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The spirit of Avurudu
Sinhala Avurudde - Mangala gi sadde
Sinhala Avurudde - Unsili hema pedde
After nearly six decades, Sunil Santha's lilting voice still echoes in our ears as we hear these words in the ever-popular Sinhala Avurudu song. The beautiful lyrics by the 'hela' scholar Jayantha Weerasekera capture the spirit of 'avurudu' in simple words.

This is the national festival of the Sinhalese
This is the day when Sinhala customs and traditions are protected
Traditional games are played throughout the country
Tasty Sinhala eats fill every home

Here is the list of preparations:
Kavum, kokis, aluva - Athi rasa mung kerali
Kiri bath, kiri dosi - Me ae rasa kevili
Geyak geyak pasa - Idei pisei me dine
Every household is busy preparing these for 'avurudu'.
The households are full of honey and treacle (symbolising prosperity)
Fruits are aplenty
It's an open invitation
To come and enjoy

New clothes are worn, relations are visited with bags full of goodies
Bulath is offered to the elders, seeking pardon for the mistakes made
A trudge to the temples to offer flowers and invoke blessings
It's joy everywhere, any signs of suffering are forgotten

And now for the games:
Pandu kelinno - Kalli gahanno
Tattu pannino - Vala cadju lanno
Raban gahanno - Eluvan ganno

Some enjoy themselves on the swings singing 'varams'
Some tease the ones who have lost the game
Some are happy merely by watching others play
Some are relaxing after a hearty meal

Fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, friends and relations
They all meet and patch up their differences
Showing the spirit of unity and togetherness
- D.C.R.

Zoo cracks down on deadly polythene
By Nilika de Silva
The seemingly harmless 'siri siri' bag has today, turned out to be a killer.

Last week the Dehiwela Zoo, banned polythene bags being brought into its premises following the death of an animal that had eaten a vast amount of polythene.
The ban on polythene within the Zoo was imposed last Friday following the death of the Zoo's only albino deer on March 14. The deer aged three to four years died due to its having eaten several kilos of polythene over a long period of time. The contents had solidified inside its abdominal cavity pressing against its intestines, resulting in its death.

The albino deer is one more in a long list of deaths due to consumption of polythene, though for this year it was the first.

The Zoo has lost many animals to the polythene menace, a gorilla in the '80s, 36 deer since 1997, two wallabies, three ostriches, and last year a giraffe.

In a bid to safeguard its animals, the Zoo will introduce checking at the gate to ensure that no polythene is brought in. Visitors to the zoo bring in their picnic parcels wrapped in polythene bags and these are finally dropped into cages with left over food for the animals.

However much zoo-keepers tell children not to throw bags into the cages, the visitors ignore this advice, resulting in untold damage, say Zoo officials.

Assistant Director (General) of the National Zoological Gardens Ms. Y.D.S.S. Malsinghe told The Sunday Times that strict action was being taken to prevent polythene being brought into the Zoo premises.

She said that ice-cream wrappers, rice packets etc, are often blown into the animal enclosures. The animals lick the polythene because it has tasty morsels stuck on it and finally swallow it.

Herbivorous animals are the main casualties as their cages are open, unlike carnivores who are often out of reach of flying polythene.

Due to the ban on polythene in the Zoo which was enforced last week, even the mango sellers at the gates had to transfer their wares into paper bags at the time of selling.

The Zoo's canteen however still sells packeted foods. However, Ms. Malsinghe said they are considering issuing instructions to contractors to break open the packets and empty the contents into paper bags when selling foodstuffs.

Ms. Malsinghe said the Zoo intends to build bio-gas digesters and in the case of polythene and plastic waste to send it to a recycling plant newly installed at a project in Badowita which was to open this week. Display boards are also to be installed within the zoo instructing visitors not to throw bags etc. into animal's enclosures.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environment is preparing a cabinet paper to consider banning the use of polythene. A group of persons from related fields will come together in the next few weeks to discuss the banning of polythene in Sri Lanka.

The main obstacle to the ban still remains the obsence of a suitable substitute.
Mr. Sunil Sarath Perera of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources said steps were being taken to find substitutes such as Polystarch, a substance which is biodegradable unlike polythene.

Meanwhile, visitors at Horton Plains were recently introduced to eco-friendly 'bags'. Staff at Horton Plains have distributed these bags to visitors at the gate. The bags were a donation to the Horton Plains Welfare Society by the Upper Watershed Management Project of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.

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