: “Patterns of revivalism where ‘aesthetization of the past,’ ‘ethicalization’ of the past,’ and ‘validation of ancient knowledge systems,’ as stated in reference to another situation elsewhere, seems to be the fashion and hobby in Sri Lanka, of the last few decades. This can only retard the progress of this multi-ethnic nation. It is bound to keep on creating fissiparous tendencies among its people. We need to rethink and re-orient our way, if we are to survive as a united nation. This land belongs to us all, the children of Mother Lanka and we must give our best to her. We must first contribute towards the development of this land, before we ask for any extra helpings out of our combined wealth, citing being members of a mythical race or religious group, as the reason for obtaining this privilege…Try to get rid of this identity in your day to day dealings. We are all members of one human race. We can only progress if we respect each other’s rights and work together to build this nation.”

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Randenigala reservoir, Sri Lanka.

The rains have still to come and the water level has gone down. You can see the upper level of the water when full on the dry bed of the reservoir.

 Minipe waterway traversing under a road after going over a stream and proceeding on its way to water the paddy fields in the dry zone around Mahiyangana.

 Another bridge over the same waterway further downstream. Water is pumped from this waterway for household needs using electric pumps. Use of a Hydraulic Ram, which uses the power of the flowing stream and which is literally free of maintainance would be a better alternative.

An aqueduct at Minipe.

The water in the concrete channel at Minipe, is carried over a river bed by a concrete aqueduct shown in the above two pictures

Concrete waterway at Minipe

Concrete waterway

Waterway emptying into a reservoir

The waters of the Mahaweli Ganga are conducted for purposes of irrigation via these concrete waterways. The water reaches quite high and people bathe in this artificially created stream at Minipe.

Bougainvilla in bloom, Victoria Dam site, Sri Lanka.

I saw these colourful Bouganvilla trees in bloom near the Victoria Dam site at Adhikarigama, Sri Lanka.

Railway accident, Sri Lanka.

Everyday life in Sri Lanka. Watch the video to the end and note the limp of the victim walking home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq-pXqmZipI&NR=1

The lack of rain and the Victoria Project, Sri Lanka.

The bed of the Victoria reservoir upstream and the bed of the river downstream from the site of the dam on 12th August 2011. The rains had not arrived but power generation, the aim of the Victoria project was still going on.

The Victoria Dam, Sri Lanka.

The egg-shell shaped concrete dam built across the Mahaweli Ganga at Adhikarigama for power generation. This dam was designed and erected on British aid to Sri Lanka.

         Mr.Aruppola, Engineer in Charge, Victoria Project.  Mr.Weerasinghe Technical Officer, on right.

The poultry farmer - Sri Lankan

In the village called Weragolla in Puuwakpitiya, Sri Lanka there was a poultry farmer aged about 40 years. He had about 100 layers. He found that someone was stealing his eggs. He lay in wait and spotted a cobra quietly sneaking into his poultry shed. He was so angry that he grabbed the neck of the cobra and was bitten by it on his forearm for his pains. He killed the culprit and went looking for a native physician ('vedarala') who had a reputation for treating snake-bites, to a village closeby called Kosgama. The 'Vedarala' had one look at his bleeding forearm and the dead cobra which he took with him and sent him hurrying to the Avissawella Government Hospital. There he got severe symptoms of envenomation and was treated with large doses of antivenom serum and was in the Intensive Care Unit with life support for a few days. He is making a good recovery. What do you call this act, bravery, foolhardiness or anything else? Any suggestions?

Shrine room

On the road at Madagammana, near Eheliyagoda, I saw this shrine room built on top of a rock. It seems an ideal site to practice meditation.

Purple headed moorhen chicks

I spotted a whole group of these birds in a paddy field at Rekawa near Tangalle, Sri Lanka.

Illuminated garden.

I took this picture of an illuminated garden in a hotel at Kadawaththe, Sri Lanka.

Elephant orphanage, Udawalawe, Sri Lanka.

On the road connecting Embilipitiya to Thanamalvila is Udawalawe. Just before you cross the road over the Udawalawe dam is the elephant orphanage. 2pm is 'feeding time' for the orphaned elephants. They are released into the udawalawe sanctury after rehabilitation and come at feeding time to get their milk feed. They come eagerly to have their milk. Some protest that what they get is not enough by trumpeting after they have had their share. To watch a video of same click on link below:-
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM31sVP8NMA

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtNwPei39xY

Paddy fields, Embilipitiya.

A field growing plantain trees and coconut trees around a paddy field at Embilipitiya, Sri Lanka. This area with its lush greenery produces paddy, vegetables and fruits in plenty and is a veritable 'bread-basket' of present Sri Lanka.