a view of a lesser seen audience hall in polonnaruwa behind the rest house

vesak in polonnaruwa

there were no extravagent displays in Polonnaruwa where I spent the past ten days and hence the lapse in blogging. My neighbors borrowed my tractor to attach to someone else trailer and go to Medirigiriya to see the vesak Pandals as is custom in this area.

I have given Vesak dansalas for the past three years but financial constraints and the prohinitive cost of food meant I could not do so and just literally had to eat off the land this time with no celebration planned.

I enjoyed the day quietly after a heavy session the previous day to finish the sowing see the perceptions link for that and just enjoyed the sight of the full moon, amongst my coconut trees above and on the Ratmale tank below.

see www.ratmale.blogspot.com for the alternative living during this period, devoid of any celebration.

my first computer

Two weeks ago, I gave a computer to a girl in Ratmale. The monitor and hard drive were donated by Motorola office in Colombo through a friend who works there, and I supplied the rest, the keyboard, mouse and multiplug extension cord. Though it is a Pentium III she primarily needs Microsoft Office, which is loaded and once she loads a Sinhala font she will have all that she has at school except for the internet connection.

I got to know she needed one when I went to her house once to pluck oranges, and limes and her mother said that she was bothering her to get one in order to do her work, as she is not allowed time to practice at the school computer lab due to its popularity, and they could not afford one at present. Now the mother says when I went on Sunday to pluck oranges, the whole neighborhood descends here to have a go, much like in the village when only a house or two had a TV, while now every house in the village has a TV except mine of course as I am one of the few with no electricity!

I have numerous requests for computers by these kids in economically deprived households, so if anyone out there wants to help, you know whom to contact!

This girl, earned the right to go to Ananda Balika Maha Vidyalaya in Hingurakgoda when she got high marks in her O levels from the CP Pura Giritale School. Her current school has two computer labs, one with 24 stations and better equipped is for the students of the school while the other is for students at other schools in the area. There is one bus to Hingurakgoda in the morning and another that returns for the school kids after school, and if the bus breaks down due to the appalling state of the roads, they have to walk the 4 KM to the main Minneriya to Polonnaruwa Rd to get alternative buses, or walk back home also from the Minneriya station.

I never formally learned MS office, but just taught myself what I need to know for whatever I do. So now I have someone now I can learn from more easily and look forward to the day when this village is linked into the Internet as there are very few internet cafes in the whole of Polonnaruwa District now and the Internet is all that separates these kids from all the world has to offer without them ever leaving their beautiful village. It is a true village in the jungle with 80% of the residents being related.(see www.ratmale.blogspot.com for my place in this village.)

pin haraka saved from the slaughterhouse

Just when I thought the tragicomedies in my enterprise had some limit, I was only a fool to believe it, as they are unlimited and in a sense better than a reality TV show;” this is the real thing.”

On Friday, the 9th of May the best cow in the heard, a potential 12 bottles a day animal, heavily pregnant and weighing about 300kg, had a problem standing up and its hind legs gave way and lay on the ground, the vet was called and was given an injection to induce the birth of the female calf, the next day. The birth was free of complications but the animal as of today 29th May is still lying and unable to get up.

The animal had been saved from the slaughterhouse, (Dematagoda mas kade) over 6 years ago by the local village, who chipped in and bought the animal, a 80% Jersey heifer not yet 2 and gave it to us to take care. This was the fifth calf, all born at our farm with the third calf at my property in Polonnaruwa and I intend taking the fourth there sometime soon.

It was ironic that this animal turned out to be the best milk producer. I can only presume, those who sold the animal did not realize its true worth or maybe had stolen it for the money, it was not even fully-grown.

The vet came again a day later and administered the calcium and other vitamin injections for possible deficiencies and then again on 13th after we had broken the walls of the cattle shed to drag it out into the normal ground hoping that the earthen floor would be better for it to get a grip to stand as opposed to the cement floor in the cattle shed. There were no signs of a real illness as the animal was eating well, however a blood sample was taken. We had it taken to the lab in Welisara and came out negative reinforcing that there was no blood illness except perhaps a hairline fracture which was not apparent to the naked eye as there were no outward signs of swelling.

We made a frame and bought sheets to try and raise the animal up so that it can eventually put its weight on the hind legs, but as it was struggling our cowherd with 50 year of experience wrongly told us to leave it down.



For the workers in the farm this was a case of western medicine failing, and so we had to resort to native treatment. We went in search of the local person a few miles away who came in the clothes he was wearing at home, and then pronounced he could do nothing but that we consult the expert on cattle, the famous “harak veda mahattaya” (ayurvedic doctor specializing in cattle) and we left that evening in the dark in search of him in the Pannipitiya area where he lives. He must be well known as we just referred to his profession and fingers pointed in the direction of his home.

He was brought with his magic wand and reeled of a concoction of herbs we had to administer, most of which we had on the farm, but other oils had to be added. I cannot get my staff to work at the best of times, but it seemed all hands were on deck at night in this venture with wives, kids, and people in the area willing to lend a helping hand. It was like a circus in the cowshed with every pundit pronouncing the goodness of the puwak kola to rub the backside, or the kohomba kola to the mixture with garlic and herbs.

Of course after the first medicines were poured into the animal’s mouth and various oils rubbed on the animal’s neck his payment was in the form of a bottle of kasippu, the local moonshine which he promptly downed and was inebriated when I thanked him for his efforts and sent him in the cab in the dead of night back to his home. Actually we had to go the next day to pick up his preparation for 2500/-, which was obviously his real payment, to administer according to his instructions to the animal. So it was another trip for that and endless days of various preparations these past two weeks.

This veda promised the animal will be up in three days and its now two weeks and there is no more milk even for the calf, who now has to be bottle fed milk from the other cows. I therefore went to the vet today to ask him to euthanize the animal. He was not willing to do this as it is not customary in this society to do so even if the animal is suffering. He said local traditions can intervene to effectively scupper what he does if he resorts to this, as he is responsible for the welfare of the animals in his area and does not want to in anyway jeopardize his position.

I keep telling my staff it will be a miracle and world record if this animal walks, as no cow stands up after a few days, as its hind legs on which the bulk of its weight rests just loses strength and cannot withstand the strain.

I am caught in a catch 22 situation where I have lost the best animal and am still incurring a cost of feeding and administering medication to satisfy the people around who don’t have to pay the price of false hopes, another instance of just how our traditions and reality conflict at another’s expense.

shrimp in my river going a begging!!

Last evening after a busy and tiring day, I had a lazy bathe in the river from about 5.30 to 6.30 and then Sagara and Gamini after their work also went to have their bath in the river, and as we had no protein with the rice and vegetables and the passion fruit leaf mallung, they thought they would test the water for fish and cast the net. Lo and behold they caught shrimp that is a smaller version of prawns and kept casting the net till we had enough for four for dinner. I must say for taste there is nothing like freshly caught freshwater wild shrimp fried. The photo above shows my plate with shrimp and some other small fish fried ready to eat. This was an unexpected bonus for the day. We must see if we have the same luck this evening. The fish was caught right in front of where I am typing at my desk now at most about 20 ft, so it could not be closer to home than that for anyone.

weather differences nationwide

Now we are into the second week of May 2008. It rains intermittently almost daily in Godagama. It is the intermonsoonal period. Nuwera Eliya is cold has its usual rainfall. Here in Hingurakgoda, Polonnaruwa it is windy and the start of the windy season that will go on for at least 6 months. Once the rainy season stops the windy season starts. One more day or two or rain is expected when the wind turns, and then it will be bone dry till November. We have to therefore depend completely on irrigation for agriculture pumping water at high cost when one does not have access to water from Tanks as part of the irrigation network.

With the advent of the windy season the number of mosquitoes is less and it is quite pleasant to lie in the shade or under a tree where it is cool. Few people realize this and this is a good time to visit this area to get away from the high humidity heat of Colombo, especially for the Vesak season when it can also rain heavily as in thundershowers when it gets too humid and hot.

I can particularly vouch for this as I do not have electricity to run a fan and I look forward to the windy period as the nights can get cold and a good wrap up is all I need.

Working out doors however on the land can get very oppressively hot and it is advisable to work at dawn before the sun goes up or late in the evening.

tales from the frontline, the week that was

We think of the war when the word frontline is mentioned, but what about the war for food production. It is truly a war when one looks at all aspects one has to undergo to achieve one’s objectives in agriculture.

Sudath the man who had just married and is the person in charge in Hingurakgoda, had a tiff with his wife and had suddenly left without telling me in the morning before my arrival and the wife also disappeared before I woke up on the morning after I arrived at 3am on Tuesday morning. That left me well and truly in the lurch unsure of what I need to do.

I had to carry on with the special work needed to get the paddy fields ready for sowing. Firstly I went to pay the money for the fertilizer and the official told me that as it is not in my name I cannot get it and Sudath should come. As I was not sure of Sudath, I had to cancel all the bureaucratic paperwork in his name and begin the application process all over again in my name for the fertilizer subsidy. A new form and new people to authorize and then I had to go after 8pm to the agricultural extension officer’s home to hand over the forms and pay the money so that I can get the fertilizer before I leave. A lot of duplicated work because of the lack of responsibility of a person.

I had purchased a set of new ploughing wheels for mud ploughing but on the second outing these had come apart, and the tractor had got stuck in the mud, so I had to take that to be repaired, and was promised the repaired wheel the next day. Surprise surprise its two days now and it is still not repaired. In my opinion it had not been properly made, but I cannot return it and get my money back here.

The bicycle on this property was in a bad state. The usual problem where the staff don’t take care of items given for their benefit, as they had no hand in the purchase or payment for it. I had therefore to take it to be repaired and given a list of stuff to bring as part of the repair.

Sagara had to be sent to Habarana to pay a Rs1000 speeding fine I incurred when stopped outside the Habarana Cinnamon Lodge at 2.30 am at 58kmph. What can one say when radar police stop you for speeding doing 35mph in a 30 zone at 2.30 in the morning when there is no traffic. Words fail me when we have a police force incapable of fighting crime, but capable of enforcing the law on hardworking trying to make an honest living.( I had been working all day selling my produce in Colombo and only left the farm at 11pm to go to Polonnaruwa) After I dropped him at the Minneriya bus stand I picked up two boys I knew from Ratmale who were going to computer classes at the Pirivena in Hingurakgoda and dropped them there even though it was out of my way.I used the unexpected visit to the town to look for straw hats for the work in the baking sun, but could not find any.

Then it was a case of three people coming to me for loans as it is the start of the season with promises of unbelievable rates of interest for a 4 month loan. The lowest interest would be repayment of capital in 4 months in the form of the then prevailing price of paddy with interest being a bushel of paddy for each thousand lent. At today’s price the bushel or 21kg is Rs620 so an effective 180% interest rate, inevitably in four months this price will be so much higher so this rate is likely to be the lowest one can expect if prices remain unchanged. They are all stupefied when I say I have no money to lend them and I must also be silly not to have arranged borrowing facilities to be able to take these loans. If word spread I was willing to lend I could get at least 100 people wanting on average Rs10,000 just from the immediate neighborhood. They want this money for the government fertilizer subsidy, so are willing to agree to these rates knowing they cannot afford to lose the subsidy that is of immense benefit to the paddy farmer.

Frankly I don’t know why I bust a gut working so hard if money like this was so easy to come by!! I must remember for next season that for the four weeks before sowing, there is a great opportunity to make some money on this basis, it is not an unusual method but a common system established over the years to get money in a hurry so they have to resort to this system as banks will not lend on this basis.

I then went to the CIC farm at Hingurakgoda to buy the BG358 white samba seed paddy to plant this time. The office was not manned as it should so I had to hang around for a person to come to issue an invoice and collect payment. I was shocked at the increase in price from last season, of 70% so that I paid Rs 1450/- per bushel(20.5kg) and I purchased 4 bushels to sow in the 6 bushels (3 acres) of fields. The rule of thumb is a bushel for a bushel of land, but that is far too much in my opinion as paddy plants that close will prevent sufficient growth of each plant to maximize on its potential for stalks of grain. This paddy needs to be soaked in water and shoots need to sprout before it is sowed by hand. There is an art in sowing so that the whole field gets a fairly even spread of seed with later infilling of vacant areas.