SRI LANKA
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It is located in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, and is separated from India by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. The majority of the population speak Sinhala, while Tamil is the second most-spoken language.
Sri Lanka has a population of approximately 22 million and is home to several cultures, languages and ethnicities.
The island has a documented history of over 3,000 years, with evidence of prehistoric human settlement dating back 125,000 years.
I had never thought about visiting Sri Lanka before. I always treated it as part of India (although I knew it wasn’t). It was more in the sense of; it’s the same as India. Since I had already been to India and travelled through the entire northern part, that is, from Bombay upwards, I didn’t think it was worth going on a trip to Sri Lanka.
I remembered it more as one of the non-aligned countries (at that time it was called Ceylon) and I still remember the president from that time – Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
Now, living in the southern hemisphere, that is, closer to Sri Lanka than to India, and having more time, I said, “let’s see this wonder too.” So, I ended up going to Sri Lanka.
SRI LANKA
Šri Lanka, zvanično Demokratska socijalistička republika Šri Lanka, nekada poznata kao Cejlon, je ostrvska zemlja u Južnoj Aziji. Nalazi se u Indijskom okeanu, jugozapadno od Bengalskog zaliva, i odvojena je od Indije Zalivom Manar i Palkovim moreuzom. Većina stanovništva govori singaleski, dok je tamilski drugi najčešće govorni jezik.
Šri Lanka ima oko 22 miliona stanovnika i dom je različitih kultura, jezika i etničkih grupa.
Ostrvo ima dokumentovanu istoriju dužu od 3.000 godina, sa dokazima o praistorijskom naseljavanju ljudi koji datira pre 125.000 godina.
Nikada ranije nisam razmisljao o tome da posetim Sri Lanku. Uvek sam je tretirao kao deo Indije (mada sam znao da to nije). To je bilo vise u smislu; to je isto kao Indija. Obzirom da sam u indiji vec bio i obisao citav severni deo tj od Bombaja navise, nisam mislio da je vredno otisnuti se na put Sri Lanke. Znao sam je vise kao jednu od zemalja nesvrstanih (u to vreme se zvala Cejlon) i jos uvek se secam predsednice iz tog vremena – Sirimavo Bandanaraike.
Sada, kada zivim na juznoj hemisferi tj blize Sri Lanki nego indiji i kada imam vise vremena, rekoh, “da vidimo i to cudo”.
Tako da “dobacih” do Sri Lanke.
Impressions
I have the impression that Sri Lanka is one big jungle, and that only parts in the central, hilly area are covered with tea plantations, while in the rest, flat areas, parts of the jungle have been turned into rice fields.
I thought that Sri Lanka is a 'small India' considering that the culture, language, religion, customs... However, there are still quite a few differences.
Traffic
It is noticeable that traffic is far better than in India. There are no traffic jams, meaning there aren’t many vehicles on the roads and in the cities. The tuk-tuk dominates, a small three-wheeled vehicle used as a taxi. It is covered with a cloth roof. There are no doors, but in case of rain a plastic curtain is lowered. There is space for the driver and 2 passengers. This 'two' is somewhat flexible; depending on the size of the passengers and the 'way of arranging' them, it can fit up to 6 or even 7 passengers. Among other passenger vehicles, there are mostly Toyotas and slightly fewer Suzukis.
Cows
Cows are not as sacred animals here as in India. Considering that Buddhism dominates in Sri Lanka (80% of the population), cows do not have the same status as in India. They are very rare. We saw only a few, probably owned by farmers. There are no free-roaming cows on the streets like in India.
Standard
It seems that the standard is higher than in India. There are no beggars on the streets (we saw only 2 in front of one cathedral), no people sleeping on the streets, which means there are no homeless people. If there are any, we did not see them. All of this also leads to a better appearance of the cities, that is, they seem far cleaner than in India. Prices are at the level of prices in Australia. Considering the much lower incomes in Sri Lanka, I wonder how people live? The answer can perhaps be found in the fact that the state social program is somewhat reasonable with free education and various benefits. There are no state pensions. People invest in children who will take care of them when they get old. They usually live in several generations together. Farmers help each other with crops. On tea plantations, incomes are not high but, considering that several family members work, they have enough for living.
It seems that everyone is happy with what they have.
Utisci
Imam utisak da je Sri Lanka jedna velika dzungla a, da su samo delovi u srednjem, brdovitom delu pokriveni plantazama caja, a, u ostalom, ravnom delu, delovi dzungle su pretvoreni u polja pirinca.
Mislo sam da je Sri Lanka “mala Indija” obzirom na kulturu, jezik, religiju, obicaje...Medjutim, ipak ima dosta razlika.
Saobracaj
Pada u oci da je saobracaj daleko bolji nego u Indiji. Nema saobracajne guzve tj nema mnogo vozila na putevima i u gradovima. Dominira tuk-tuk, malo vozilo na 3 tocka koje se koristi kao taksi. Pokriven je platnenim krovom. Nema vrata vec se u slucaju kise samo spusta plasticna zavesa. Ima mesta za vozaca i 2 putnika. To “dva” je malo rastegljivo; zavisno od “gabaraita” putnika i “nacina slaganja” moze da se spakuje i do 6 pa i 7 putnika. Kod ostalih putnickih vozila, najvise ima tojota i nesto manje suzukija.
Krave
Krave nisu base toliko svete zivotinje kao u Indiji. Obzirom da u Sri Lanki dominira Budizam (80% stanovnistva), krava nema isti status kao u Indiji. Vrlo je retka. Videli smo samo nekoliko i to verovatno u vlasnistvu farmera. Nema ih slobodnih na ulicama kao u Indiji.
Standard
Deluje da je standard vislji nego u Indiji. Na ulicama nema prosjaka (videli smo samo 2 ispred jedne katedrale), nema spavaca na ulicama sto ce reci da nema beskucnika. Ako ih i ima, to nismo videli.
To sve opet povlaci I bolji izgled gradova tj deluje da su daleko cistiji nego u Indiji.
Cene su na nivou cena u Australiji. Obzirom na daleko manja primanja u Sri Lanki, pitam se kako ljudi zive? Odgovor se mozda moze naci da je socijalni program drzave koliko-toliko korektan sa besplatim skolovanjem i raznim beneficijama.
Drzavne penzije nema. Ljudi ulazu u decu koja ce voditi racuna o njima kada ostare. Obicno zive nekoliko generacija zajedno. Farmeri pomazu jedni drugima oko useva. Na plantazama caja, primanja nisu velika ali, obzirom da rade vise clanova porodice, imaju dovoljno za zivot.
Deluje kao da su svi srecni sa onim sto imaju.