In my extensive dealing with rural youth
I have come to some conclusions on what happened and what can be done to change
their outlook on life! This is due to the fact that I live part of my month in
Ratmale, Minneriya, a puranagama, that existed before Polonnaruwa was
rediscovered during the British Rule, and regenerated and revived by DS
Senanayake under the Minneriya Colony Resettlements after the Tanks were
restored and rebuilt along with the rebuilding of gravity driven, irrigation
canals.
From the discussions with the elderly,
Malaria was NOT a big problem then, perhaps because the people having lived
here for generations, were immune, but life was fulfilling with agriculture and
animal husbandry being he thriving sources of income, along with collecting
bees honey to exchange for other items not available locally. The adjoining village
was Rotawewa who were hunters!
The quality of life was good, and the
village was clustered in such a way, that the intrusion of wild elephants could
be minimized. Only, when the village was abandoned when the new roads were
built and electricity supplied there, did the people move out of their traditional
abode near the wewa and dagaba (pansala) by squatting on land on either side of
the road, and building their homes.
Thus when I acquired this property, it
was covered in thick forest, and there were hardly traces of the Coconut,
Mango, and Jack Trees there were supposedly here abundantly, in the past, along
with the clustered houses in a semicircle to protect internal land from Elephants!
People were apparently taller, and stronger, and more healthy living longer, all
of which I find hard to believe but in hindsight know it was possible.
There were herds of cattle then, and both
fresh milk, meat and hunting of animals resulted in strong people, well fed on protein.
Now the youth don’t have fresh milk, there are NO cattle to speak of, and they don’t
eat meat and occasionally some game is caught and eaten, most of it being sold due
to the demand by local hotels instead. This is called progress in the era of education.
The turn off to my house was called the Goma
Handiya due to the fact that at that point, it was knee deep in cow manure, due
to the cattle, and this was used in the paddy fields, that supposedly gave higher
yields, and the paddy was of organic varieties of high nutrition. This added to
the Kurakkan (Millet) which was also a staple, gave a level of nutrition that none
of today’s diet can match.
This then is the tragedy of our unhealthy
diet of refined foods and sugars, and lack of protein in all its forms, that have
stunted both the brain and brawn of our youth. Now let’s go and look into their
minds and mindsets in the next entry!
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