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 PeradeniyaUniversity – 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.
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.
‘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.
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!
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!
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!
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.
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.
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!
We have returned to Sri Lanka after living 25 years in California. I have joined University of Peradeniya as visiting faculty. In this blog we try to keep our friends informed about our new life.
