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"Imagine
yourself lying on a warm tropical beach with a soft breeze rustling
the palm branches above,while the sea laps gently on the shore..." "Well
this isn't a dream. In Sri Lanka, it is the real thing." "Being
an avid swimmer and lover of water, I am constantly drawn to the
beach where the bait of new discoveries lures my every visit..where
endless stretches of stable land abruptly confront the constant
fluidity of the sea and sky, creating countless combinations of
light, colour and mood-perfect for my little dance with the camera,"
writes Tidball in the introduction. "I have
found no better place on earth than the beach to experience the
magnificence or invite the serendipitous, for you can be sure that
in Sri Lanka, there is always more than what meets the eye." Tidball’s
earlier books include Sri Lanka, a pictorial book on the island,
The Fans of Memorial Stadium: A Day in the Life (from the perspective
of a football fan) and A Timeless Experience-on the University of
Nebraska. Beaches Sri
Lanka, a coffee table book launched last Friday will be available
at leading bookshops. It is designed by Tidball's daughter Suba,
a graphic designer in the US and an ocean buff herself. The names of
no less than fifteen tree species associated exclusively or partly
with Sri Lanka are recorded in the second editions of the Oxford
English Dictionary (OED2) and Hobson-Jobson (H-J2). Some of these
names are derived from Sinhala - domba, kitul or kitool, kokoon
(kokum), and kumbuk - while others have acquired English names,
such as iron-tree (na, Sri Lanka's national tree) and Trincomalee
wood. Date of first use is provided in brackets. There are no
references from English literature pertaining to Sri Lanka given
in the OED2 entry. The earliest I have found is by Robert Percival
in An Account of the Island of Ceylon (1803:172): "Along with
the betel-leaf they mix together tobacco, areka-nut, and the lime
of burnt shells." There is a
corresponding entry in H-J2.Baobab (1640). Sinhala aliya gaha. "A
tree (Adansonia digitata) also called 'Monkey-bread,' and Ethiopian
Sour Gourd, with a stem of enormous thickness, found from Senegambia
and Abyssinia to Lake Ngami, and long naturalized in Ceylon and
some parts of India; considered by Humboldt to be the 'oldest organic
monument of our planet.' The fibres of the bark are used for ropes
and clothes." The sole reference
from English literature pertaining to Sri Lanka appears at first
glance to be by Robert Knox from An Historical Relation of Ceylon
(1681): "There was also a baobab tree growing just by the fort."
However, closer scrutiny of the citation reveals that this reference
is in fact from a version of Knox's work contained in Edward Arber's
An English Garner (1877-1896), published in eight volumes. It was
the first volume, published in 1877, which contained the Knox version. The fort mentioned
is Arippu on the northwest coast of the island. It was at this Dutch-held
fort that Knox arrived after escaping from the Kandyan Kingdom in
1678. As is acknowledged in the OED2 definition, the baobab grows
on this coast. Knox, however, does not use the word baobab in his
text. Perhaps Arber was aware that the tree was "long naturalized
in Ceylon" and inserted the name to add accurate exoticism. There are references
from English literature pertaining to Sri Lanka, such as the following
by Tennent (1859[1977]:II.1001): "The most singular objects
in the landscape are a number of the monstrous baobab trees (Adansonia
digitata), whose importation from the western coast of Africa to
India and Ceylon is a mystery as yet unsolved. The popular conjecture
is, that it was the work of the Portuguese; but the age of the trees,
as indicated by their prodigious dimensions, is altogether inconsistent
with this hypothesis." There is an
entry in H-J2 for the synonym monkey-bread tree. Calamander
(1803). Sinhala kalumediriya. "[Of uncertain origin. Clough's
Singhalese Dictionary gives kalumadiriya as the Singhalese name;
which Forbes Watson cites also as calumidiriya, kalumederiye, etc.,
but these may be adaptations of the Dutch.] A beautiful and extremely
hard cabinet wood of Ceylon and India, the product of Diospyros
quaesita (N.O. Ebenaceae), specifically akin to ebony." The earliest
reference given in the OED2 is by Robert Percival, writing in the
Annual Review (1804): "The banyan, the cotton-tree, the tickwood,
and the beautiful calamander... are indigenous here." However,
there is an earlier or antedating reference from English literature
pertaining to Sri Lanka, for the same writer, Robert Percival, remarks
in An Account of the Island of Ceylon (1803:329): "The most
beautiful wood which the island affords is the calamander. The colour
is nearly black with white and brownish streaks, which, when it
is highly polished, appear with uncommon beauty. The natives employ
it much in household furniture and writing desks; but although a
considerable quantity of these articles are manufactured, the beauty
and elegance of their appearance render the demand still greater,
and they are consequently very high-priced." There is an
entry in H-J2 for calamander wood. Coral tree
(1756). Sinhala erabadu. "2. The popular name of the trees
of the genus Erythrina, which are distributed throughout the tropical
regions of both hemispheres." The anonymous
author [Horatio Suckling] of Ceylon: A General Description of the
Island, Historical, Physical, Statistical (1876:II.395) writes:
"The 'errabadoo' (Erythrina indica) is called the coral tree
by the Europeans, from its beautiful cluster of scarlet flowers
resembling coral... The natives use it medicinally both for men
and cattle, and eat the young leaves in curries. The pretty models
of canoes, well-known in the island, are made from the white soft
wood." Domba (1858).
"[Adaptation of Cingalese dombe.] A large East Indian and Malayan
tree, Calophyllum inophyllum, the seeds of which yield a thick dark-green
strong-scented oil (domba oil), used medicinally and for burning." The species
Calophyllum inophyllum, also known as the Alexandrian Laurel, is
indigenous to Sri Lanka. Two botanical
works dated 1858 and 1866 are cited by the OED2, but there are no
references as such. However, there is an earlier or antedating reference,
for J. W. Bennett writes in Ceylon and its Capabilities (1843:179):
"The ripe fruit of the Domba gaha (Calophyllum Inophyllum)
yields an oil which is efficacious in rheumatism and rheumatic gout." A later reference
by Suckling (1876:II.365) reads: "One or two species of sweet-scented
Calophyllum, called domba by the natives, furnish in abundance a
soft, open-grained, light wood, bearing a resemblance to inferior
Honduras mahogany. It has a pretty curled pattern, and takes a good
polish. These are very tall trees, common in the lower central parts
of the island; the snow-white flowers, which grow in clusters, are
very fragrant, and the green fruit contains a quantity of pleasant
fixed oil of a dark green colour, good for skin diseases." The synonym
poon (1699) is recorded in the OED2 although it is not cross-referenced
with domba: "[Singhalese puna, Tamil punnai.] One of several
large East Indian trees of the genus Calophyllum; also the timber
furnished by these trees, used for masts and spars, and for building
purposes." There appears
to be a misapprehension regarding the etymology, for the Sinhala
name is domba. Even in Tamil it is sometimes called dombakottai.
The corresponding entry in HJ-2 states that the word is Canarese.There
are no references in the OED2 entry from English literature pertaining
to Sri Lanka. Ebon (c.1440/1555).
Sinhala kaluwara. "1. A hard black wood, the product of a tree
belonging to the N. O. Ebenaceae mentioned in very early times as
an article of import from the East. Now only poetical. 2. The tree
itself, Diospyros Ebenus, a native of Ceylon, Madagascar, and the
Mauritius. Obsolete." Due to the
poetic nature of the word, the OED2 has references by Shakespeare,
Milton and Spenser, but none from English literature pertaining
to Sri Lanka. This is not surprising, for writers on Sri Lanka use
the more prosaic form ebony. Ebony (1382/1810/1598).
Sinhala kaluwara. "1. a. A black hard wood, obtained from various
species of the N. O. Ebenaceae . . . and Diospyros Melanoxylon,
a native of Coromandel. 2. One of the trees above-mentioned. 3.
Attributively." As noted at
ebon, the species is indigenous to Sri Lanka and bears the scientific
name Diospyros ebenum. To illustrate sense 2 there is a reference by Tennent (1859:II.494): "Ebony is the most important of the trees which they are in the habit of felling." The earliest reference given in the OED2 is dated 1810. However, there is an earlier reference by Percival (1803:331): "The true ebony, so remarkable for its weight, and the polish which it takes, is found in great abundance in this island." Whether Percival's ambivalent reference to both wood and tree will be considered an antedating by the revising editors of the OED has yet to be determined. It is an example of how language often defies lexicographical pigeonholing. To illustrate sense 3 there is a reference by Robert Knox from An Historical Relation of Ceylon (1681:86): "Ebeny pestles about four feet long." A journey through unfolding events Thursday's Child
by Deirdre Jonklaas Cadiramen Reviewed by
M.T.L. Ebell Deirdre Jonklaas
Cadiramen was educated at CMS Ladies' College in Colombo. She has
lived in Dubai and India drawing on her sojourn in Powai's lake-mountain
district of Mumbai for the background of this book. She was shortlisted
for the 2002 David T.K.Wong Fellowship. Thursday's
Child is Deirdre Jonklaas Cadiramen's second book. It is her first
novel. In it we hear the story of Gopal as he recollects his past.
For those who have read Cadiramen's first book, Kaleidoscope, Gopal
is an old acquaintance. We met him as a 14- year- old living "inside
a disused iron pipe" and roaming the streets with his dog,
Thursday. In fact we meet many characters we know, because Gopal
recollects many incidents that Cadiramen had presented as short
stories in her first book. In Thursday's Child we meet Gopal when
he is thirty something or thereabouts. Cadiramen uses his story
to bring to life serious aspects of life in developing countries.
While the story is set in India, the social issues she deals with
such as dowry, female child infanticide, abuse of power, are as
the author's note says, "infinitesimal examples of the plight
of hundreds of million," all over the world. The author
uses the character Gopal, to thread together these interesting facets
of life. He is like a recording angel, moving through his neighbourhoods
and experiences. Not always a participant, in some equations, he
is not even the catalyst which brings about change or conflict -he
just sees things happening. Cadiramen takes us through many facets
of India, the crowded metropolis, the slums, the Ganesh Chaturti
festival and schooling. We see the high-rises and the labour which
smoothes the way of luxury flat dwellers. All this we encounter
through the adult Gopal's surprisingly chronological "dream
sequences". However, if I have an axe to grind, it is that the reader is left hanging, not really knowing the value of the "secret" to which Gopal alludes at the very beginning. If the writer had progressed further and shown how indeed the central character travelled from rags to his riches, indeed his education, and if his secret would at any time influence or threaten his current status, we might have encountered a stronger story. Thursday's Child published by Stamford Lake (Pvt.) Ltd., is an enjoyable read. Deirdre Jonklaas Cadiramen's concise style highlights rather than downplays the critical aspects of most of our lives when the end of the story is rarely "...and they all lived happily ever after". |
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