SRI LANKA REVISITED
Part 5
Before the journey, we once again discuss the situation in Akitha's family. We come to the conclusion that their priorities in fulfilling the obligations of tradition, their own beliefs and social pressure will not allow them to think rationally about the future.
I'm going to Sri Lanka prepared for the fact that our plan to create conditions for establishing a family business in the village of Akitha’s may not work.
We have considered an alternative form of help…
The journey in short: by car to Poznań (departure from Szczecin at 3 p.m.), a short night in the apartment, transfer to Ławica airport, flight to Munich, then to Mumbai, and finally to Colombo. Once there, travel by local buses from the airport to Hikkaduwa, where I have my accommodation. I was there after over 32 hours.
I arrived intact, unscathed and with a suitcase that managed to make it through all the transfers...
At the meeting with Akitha, we establish an action plan because he wants me to meet his immediate family in person. He doesn't know yet that this was my intention and the need to see the land for the future business and learn about the legal situation of this plot.
Akitha has an agreement with his recent employer that he will work every other day for the next two weeks. A generous Swiss man lends him a scooter for the period. Without it, all our activities would be very difficult due to the distances between the places we are to visit.
In the next conversation, I reveal my support plans for a promising business project. I note that Akitha is not very active in discussing our requirements for financial participation in the project.
The conversation returns to the topic of April 18 and the great difficulty in finding funds to organize a worthy "almsgiving" celebration.
The next day we go by scooter to the Singharaja region, approximately 100 km from Hikkaduwa. We go to an altitude of approximately 500 m above sea level, which takes almost four hours. We pass through beautiful hills covered with tea plantations and as if immersed in a rainforest. As a scooter passenger, I have time to admire the views, breathe clean air and cool off in the rush of the vehicle.
In Deniyaya (10 km from Akitha's house) we do shopping as a gift from me to his mother. These are basic dry products and vegetables. Everything according to Akitha's instructions. I bring chocolates for the whole family from Poland.
We arrive at the place. Greeting Akitha's mother - according to custom - without shaking hands, but only by placing your hands up with your fingers at chest level.
Akitha unashamedly shows me around his modest home, where there are no amenities and meals are cooked over an open fire under a special hood. Two bedooms require immediate repair. The ceiling, which is a roof, is leaking. This house – an improved version – is only ten years old.
A little later, I express my surprise that Akitha does not greet his family in any explicit way: there is no hugging or kissing.
He explains to me that he saves these for special occasions.
His mother and eldest sister prepare "rice and curry" for us, and I ask about the conditions of the land for future development...
This sister lives nearby and we'll get lunch there. No guests are accepted in the deceased's home for a year, nor are any meetings organized.
Akitha interrupts my series of questions and informs me that he cannot talk to me about business matters right now as he is home for the first time since his father's death and he misses his absence deeply.
The second eldest sister appears with her husband and daughter. Despite her advanced pregnancy, she comes on a scooter (her husband drives) to meet me. Sure, I am an attraction of sorts, and a sensation for curious neighbors due to the arrival of a foreigner.
After lunch, the atmosphere becomes more relaxed and for a few minutes we exchange smiles and simple sentences with the family. Akitha disappears from sight because he wants to force his sisters to speak English without interpreting the conversation.
We have to be leaving to get back to Hikkaduwa before dark.
Akitha surprises and touches me at the same time with the way he says goodbye to his mother: he kneels on both knees and make a gesture of kissing her feet!
Even the mother seems surprised.
