“Instant” Professor

When I visited Sri Lanka in 2007, I mentioned that I am thinking of returning and doing some productive work to Prof. Buddhi Marambe, Dean of Agriculture, who was my counterpart in Peradeniya University – UC Davis Cooperation Project. He said that the Post Graduate Institute of Agriculture has three visiting professorships open, talked to the director and put me the list of potentials. This was when the civil war was intense. There were only two applicants, including me. I was the only one to accept the offer and actually assume duties. This is how I became an ‘Instant’ (Visiting) Professor, without ever being an assistant professor or assistant lecturer!

I enjoy the job and the beautiful campus. I conducted a new course on renewable energy systems last semester and also started several research projects. Some of these projects are based on concepts developed through my long association with agro-processing industries in Sri Lanka in the distant past and involve; recovery oil from desiccated coconut mill effluent, new tea dryer, curing and storage of onions, vacuum assisted soaking of paddy and protein concentrate from refuse tea.

The process of starting new research projects is slow, and these projects are all at initial stages at present. Hopefully, these projects will develop into viable new technologies.

I am very grateful to all the friends and colleagues in the University for making me feel more than welcome and to old-Davisites who have become a part of our extended family.

Building the House

We got the services of a chartered architect for preparing the plans and a chartered civil engineer for structural design. I am the main contractor for the construction of the house. I have to supply all the materials and major equipment, supervise construction, coordinate work and manage the cash flow. This is a huge responsibility and lot of work but it is supposed to save about 20-30% of cost. Besides I enjoy building things!

A foreman is in charge of the site, actual construction and providing labor directly and through subcontrators. Our foreman is Karune, highly recommended by several friends and colleagues. He is a mason from the local village and has a very pleasant personality. His two sons (photo) assist him daily and he calls on others as need arises.

He knows masons, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, truckers, blacksmiths, and the rest. Mostly all these artisans are from the same village. We are very happy to support the local community by employing its people in this hard economic times.

End of a Tree

‘Albizzia Falcata’ trees were planted for shade in tea estates. Our land being part of former ‘Mount Pleasant Tea Estate” we inherited a big Albizzia tree. It grows very fast about 10 meters in first two years!

Our original intention was to spare the tree and build around it. However, listening to good advice we decided to remove the tree.

It was no easy task. An excavator, chain saw, and several people with axes, mamoties, and crowbars took four days to fell the tree and remove the root! We also had Ceylon Electricity Board turn off power to the village and lower the power lines to the ground!

We were contemplating how to clean the debris after the trunk is taken to the saw mill. However, it became no big deal. Villagers came in droves as branches kept falling and collected even the tiny twigs for firewood. No money exchanged hands!

We are still left with the root which is 15 feet long and 20 feet in circumference! We hope people will come with axes and chop it for firewood as it dries.

Right of way

In our 25 year absence, people in the villages in Hanthana and workers of Amaya Hills Hotel ( four-star hotel built 15 years ago) have developed a short cut through our land. This takes them only 150 feet instead of 750 feet along the paved road.

Instead of closing the short cut as many suggested we improved it! We built a masonry stairway along one edge of the land at our cost so people have a still shorter and much safer path. Renuka is planning to have flowers along the stairway soon!

Our stairway became very popular very soon. Many people thanked us for the good deed. Hundreds use it on a daily basis, some times we hear music being played too!

Legends of Bahirava

Bahiravas are also semi-evil spirits guarding hidden treasures in our folk lore. A king would place his treasures in a deep pit dug in the ground and take a trusted servant, shows him the treasure and asks him if he would like to have it. When he says ‘yes’ king slashes his head! The servant who died with greed for the treasure would be reborn as a Bahirava and guards it till eternity!

Records of these treasures, their locations, contents and offerings needed to recover them are kept in ola-leaf books. Sometimes the offerings include human sacrifices to Bahirava! Biggest treasures require a sacrifice of ‘triple-first male’. First-born male child of a first-born male of a first-born male. A very rare child, but such were tightly guarded by parents for good reason!

Bhirava Puja

Bahirava is the deity looking after earth. He does not like people digging into earth because it hurts him! An homage to Bairava is done before beginning any major construction project and it is expected to prevent accidents in the construction site.

In late seventies I was the engineer in charge of a large project. Rodney, one of our workers, was fatally injured in a site accident. We closed the site for a few days. I returned to the site to reopen hoping to find a demoralized crew. My foreman told me that crew is relived that Bairava took Rodney hence they were spared, tacitly blaming me for not performing a Bairava Puja.

Having learned the lesson the hardest way, we gladly took part in Bihirava puja. It is a short ritual conducted after 10 in the night when Bahirava wakes up to look for diggers. Food was offered, incense was lighted and a manthra was chanted. All this under a starlit sky was kind of eerie!

Astrology and house building

Astrologer reads the horoscopes both spouses of the household and recommends auspicious times for breaking ground and laying the foundation stone! This is a must even for nonbelievers because the workers are all firm believers and they would blame any mishaps to our not following the tradition!

Braking ground and laying the foundation stone were done at auspicious times so everyone is happy! Here Renuka is holding a clay pot containing seven grains and other items that are buried with the foundation stone to bring good luck and prosperity.

House with a view

I bought a plot of land in 1982 on the slopes of Hanthana range overlooking Gannoruwa valley with the hope of building a house upon my return from US after completing the Ph.D. We did come back not as planned in five years but after 25 years. We started making plans for building a house soon as we got settled down. It will still be a house with a view.

Land prices have gone up about 150 fold in the 27 years. In relative terms a university teachers monthly salary would have bought three perches (a perch is 270 sft) in 1982 while it takes 3 months salary now to buy just one perch! It was a good investment!

The site has an elevation of 2300 ft above MSL, which is 800 feet above the city of Kandy. The exact bearings for Google Earth is 7-15'30.08" N and 80-37'04.20" E.

Peace at Last!

It is difficult to believe that the 30 year war is over and peace has dawned. Families now travel together not concerned about the random acts of violence. They are no longer worried about whether spouse who went to work or the child who went to school in the morning will get home in the evening. National parks and tourist hotels are at capacity, mostly with locals using the new found freedom to fullest.

Grapes, onions and tobacco harvests from Jaffna now reach Colombo after opening of highway artery A9 after a decade. Goods from the South also get to consumers in the North. Farmers and consumers in the whole country are benefited.

What is most surprising is that not one terrorist activity was recorded since the wholesale elimination of the top leadership of the terrorist group in May. This may be a lesson for other countries fighting ruthless terrorist groups!

Kandy Perahera - Elephants, dancers and chiefs!

Kandy city becomes alive for one week every August for its crowning event, Esala (August) Perahera. We joined the multitude to watch it on the last day that falls on Full Moon day of August, when this centuries old pageant reaches its peak.

True to its tradition it has not changed much since D.H Lawrence witnessed in 1922 and wrote “It was night and flaming torches of coconut blazing, and the great elephants in their trappings, about a hundred and the dancers with tom-toms and bagpipes, and half naked and jeweled, and then the Kandyan chiefs in their costumes, and more dancers and more elephants and more chiefs, and more dancers, so wild and strange and perfectly fascinating, heaving along by the flames of torches in the hot, still, starry night…. It was wonderful and gorgeous….”

This time there were 80 elephants, some dancing!

A New Era

We are glued to TV sets last few days watching for updates from what used to be the war front. Hopefully this is the end of a book rather than just a chapter. We are disappointed at the response from some western countries that keep tying to force another ceasefire. This may be a rare case where military can offer at least a beginning of a lasting solution to a problem that lasted generations.

What has unfolded is an immense human tragedy but we expect it to be mitigated soon. I remember the prediction of calamity in Sri Lanka after Tsunami that did not happen. The recovery of Sri Lanka after Tsunami was swift even compared to Louisiana after Katrina. Hopefully, we can repeat the same performance.

We are thinking of sponsoring an orphaned Tamil child and a child of a soldier to help heal the wound of this long conflict.

First 100 days in Sri Lanka

We have just completed 100 very eventful days in our rebirth in Sri Lanka. Something happens every day. A monkey get burnt on electrical wire, a wild boar digs the yard or a cute stray puppy appears at the door step!

I have made slow progress in my work, hoping to offer a new course in May and starting research work. We are settled temporarily in campus quarters and preparing to build a house. This is exciting but progress is slow.

We fondly recall all our friends in Davis, more so at ex-Davis get-togethers. I miss bicycle rides, Home Depot and Frys. Renuka misses her colleagues at Applegate. We both miss ‘Bunni’ the cat and of course the kids!

We were at Koggala beach in the South recently. Hundreds of sea urchins that disappeared from our beaches a while back have reappeared after Tsunami.

Renunciation

My cousin Gnana gave up her family, lucrative medical practice, and all the wealth to don the saffron robe seven years ago. She is now ‘Bikkhuni Dheera’ but I still keep calling her Gnanakka!

We visited her in April in her small monastery. She was very happy to see us. She seems to be very happy in her monastic life. We were very happy for her.

New Year

Sri Lanka celebrated Sinhalese and Tamil New Year in April with a long stretch of holidays. We spent these days in beach resorts in South and ancient cities in the North. We also fulfilled a tradition by visiting many relatives including my 96 year old uncle in Hingurakgoda. Uncle Martin has not lost his sense of humor or the memories of his adventures. He was very happy to see us for ‘one final time’ but we promised him many more visits.

We took the opportunity for a short visit to the ruins of 12^th century capital Pollonnaruwa with cousin Victor.

Garlanding the trees

It was the month I remember

When the trees were wreathed with coronets of flowers

Bougainvilleas bloomed in the ornamental park

Breathing in the excess of their own flamboyancy

We pushed aside their thorns

Crushed their tissue flowers like broken kites

Against our fingers

We walked on flowers, a yellow carpet

Trod on petals strewn prodigal and wanton

Sat on the river reading Keats

“Ode to Autumn” feeding on the richness

Of those autumnal fruit

Progeny of an alien clime, a lost season

Remembering Peradeniya - Jean Arasanayagam

Garlanding the Trees

It was the month I remember

When the trees were wreathed with coronets of flowers

Bougainvilleas bloomed in the ornamental park

Breathing in the excess of their own flamboyancy

We pushed aside their thorns

Crushed their tissue flowers like broken kites

Against our fingers

We walked on flowers, a yellow carpet

Trod on petals strewn prodigal and wanton

Sat on the river reading Keats

“Ode to Autumn” feeding on the richness

Of those autumnal fruit

Progeny of an alien clime, a lost season

Remembering Peradeniya - Jean Arasanayagam

Cricket

Cricket is the national sport in Sri Lanka and is played at many levels. High school cricket season ends with ‘Big Matches’ between traditional rivals. I attended the big match of my alma mater ‘Ananda-Nalanda’ after missing it for 25 years!

Big batch is a two day event where old class mates meet, recall old nick names, have some beers, enjoy music, and talk about old times. I met many friends that I have not met in decades and renewed contacts. However, we did not see much cricket!

Relic brings rain!

We are four miles from Kandy, the Hill Capital of Sri Lanka. Kandy is home to the Temple of tooth, the depository of the Tooth Relic, the most venerated of Buddha’s relics. It is housed inside side several caskets. Every year this casket is taken around the city in a colorful possession. (www.daladamaligawa.org)

Exposition of the relic sans caskets is a rare event. Among many legends about the tooth relic is that exposition the relic brings rain. The country was experiencing a four month drought when an exposition commenced on 6th of March after a lapse of five years. Rain started falling on the same day! Five days later the rain has not stopped but the drought is long over!

Tea Research Institute

Tea research Institute is where scientists had been conducting research on world famous ‘Ceylon Tea’ from 1925. I am involved in two ongoing research projects, one on tea withering and other on extraction of proteins from refuse tea. I spent two days at TRI starting up a new membrane filtration unit.

TRI is located aptly in a tea plantation at 4,400 ft elevation. The scenery and climate are so refreshing that working there is like a vacation! I am looking into starting another project on development of a more energy efficient tea dryer.

Open Air Theatre

Sarachchandra Theatre at Peradeniya University seats over 2,500. It is the biggest venue for dramas in Sri Lanka. Every year it hosts a drama festival called Wale Sellam (Plays in the Pit). This very popular event was held in Februray this year and we were fortunate to see two events and refresh sweet memories.

‘Charandas’ is a Sinhalese adaptation of an Indian play about a thief who has taken a vow not to lie or to become king. He is a popular thief and gets elected to rule the country but not king. The cast included many Tamil actors!

‘Sudu Redi Hora’ (a local bird) is a political satire about a journalist who meets a tragic end trying to report politics truthfully. It was produced by Jayalath Manorathne, my contemporary at Peradeniya University. It was his fortieth year performing at ‘Wale Sellam’!

Philanthropist friend

Mahi was in our small mechanical engineering group at Peradeniya University a long time ago. He went on to become a very successful businessman. We kept in touch. He spent Rs.100 million of his money to build a hospital in his village and donated it to the government on February 16.

‘This is the happiest day in my life’ Mahi said at the handing over ceremony. He compared his donation with the cost of Rs. 65 million of a Mercedes some in the audience drive around and invited them to follow his example! We were happy to share this unique day in his life!

Solar Dryer

Renuka uses our solar dryer in the back yard for drying clothes. This is part of our sustainable living.

University of Peradeniya

University of Peradeniya is the heir to former University of Ceylon, the first university in the country founded in 1942. It is the largest university in the island in terms of area covering about 1700 acres. It is known for its natural beauty and romantic landscape. Longest river of the country Mahaveli flows across the campus. The site touches the lower slopes of the Hantana mountain range which results in a mild climate, with the temperature ranging between 64 and 86 F year round. (http://www.pdn.ac.lk)

The university serves 6,600 undergraduate and 1,200 post-graduate students, mostly from Sri Lanka. The university currently comprises eight colleges, agriculture, humanities, health, dental, medicine, science, engineering and veterinary. I am affiliated with the Post Graduate Institute of Agriculture, PGIA, one of six centers of post-graduate studies. (http://www.pgia.ac.lk)

Moving day

We hired a lorry (truck) to transport some furniture from Divulapitiya to our new place in Peradeniya. The children of the lorry owner and our caretaker got in the lorry for the free ride

On the way near Mavanella the lorry was stopped by traffic police for crossing the double white line. Being curious we (Toyota) also stopped!

House Warming

We moved into the university quarters on Monday, January 19th. It’s a custom to boil some milk when you move into a new place.

We boiled milk and then made “milk rice” using the milk. Finally we ate it with bananas.

Laxapana

Kapila has a tea leaf extrusion project in Laxapana tea plantation factory. We were hosted for tea tea by the superintendent. His 'bungalow' sits on a hill above Maoussakele reservoir and commands magnificent views of the reservoir and Adam's Peak on opposite sides.

Biogas

Prof. Kapila Goonasekere took me to several projects launched by him in tea estates in the hill country. This boigas unit is fed by five dairy cows kept by two families. It can provide energy for cooking three meals for both families! In the picture villagers see the gas being lit for the first time and become believers!

First day in Village School

The village school in Divulapitiya is very competitive. About 900 applicants apply for 164 openings. Last year 80 students out of the 164 passed the government scholarship exam in grade V and entered schools in Colombo and suburbs!

The caretaker of our house was very happy that their child was admitted to grade I in this school. This is his first day!

Cooking

At Divulapitiya we have a fire wood hearth. Renuka made chicken curry the traditional way! Cooking in clay pots is back in style due to the great taste as well as for health reasons. Now there are thin clay pots for use with gas cookers!

Supermarket

We spent the first day at our place in Divulapitiya. Weekly fair of the town was held on the same day. We used the opportunity to do our shopping for the dinner.

Vegetables were very reasonably priced about US$0.20-0.40 per pound.

The vendors were friendly and did not raise the prices even though they knew that we are FOB!