Rummaging in dustbins and coming up with treasures
Somasiri Devendra
As the story goes, Lloyd Oswald Felsianes was a merchant seaman who “in the traditional way of Burgher boys back then” ran away from school, went on board a ship, and sailed all around the world. He was the only man from Ceylon aboard every ship he worked on, his grandson Lieutenant Commander (Retd.) Somasiri Devendra recalls. On deck, Lloyd (or as Mr Devendra calls him, his ‘Dehiwala Grandpa’) was referred to as ‘Ceylon’.
This, many years later, proved to be the perfect title and first chapter of Mr Devendra’s latest, and last, publication.
‘A Man called “Ceylon” – Heritage is what you make of it’ is an exploration of local heritage through personal history. Heritage, as we know it, is often taken quite seriously, where one’s inherited sense of identity, values, culture and artefacts contribute greatly towards shaping the individual and what they stand for. However, Mr Devendra’s stories range from the serious to the not-so-serious, embracing the simple truth that heritage is inclusive of all these stories and more – and each of them has its own worth and importance.
Amidst the beautiful surroundings of his home in Dehiwala, Mr. Devendra gives us an insight into his life and work. He explains that ‘A Man called Ceylon’ is a collection of his articles that have appeared in various publications over the years, tied together with a personal twist.
While the first part of the book, titled Waterways and Watercrafts, is dedicated to his mother, the second half is dedicated to his father and deals with History and Heritage by exploring heritage in less traditional ways.
The stories are as arbitrary and all-encompassing as the concept of heritage itself. These include everything from reviews of publications relating to history and accounts of historical figures and events like Tissa Abeysekera and Gratien Fernando of the Cocos Island Mutiny, to recollections of treks through jungles and the curious history of one particular tree in Wellawatte.
One such seemingly innocuous yet wondrous tale is that of ‘Lottie Moore and the Ruby Ring’. This chapter details the surprising connection between an Australian boy tracing the origin of a family heirloom through a single receipt from the 1890s, and Mr Devendra’s lovely wife Dayadari, whose great-grandfather founded the very same jewellery shop where it was bought.
As the subtitle of the book implies, Mr Devendra invites the reader to take the gift of heritage, fully understand it and carry it forward. The cover itself, a photograph of schoolchildren on bamboo rafts taken by fellow historian Gerhard Kapitän, represents the oft-quoted Buddhist parable of the raft and the quandary of what to do with it at the end of your journey. ‘Don’t carry it with you, be thankful for it and leave it for someone else.’
“So don’t carry your heritage on your back. It is something that you benefited from, leave it for others and go forward. There’s a continuity in these things,” he says.
Though he is one of the most prolific pioneers of maritime archaeology in Sri Lanka, Mr Devendra sometimes wonders where his fascination for the particular subject came from, though he knows how it evolved. His father D.T. Devendra was an archaeologist, which made their childhood tradition of ‘dining table seminars’ (sitting around the dining table and talking) particularly interesting.
Every subject was discussed, including the introduction of scuba diving as we know it in the 1940s as well as the possibilities of underwater archaeology. Perhaps these conversations stayed with him even as he graduated from the University of Ceylon in 1955, having read for a degree in History, Economics and English.
Once he joined the Navy as an instructor, Mr Devendra got involved with the newly-formed diving unit. Here, he discovered everything from shipwrecks to Arabic gravestones in the dockyard.
Subsequently, after his career in the Navy and his mercantile career, Mr. Devendra found himself with all the time in the world, which he decided to dedicate towards maritime archaeology, and the burning question of how Sri Lankans went to sea. At the age of 55, he began his investigations.
“It was not a planned thing. It evolved,” he tells us of his prolific work in maritime archaeology. Though he never set out to be an author as such, over the years Mr Devendra has nevertheless written countless papers and articles etc, on a wide variety of subjects mostly relating to maritime archaeology.
Some of his esteemed works include, Yesterday is another country, Two to Tango, From Wooden Walls to Ironclads: Galle enters the Age of Steam, A History of the Navy in Ceylon. 1, The Ceylon Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, The Navy in Ceylon (1937-1972): From Crown Colony to Sovereign Republic, Maritime Archaeology in Sri Lanka. The Galle Harbour Project-1992, Maritime Archaeology in Sri Lanka. The Galle Harbour Project 1993, Report of the Sri Lanka Department of Archaeology: Galle Harbour Project 1996-1997 etc.
However, his favourite amongst them is the Records of Traditional Watercraft from South and West Sri Lanka as part of the BAR International Series, which he worked on as Associate Editor with author Gerhard Kapitän to map out Sri Lanka’s entire nautical culture.
Mr Devendra is credited as being one of the key driving forces of maritime archaeology in the country, with a formidable list of accolades to prove it. A few such accomplishments include being the founder member of the ICOMOS Committee on the Underwater Cultural Heritage (ICUCH), recipient of a UNESCO Fellowship, recipient of the Uruma Prasada Pranamaya [“Guardian of the Heritage”] award and Archaeologist on all Feasibility Studies and Environmental Impact Assessments of port development sites (Galle, Hambantota, South Colombo), amongst other titles.
He was Vice President of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, President of the Sri Lanka Naval Association, is an Honorary Life Member of the Sri Lanka Ex-Services Association and served as Project Consultant for the Centre for Studies in Human Rights of the Faculty of Law, Colombo University. Recalled to the colours in 1988, and again in 1995, he was awarded the “Riviresa Campaign Medal”.
He has led every Sri Lankan project in maritime archaeology for 18 years, conducted several international field schools for UNESCO, while having travelled, published and lectured widely. Indeed, even in his retirement he finds curious souls seeking his guidance, and is always ready to share his plentiful knowledge and point them in the right direction, with many learning to appreciate history and research with the same passion and enthusiasm.
There are many references to Sri Lankan ships and its three nautical cultures in the historical records of Sri Lanka, as well as other countries. Yet, we have little idea of the appearance or structural characteristics of the early vessels. Mr Devendra reminisces that though he has seen some of them in person, he realised their importance too late and was left with only a few photographs to go on.
Though he tells us his writing days are over, his love for maritime heritage endures as he continues researching these ship-building traditions of Sri Lanka as far as he can.
However, he maintains that he never wanted to be “the last word” on any of these subjects. “You have to be satisfied that you did something worthwhile and discovered something. But you are one link in a chain. The satisfaction you get from meddling around in the dustbins and coming up with treasures, that is what it’s about!”
‘A Man called Ceylon’ is published by S.Godage & Brothers (Pvt) Ltd., and can be purchased for Rs.950 at Godage Bookshop or through their website at www.godage.com