A Good Cup Of Tea

Tea, very Ceylonese from the beginning now of course very   Sri Lankan, it doesn’t matter "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” as well our tea it will tests as sweet by any other name. The tea was introduced by British, we were the world’s number one tea exporters in 70’s.Still we are able to manage our position as the number 4^th tea exporter in the world.

Most of Sri Lankans start their day with a bed tea most of the time it’s served with milk and sugar. Then late morning tea about 10.a.m, it does not matter where you work almost every Sri Lankan offices provide a tea break at least for 15-10 minutes.

Then the afternoon tea evening tea. Well we don’t have everywhere the high tea as British, but still we do have evening tea with some sweet. An average Sri Lankan consumes at least 2-3 cups of tea per day, but depending on the affordability and the time this could be varied.

A cup of tea is the symbol of welcome of many Sri Lankans. If we visit a friend’s home relations home or even for an official purpose it is a custom to offer a cup of tea. It is very bad sign if we were not offered with cup of tea, it could be either they don’t welcome as a visitor or they could not afford a cup of tea. This is a very rare situation. As Sri Lankans we do not have garden tea parties like British, because having a good cup of tea is not special occasion to many of Sri Lankans. Even the head of the country does not invited any diplomatic or delegate to a tea party.Generally we Sri Lankans don’t dress for a tea. As a female it consider as a terrible insult if someone says that she can’t make  good cup of tea. Tea is very much linked with Sri Lankans.

Also we Sri Lankan are not very fond of Green tea. Those who very figure conscious might drink green tea these days but we preferred plain brown tea with slice of ginger with some sugar.

But there are very few Sri Lankans were invited for tea with Queen Elizabeth.

Our former President CBK somehow able to get 15 minutes from Queen Elizabeth during her time and went to Buckingham palace but CBK was not offered even with a Cup of Tea. I think Queen may have thought same Sri Lankan tea to its president.

 But we Sri Lankans did not do the same way as Queen Elizabeth did. Last time when Prince Charles was in Sri Lanka we welcomed him with a garland made out of Tea leaves. We it is not only the royal family we served Tea even the Cuban Leader Fidel Castro was served with Sri Lankan. There is a rumor in Sri Lanka who was known as “The Yankee Dickey “sent best quality tea to the Cuban Leader and he sent best Cuban Cigars in return.Sri lanka tea did well to the Cuban Leader still he is surviving, but our ex-president  passed away but he also spent a reasonable age.

But UK is a one of our biggest customer for long time also we export a large quantity to Middle East. Though we say that tea was introduced by British but originally all the tea Planter were from Scotland.

 The first tea planter in Sri Lanka James Taylor was a Scottish Guy. So almost all the big tea plantation owners were Scottish people including Thomas Lipton. One of our famous Tea brand is Lipton Ceylonta making Thomas Lipton world famous.
Actually before tea plantation introduced we were producing coffee.Sri Lanka is a country within the Coffee belt. But unidentified epidemic started over coffee plantations in Sri Lanka and commercial growing of coffee was very unsuccessful. The tea plantation was introduced after that.

I’m not sure how many of you have read Christine Wilson “the Bitter berries”. The transitional period coffee into tea well explained in that book. The pioneer planters in Sri Lankan have had very harsh life at the beginning of the tea plantation in central hill area. Today the central hills covered with tea plantations are looking very picture perfect.

 Even Sri Lankan tourism board using tea as a main element of promoting tourism in Sri Lanka. It was very famous photograph that Mrs. Rossi Senanayake was serving a cup of tea to former Libyan leader Col.Gadafi during his official visit to Sri Lanka in 1976.

Those days Col.Gadafi was in his early 40’s and he was the main attraction of the 1976 summit which made most of Sri Lankan men jealousy over Col.Gadafi .So much has changed over cup of tea. Col.Gadafi is not there anymore.

A cup of tea has a lot of influential over Sri Lankan society; it is our main commercial plantation. A lot of people involved in the industry. Before Mrs. Bandaranayake took over priestly owned tea estates there were tea planters who owned over 10000 acres of tea plantation. The tea plantation known as the “tea estate”.

 The structure of the tea estates had a very strong hierarchy. The tea states were a country within the country. The superintendent of the estates most of the time European guy or a Sri Lankan who is more British than the original British. Within the tea estate he had magistrate power. Then there was a medical clinic with a qualified doctor. The administrative office was occupied with English educated Sri Lankans mainly Sinhalese but not Buddhist.

 During the leisure time they had places for play Golf within the tea states. They had special boarding schools for their children. The Rugby was introduced by the planters to the hill country. Still in Sri Lanka main Rugby playing cities are Colombo and candy. They had their clubs especially only for the planters. Still at Nuwara Eliya the good old days are remaining at some extent. The superintend bungalow was an attempt of localizing the Tudor architecture. The Gardens were well maintained throughout the year.

 That was the top of the hierarchy .Down the steps there are estate labors. In Sri Lanka Sinhalese people did not ever wanted work in the tea estates. Because they knew from the beginning within the plantation there is no space for an independent farmer. 

So British had to bring labors from India. Most of them were south Indian Tamils. They were brought up here offering a job with accommodation.but it was not like tobacco plantations in Virginia these South Indian Tamils were not slaves. But they were for a some extent a property of the tea plantation. This was very similar in tea plantation in Assam India. 

The notable Indian writer Mulk Raj Ananda‘s novel “Two leaves and a bud” based on labors of tea plantations.

 The men were sent to hard working at the plantation while the women engaged on tea plucking. Daily they have to produce specific weight of row tea leaves. The thumb rule is two leaves and a bud from each tree.

The tea plantation has provided row houses within the plantation, but they had religious freedom. They were not forcefully converted in to the other religions. Most cases they had Hindu temple and freedom of celebrating their cultural events within the plantation.In-terms of profit making of the plantation this system worked.

 But time has changed .British left the country; Sri Lankans became superintendents of the plantations.ownership changed due to the nationalizing privately owned tea plantations. 

But the life of the estate labors did not changed much. the period  of 1970 there were over one million of Tamil people lived and worked in tea plantations.the thing is that time it was their second or third generation was working in the plantation. But they were not welcomed by the outside.

 Tamil people who were based on Jaffna never welcomed them considering they are low cast. Sinhalese never welcomed them saying they are Tamils. During this time even the government did not accepted them as the citizens of the country. With the plantation there was a school, but it was not a pathway of way out of their life.

Later this people were accepted as Sri Lankans and gave the power of voting. When they were awarded with power of voting couple of politicians started pay attention. They had their own political party the “Ceylon labor congress”. 

The pioneer of this political party was Mr.S.Thondaman. Certainly nothing has changed their lives even they had their own political representative at the parliament.Mr Thondaman was cabinet minister was a cabinet minister for almost every government.

 The life of the tea estate labors not been changed much, but Mr. Thodamans great grandson    is driving a Hummer in Nuwara Eliya town. He says it is one of his favorite vehicles among his collection.

The sad story of the plantation workers did not ended up cheating by their own people. Now the nature has already coming against them. The central Hills effected by landslides often past years. Clearing forest of the central hills, housing settlement on steep slopes so and so reason get together and resulting with landslides.

 Most effected people of this worst scenario is the plantation workers. They don’t have their own land except the row houses provided by the plantation. Even their third or fourth generation able to save some money to buy small plot of land the traditional villager does not mixed up with them. The plantation does not want to re settle them simply it will lose their workforce. 

The politicians whom they have selected will only come for the next election. Throughout all the debates are happening they are left the option buried in alive. From Koslanda landslide 190 people buried alive, then Miriyabadda, entire school with over 40 children, Few days ago Kothmale.I ‘m not sure  when and where next landslide will happened, but for certain tea plantation workers will affect by it most.

 Sadly the tea plantation workers are the people who never get any chance to taste a good cup of tea, the factory provides some amount of tea which is known an "THE LABOUR DUST".

An Average Sri Lankan House Wife.

If I ever liked or loved to a murder that is only Rodian Romanavich Rascolnicov,That’s  the main character  in Crime and Punishment by  Fyodor Dostoyevsky . It does not mean that I like killing someone at any circumstance but I have an enigmatic love over Rodian.

The Russian  novnovelist , Fyodor Dostoyevsky‘s works are marked by a preoccupation with Christianity, explored through the prism of the individual confronted with life's hardships and beauty. 

Even with that I can’t understand the intention of killing someone.But inexplicably I m very much attached to him.over and over time to time I do read...

Looking for him......

But in Sri Lanka   I don’t think everyone feel the same way like me.what we hear is look like a worst nightmares. We Sri Lankans now killing each other...

we did it for 30 years and now we have started killing our neighbors....

I can’t understand what it is going on. In prison over 1000 in raw to be executed. This is all killing someone else. What about those who committed suicide. In Sri Lanka it’s a crime? But we don’t have law abiding citizens. We have the highest rate of commit suicide in the world.

Some cases there is no a particular reason, very recently there was an incident the husband who works in abroad was talking with his wife who was living in Sri Lanka. Somehow the skype conversation did not go smoothly. The wife suddenly decided to commit suicide and hang herself while the poor husband was looking through Skype. Believe this is a true story. This look very strange, but I don’t think it is a sudden decision, frustration of long term dull domestic life might have turned into an explosion.

Even as a very confused teenager I have got the intention of commit suicide in few occasions. With careful observation of my mother and regular counseling in “Sumithrayo “ I was able to survive so far.Now I don’t think that I will ever turn back towards that moronic decision.

But last week I was on the process of reconciliation with my memory, simply because I went to watch the Prasana Withanage’s new movie Oba Nathuwa Oba Ekka (With You, Without You).This is a Sri Lankan adaptation of novella “A Gentle Creature” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Like Crime and Punishment   the story starts from a pawnbroker. Selvi who was frequent visitor to the shop and an orphan of the war.  They married they as per the narrator in the novella it explains the proposing was an attempt of triumph over her sad miserable life. 

“Besides, I had no fears then: I knew that the fat shopkeeper was anyway more repulsive to her than I was, and that I, standing at the gate, had appeared as a deliverer. I understood that, of course. Oh, what is base a man understands particularly well! But was it base? How can a man judge? Didn't I love her even then?”-A Gentle Creature

 But they married and some extent they shared   both good and bad moments like any relationship but finally Selvi made her decision. But her decision was only reason that made husband to think about her.

But when I was reading novella A gentle Creature I felt it as a love story, May be not like Devdas, who killed himself up on love but it was instead of fulfilling romantic ideals, it portrayed a battleground. Instead of a tale of mutual happiness through mutual submission, it told of a power struggle between the husband and wife. Despite the fact that the husband possesses all of the story’s narrative time, it is his wife who, through her death, eventually won the battle. From the beginning of the story the husband tried controlling her. but what is worth wining something over a death of your own, In the movie it shown in bit straight forward way than the novella.May be I did not feel that way, either way husband did try controlling her  very much.

We could be very helpless due to various reasons, specially in front  of your husband   or partner  very difficult to face it.but  even we are helpless can we accept over powering control always throughout the life?
Well in such situation we have two options, if we are strong enough we can walk  away. Otherwise we have to follow the Selvi.In very literal way what Selvi did may be correct. Well the novella explains it and convinced the reader  but in the movie?Well i should not have looked at the movie through the novella.

 But again I  am worrying.

In Prasanna Withanage’s point this movie is an attempt of exploring the masculinity. But I watched this with my mother. She has not read the novella and she did not see noticeable masculinity of the husband, except the limitation of their expenses for 300 RS per day.

Even she did not consider it as an attempt of over powering as in the novella she considers it as a good future plan.Being economical does not mean that we should live In Sri Lankan context it is a very common that husbands not attending to Sunday service or temple as a habitual action. People like my mother will never see it as a strong masculinity attempt.

This is a country which has higher rate of domestic violence, due to adultery and use of alcohol. The film does not show any of these so even husbands did not encourage wife to dance with the maid or singing it’s not a huge issue.

People need to have certain level of understanding  to consider other reasons apart from above mentioned.the long term believe in most of Sri Lankan housewives are if the husband provides accommodation ,food and clothes they are willing to live without complain. But there is a certain level who demands something more than that. Even 100 years ago Russian house wives have had social life. They go to theaters often they have some sort of domestic maid helping with household. In Sri Lanka if housewives had some social life most cases at the temple. Or else rarely movies. We never had theaters on every town basis. The Russian adaptation might not well fitted in

That may be the reason watching move only giving the idea that Selvi made her decision based on trivial matters for average Sri Lankan house wife. Well again how can I explain an average Sri Lankan House wife. I‘ll try it somewhere in future.

"I am willing; be cleansed........."

And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed."

                                                              -Mark 1:40-41

I do respect Jesus Christ not because he claim to be son of the god, in my understanding he is a nice kind hearted human .In his time Lepers were out castes from the society. People consider lepers bad for even vicinity. But Jesus Christ touched them, talked to them more importantly he  was willing to cleans them.

The Buddhist philosophy is different, as per Lord Buddha’s teaching everything is a result of something we have done it before. Lord Buddha never did recover instantly. In Buddhism what we see always is Lord Buddha did make understand people with the reason and convince people to avoid such situation in future. But Lord Buddha says if someone caring a sick patient it is equal as treating to Lord Buddha.

In Buddhism Dhammapada (Buddhist teaching book)

“Arogya parama labha-santutthiparamam dhanam

Vissasa parama nati-nibbanam paramam sukham”

which means” Health is the greatest gift, contentment is the greatest wealth, a trusted friend is the best relative, Nibbana is the greatest bliss”

I’m a very much believer of this. Even if your health insurance policy might say they will take care of everything you only have to pay the premium. But when you really get sick we will understand how helpless we are. We have to trust someone totally stranger some cases we are letting them to open our heart, kidneys brain .there is no other gift in life if we can avoid this scenario, but unfortunately as humans we do get sick. We have to go to hospital to recover.

If we are lucky we can recover and come back home, but there are worst scenarios we will never be able to come back home. We might thing death is the ultimate worst thing that could be happened to a human. In Sri Lanka we have a poet Anne Ranasinghe. The poem, “Plead Mercy”

“We pass a bullock yoked to a cart

Straining uphill. He shivers

With effort, his bones

Protrude and the taut skin quivers

At each whip of the sharp-thorned stick

There is no expression on his face 

Only his eyes plead mercy

Foam slavers from his lips

As he travails to increase his pace

And slips. My daughter asks

Does he think life is worth living? 

I tell her what I know

Is not true, that life

Is always better than death.

She frowns

If there is a revolution, she says,

I’ll kill myself. All those horrible things

They do to people. 

The bullock has fallen on the rough

Edge of the road. He tries,

But in spite of the stick he cannot rise. 

Lord, have mercy on his eyes. 

My daughter is just thirteen.”

So I guess life is always better than death.

But there are circumstances we are out castes from our normal life due to various reasons. We were forced to life.

I’m not sure how many of our generation watched movie Benhur or read the Lew Wallace’s   book Benhur .Benhur was sent as a slave in a Roman war ship, sister and mother were out castes by society as lepers, a simple mistake best friend of the childhood did all this to Benhur. But both movie and the book has happy ending.

In reality Leprosy is one of the least infectious diseases mainly because nearly all of the population has natural immunity against it.those who effected with the daises life was not easy. In Sri Lanka this has been controlled and for over 20 years there not been recorded death or similar incidents due to Leprosy. Sadly our big brother India still continues to have 1.2 to 1.3 lakh new cases of leprosy every year. 58% all new leprosy cases appeared, in world from India.

Mother Theresa had special units to help those affected with Leprosy and still the organization continues it.

What we have in Sri Lanka is more belongs to dark history. We have a historical Leprosy hospital which belongs the Dutch period. The story of the Hospital linked with Son of a Dutch high ranked naval officer. When this naval officer son effected with Leprosy by law of that time the son has to banish from the society. Even the officer cannot help he built this well facilitated hospital to his son during the Dutch period. Eventually it turned into a government hospital for Leprosy.

When I first visit to this place with my mother was in late 1980.Those days it was fortified and had their own world .they had Catholic Church, Anglican Church, Buddhist temple, Mosque also school for children and teachers were inmates of the hospital. Even that time the there were considerable amount of inmates. 

Now we are in 2015 Lot of changes had been occurred. The school of the hospital been converted into a government school .the Hamilton cannel which is right opposite to the hospital turned into waterfront recreational center.Yesterday when I was passing there newlywed bridle couple taking their photos. Some parts of the hospital have taken over by the Sri Lanka Army.

Today those who in the hospital totally cured, but they have sad memories of the past. All of them are now old people those who more secured within the walls. I can understand there is an inmate who was taken while he was studying in the school at the age of 14.

He told those days it was police brought him here, eventually family has forgotten and now he is fully cured but over 60 years he has been living in the hospital. His home town Colombo has turned in to very confusing place to him. He is much secured in this place rather than the complicated   Colombo.

There are some inmates those who wall in love at the hospital and married at hospital. They have children as well. Now their children coming to visit them .

Oldest inmate is 98 years old. The most curios devise to him is the mobile phone. He remembers is sister’s wedding as a little boy over 80 years ago. His home town is Anuradhapura. He told there were only one telephone he has seen that time and it was also 12 miles from his home. And he was amused by modern selfie. He has seen wooden studio camera but now he does not understand how this small device take colored photos.

He asked a question, the question was how we expect better performance when the device is small? Well I did not try to explain anything to make him more confuse. But I took some selfies. Later he requested something that was “please don’t wait till next year till this date. Come again soon I might not be able to see you again”. I did not promise because I do visit them only in once a year and he plays harmonica the happy birthday song on the same day of every year.