The dry northern plains of Sri Lanka is blessed with ideal climate for growing may varieties of crops. The hot day-time temperatures and dry air make it specially suitable for vegetables like chilli (hot pepper) and onions. Looks like the owner of this small farm certainly had his share of good luck with his crop, looking at this red carpet of chilli peppers drying in the hot sun.
The small home in the background is made totally from locally available building materials. The adobe walls, and the roof made of woven coconut fronds bear witness to the ingenuity of the simple village folk.

Hot Peppers Drying in the Sun
 
 

Favorite mode of transport of goods and people during the early part of the century, bullock carts survived the advent of machine age, and thank you very much, doing quite well even today. Still the least polluting, and with no burden on the natural resources, except perhaps for a bundle of hay every day, these wagons drawn by one or two bulls hold the romance of village life in tact. In Sri Lanka, there is a whole facet of poetry (karattha kavi - poems of the cart) devoted to songs sung, and poems recited by the drivers of these carts, to keep awake during the lonely drives, for most part bullock carts were driven at night to avoid the heat of the day.

Bullock Cart
 
 

How fresh do you like your Pathola, Karawila, Boanchi, and Brinjals (snake gourd, bitter melon, beans and egg plants) today?. Like to pick it yourself straight from this small farmers back yard?. Due to a short lived, but highly effective import embargo in the 70's of some essential products, including some food items, the average Sri Lankan turned to farming and even after the embargo was lifted kept his green thumbs intact and working hard. Now-a-days scenes like these, where villagers are selling common every day vegetables, like beans and egg plants and more exotic fruits like Mangosteen, Durian and Rambotan, are unavoidable for the visitor to the countryside.

From the Garden to the Table?
 
 

This is a picture of a typical, pola - country market, that can be found anywhere in Sri Lanka. Although mom and pop groceries, and supermarkets are making strong inroads, the village pola still holds a nostalgic foothold in the Sri Lankan life. Here, the busy house-wife on her way back home in the evening from her job in the office, can still get her fresh coconut for the evening meal, without having to stand in line to pay for it. And if you just don't happen to have the cash to pay for it today, it is alright too. Not to worry !. You will be there tomorrow too - it is almost a family affair!.

A Village Market
 
 

I another part of the pola - The forgotten art of weaving?. Well not quite. This old craftsman certainly seems to have a lot of fun doing what he is good at. And who wouldn't?. Imagine all the pretty young things in their swim suits, coming to him on their way to beach, for sun hats. Some of these hats are made out of fresh young palm fronds and they last only the day. Talking about a good customer base !.

Some of the larger markets are a jumble of sights, smells and sounds, and well worth a visit. At the polas (markets) bargaining or haggling is almost expected of the buyer and if you are good at it you 'll walk away feeling that you got a good bargain - or did you really ?.

Sun Hats for Sale !!
 
 

For most Sri Lankans like many other foreigners, living away from home, the most frequently asked question seems to be " Where are you from ?". If the obvious answer is given, many-a-times the reaction is "Ah, Ceylon - where the tea comes from". Of course mannnny of us go to the trouble of explaining, that the name now is Sri Lanka. Small incidents like this shows how closely tea is tied to Sri Lanka.

Tea, introduced to Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) by the British in 1849, is still one of the main export products. Today tea is grown in three distinct elevation levels. Low-grown from sea level to 2,000 feet, Mid-grown from 2,000 to 4,000 feet, and high-grown 4,000 feet and higher. Teas grown in various part of the country have their own distinctive flavors and aromas, somewhat analogous to vine grapes. An expert tea taster, like a good vine taster, can differentiate between teas from different regions, and even between different estates in the same region.

A Tea Estate in the Hill Country
 
 

Picking tea leaves for processing is an exacting job. For the best quality tea, only the un-opened bud and the two tender leaves immediately below are used. When the British first started growing tea in Sri Lanka, they imported Tamil workers from southern India for this critical job, and the descendants of these workers, generally known as "Estate Tamils", because they live and work in the tea estates, are still the best tea pickers. An experienced tea picker uses both hands to pick and can throw handfuls of tea leaves over the shoulder to a cane basket hanging on her back without losing a single bud. Scenes like these, pretty ladies in brightly colored saris are everywhere in the tea growing areas.

If you like to read more about tea, the WEB is full of information. Here are some addresses for you to get started: Sri Lanka Tea Board, The Tea Man - Tea talk, Tea Masters
 
 

In a country like Sri Lanka, next to elephant, the (Asian) buffalo is the most useful beast of burden. In the narrow, muddy, terraced, paddy (rice) fields, where modern tractors get bogged down in no time, the buffalo with a good keeper can do wonders. It can turn on a dime, (or perhaps a cent) doesn't use any natural resources, and needs no periodic maintenance. The buffalo provide us with milk, leather, and a good supply of fertilizer too. In this scene the farmer is turning over the paddy field with a buffalo drawn plow, prior to transplanting young rice seedlings.

Getting the Field Ready ...
 
 

Once the field is plowed and prepared for rice seedlings the ladies of the village take over. It is their job to do the back-breaking job of planting the individual seedlings, about 7 inches apart, in nice neat rows. Although sowing rice in the prepared field, instead of planting seedlings like this is easier and faster, it is believed that this process provides a better crop.
And of course this calls for some entertainment, and the ladies provide it themselves, sometimes in the form of singing contests between groups of women working in adjoining fields. Just like the poems and songs associated with the bullock cart (driving) there are songs and poems (nelun kavi) associated with planting rice seedlings. Traditionally, these song tell tories from the life of Buddha, while karattha kavi tends to be more like a commentary on the hard life of the bullock cart driver.

Transplanting Rice Seedlings
 
 

It is believed that no part, except for the root ball, of the coconut tree is unused. Starting from the bottom, the steel-like wood from the trunk makes unique and long-lasting furniture. The fruit , when young, provides a fresh drink somewhat akin to champagne when chilled, and a potent drink (ra) when fermented over-night. Distilled, this makes arak, the local equivalent of whiskey. The fresh fruit provides coconut milk for cooking, and the shell, charcoal. In the villages where throwaway paper cups are unheard of, a cleaned coconut shell makes temporary cup for that all important cup of tea.

The woven leaves, make ideal thatching for the roof, for it allows for the (cooking) smoke etc. to escape while keeping the heaviest of downpours at bay. The items shown here is a small sample of the many products that are manufactured from coconut fiber (coir)

Doormats for Sale ..
 
 

A typical morning scene on the Western and Southern coasts. Fishing is still done mostly by oruwa canoe-like out-rigger boats like these, but now small motorized boats are beginning to replace these ancient crafts. People in Sri Lanka have been using oruwas like these for centuries and the evolution goes back to pre-historic times.

The days catch like, tuna and seer, crabs and prawns (shrimp) are sold right off the boat at the beach, to the highest bidder, with one small caveat. Haggling with the fishermen for the price of fish could be harmful to your well being !! - they are notoriously short tempered, and Oh !! the language if you cross them !! .

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