Laughing aloud, the trio watched as a boy down the lane was being chased by a dog. “Balagena malli (watch out little brother),” said Serapina, as the 14-year-old ran away, after initially provoking the dog.
Later under the Margosa tree, I heard Kussi Amma Sera raising the issue of a severe drought that has affected crops and many villages. “Apey pradesaye vishala wathura prashnayak thiyenawa (there is a major water shortage in our area),” she said.
“Ape pradesaye goviten walata haani vela (in our area, farming has got affected),” added Mabel Rasthiyadu.
While they continued the conversation about the drought and its impact particularly on rice farming and other crops, the phone rang. Who was it this time? I wondered.
Ironically, it was Pedris Appo, short for Appuhamy, who is a retired agriculture expert and involved in farming, on the line at a time when I was getting absorbed in Kussi Amma Sera’s conversation on agriculture issues.
“Hello, how have you been,” asked Pedris Appo. “Fine … fine,” I responded, telling him that it was interesting that he was calling at a time when agriculture was on my mind.
“That’s why I wanted to talk to you after listening to a recent presentation by eminent Sri Lankan-born economist Dr. Howard Nicholas on where he believes the country’s economic future should be,” he said.
Pedris Appo, quoting Dr. Nicholas who is attached to the Netherlands-based Institute of Social Studies, said that the eminent economist had said Sri Lanka’s future lies in producing exportable manufactured goods, neither agriculture nor services.
