The Veddas of Sri Lanka E-Book

Alexis Debary

• Herausgeber: BookRix
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

Driven to unravel the mystery surrounding the tribe of the Veddas, the tropical island's aboriginal people, traveler, Alexis Debary, hops on a local bus while on holiday on Sri Lanka. Serendipity makes her stumble on, collecting impressions, but she is also Driven to unravel the mystery surrounding the tribe, who still live in the depth of the jungle, and what she ultimately encounters surpasses her expectations and is too precious not to share.

Leseprobe

Alexis Debary

The Veddas of Sri Lanka

In memory of Ellsworth De Jong, my friend from Sri Lanka who passed away on the night of the 2/2/16 and with whom I shared a deep love for the English language.BookRix GmbH & Co. KG81371 Munich

Visiting the Veddas of Sri Lanka in 48 Hours

Despite the terror unrests in Sri Lanka, I have come here for the simple reason that I haven’t been to this tropical island before and I love traveling into the unknown. It gives me the ultimate kick, the necessary impulses to kill the comfort loving bitch within. Why does the private beach and exquisite food that complete the package deal I booked make me want to vomit? I need to escape the four-star hotel resort, experience the authentic Sri Lanka that saturates the air as I saunter by one of the innumerable lotus blossom sprinkled pools. I need to dive into this intoxicating country in the middle of the Indian Ocean. I need to discover Sri Lanka, formaly known as Ceylon, and I will find it to be split and divided by brutality, ignorance and deeply united by an inspiring sense for humanity.

The separatist suicide bombers, known as the Tamil Tigers (LITTE) normally concentrate their attacks around the city of Jaffna, in the north. At least, that is what the media claims until a new attack rocks Galle, at the southernmost tip of the island. After my return home, all commercial flights to the tropical island will have been cancelled. For the moment, however, I am on the West Coast, close to Colombo, at the edge to Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, the official capital, and my plane is due for takeoff in three days’ time. The airport is just around the corner but if I want to explore this vibrant island, placed like a teardrop at the end of a sentence at the bottom of the Indian Subcontinent, I will have to hurry. I have 48 hours to get a feel for this country.

In the lobby, I stumble across a photo that grabs my full attention and decides for me the path I will take. On the picture, there are two ragged shapes, standing by the side of a dirt road, and the neatly typed title takes me by surprise: Veddas, Indigenous People of Ceylon. Immediately something makes me cringe. The people on the picture look pitifully humbled, like ragged shadows of what they once were. I hadn’t expected aboriginal people on Sri Lanka and instantly an idea sows in my mind: I want to find the Veddas. The sad eyes that blinked at me from the photo persist on my mind’s eye. Surely there must still be natives inhabiting the jungles as they have done for thousands of years, in harmony with nature. Obviously I’m a romantic.

Ready to plunge into uncertainty. I purchase a map of the tropical country and proceed to ask everyone where these people may be found. Nobody knows. Most Sri Lankans don’t seem to have heard of them. Politically the Vedda people seem to be non-grata and I get the impression that their existence is denied because it has no fixed place in with the country’s current fight for national identity. Finally someone takes out a pen and vaguely circles an area far to the east of the country to get rid of me.

“There”, he announces triumphantly, “maybe you can find them around there”.

I am delighted to have a first clue.

Early the next morning, I flag down a Tuk Tuk, a tricycle taxi, and drive to Negombo, rechristened “New Rome” by the locals because of its opulent churches. That is where the central bus terminal is. Naturally, I miss the upgrade Intercity Express, which connects the country’s main towns.

“No problem”, I say to myself, mounting the local bus, which gets along without air conditioning.