Indrani Perera

poet, publisher & mentor

Tag: Taprobane

Dancing To The Beat Of A Different Drum

I can remember the first time I saw Kandyan dancing. It was back in 1982 when my Mum and my Dad, who was the President of the Sri Lankan Association of Victoria at the time, organised for a troupe of Kandyan dancers to come to Melbourne. The Sri Lankan High Commission had brought them out from Sri Lanka to appear at the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane.

They were billeted in the homes of the Sri Lankan community in Melbourne and while they were here Mum and Dad organised for them to do some sightseeing around Melbourne when they weren’t performing. Dad also appeared with them on television on the Graeme Kennedy show. A special set was built for their tv appearances and Dad organised for it to be borrowed for their performances. I can remember going out late at night, to illegally paste posters advertising the performances on street walls and telegraph poles around Melbourne!

Kandyan dancing reminds me of elements of Indian and Balinese dancing. It’s graceful with bare feet stepping the boards and elegant hand gestures. The costumes of Kandyan dancing are incredibly colourful and the dancers dance to live drumming. The beat of the drums is very different to what my Western ears are used to.

When my folks brought me to Sri Lanka for the first time in 1984 we visited Kandy and saw the dancers performing at the government sponsored Kandyan Cultural Centre on the edge of the lake in Kandy. I loved the acrobatics and was mesmerised by the fire walking at the end. Seeing those bare feet dancing through the flames was incredible.

Last night my girls got to experience Kandyan dancing for the first time and in Kandy too – a real authentic experience! I remembered all the dances – the harvest dance and the peacock dance. The incredible plate spinning and the acrobatics. The devil dance of the cobra being chased by the garuda. The comedy act and the drummers. And the fire – the twirling, dancing, breathing and walking. It was just as spectacular as it was when I was twelve and my girls loved it as much as I did.

To top off the evening we got a tuk-tuk back to our hotel because Miss Twelve has been wanting a ride in one ever since we first got here. And who can blame her? Riding around the streets in a dodgem car is the best fun ever!

December 9, 2022
On the Rails Again

Trains are still very much a part of daily life here in Sri Lanka with not many people owning a car. There are loads of tuk-tks, motorbikes and small vans on the streets as well as people riding bicycles and huge buses packed with commuters. Family sedans are much more rare.

The train from Colombo to Badulla passes through some of the most spectacular scenery and the section from Kandy to Ella is known as one of the best train journeys in the world. A month ago, back home, Mum and Dad got online to book us tickets in the observation car at the back this train. This car is the last one on the train and has huge windows at the back that overlook the track and the scenery going past. I won’t say zooming or whizzing as this train isn’t particularly fast but that’s okay because there’s so much to see and you can get a halfway decent shot from the moving train.

The carriage has fans in the ceiling which I think is a genius idea. Coupled with the open windows and the moving train, it’s pretty effective air-conditioning. Being in the observation car with reserved seats means it’s not packed wth bodies so it didn’t get too hot either.

This morning we got the train to Peradeniya Junction which is just outside Kandy and were met by our driver Anura and his van. A good thing really as we have so much baggage. I tried really hard to pack light, honest I did, but with the economic crisis it was hard to know what we would be able to buy here and what wouldn’t be available. So I packed us one of everything just to be on the safe side. So far everything seems available so hopefully things are improving for the Sri Lankan people.

December 6, 2022
Street Life

Dad and I walked in to the village of Wadduwa this morning to do some banking and buy our train tickets to Colombo for this afternoon. My cousin is going to drive Mum and the girls plus our luggage to our hotel in Colombo where we’re spending the night before heading for the hills. It's wonderful to be in a foreign country and have family close by. Such a novel experience.

After a very long, wet, drab and grey Melbourne spring, it’s like a shot of caffeine straight to the heart to be walking along the dusty village streets in Sri Lanka. There’s so much colour and life. I don’t know if it’s the stalls perched on the shoulder, spilling out on to the road or something about the air and light making all the colours pop like in a technicolour movie.

Whatever it is, I just can’t get enough of it. There are so many people, going about their lives, on foot or by bike, tuk-tuk, bus, train or very occasionally, car. It feels good to be part of something, even if it’s a crowd. Back home our streets are so empty and lifeless.

Ever since my first ride in a tuk-tuk back in Bangkok in 2000, I've had a soft spot for these dodgem cars that are allowed on the streets. It's so much fun riding the back of one. This one is pretty well looked after.

When we walked out of the bank, we bumped into my cousin. It made me feel almost like a local to run into someone I know on the street. That hasn’t happened to me since I lived in St Kilda four years ago. I miss that feeling a lot! I know the planet is overcrowded but there’s something comforting about being in the midst of your own species and seeing a familiar face.

When we bought our tickets at the station, Dad was told that the train was going to be twenty minutes late. And true to form it was. Luckily for us because we rushing to get there on time and my cousin ended up driving us to the tracks at the end of the station where we sleeper hopped our way on to the platform. A little while later we spied the van filled with the rest of the family wending its way over the tracks on its way to Colombo.

We managed to get a seat on the train with some other people at the start of the journey which in itself was a real eye opener. In the hour and a bit we spent on the train there was a woman standing in the aisle, giving a very long and passionate speech in Sinhala (when I asked Dad about it later he said she was detailing her long and tragic life story) a man playing a tambourine and singing and a woman with a bandage over one eye, walking through, begging for money. It’s not all coconuts and palm trees in this island paradise.

December 6, 2022
Temples And Flowers

Everything is so colourful here in the tropics. The entrance to this village temple is adorned with paintings depicting the story of the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka in 236 BC.

The one on the left shows the Lankan King who was hunting a deer in the forest when he was visited by flying monks from India. The monk at the front is the son of Asoka. The painting on the right hand side of the gate depicts Asoka's daughter who was also a monk doing something holy I suppose only I can't remember what it was!

On either side of the arch are two temple guardians modelled one the ones at Polonaruwa which we will be seeing in a coupe of weeks time. Above on the left you can see a rabbit and a moon. It's referring to a Buddhist story Dad used to tell me when I was a kid. All the animals in the forest had gathered to meetthe Lord Buddha. Each had brought him a gift which they offered as they came forward one at a time to greet him. The rabbit did not have a gift, so it threw itself into the fire and offered its life instead. The Lord Buddha then sent it to the moon where you can see it today if you look

Me with my second favourite flower – jasmine. At first I was excited and thought was seaplika but that only flowers at night and by morning, the flowers are carpeting the ground.

December 4, 2022
Trains And Trade

I'm really enjoying going on mini adventures with Dad while my girls hang out at the villa, spending some quality time with their Nana. She lives in Canberra and we live in Melbourne so they don't get to see her regularly.

Dad wanted to check out the village market today so we walked from the villa along the train tracks and into town. My grandfather was a train guard so Dad grew up around trains and knows all about them. As we were walking along he showed me the points which determine which track the train will take when there's a choice. There's something liberating about being able to just walk along the rails and then cross over them to get to the platform. It's so casual and no-fuss.

In spite of the sign saying otherwise, we were able to wander along the platform and out the other side to the local market.

It's great travelling with Dad. He points out the vegetables he used to eat when he was a kid and tells me their medicinal properties. He chats and barters with the vendors in Sinhala. Sometimes they think he's Indian – maybe because he's so fair (he's called suddu bappa, the fair uncle, by the family) or because he's always speaking English to me. I have no idea what they make of me but I'm wearing a cap with a kangaroo on it so maybe they figure I'm an Australian. I'd so love to be able to speak and understand Sinhala so I'm doing my best to absorb as much of it as I can.

I told Dad we should bring a bag and he wanted to know what for. Apparently he wasn't going to be buying anything. I knew better and we came back laden with vegetables for Naden to cook for our lunch. We got the leaves of the root that we ate yesterday as well as some sprats to go with bitter gourd. I’m not a huge fish fan but I'm going to dive right into being here and give it a try. What are you trying that's new and different?

December 4, 2022