2016 Sep 29
by Azraa Killru
Twenty million homogeneous tiny dots are seen from an aerial view of the Sri Lankan geographical terrain but how diverse, vastly differing in mindsets, cultural and social stances are we? Our country is a fusion of people from the far north, east, south, west, central provinces, etc. Even within the same region, we know dissimilarities in attitudes exist, but a few general notions are harbored regarding folks from each region. Now it all comes to the open.
These are thoughts by valuable contributors and neither have they been camouflaged nor meant to be racial. Merely an impartial narration is demonstrated below.
Western Province
Referring to Colombo and suburbs, home to majority of citizens due to high natural population growth and migration for work and educational reasons, you will find a myriad of attitudes and types of people, natives from different regions. People hailing from various levels of economic and social classes, this region is shared by both the elite and the residents surviving on day wage and living in slums. This is a mesmerizing city, with coffee lovers spending thousands on a cup of latte or cappuccino, while right outside the lavish cafes you can witness people heading to little grocery boutiques to buy 250g of sugar because they can’t afford more. You can see the corporate workers driving to work in luxurious cars, dressed in suits, passing shops that employ young school drop outs for sales work.
To keep up with the upward pressure on prices, and the demands of the sophisticated lifestyle people are accustomed to, working harder and longer hours has become an obligation on all. This leaves less time for family and people are considered “busy”. They are either at work or disconnected even while they are with you, consumed by phones, TVs and other electronic devices. There is greater erosion of quality family time either because you work overtime, spend hours stuck in Colombo traffic or disappear for some peace and quiet on a weekend getaway. To sum it, you are thought as “not available”, detached and focused on yourself alone.
Eastern Province
The most prominent feature that clearly identifies people from Eastern province is their accent. The mother tongue of most are Tamil because this regions consists of Muslims and Hindus and it takes but a few seconds of speech to recognise their locality. Many believe that people from these areas tend to be competitive in nature, placing immense importance in pride and material possessions. They are quite affluent. Another region is dominated by the religious communities and operates on a hierarchical system. Businesses cannot open up without prior approval from the religious institutions, depicting the nature of central system of decision making. The existence of certain youth movements for the welfare of the community serves to be both positive and negative.
Central Province
Clustered in between mighty mountains and rolling clouds, these cities and towns are places of remarkable beauty. Verdant hills and the chilly zephyr make it true places of serenity, ideal for escapades. The people are thought to be gentle and simple. Customs and ways of living span across generations and changes are hard to come by. The town’s infrastructure reflect the rigid nature of the culture because structures and constructions are slow to head way. Alterations are restricted because of the aims to preserve the natural landscapes. Unlike Colombo, family life and quality time is valued the most. At least one meal per day is eaten together, sharing a cup of tea over a chat before bed and staying home after dusk are basic norms in these places.
Home remedies, fresh food, organically grown fruits and vegetables in one’s own garden are why you find most of them healthy even at old age. Their lifestyle demands a lot of manual labour from them, be it walking due to fewer vehicles or gardening or shaving king coconuts from their farms – It’s a lot of exercise.Families, especially those belonging to the high-caste community take immense pride in their lineage as they are the descendants of Royalty and they are extremely partial to whether a person belongs to the highlands or lowlands especially in marriage alliances.
Northern Province
Years and years of civil conflict and its after-effects has left certain marks on the natives. For decades during the war, numerous families emigrated from these regions to find safe haven in other places. Educational-savvy they could be classified as. Culturally rich with its enticing religious places and plenty of customs and traditions to see, this place boomsin vibrancy when a festival arrives. Churches and Kovils glow in grandeur. It is customary for everyone to attend the religious ceremonies held at Kovils every single day for a month during the festive season, for instance, the Nallur festival. Customs are imposed strictly and adhered to, for instance, men are not allowed to wear t-shirts or vests anywhere in the temple vicinity.
They are also very welcoming as visiting homes is no simple deal but you are likely to meet the whole family awaiting your arrival with quite a lot of preparation. Weddings happen in a far grander and longer scale, up to seven days but costs are not as high as relatives and friends share the expenses among them. People tend to be healthier due to the cleaner air and healthy diets whilst work life is also pretty chilled out, creating a comfortable lifestyle. Students will be seen cycling to school and obesity is rare.
Southern Province
Highly united among themselves, this community simply loves feeding others, friends or strangers. This could make it an ideal community for hospitality if not for their ability to combat. These folks are said to be ever ready for a battle. A key identity of these folks is the patriotism. They would willingly lay out their life for the motherland. The main towns are extremely busy spots, second to only Colombo. With its stunning azure beaches, it is a favourite tourist destination which promotes a lot of scope for local crafts and artists. Festivities and celebrations are conducted in a magnificent manner, which extends for weeks, bringing everyone together to join in the events.
General Assumptions
- Attire:
Knock fashion out of the equation! A reason why out of Colombo dress sense is not verygreat (of course, Colombo has a lot of Boo’s too), is the lack of clothing shops in their areas. Perhaps, simplicity predominates their choice of clothing and extravagant spending appears foolish and unnecessary. Whatever the reason is, they lose points in the attire category.
- Familiarity
Presence of a close-knit community atmosphere, where everyone associates well with their kith and kin and neighbors, gossip travels pretty fast. Everyone knows what goes on within your walls. Privacy is compromised. But this also means support at testing times.
- Lifestyle
The frenzied and hasty way of life is common in the urbanized regions while there is a placid pace to living in the less commercialized areas for obvious reasons; Colombo buzzes with activity. It is home to thousands of businesses and residences, with an enormous population to interact and feed to.
