Nikan Ava - A reflection
on Sri Lankan rural life
by E.M.G.
Edirisinghe
Nikan Ava is a commonly used
Sinhala phrase found rooted in our society, more particularly in the
village. Etymologically, it means Na-Kamma - Ni-kam - Nikan = no work or
without work. So "Nikan ava" means Na-Kamma - Ni-kam - Nikan = no work or
without work. So "Nikan ava" means "came for no reason" or "came for no
purpose", and more cogently " came as there is no other specific work".
No English equivalent for this
magnificent Sinhala idiom is possible to catch its meaning, mood and the
cultural content. Our cultural format being basically different from that of
the popular English, such a succinct expression is idiomatically difficult.
It reflects the philosophy as well as the social structure of our indigenous
life with a rich past.
"Nikan ava" is always uttered
in answer to a blunt and open query like "why did you come?" or "what
brought you here?" This query is never made on a highway or at another place
where one doesn't feel at home. No person visits any home for no purpose or
no reason. It could be either to seek a favour or in the spirit of
perpetuating friendly relations. But, if questioned as to why one had come,
rightly the answer would be ""Nikan ava".
Generally, the villagers are
very cautious before revealing the purpose or the job for which they have
come to a place. They first assess the situation at the host-home and
measure up conviviality in the environment whether the one whom the visitor
wants to meet is in an amiable frame of mind or there are others whom he
does not want to hear about, what he will talk, request or complain of.
Only on finding on overall
assessment that the atmosphere is conducive to convey the purpose for which
he came, he comes out with what he wants. By this time the host too is
attuned to a mood to accommodate, reject or receive his request or complain.
In the meantime, as they become
familiar with each other's moods and manners, the host is in the right frame
of mind to assess and guess the guest's purpose of the visit. If he is
unwilling or unable to accede, he immediately turn to caution an evasion.
For instance, if he senses that
he had come for a cash loan, his reaction would be to reveal his financial
difficulties. On this communication, without hurting the feelings of the
other, the transaction is complete. Getting the message in its right spirit,
he leaves promising to come later with good relations between the two
families continuing to remain unshaken.
Then, there are other instance
of someone, when asked "What are you doing?", replying "Nikan innawa" (I say
doing nothing). This is entirely a different position from "Nikan ava". It
means he is "without work" or "free of work".
For instance, there are periods
when the farmers are free of work (such as immediately after harvesting,
sowing or weeding). On the other hand, sporadically employed but socially
important segments like drummers, dancers, charmers etc. are also without
work when they are not engaged for services. Thus all such utterances by the
native villager are well-meaning and perfectly relevant to the rural
background which sustains him.
Cognition
So, it is this period of time
without work that makes the villagers, everyone of them, to congregate or
join hands at the temple ceremonies, weddings, funerals thovils etc. where
everybody contributes their mite for the success of the event. Besides, when
they are "free", they chat and laugh freely and heartily which greatly helps
them to reduce the rate of crimes in the villages.
The things today, run in the
opposite direction. Television, politics, alcoholism, consumerism and the
war have devoured the rural culture and devalued the importance of moral
content in life while leaping to materialism has caused ghastly, beastly
crimes of unimaginable magnitude.
"For the most mediocre native,
Buddha's doctrine of cognition is a matter of course, but not so for the
Westerner", so says Count Hermann Keeperling. However, it is no more so now.
Viles of materialism had been supplanted upon their simple lifestyle and
modest living. They are on a wild chase of various gods and deities to
appeal for mundane comforts. They are in constant address to them for
favours for redress on social and personal crimes.
Gone are the days when they
believed the gods above would protect the righteous one without any graft,
craft or gift in the form of offering currency notes, trays of fruits and
cheap garlands from sinful mortals.
Do our villagers rather
subliminally happen to just be than doing? And, is "Nikan ava" a mere
reflection of that mental disposition? The magnificent monuments standing to
the glory of ancient Lanka speaks otherwise.
How strong, intelligent and
resourceful they were! Even when they were looking after a chena, riding a
cart or harvesting a crop, instead of idling, they used to recite folk poems
glorifying the virtues in life or explaining the difficulties of their job.
But, they never condemned work itself.
Their simple and modest living
was conditional and patterned by the middle-path expounded by the Buddha.
Being unaccustomed to saving
within the modern financial discipline, yet they are used to traditional
forms of saving. Unlike in the West where the workers have to earn and save
for the winter too, it's summer here everyday. Therefore the idea of saving
here differs from that of the West.
The habit of savings among the
Lankans exists in the form of investment in a large family, teaching the
traditional professions of the parents, helping to bring up their
grandchildren etc.
In the West, most of the
parents in their old-age, spend their time at homes-for-the-aged where in
Sri lanka, the tradition is that the children should look after them at
home.
For them, saving in the
material sense is confined to saving the excess of the harvest because the
fertility of soil and abundance of rain provide sufficiently to the people
who till the land.
Workaholism
Basically, the Sri Lankans are
not workaholics. They are easy-going and much relaxed, and that's why they
have all the time to smile all the while which keeps the visitors bemused
and enchanted. Perhaps workaholism would have produced broken families and
single-parent children in the West more than in any other part of the world.
Much publicised Sri Lankan unpunctuality is predicated by the pace of
agricultural social norms which demand or need no exact time-sensitivity but
only a time-frame.
They know by tradition when to
harvest, sow or plough. They know when do the rains come or the New Year or
Vesak dawns. This sense of period rather than knowledge of the exact time
has moulded Lankans into a community sharing the responsibility and pleasure
of all functions, festivals, funerals, rituals together breathing the
necessary vitality to rural life.
A festival like Kohomba
Kankariya or the customary new year is celebrated for days because the
entire village takes part in it. These traditions make the people work in
co-operation with one another, teaching each to feel for the other as well.
The fact that the Sri Lankans
are not at all in a hurry is a psychological State formulated and fortified
by Buddhism in its understanding of prolonged existence in Samsara. |