Gin and Cinnamon

Gin and Cinnamon: A Journey Through Sri Lanka

Posted by Alyssa Noui

“…you don’t reach Serendib by plotting a course for it. You have to set out in good faith for elsewhere and lose your bearings … serendipitously.” John Barth, The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor
Serendip, Serendib, later known as Ceylon, now known as Sri Lanka, has more names than P. Diddy and is full of the mysticism and miracles of an epic adventure novel. A center of the Spice Trade, both real and fictional sailors endured life-changing transformation here. Recently, I took a cue from those sailors and set out to explore this magical land myself — without time to research before leaving, I hadn’t the slightest idea of what lay ahead of me. Save for the faint idea that Sri Lankan cuisine may be an extension of South Indian, I set off with my beloved to discover where centuries of mystery and inspiration came from.

Save for the faint idea that Sri Lankan cuisine may be an extension of South Indian, I set off with my beloved to discover where centuries of mystery and inspiration came from.

Let it be known that Sri Lanka is in fact, not India, nor an extension. The majority population proudly call themselves Sinhala and are Buddhist. Tamil Hindus make up the next largest group. Though these two groups stem from India, they have each forged their own identity and cuisine. Muslim Arabs, British, Dutch, Portugese Burghurs, and Malay immigrants also contribute to a colorful population with many delicious influences. Spicy lamb, milky tea, meatballs, and sweet and sour noodles can be found on menus alongside a traditional dish like rice and curry, or curry and rice. With so much diversity on an island the size of West Virginia, Sri Lanka  might possibly be the last undiscovered cuisine of Asia.From LA via Dubai, I arrived in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s magnificent coastal capital. Conflicted by wanting to hit the ground running and internalizing how much a 40-hour plane journey considerably shakes up your cells, I strained to find some middle ground between enthusiasm and eyeball-puckering jet lag. The 1980s guide books in my possession were written by old school Brits, who recommend a strong gin cocktail upon arrival. I normally abhor gin; juniper being a forest treasure I only enjoy in a pot of braised game meat. However, in a humid country at a gorgeous colonial hotel like Mt. Lavinia, the allure of a gimlet quickly presented itself. I sipped the earthy herbal cocktail with alkalizing, juicy lime and felt better immediately. As if my tastebuds blossomed, having relished something I usually scoff at, I felt an awareness that I was about to experience an awakening of flavor.

Getting my gimlet on at the Mt. Lavinia hotel.

The Galle Face, like many of Colombo’s hotels, boasts a large selection of traditional curries, sambols (chili-based condiments), fresh fruit, and juices. Egg hoppers — fermented batter thinly crisped on a hot skillet, similar to South Indian dosa — are particularly Sri Lankan, and made in a special bowl-shaped skillet that allows for their distinct shape. String hoppers, on the other hand, are made from dough pushed through an extruder. The 50 or so squarish holes in the extruder make long noodles that are then swirled around on an oiled mesh palm disk to form a pile, then steamed. Most of my favorite foods are in form of an egg nested in greens or starch, so my first instinct was to grab an egg hopper and scoop up curries and sambols with it.

Breakfast at Galle Face Hotel

Curries are stewed in wildly aromatic coconut milk, which keeps better in tropical weather than animal milk and is still made fresh everyday.  What makes the Sri Lankan curry unique is that they use less cumin, more fennel seed, and they roast each ingredient until almost black — similar to a Oaxacan mole negro preparation, giving a smokier flavor. Sri Lanka’s curries stand apart from nearby India’s, where instead of fresh cilantro’s brightness, woodsy curry leaves are used more often than not for principal flavoring. Like all the curries throughout Asia, the fusion of  influences, adjustment of piquancy to reflect cultural taste and garnishing with native essences allowed each country to exhibit their own distinct flavors developed throughout centuries.

True cinnamon, an ingredient in curry and native to Sri Lanka, is unlike anything I have experienced. The holiday staple cinnamon stick we consume here in North America is a toxic corky inner bark of the Cassia tree that contains high levels of a toxic component called coumarin. Coumarin damages the liver and kidneys in high levels while true Ceylon cinnamon contains negligible amounts. Unlike the aggressive and astringent cassia, true cinnamon is a soft bark with subtle vanilla notes. Only in a small area of Chiapas, Mexico can we find cinnamon of a similar quality, whose flavor we associate with Mexican Chocolate.

A 10 minute walk inland from the coast of Colombo is Pettah, the largest outdoor market in Sri Lanka studded with golden mosques and Hindu temples.  It was a bit late in the day and anything edible from a stall was closed up, save for gigantic piles of vegetables and carts of peanuts wrapped in banana leaf. After working up quite an appetite scouting locations for my fiance’s music video, we were lured into an eatery decked out with cell phone company decals and a sign of a pixelated European chef kissing his fingertips. A cramped 12-seat eating area awaited us with piles of  ”Short Eats” — basically fried and stewed snacks tossed into a basket and served with sambol. I pointed to a Maldive fish patty sandwich, samosas, and Chinese rolls. The roll is a pancake made of flour and water stuffed with potatoes, spices, and/or meat, then dipped in breadcrumbs and fried. The stuffing is a versatile mixture used in other Short Eats like patties, roti wraps, and samosas. Because of the different exteriors: gritty, crunchy Chinese roll, flaky samosa, crisp doughy roti, you don’t feel like you’re eating the same thing though the inside flavor is the same. My snacking partner and I dipped and munched our way through the pile of fried goodness. I stared quizzically at a can in the middle of the tables filled with sheets of newspaper and telephone books until locals exposed their purpose: They were napkins, and quite efficient at absorbing grease. We came in hungry and left ten minutes later, grease-free with full tummies and and appreciation for this culture that doesn’t share America’s fragmented view of food as breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Short Eats in Pettah

During our guerilla music video shoot at the farmers’ market, the psychedelic buses that bring in the lovely produce from the province served as our background and all the locals amassed to watch, playfully tossing toys and fruit to my fiancé while performing. One man showed me his spice stand where I purchased the famed curry powder, made of maple-scented fenugreek, tumeric, black pepper, and cinnamon. Soon after, we followed him to the wholesale market up the road, where 50-75 sacks of extra-terrestrial looking tubers, edible flowers, and gnarled gourds were being sold to restaurants. The market was a fine display of Sri Lanka’s tropical agriculture.

To market, to market to buy a thousand eggplants.

Finally we ended at the banana market, where men carried one or 2 two gigantic banana bunches at a time. The bunches were almost as tall as they were and significantly wider than their thin frames. I was amazed at their strength. We were introduced to the manager of the market, who rolled us a joint under the watchful gaze of a framed portrait of his father. “In Sri Lanka, fifty kinds of banana can grow in any one yard at any time,” he said expertly, sealing the joint up. The other men smiled proudly in confirmation. Poor as they were, their country seemed to provide a lot to smile about and be proud of. I was able to sample three types of banana: one sweet, one sour, and one super creamy variety. Unlike the monocropped sugar sticks sold in America, one can find the more complex specimens like the apple banana, containing a crunchier bright taste with a smooth and creamy finish. Eating a banana in the tropics is a gift, it is a supernatural experience that lifts the spirits and lives within the mind and body long after the initial taste.

Our homies from the banana market.

Two hours south of Colombo is Beruwela, a beach town with many spa resorts keeping tradition with the ancient, local medicine, Ayurveda. I had the unique pleasure of staying at an Ayurvedic retreat, The Barberyn Reef Resort, where guests are  treated to a program of massage, herbs, special diet, and acupuncture treatments to harmonize governing elements in the body, such as air, fire, and water. As perceived in most Eastern Medicine, certain foods exhibit medicinal properties, creating hot, cold, damp, and dry effects on the body. Chef Dhammika da Silva, one of Sri Lanka’s best known chefs, graciously allowed me into his kitchen at the resort. He explained how Sri Lankan food is innately Ayurvedic, and its ingredients can synergistically work together in dishes like mung bean curry and stewed lentils to harmonize and maintain health in the body. Anti-microbial garlic and spices, high-protein pulses, along with energizing rice and vegetables keep banana farmers, surfers, and health nuts alike strong and vibrant. Seeing food as medicine in practice validates a natural health nerd like myself who tries to use the kitchen as doctor’s office and beauty salon, as well as feeding station. Aside from the fully loaded buffets, da Silva’s plated dinners were beautiful and well-portioned; full of vitality and flavor to soothe the cleansing process as well as the palate.

Chef da Silva's perfectly portioned and beautifully balanced entree at The Barberyn Reef.

A one hour plane ride up to Jaffna in the North of Sri Lanka shows a whole new side of the island. The frenetic Hindu culture of the North is a sharp contrast to the laid-back Buddhist Colombo. After a civil war kept Jaffna isolated for 30 years, its recent reopening exposed a fresh market of undeveloped tourism. My mission was to find food spicy enough to make my eyeballs sweat and I was hoping to find it in an untainted area like Jaffna. A kindly, betel nut chewing, alcoholic Canadian Tami at a local beach swooped us up and took us to his cousin’s house where the matriarch graciously served us squid stuffed with chili, onion, and tentacles simmered in its own ink, red rice and fried fish with spicy curry, and sambol. I had only had squid ink as Mediterranean nero di seppia, tossed with gnoochi or spaghetti. Its astringent oceany taste is one of my favorite flavors; trying it Sri Lankan homestyle, bought right out of the water, with Jaffna’s unique curry blend inspired new ideas in approaching this tasty creature.

Observing the technique in Jaffna.

I think I got this.

We sat down with a bottle of palm whisky, shared stories and ate with our hands.  It’s a very unattractive process: all five fingers knuckle-deep mashing rice and curry into a ball, scooping the soaked mass with 4 fingers then finally the thumb popping it all into a wide-open mouth. When human hands touch food, flavors are massaged together, opening up dimensions of enjoyment no fork could achieve. We relished handful after handful, eyes and noses running from the spiciness until we were about to explode. Then thank yous, hugs, and pictures were exchanged, followed by a stroll down the road for sweet Ceylon ginger tea on our host’s auntie’s porch. She and her friends were dressed in elegant saris as chickens pecked around for crumbs and bugs. I silently shouted my gratitude to the Universe as I marveled at the whole experience: a chance encounter with outrageously generous people, mind-bending food, engaging with a culture in the process of reinventing itself. Colombo and Jaffna are worlds apart in energy, language, and flavor. Though neither is superior, Jaffna’s homemade fare, especially in the spontaneous manner in which it was received, fulfilled my wishes for adventure by plate. Sri Lanka is a country that begs to be discovered without pretense, where surprises lie in the kind hearts of its people, ancient traditions, and banana leaf packets.

Author: Alyssa Noui Alyssa Noui, the product of parents from Algeria and Japan, is an inventive home chef and Poor Taste's Eating In Editor. She's donned aprons at ice cream parlors, soup kitchens, “just-because” dinner parties, and as an after-school cooking instructor. From an early age she cultivated an appreciation for handmade quality, close contact with food growers, and intuition in place of measuring cups. Inspiration from her travels across America and the globe helped develop a home-cooking style that blends rustic and exotic flavors — she rarely serves the same dish twice. She learned to treat ingredients as though they were her kids by wiping off any dirt and learning through play. When experiments go awry, there are always kosher mini marshmallows. Her last meal would consist of single malt (make it a double) Scotch, Ethiopian steak tartare, and green figs. Follow her on Twitter @suppingood

First Day in Paradise

First Day in ‘Paradise’

Written by Dr. Harold Gunatillake

This article is appropriate to be read by those expatriates the world over, aspiring and dreaming to return to their motherland, at least on a trial basis, to give it a go, thinking of those cherished by-gone memories, most of us experienced in our youth and after.

This article may be perused by those happily settled in other countries, never to return types, but they will be wasting their precious time in reading this article, as inevitably will make wrong prejudiced impressions, perhaps due to   some bitter feelings of some  past episodes.

This article may not be beneficial for those intending to visit ‘The Paradise’ on a holiday, as they would return over-fed, enjoying the extravagant hospitalities of well-wishes, friends and relatives, over-feeding with the traditional unhealthy starchy food, such as fried rice, pittus, indiappans, godhas, Nasi Goreng, and among others, not tasted perhaps since they left the ‘sinking ship’, in the sixties.

One would hear the holiday-makers say, “We had a ball, enjoyed thoroughly meeting old friends, relations, and found people being so friendly”.

Those respective lavish hosts would not have indicated the struggle they go through, battling so hard to make ends meet, in this so called ‘paradise Isle’.

You need to live in the country to feel the impulse of the people, assess the cost of living, the merits and hardships of daily living, and whether  compatible with your lifestyle, if you wish to plan in the future to settle in the paradise for an easy going lifestyle. Having a ball on a package tour does not give any impressions of the local conditions when it comes to the ‘nitty gritty’ of survival.

Then, there are the 5 star hotel types holidaying on package tours, spending their time in air-conditioned environments, relaxing in beech hotels, sightseeing the ruins, and invariable a trip to Yala to see the wild elephants and the spotted tigers. They return home quite satisfied with their sojourn, praising the paradise to the hilt, and contemplating on the next tour to the island.

We enplaned in Sydney airport at 4.10pm on a Friday and reached Singapore after 8 flying hours. At the customer counter in Kingsford Smith airport in Sydney, we were told that there was no QF 31 flight scheduled on that day, our itinerated flight, and another plane had been substituted – QF 1, and we were told that our names may not be listed on that plane. That lovely lady in well clad uniform gave us the fright of Moses before even we began our destination. She mumbled so, and fortunately was having been confirmed on this new flight. This is when you thank the Lord, if you believe in him.

I must say that the QF flight was very comfortable with no bad experiences, and parts of the plane never fell off, as did happen on this airline in the recent past. We were transit in Changi Airport for two hours, and then got into EK 349, the worst flight I have got into in my life. The explanation is simple.

Most airlines schedule the oldest ramshackle little planes on flights to Colombo, from or to Kuala Lumpur, or Bangkok, Singapore and Hong Kong. The services on these flights are presumably substandard, may be that would be the way third world countries are treated. From those respective cities mentioned the international flights to first world countries are of a different efficiency plus, plus, class.

We landed in Katunayaka Airport at 2am. You always get the impression that ‘Bandaranaike airport’ is the most congenial and convenient, well planned airport out of most airports you visit. There is no rush at this airport; everybody walks at his own slow speed, and the distances to walk is just approximately 200 yards and no further to the first Immigration check point .One could hear the soft Sinhala music in your tired ears as you walks through and the ambience with dim lights is pleasing. You look around; any staff member on duty, doing seems to be nothing, will offer you a welcome smile. Even, the odd soldier seen in uniform smiles and welcomes you.

Immigration boys in white uniform give the visitor a welcome smile even during those early tiring hours and the paper work is done quickly to exit fast, and the loud sound emanating from the stamping of your passport makes you feel that the worst barrier is over.

At the custom barrier, if you are the dual type, the officers don't even bother to look at you, even though you may be carrying loads of dutiable and other goods.

One thing that bothers me is that you walk through the liquor section to exit to your baggage collection, reflecting a wrong impression among the religious sort of people, mainly being a Buddhist country where Lord Buddha encouraged people to abstain from alcohol, whenever possible. I wonder what goes through the minds of the Buddhist clergy when they pass through this ‘alcohol not free zone’. My wife even with the tiring, long journey through space becomes so active in purchasing ad lib quota of alcohol, even though she is a TT, no other airport will permit.

Returning to your destination home from the airport is well organised for you, if you do not have private transport, even during early sleepy hours of the morning.

For your  comfort at the first stall on your right as you enter the public visitors area, you could book your air-conditioned van or any other mode of transport just for Rs. 3,000.00 (Au $ 25) to the city and other outstations, may be a bit more.

You would notice the calmness and the few vehicles on Negombo/ Colombo road at this hour. Police do an excellent job by nabbing the reckless drivers and other shady characters.

You reach home or your apartment about 4 o’clock in the morning, and make attempt to get some sleep till sun-rise.

The heat is unbearable, after being used to the colder and less humid climates in Australia.

We get up in the morning, drowsy and exhausted like a drunkard due to lack of sleep, and then the first day in Paradise begins.

Living in Wellawatte is an advantage, driving down to Colpetty on Marine Drive takes less than 10 minutes. Our favourite super-market is at Cresscat. First hour parking is free, and you purchase all the provisions that are required to last at least two weeks. This includes most of the imported foods you enjoy in Australia, a few cans of local beer, and a full smaller size trolley load will cost you Rs.8,000.00 (Au. $ 70). This is when you begin to appreciate the value of the Aussie dollar (Rs 130.00 B.R.), in the paradise, as no way you could purchase a trolley load of provisions, not even half a load down under for that bill.

After relaxing with a refreshing cup of tea, you drive to the fish market. Again, we are lucky in Wellawatte, as there is an excellent fish market in front of Roxy Cinema, nearing the Dehiwala Bridge.

Our bill on the purchases was as follows:

Large prawns 1.02 k.              Rs. 800.00

Seer head        1.11 k.              Rs.357.76

Paraw             0.626k                Rs.569.00

Seer fish-sliced 1.02 k           Rs.1,418.64

Seer fish cut cubes 1.062    Rs. 1,465.56

Total amount                       Rs. 4627.62 (Aus $ 40)

Then, we went the same evening to Wellawatte New Market to purchase more fresh vegetables. The market has been opened a few months back costing the government Rs 40 million. The market is in the ground floor. Vehicular parking is on 4 levels, charges Rs 40 per hour, parking fees.

The market is clean, specious, no flies, and stray dogs. The ceiling is very high, quite cool inside, with fans working full blast, and the sea breeze keeping the premises cool even on one of the hottest days we visited.

The whole lot of vegetables seen in the picture were purchased for Rs. 700.00, equivalent to about six Aus. Dollars. Sri Lankan grown vegetables are much smaller than the ones available in Australian markets. Also the Sri Lankan vegetables seem to be more organic, as less fertilizer is used in the plots.

Thus ends our first day in Paradise, quite exhausted.

True Grit

Sunday Times Apr 15 2012

Afood outlet in the form of a small cart - operating at the Kibulawela junction - has become very popular, with a clientele ranging from ministers, to actors, to large numbers of ordinary folk.

Gunarathna started out selling only chick peas and vadai out of a small cart.

W.D. Gunarathna, the owner of the mobile outlet is a father of two who commenced his business 15 years ago, preparing and selling items like chick peas and vadai.

Today his business has expanded and while his wife prepares the food, he has hired a boy to assist him. The menu now includes a variety of other short eats as well.

"We are open for business from around 8.00 a.m. as some of our customers arrive early. We must be ready to serve them" he said

The food prepared at his home is brought to the outlet in a 3-wheeler.

Business has been profitable and Gunarathna has now bought a piece of land and plans to expand his business.

"We work almost everyday", said Gunarathna. "Business is brisk on Poya days as most other outlets are closed, but when it rains however, there is a drop in business," he said.

Dr Stella Moves On

Sunday Times Apr 15, 2012

Dr. Stella de Silva, one of Sri Lanka’s best known paediatricians, passed away at her residence on Thursday (April 12). She was 93.

Dr. Stella de Silva

Born in Balapitiya, she had her early education at Prajapathi Vidyalaya, Ambalangoda and Southlands College, Galle and then in an unusual arrangement between the Principal of Southlands and Richmond College, she was admitted to the exclusive boys school because Southlands did not have science facilities at the time.

Despite parental objections at the time for a girl to do further studies in a university, Stella was encouraged by her well known elder brother, C.P. de Silva who was later to become a powerful Cabinet Minister.

She entered the Medical College at the age of only 17. Her academic prowess earned her a scholarship and exemption from the one-year pre-medical course, which was part of the six year medical degree studies.

Graduating in 1942, Stella worked as a House Officer in Galle and Avissawella hospitals and then started a 7-year clinical training at the University of Colombo’s teaching hospitals. She was greatly inspired by the country’s first trained paediatrician, Dr. L.O. Abeyratne, who later called her his “best pupil ever” when her portrait was unveiled at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital.

Following a post-graduate training course in Britain, Stella served for as long as six decades as a muchsought-after paediatrician in Sri Lanka. In the meantime, she breezed through her examinations and was the first woman from all of South and South East Asia to obtain the double MRCP (London and Edinburgh). From 1959 she served as Consultant Paediatrician at th Lady Ridgeway Childrens’ Hospital and the Castle Street and De Soysa Maternity Hospitals. Following a stint at the world renown Babies’ Hospital in New York she returned to Lady Ridgeway as a Senior Paediatrician and Consultant before she retired from Government Service in 1973 at the age of 55.

She has been a President of the Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians, President of the Sri Lanka College of Paediatrics, President of the Sri Lanka Medical Association, President of the Sri Lanka Medical Library and Editor, Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health.

In 1985, at the age of 67 she accepted the post of Professor and Head of Paediatrics, North Colombo Medical College and it was only in 2003 that she retired from active practice.

In later years, she became an active member of the Zonta Club and engaged in activities connected with children’s and mother’s health from the Mahaweli zones to tsunami victims.

Dr. Stella de Silva was conferred the national honour Vidya Jothi in 1994 for her outstanding contribution to science and medicine.

Her funeral takes place today. (Apr 15 2012)

Winston Jayawardene 1939-1982

Winston: Guitar virtuoso and musician 

by B. Chandra Perera 

Winston Jayawardena playing the classic guitar 

The Sri Lankan classic guitar virtuoso and musician who transformed himself into a greatly valued Technical Systems Consultant of the Wells Fargo Bank in the United States of America, passed away on 13 July, 1982 at the height of a brilliant career in both Electronic Data Processing (EDP) and music. Talent was brimful in him - an old Peterite and later of the Colombo University. 

He was Bernard Winston Perera Jayawardena, 43, the eldest son of the late B.W. and Srimathie Perera Jayawardena. 

Winston's early musical training was in the able hands of his mother and father who tutored him on the piano and violin and sponsored him for music examinations of the Royal College of Music, London. 

Winston's debut in the music world was as a young vocalist when he sang for a commercial recording of his Mother's Music at the age of 9. The record was produced under the "Odeon" label in 1947 and featured the baila "Gama Bata Liye". 

From then on Winston was involved in a multiplicity of musical achievement in school, with his brother Irwin and his parents, both on radio and stage. 

Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) saw the emergence of Winston with the "Harmony Hawaiians" "The Queen Creoles Skiffle" and "Rock Group" 'The Avalons" as well as with the many varied musical activities of his parents. 

Winston's interest in the "Classic Guitar" commenced in 1953 after a chance hearing of an old 78 r.p.m. record of Andres Segovia performing Turina's "Fandanguillo" and Tarrega's "Tremolo Study". 

Once the idea to learn the classic guitar was born, Winston lost no time in mastering it's techniques. Winston was the founder of the Sri Lanka Classic guitar Society which was formed in 1967. 

Winston scarified his educational career in physical science at the University of Ceylon, Colombo to continue his self-studies in the "Theory of Music" "Form in Music", Orchestration, Composition, etc. 

Due to the absence of facilities in Ceylon, Winston studied for the examinations in these fields with the English Schools of Music. He was the first successful Diploma Holder in the South East Asia region, for Theory of Music Classic Guitar Examinations conducted by the Trinity College of Music, London. 

Acting 

Winston's talents also crept into the sphere of acting. He took part in many operettas and theatrical works both at school and with professional drama organizations. Winston the musician composer, singer and actor has given many performances which have always been acclaimed by Ceylonese audiences. 

During a professional visit to Ceylon in 1962 Mr. Peter Cooper, Examiner, Trinity College of Music, London studied the musical works of Winston, which included a Concestto for Piano. 

In recommending the admission of Winston to a German Conservatoire he wrote ..... "I have pleasure in recommending the work of Winston Jayawardena. He has shown great initiative in teaching himself Harmony, Counter Point and Music Theory upto L. (Mus) T.C.L. Standard. His compositions show an alert mind. 

However, Winston did not proceed to Germany due to his marriage to Trinette Charmaine Salgadoe of Kalutara. (ex Broadcast Announcer, then, Radio Ceylon). 

Winston's musical activities continued unabated as he pressed on with more and more demanding roles. As the Musical Director of Harmonics Limited Winston provided a great source of encouragement, assistance, guidance and teaching to numerous musical groups and individuals making their debuts in the musical world. He has also sponsored students for examinations with the Trinity College of Music, London. 

Winston was a Grade "A' artist at the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) performing both on channels One and Two. 

The then additional Director (Commercial Broadcasting) Livy Wijemanne said, "While I am grateful to you for your intention to dedicate the Trio to me, I would prefer if you would dedicate this composition to the Commercial Service as a whole, as it would enhance the prestige of the Service of which I am proud to be the Head. Winston was pleased to oblige. 

Multi-culture 

In a complex multicultural environment working with many talented and highly individualistic musicians, Winston was able to inspire and win confidence with his candid professionalism. 

His pleasant personality and shy and pleasing mannerisms have won him many friends who have been teaming with him in presenting to Ceylonese musical audiences a variety of musical extravaganzas. 

Winston was generous in imparting his knowledge and expertise in the areas of music theory and the techniques of the classic guitar. The many students who have worked with him have gained valuable knowledge. His contributions to further musical activities in Sri Lanka are outstanding. 

During his long musical career Winston made many public appearances in a variety of roles, viz. as a guest artist in variety entertainments, as jazz guitarist in jazz festivals, as an accompanist to local and foreign singers, as a musical director in plays and musical works, as a member of a musical group of orchestra, as a Spanish guitarist in Spanish and Latin - American musical sequences etc. 

Winston also made several guitar recitals performing major solo musical works for the classic guitar as well as musical works for guitar and orchestra. 

Winston also directed music for commercial recordings and formed small and large orchestras in schools etc. He left Sri Lanka in February 1975 to migrate to California. His last recital in Colombo was at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute on 24th February, 1975. 

In San Francisco, California, Winston joined the Data Processing Division of the Wells Fargo Bank to work on their International Systems Operational on the computer networks of the bank. 

Winston who taught himself EDP and who had limited practical experience with computers in Sri Lanka, taught Data Processing at a professional level. 

He was quick to master the techniques of the facilities available at the bank. 

He, as the Senor Systems Consultant of the bank travelled widely in the States to branch computer centres to advise and correct flaws in the banking computer network. 

His work as a Senior Systems Programmer and consultant had been invaluable and highly recognized and acclaimed by his colleagues and the bank. His loss has left a void which is difficult to fill. 

Winston did not restrict his activities to computing in California. He formed the San Francisco Classic Guitar Society and continued with the activities of furthering the guitar in San Francisco. 

He was also an active member of the "Music makers of San Francisco". This musical organization carried out activities to foster, encourage and further musical activities in San Francisco. 

Winston's participation and activities are being greatly missed by the members of this organization. 

Winston's last recital in San Francisco was on 27th March 1982 when the San Francisco Classic Guitar Society presented Dorothea Schmidt & Winston Jayawardene in concert on piano and guitar. 

Winston was also an active member of the MENSA Organization. (An organization of people with very high intelligence quotients IQs). 

Winston has left behind his wife Trinette Charmaine and his two sons Bernard Johana and Bernard Mario.

 ·  ·  · February 6, 201

The Good Old Days by JB Muller

The Good Old Days -Anglophiles, Eurocentric arrogance and Reality by J. B. Müller (This dissertation is written from almost 50 year’s of on-the-job experience in the print and electronic media and from first-hand knowledge of people and events and from careful, objective research. It is written to illuminate a ‘grey-area’ that is often obscured or concealed. As a human being my aim is that the Truth be told with no holds barred and so that the oppressed, the marginalized, and the discriminated-against could come out of the shadows. That can only happen if we change our warped attitudes and acknowledge that great wrongs have been done to harmless people because of various evil motives.) After 62 year’s of independence we still have in our midst persons who not only admire but who also hunger for colonial rule by Britain. These individuals, men and women, look at the past through rose-tinted spectacles and pine for the ‘good old days’ when decisions were made in Whitehall. Astonishingly, they sincerely believe that the British had a divine right to rule this country for its own good. They are fond of pointing to the roads and railways, the post and telegraph services and the administrative infrastructure as some noteworthy sections of the Colonial legacy bequeathed us by the British. Their naïve beliefs fly in the face of this country’s modern history because they do not go beyond the surface veneer. Their near-fanatical admiration for the Anglo-Saxon ‘Way-of-Life’ is strongly influenced by legend, mythology, and fallacious beliefs that were wrapped around colonial empire-building by such people as Rudyard Kipling and latterly, Winston Churchill. One of the predominant driving forces behind colonial expansion from the beginnings of the 16th century was Eurocentric Racism. Europeans strongly believed that they were a ‘Chosen People’ superior to the rest of Mankind. The holdovers of this sickening legacy are still with us in the form of some of those of mixed parentage and those anglicized natives who think they were born here accidentally. I actually knew one such warped individual, scion of a Kandyan family who lived at the ‘British’ Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Institute. He lived here because the name of the place had the word ‘British’ in it. He used to meet me at breakfast, sharp 7:30 AM. He used to imperiously summon the white-clad waiter by calling-out ‘Boy, bring me my breakfast.’ That was bacon and eggs (sunnysides up) with toast and marmalade washed down by a cup of English Breakfast Tea! He read only "The Times" from London (about five days old!) and disdained all local newspapers stating that they were only good enough to clean windows or for use in the toilet! Of course, he was a ‘High’ Church Anglican who attended St. Michael & All Angels in Kollupitiya and, occasionally, St. Peter’s Garrison Church in the Fort. Do these people, these anglophiles, really know the sordid history of British rule in this Island? A rule soaked in the blood to those who dared to resist that rule? Have they ever read the extensive correspondence of Sir Robert Brownrigg to General Hay McDowall available in the British Colonial Office, Series 54? Have they read the General Order (one of several documented by the late Prof. Tennekoon Vimalanda) issued in 1818 that stated: "Kill every man, woman and child including the babes suckling at their mother’s breast. Destroy all dwelling houses. Burn all crops. Cut down all fruit trees. Slaughter all cattle; take what meat is necessary to feed the troops and burn the rest. Destroy all reservoirs, canals and channels. Poison the wells. Lay waste utterly the countryside denying any relief whatsoever to the rebels." This Order was carried out, laying waste Uva and Vellassa, a destruction from which it is yet to fully recover. British writers commented that every tree from Ratnapura to Badulla was festooned with the hung bodies of rotting human beings that gave off a revolting stench. The word ‘genocide’ was coined in the 1940s meaning the wiping-out of a people, but if this wasn’t genocide then, what is? Kandyan Sinhalese survivors of this colonial holocaust reported that the East African Askaris (Negro) were encouraged by their British officers to barbecue captives and eat their flesh! To the freedom fighters watching horrified from the edges of the jungle, these weren’t human beings but demons. They fled into the deep fastness of the southeastern jungles and all resistance collapsed. I have talked with the descendants of some of these survivors in hamlets near Kumana and they confirmed this. Their records in Africa, Asia, America and Australia have been extensively documented. They wiped-out or enslaved millions of Africans; they slaughtered millions of Asians; they butchered the Amerindian tribes, and they almost decimated the Australian aborigines. In addition to this bloody record of unbridled carnage, European diseases such as syphilis, smallpox and other communicable diseases destroyed entire populations who did not possess the immunity to resist these new-to-them diseases. They also introduced alcohol and to this day it is as blight amongst indigenous peoples throughout the planet. Even at this moment the Amerindian tribes in South America are being annihilated as precious minerals and oil has been discovered on their ancestral lands. White-owned multi-national corporations are involved in the business of obliterating these indigenous peoples. Those who inhabit Borneo and Papua-New Guinea are also losing their habitats before the inexorable onslaught of giant corporations that either want the tropical hardwood timber or valuable natural resources that lie underground. Millions died as slaves, treated as sub-human beings. It was preached in churches up to recently that the non-European peoples had no salvation because they were Black, Brown, Yellow, or Red. A well-known lady resigned from a Calvinist congregation in Colombo and sought to join another church because the minister preached a sermon in which he stated that biblically, there was no salvation for non-Whites! She was quoted by Riccardo Orizio in his book "Lost White Tribes" (© 2000.) Another mixed-descent Sri Lankan clergyman walked out of a Christian pastoral conference in South Africa when he was barred from entering a ‘Whites Only’ toilet and directed to a    "Coloured’s/Blacks’ toilet. Didn’t these pastors know that Jesus was an Asian, a Jew, and coloured to boot? And, it is also a fact that non-Europeans were not permitted to even enter ‘Whites Only’ clubs throughout Sri Lanka. One such club in Colombo displayed prominently a notice which stated: "Natives and Dogs Not Allowed." It was removed in 1961 on a government directive. Another club at a popular Up-country resort had a rule that said that you had to be dressed in a European suit plus tie or be denied access to the Dining Room. The Club kept several coats of different sizes and ties for patrons who arrived ‘undressed.’!I worked in one such establishment where the waiters addressed all Whites as ‘Master Sir.’ Jesus Himself couldn’t have used a ‘Whites Only’ toilet in South Africa or entered a ‘Whites Only’ club in Sri Lanka. In the region of the Plantation Raj, I came to know a man in his Sixties by the name of Kalu Banda. He had a sinister furrow carved diagonally across his face from above his right eye to below his left ear-lobe. He told me that the road on which we were standing was once a horse-track and the European who owned a tea plantation a few miles away was to ride this way often. He met him one day and failed to remove his turban and bow. For this act of ‘disrespect’ the European struck him across his face with his leather riding quirt, drawing blood and leaving a huge gash which healed slowly. He told me tales of labourers being tied to trees and whipped until their backs were shreds of torn flesh. There was no one to complain to he said. Then, pretty women or girls as young as 12 years from the Labour Lines or the village were ordered to be brought to the bungalow at dusk—properly bathed and with the coconut-oil in their hair washed-out thoroughly. The plantation areas have many bastard children—some with blue eyes and blonde hair—the result of the sexual exploitation the voiceless were subject in the ‘good old days.’ Lorna Wright has documented this in her book: "Just Another Shade of Brown" (© 1976), followed by Dr. Kumari Jayawardenain her "Erasure of the Euro-Asian." (© 2007), andDonovan Moldrich in his "Bitter Berry Bondage." Writing about the indentured labour brought from the Ram Nad district of present-day Tamil Nadu, he wrote: "The trail from Talaimannar to Matale was marked by the whitening bones of thousands of men, women and children who perished on the way from infectious diseases, malnutrition, snake-bite, and attacks by bear, leopard, wild buffalo and elephants. When they arrived at Matale they were auctioned off to different White plantation owners: the man here, the wife there, the children somewhere else. The heartless tearing-up of families went on year after year. That became bitter berry bondage as the coffee estates gave way to tea, all built up on the blood, the sweat, and the heart-rending tears of these wretched people." They were like this for 125 years, from 1823 to 1948 when they were deprived even of their citizenship and became stateless non-citizens. The writings of John Capper, William Knighton, Dr. Henry Marshall, P.D. Millie, C.R. Rigg, William Sabonadiere, Edward Sullivan, and Herbert White, among others add grist to the mill and vividly describe some of the many, varied and unpleasant facets of British rule. Old marriage registers available at the National Archives provide enlightening reading where it is stated in black-and-white: "John Brown* of the 20th Regiment married a native woman." (Name not recorded.) The only redeeming factor was that the issue were no bastards—they were designated ‘half-castes’ and despised by both sides. (*For obvious reasons a pseudonym is used here to illustrate the point being made.) The very reason that the Paynter Home was established by the Indian Christian Mission was to take care of these unacknowledged offspring produced through the unrestrained sexual exploitation of helpless local women. Another home was set-up in Badulla by Methodist missionaries and elsewhere. Sri Lankan publicists had the courage of their convictions to expose the injustices that were perpetrated on the people of this country. Let me quote the well-known social activist Susil Siriwardena here: "Long was the line of those distinguished practitioners, who provided leadership to their institutions, were gurus to the juniors and who contributed to the profession:Tarzie Vittachi, Denzil Peiris, J. L. Fernando, H. E. R. Abeysekera, Donovan Moldrich, Fred de Silva and Victor Gunawardena.Viewed within the setting of the intellectual milieu of the second half of the 20th century, Mervyn de Silva, both the craftsman and the personality, stands out as an exemplar of a meritocratic age, where the values of excellence, quality, disciplined labour, and commitment to professionalism, a multicultural sensitivity and an intuitive grasp of truth, were the norms of those who set out to reach for the stars. It as an age when youth were inspired by idealism, for which independence provided a supplementary value addition. The whole country, Asia, the Tricontinent, and the world itself, provided the intellectual canvas." These highly-respected commentators despised the entire raison d’être of colonial rule and the utter arrogance of Eurocentric racism that drove it forwards and outwards and its latter-day metamorphosis into ‘decolonization.’ This was its new face with its indirect domination through trade, aid, and military alliances that sought to conceal the hidden hands of command and control. When people from this part of the world visit London, Paris, Rome, and other European capitals they are awed into profound silence by the magnificent edifices: The palaces, museums, and monuments to greatness that they see around them. Do they realize that all this exists on the bitter and unrelenting exploitation of man by man? Or the enslavement of innocent peoples? On their labour in the cotton fields of the American South, the coffee plantations of Brazil, the cocoa estates of West Africa, the diamond mines of South Africa, the tobacco fields of Zimbabwe, the tea gardens of Sri Lanka, the rubber estates of Malaysia, the sheep farms of Australia, the sugarcane fields of Mauritius? These are the places where people laboured for a pittance in wages or no wages at all. They laboured on lands that were stolen from the indigenous peoples? They laboured in inhuman conditions so that a few White men in London, Paris, Antwerp, New York or Basel could amass fortunes beyond the dreams of avarice. Then, is there any justification whatsoever that Man (created in the image of God), any man, should enslave another and exploit him to the death? In"Roots" (© 1976) written by Alex Haley we read with feelings too deep even for tears a story of how a man rudely torn from his family in Africa in 1750 ends with this recounting of that odyssey seven generations later. Indeed, for a human being whose mind has been opened by the LORD God to the Truth it is abominable that human beings, brethren all under the Fatherhood of God, could countenance, much less, justify the conduct of those who issued forth from the European continent 500 years ago to despoil the Earth. The insoluble problem of global warming, the depletion of the Earth’s water resources, the pollution of the environment (earth, air, and sea) and a score of other grave problems could all be traced back to these arrogant Eurocentric racists. Their attitudes should not be allowed to influence us in any way or manner. The LORD chose to bring His Word to Mankind through an Asian people, the Israelites and, latterly, their descendants, the Jews. Jesus, the Christ was a Jew, of the House of Judah, born on the Western edge of the Asian continent. The Mediterranean Basin in which His Word was first preached is the Melting Pot of three continents: Asia, Africa, and Europe. The Word of God went to Armenia, Ethiopia and Egypt long before it reached England. The Mar Thoma congregation in Malabar was established during the lifetime of the ApostleThomas whose grave is to be found in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. A Nestorian Christian congregation existed in Anuradhapura and another in Vavuniya in the 4th century of the Common Era, that is, in the 300s. If one blindly follows the blind both will assuredly fall into a ditch. Open your eyes to reality. Only the utterly naïve and those who would be ignorant would want to be anglophiles# and believe that the Anglo-Saxon peoples represent the zenith of civilization; what they actually represent is the nadir of barbarism. This quote which ends my dissertation puts it quite succinctly: "The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact, non-Westerners never do." - Samuel P. Huntington

Colombo in 1947

Sunday Observer Oct 9 2011

Colombo I saw in 1947

[Part 1]

by Bernard W. Dissanayake

My very first visit to Colombo was in April 1947, when I was a teenager and my reminiscence is clear and vivid of the city and places I visited then with my parents.
We came to Colombo by Kelani Valley Train, boarding the train at Kahawatta railway station, the one before Opanayake which was the last station on KV Line. Coming from the remote village of Emetiyagoda in Sabaragamuwa boarding a train to Colombo was indeed a thrilling experience we youngsters looked forward to passing many railway stations travelling all day long.
We reached Maradana our destination in the evening. I well remember climbing the steep stairs and coming out of the station to the road at Maradana which was well lit up and full of traffic with tramcars moving and the street filled with people on the pavement. At Maradana we boarded a bus to Dehiwala where we were to stay at our aunty's house down Fairline Lane.
Following day we visited the Colombo museum where the Holy Relics of Sariputta and Moggallana, the Aggrasavaka of Buddha brought down from India were in exposition for Buddhists to pay homage. The main purpose of the visit to Colombo was to pay homage to these relics.

Museum

The entire museum was gaily decorated and a long line of devotees in waiting, winding its way to worship and pay homage to Sacred Relics.
A group of drummers clad in white with decorative red headgear was humming their drums outside the Relic Chamber on the green. The entire place looked dignified and serene and devotees moving slowly and silently to pay homage. These many hundreds of Bhikkhus coming in a different queue to pay homage.
After worshipping the Relics we visited many halls in the museum where historical objects including the throne of the last King of Kandy were on display. We the younger were awe-struck by the impressive museum, its long corridors and archways in gleaming white. The large lawns outside neatly kept with flower beds made a lasting impression in my mind of beauty and order in a garden as part of a large building.
Getting out of the museum with a deep sigh, father took us to show the Race Course, Royal College and the University at Reid Avenue. We walked down Thurstan Road to Reid Avenue under the shades of giant Mara trees grown on both sides of the road, forming a green canopy over the road.
We saw the massive Race Course, the grand stand and the white railing along the race track. The university building and its centre tower and the play ground in front were very impressive. I remember father showing some students entering the large building and saying if we studied hard we too could study there. We had no idea then what a university was. Later when we saw the red buildings of the Royal College nearby with very large trees in the front garden. I thought university was another college for senior boys.

Ocean

Boarding a bus from Reid Avenue we came to Galle Face Green where I was awe-struck by the vast scene I saw - The vast ocean in front with the green running along the Galle Face Hotel at one end and the Parliament, grey in colour, standing at the other end. We all walked the entire length of the Galle Face ground to the spot called Galle Buck, a rocky spot with a few coconut palms and the sea waves dashing on the rocks to reach the beach. We were let to touch the sea water and walk on the beach. From there we saw many ships in the sea across and the harbour at the distance. We walked up to Chatham Street where we had lunch. The shops along that street were full of people mostly foreign tourists.
After lunch with ice cream as dessert we hit the street again and saw the massive grand Queen's House with two impressive gates with uniformed guards standing motionless armed with guns. We were too scared to get near the impressive gates and look closely. Father explained that they were special police guarding the Queen's House where the Governor resides. We visited the beautiful garden next to Queen's House. It was called Gorden Gardens. There we saw beautiful beds of flowers, roses and many others well laid with pathways to walk on adorning that garden.
It was full of European visitors, some seated on the benches eating bananas and pineapples, under shady trees. They appeared to be enjoying the sun very much as some had large hats in their hands.
Leaving the beautiful Gorden Gardens to them we then visited the Colombo harbour and saw large ships anchored at a distance.
We saw the jetty and the landing pier and few white passengers leaving in boats, some carrying bunches of bananas and pineapples. Father explaining to us that they were European travellers returning to their countries by ship.
There were several sailors all in white uniforms wearing caps and appearing very smart on duty at the pier. Opposite the harbour was the Grand Oriental Hotel (GOH) from where many travellers walked to the pier. We were told that Europeans stayed either in the GOH and boarded the ships to travel to England. While watching them leaving in boats to big ships, I thought to myself that journey across the ocean must be thrilling and wished I too could go on board a ship London bound. My father explained to us while walking back from the harbour, that the sea journey took several weeks and the ship had all the things the passengers required during the long sea voyage. That visit to Colombo harbour made a deep impression on me and kindled a desire to travel across the seas one day.
We returned to Emetiyagoda after a few days and the pictures of Colombo, the buildings, the roads, tram cars, parks, gardens and the harbour and the ships lingered in my mind for months. Father bought us Pilot brand fountain pens and tooth brushes and tooth paste for us to use as utility items in Colombo.
My second visit to Colombo was in 1950 to join a college for studies after junior level education in Dickwella, Matara at Vijitha Vidyalaya. After coming to Colombo during my early youth, I grew up in Colombo and saw the city growing up after independence in 1948, and experiencing many changes within the city's urban environment.
When I came to Colombo I stayed in a private boarding house, down Maligakanda Road, Maradana. The boarding house was close to Vidyodaya Pirivena and was opposite to Cliffton Girls School.

Residential areas

Then the area around Maligakanda was typically a residential area, close to two leading boys schools, Ananda College and Nalanda College. The boarding house had a number of students attending Ananda College including my brother and two graduate teachers of Nalanda College.
I attended Alexandra College, Colombo 7 managed by G. Weeramantrie, the well-known maths teacher of the Royal College. Maligakanda area being close to leading schools had boarding facilities in most private houses. It was a service to outstation students attending Colombo schools as well as a source of supplementary income to those householders who had space to let and willing to provide full-board to a few students.
Those days college teachers wore full dress in white and wore a black tie while most junior students wore navy blue shorts and white shirts and the seniors white long trousers and white short sleeve shirts and girls white frocks.
In the mornings and early afternoons Maligakanda Road, otherwise drab, turned lively with white clad students moving down the road after school on their way home.
wThe girls were orderly though somewhat chatty. The most striking feature was that they were not accompanied by parents or any elders.

Propriety

This was probably due to order and propriety that prevailed then in Colombo. Most students walked to schools by themselves and hardly anyone came in vans or other private vehicles. So did teachers and few came in cars or rickshaws.
The entire length of Maligakanda right up to the water supply reservoir on the hill, was dotted with houses some quaint and others cute with hanging flower pots or window boxes.
Only a few had front yards to grow flowers, but most had neatly kept flower pots at the entry points to the houses. One well kept house down Maligakanda Road was 'Sigiriya'.
It was the house where the late Karunaratne Abeysekara and his brothers, who were students at Nalanda College lived with their parents.
I saw the famous lyricist and radio - broad caster going about along Maligakanda Road.
He was immaculately dressed in white trousers and short sleeve shirt. And he wore a thin moustache.
Opposite the 'House Sigiriya' was the well-known dancer Premakumar's Epitawala's residence. On an ordinary day this road was not congested and one could cross at any point without fear as only a few cars and rickshaws moved up and down.
Evenings were colourful with yellow robed bhikkus in groups, leaving the pirivena after classes to their respective temples. Being close to Vidyodaya Pirivena, there were several bookshops and publishing houses along Maligakanda Road, Maradana.