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It
all happened in Colombo Two writers,
Herbert Hulugalle, a former Editor of the Ceylon Daily News, and
Dr. R.L. Brohier, OBE, have in print recorded many facets of the
History of Colombo, which was once a Moor trading centre and later
a Portuguese and Dutch cittadel. During British times, it was known
as the 'Garden City'. This story is to rekindle the interest of
readers about what life in Colombo once was. The prominent
landmarks that beautify the landscape of Colombo are Slave Island
with the picturesque Beira Lake encircling the human settlement,
and the Galle Face walk ('Green' as it is known today). Moors and
Malays have lived in Slave Island for over 800 years, and also 'Kaffir'
soldiers, brought from Mozambique and the Sudan to serve as soldiers
in the British army. Their imprints are Mosque Lane, Malay Street,
Moor's Passage, Rifle Street and Arab Passage. The Kaffirs who mixed
up with the indegenous population have now moved out to be in Palavi
(near Puttalam) and at Batticaloa. Galle Face
Green (founded by Sir Henry Ward in 1846)), was "dedicated
to the Ladies of Colombo", who gathered there in the evenings
with their babies in prams. The "Kaffirs" who were slaves,
met at Galle Face Green to sing their lively songs. Afghan money
lenders who visited the metropolis during British colonial times,
sat on the green in circles, comparing notes of the clients who
avoided paying interest. In those days, there was no developed banking
system to dole out loans. In that scenario, it was not uncommon
to see a poor underpaid mercantile clerk evade the strong arm of
the Afghan by taking a circuitous route to work, sporting a wig
to cover his bald head and feigning a 'limp'. As seen even
today at London's Hyde Park, soap box orators of the prestigious
YMCA Forum, lectured aloud for or against impending legislation.
They were well received for their eloquence. Using no microphones,
they entertained onlookers who munched gram and drank the sweet
saruwath. The Police band was present on week-ends to play music.
The popular numbers were 'The Donkey's Serenade', 'Daisy-Daisy'
and 'Clementine'. At Kollupitiya, the Church of St. Michael and All Angels was gutted by a major fire. Thereafter, the devout parishioners decided to rebuild this church using granite. Hence it is called the "Gal Palliya". At Deal Place, in a house named "Orwell", there lived a German spy during World War II. He used a powerful transmitter to give valuable information about troop movements and the fortifications around the Colombo Port. Bagatalle Road became infamous when the "White House" murder took place. One Stephen Senewiratne was charged with the murder of his wife. This road also had the Pembroke Academy, the first post matriculation tutory, from which many passed out to enter the then Colombo University College, which conducted London examinations.
A frequent
visitor to homes was the torangal man who carried on his head a
large box full of things such as glass bangles, hair clips, soap,
hankerchieves, toys and perfumes. The Chinaman carried a huge bundle
of cloth (linen) on his back - all imported from distant HongKong.
Another Chinaman too came on a cycle with a box strapped onto his
luggage carrier. The box had the words 'Tasty Noodles', but they
were uncooked! The Colombo
race course attracted thousands on "Governor's Cup" and
"Robert's Cup" days. The race course was converted to
an airfield during the war, from where British "Spitfire"
fighter planes took off. When the Japanese air raid took place in
April 1942, twenty two enemy aircraft were shot down in a single
day, as Colombo was fortified to be the last post of resistance
for the Allies. Wreckage of Japanese fighter aircraft were seen
at Galle Face, S. Thomas' College, Mt. Lavinia cricket grounds,
Hokandara, Mahara and at Mirihana. In the early 60s, on the Sinhalese
new year day elephant races took place on the race course. This brief
story would not be complete without a reference to the fire brigade.
Two horse-drawn fire engines were seen at Kollupitiya and at Kotahena.
Later, modern motorised fire engines were located at Reclamation
Road, Pettah. Three of the biggest fires recorded, took place when
the Times building and the Grindlays Bank building were destroyed.
Today, we see
thousands of 'three wheelers' in Colombo. Sixty years ago, it was
the electrically operated tram car that moved about between Kotahena
and Pettah via Dam Street. The fare then was only 5 cents for the
journey. When the Municipal Council decided that the tram car was to give way to the more efficient trolley bus, the last of the tram cars was to ply between Main Street and Bassfounder Street, and halt at midnight. Many kept awake to see the last of the 'Old Ladies', as they were known, on their final journey. The machine was decorated with balloons and illuminated. Seated inside was the Kotahena Brass Band, playing 'Happy Times' and 'He's a Jolly Good Fellow'. The Pettah boys who boarded the car, jam packed as it was, were in high spirits, having knocked down spirits, to keep their spirits up. What a scene it was... And finally, when the 'dear old lady' came to a grinding halt sharp at midnight, the merrymaking travellers alighted and gave the driver, the conductor and the 'Old Lady' three hearty cheers!
The complete
guide to the Anglo-Sri Lankan lexicon by Richard Boyle - Part XXII Just one word
from the Anglo-Sri Lankan lexicon concerning agriculture is contained
in the second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED2). Nevertheless,
that word - chena - is an important one, because apart from its
prevalence throughout English literature pertaining to Sri Lanka,
it has begun to appear in environmental literature internationally. There is a
belief among some language specialists in Sri Lanka that the verb
asweddumize is recorded in the OED2 and other English dictionaries. This is not
the case, although considerable historical and contemporary evidence
exists. Such evidence has been forwarded to the New Words Group
at the OED for evaluation, so it is possible the word will be included
sometime in the future. asweddumize
(1865?). In the absence of an OED entry, I provide the following
extended definition (author unknown): "Derived from Sinhala
assvadhuma." "It denotes
the preparation of irrigable land for wet rice/paddy cultivation
in perpetuity. Rectilinear plots of land enclosed by earth bunds
are ploughed, mudded, and levelled to ensure uniform distribution
of water by means of furrows. Water led into
the plot through an opening at the highest point is evenly distributed
and finally led out of the plot to reach a drainage channel. A hard
pan of clay below the layer of mud prevents the percolation of water. Two or sometimes
three crops are harvested in the cultivation year and such mono-culture
needs highly labour intensive techniques. It ensures maximum productivity
of a given plot of paddy while maintaining sound ecological practices
of soil and water conservation." The earliest
reference in English literature pertaining to Sri Lanka to the stem
assvadhuma is by John D'Oyly from A Sketch of the Constitution of
the Kandyan Kingdom (1835[1929]:54): "Aswedduma or Dalupata,
is Land lately brought into Cultivation as a Paddy Field, or more
recently than the original Field. In most Instances the Aswedduma
of one Person is not of very considerable Extent." Charles Dickman,
writing in The Ceylon Civil Service Manual (1865), appears to be
the first to record asweddumize: "Assvaddumising is the conversion
of forest land into paddy fields by constructing a series of terraces
rising stage above stage." E. R. Leach
remarks in Pul Eliya: A Village in Ceylon. A Study of Land Tenure
and Kinship (1961.46): "Land that was already asweddumised,
that is, laid out in rectangular flat terraces for rice cultivation,
was also mostly recognised as private property." And (Ibid.218),
"Before rough jungle can be used as rice land it must be asweddumised,
that is, cleared of tree roots, levelled out into terraces and carefully
graded so that the irrigation water will feed into all parts of
the field in a controlled and even manner." According to
V. Vamadevan, author of The Ceylon We Knew (1995:89): "Asweddumise
in the English language is to prepare a field for sowing paddy.
It is used in spoken English but has not gained currency in English
dictionaries... The Sinhala word assvadhuma is considered to be
the root." Asweddumise
forms the subject of the article, "The Word 'Asweddumise' -
A Mare's Nest?" by Anura Jayantha Ranwala from the Ceylon Daily
News (February 11, 1997). Ranwala begins by asking readers whether
they know how many words of Sinhala origin have been loaned to the
English language: "Though many of you may not know the exact
answer to this question you will probably say that there is at least
one word... asweddumise." Ranwala turned
to the Oxford Dictionary Word and Language Service (OWLS), who informed
him that there is no entry for asweddumize in the OED2: "Though
there are many other words which had been loaned to English way
back in the late 17th century, the lurking word asweddumise is not
among them." In his article,
Ranwala exhorted "all linguaphiles, authorities of Sinhalese
and English, and the language departments of our universities, to
come up with facts to buttress the existence and use of asweddumise." However, his
appeal seems to have had little result, for according to the editors
of the OED, no examples of the word ended up on file at Oxford. Arjuna's Atlas
of Sri Lanka (1997:86) explains: "The cropping intensity for
an area is computed by adding together the extents cultivated during
the maha and yala seasons, dividing by the total extent of asweddumized
land and converting this to a percentage." Chandana Dissanayake, author of "'Kaduwa' 2000 - some possibilities of protest within Lankan English-Sinhala bilingualism," published in the Ceylon Daily News (January 3, 2001) is another who believes that the word is recorded in "British dictionaries" as he puts it: "English... has been continuously Lankanized not so much through a few words that have entered British dictionaries through political intervention such as asveddumize... but through day-to-day intervention of the different social classes." The postdating
reference is by Malinda Seneviratne who writes in the Island (September
9, 2002): "He had helped his parents clear the jungle, asweddumize
the cleared land, till it, protect it and reap bountiful harvests." chena (1821).
"[Adapted from Sinhalese hena.] A form of shifting cultivation
in Sri Lanka. Also, the shrubby vegetation produced by such cultivation
or a piece of land used for this." The earliest
reference given in the dictionary is by W. M. G. Colebrooke from
his Parliamentary Papers (1832:104): "The high lands called
Chenas, which are cleared and cultivated only at intervals of several
years." However, there is an antedating or earlier reference by James Cordiner from A Description of Ceylon (1807[1983]:231): "The ground cultivated from small jungle, or brushwood, is called chemass, and affords only one crop of the fine or dry grains." A further early
reference is by John Davy from An Account of the Interior of Ceylon
(1821:270): "When the ground is covered with underwood, as
it usually is, it is called a Chenas. The operation
of cultivating such ground commences, in the dry season, with cutting
down the underwood, strongly fencing, and burning in heaps the dried
wood not used in making the fence. No sooner is the surface thus
cleared, than the ground is dug up and sown. During the whole time
the crop is in the ground, it is nightly watched, to defend it from
wild animals, as deer, hogs, elephants, etc. which abound in most
parts of the country, and are the farmer's greatest enemies." The most recent
or postdating reference given in the dictionary is by R. L. Spittel
from Vanished Trails (1950:152): "Illuk glades, those graveyards
of once magnificent forests felled for chenas." There are later
references, of course. For example, R. L. Brohier writes in Discovering
Ceylon (1973[1982]:203): "An arena with a vivid green background
of forest. A palisade, about four feet high, surrounding the open
space where the forest had lately been felled and burnt." "A medley
of charred and seared tree-stumps, an expanse of bronzed ripening
grain, dazzling sunshine, and an overpowering glare - we had walked
into the working chena." The postdating
reference is by James L. A. Webb Jr. from Tropical Pioneers: Human
Agency and Ecological Change in the Highlands of Sri Lanka, 1800-1900
(2002:38): "The chena lands were those on which the villagers
grew dry grains, including rain-fed rice and cotton and they were
neither irrigated nor terraced." |
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