Janins’ between Colombo and wherever blog

Something a bit more topical with the release of the Omen a remake of the 1976 horror classic in about five days.
Even the Buffalo seemed worked up about it, well at least his blogging alter ego do’s. Just imagine if the buffalo had a blog about his thoughts, would anybody read it I wonder ?

My occult words are:

"Anagama"
A magical ceremony performed to inflict an injury on someone. (Preferably someone you don’t like for Janapathi that would be the LTTE and the NGO’s).

On a more personal level there is :
"Huniyama"
A magical incantation to injure a human being.

"Pidenna"
An offering to a demon (for you FLOSS computer folk that isn’t a daemon)

"Katawaha"
The verbal equivalent of "Eswaha" see below, this is the evil mouth - not always associated with malicous gossip.

"Eswaha"
Which is the evil eye, enough said.

"Kabara tel"
This is a poison which is extracted from a sort of iguana called a "kabaragoya".

Well with so much evil around what can be done?

You could try "Dehi Kepuma"
This is the practice of cutting lime fruits along with it’s associated magical ceremony to drive away the demons.
(Our culture has some strange beliefs or what…!)

Here is some advice:
If you suspect that somebody is doing some "Huniyama" (see above) on you. Then you need a "Huniyam Kepuma" ceremony to ward off the evil effects.

Finally, those "devil dancers" you see at state ceremonies are called "Kattadiya".

So that’s my round up of the linguistic occult here in Sri Lanka. Makes the Omen look rather tame by comparison but then that is fiction for you…….. 

Well it appears that I am not alone in believing that what is on ICT for …. is rather long winded. The sages who run Kottu appear to feel the same way as this image shows : It’s lovely to see a sense of humour……. The real solutions to this countries problems are with it’s people, technology is not the solution in my opinion. There I’ve said it, maybe it’s time we had a blog dedicated to how sri lankans treat their society and each other and examined and pontificated on that rather than the merits of FOSS etc… I suspect though that that would be telling us all here in SL what we already know…………

Well the new year is but a distant memory, no doubt a lot of Kiribath was consumed in the interim period. The Kiri in the title is the milk of the coconut which could be described as brown on the outside and white on the inside. The milk isn’t from a cow’s udder but still white in colour rather like this white male in case i should ever forget…
Here is my recipe for Kiribath
 
250g red or white rice (Using a high starch grain will help with the absorption of the "kiri")
75g coconut milk powder
750ml water
1 tablespoon salt
4 cardamon pods (crushed with their cases removed)
10g butter


Wash and drain rice. Combine coconut milk powder with water to make the coconut milk. Place rice in a pot with 500ml of the coconut milk, add the cardamon seeds and salt. Simmer over a low heat for 30 minutes. When the liquid has evaporated, add the remaining coconut milk.

Stir well and cook until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is thick and like sticky rice Spread on a plate or greased and lined tray, when smoothing the top using a knife dipped in melted butter will stop it from sticking.

Usually served cut into diamond shaped pieces when cold or in a bowl when hot. Accompanying any dish which has no coconut in it like lunu miris or lunu dehi

Well it’s the new year here in Sri Lanka whether you like living here or dislike the whole experience of living in Colombo of course there are those of us who prefer it elsewhere even if it is a bit cold and wet there.
I guess new year means different things maybe a chance to reflect on what we could be doing for a living here or maybe not elsewhere.

To add to the further confusion it appears that I will be losing 30 minutes in the morning from the start of the new year. I will of course be going to sleep 30 mintues earlier to compensate.

Previously I mentioned the Sinhalese castes. Again to balance things up a bit here are the Tamil caste members :

Chattiriyar are Warriors (Kshatriya)
Chakkiliyar are Tanners & Shoemakers
Chayakkara are Dyers
Chitpar are Sculptors, stone cutters
Chittirakkara are Painters
Eluttukara are Scribes
Idaiyar are Shepherds
Kuravar are snake catchers
Kurumpar are Blanket weavers
Muddiyar are Jugglers, itinerant beggars
Odavi are Carpenters
Paddurukkarar are Silk cloth makers
Pandari are Agriculturists
Talaikkara are Mahouts, elephant keepers

A few months back Sumna wrote about Love and Marrage in Sri Lanka.

In the post, he mentions "Catholic Karawa parents" and later on "Sinhala Durawa retired father." So that’s religion, race and caste stated. As the original post states with relation to the caste system on this island.
 “The concept sounds reasonably fair but the implications of it are rather distasteful.”

So with that in mind I thought of giving a brief outline of the caste system in this country. It all is about some form of occupation, were the importance of some is weighted against that of others, rather unfairly as most of the original occupations now bear no relevance to life in Sri Lanka at present.

Although Sri Lanka has a strong agricultural history the "Govigama / Goygama" caste often consider themselves to be at the top of pile.

They are as follows and in alphabetical  order:
Achari  are  Blacksmiths
Bahahelayo/Kumballu are Potters   
Badallu are Tom-Tom beaters
Durawe are Toddy tappers
Embettayo are Barbers
Gahalayo are Executioners
Galaddo are Workers in precious stones
Goygama are Cultivators 
Hakuro are Jaggery - makers
Halagama / Kurundukarayo are Cinnamon peelers
Hannali are Tailors  
Radaw are Washers of garments
Hunno are Lime Burners
Karawe are Fishermen/women
Kinnaru are (mat) weavers
Lokuruwo are Brassfounders
Oli are Dancers
Paduwo are Palanquin bearerers
Yamanna are Ironsmiths
Pannayo are Grass cutters

    While it should be stressed that this list only applies to Sinhalese Castes. The people of a Tamil / Muslim descent have their own cast systems as well which again are quite different from the above list.

NOTE :

Neither the author of this blog nor their significant other "V" believe nor agree in the use of the caste system most often with relation to marrage. But simply include it purely for information.

Hope this makes reading those ads just that easier. What do they say again…. “To be fore-warned is to be fore-armed” good luck.