Oruwa at rest

I found this lovely oruwa outrigger on the long beach at Negombo, Sri Lanka. The technique used to build them is probably borrowed from the Pacific islands where people turned to deep-sea fishing much earlier in time than in Sri Lanka (or India).

One trend in today's world is that countries and their leaders are getting more nationalistic. Discussions about things like who invented the chess game, the wheel - or the outrigger canoe - may become infected rather than scientific. One Sri Lankan who is fully aware of this problem is Martin Wickramasinghe. In one of his books - Aspects of Sinhalese Culture - he comments upon that issue in this wonderful way:

 

"Only unprogressive nations, to hide the sterility of their souls, seek indigenous or supernational origins for their institutions and culture. Progressive nations borrow cultural elements from everywhere and assert their virile genius in remoulding and recreating them."

 

If you like to know more about this very special man, here are two links: www.martinwickramasinghe.org/ and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Wickramasinghe

Done