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.