Get veggie for a cause

Suharshi Perera

When we entered the hall we were taken by the mouth watering smell of food and soothing light music. The entrance was decorated with typical Sri Lankan kitchenware like Kulla, Athulpatha and Araliya flowers and carved water melon indicating that local and Sri Lankan essence could be expected as we proceed.

The brunch table in the hall, was full of scrumptiously delicious dishes ranging from traditional Sri Lankan to Indian to international. Ladies were busy arranging and serving food. The speciality of the whole affair is total vegetarian. It was the veggie fair, 100 per cent vegetarian food prepared to authentic Sri Lankan recipes like pol sambal, polos, kos, carrot pittu, string hoppers as well as Indian such as puris, samosas cooked on the spot and other South African, Italian and continental cuisines were available.

The fair organised by 'Dharmacharini', a Buddhist Women's Association was held at the All Ceylon Women's Buddhist Congress Hall last Sunday.

The aim of the exercise is to promote vegetarianism among Sri Lankans, Secretary of 'Dharmacharini', Karuna de Silva said.

"Our theme is Respect and Spare Life," she added. This particularly marks the 2550th Buddha Jayanti and to raise funds for several other social welfare projects carried out by them.

Dharmacharini was founded 80 years ago. It has three important visions, de Silva added. "We recognise that the mother is the most important figure in a family. Mostly in rural areas she is very needy in supporting the family. So in remote areas like Bibila, Embilipitiya, Hambantota Dharmacharini has initiated several rural women uplifting projects. We help them to start micro economic activities like fertiliser packaging, embroidery and dressmaking", she said.

They also embark on children's educational projects by conducting dhamma schools and providing comprehensive training to pre-school teachers.

"We conduct training for five days, 20 teachers at a time," she said.

The third objective is to help the Bhikkunis and Sil Mathas and incorporating them in other projects. "We get young Sil Mathas to help the villagers. They are the best people for guiding and counselling the rural women," the Secretary added.

"Ultimately we seek to build a society that respects the five precepts and the vegetarianism is a key idea in this," she said.

The whole purpose of this is to live without destroying another life, the first precept 'ahimsa' of Buddhism which needs to be stressed today," she said.

Today it is proven medically that vegetarian food reduces the level of diabetes, pressure and cholesterol in our body. Many people show a lot of enthusiasm in this, she added.

There were stalls selling vegetarian products, traditional Sri Lankan sweets, handycrafts, kitchenware and clay pots.

All the funds collected from the fair goes to strengthen our key projects, the she added.

The recipe of the raw keselmuwa sambol, a delicious dish prepared by the village women in the North Central Province. It was also among the outstanding dishes at the fair.

Keselmuva sambola

Method:

* Remove the outer petals of the blossom and cut into fine crosswise rings.
* Place in salted water. Do not take the innermost part.
* Squeeze out the water well, and place in a bowl.
* Add scraped coconut, plenty of finely sliced onion and green chillies cut lengthwise.
* Test for salt. Add lime to taste.
* Mix well and serve with rice and curry.

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Adding beauty to rural beauticians' lives

BEAUTY CULTURE: Beauty Culture and hair dressing has emerged an interesting profession and a productive past time for both men and women today. However in Sri Lanka many those who enter the profession do not have a professional training and much exposure. To overcome this drawback, leading and renowned beauticians of the country have got together and formed an organisation.

The official launch of the Professional Hair Dressers' and Beauticians' Association of Sri Lanka (PHABA) took place at the Hotel Galadari on June 20.

The main focus of the effort is to train the youth in remote areas who step into the industry. Only those who are based in Colombo and main cities have the opportunity of obtaining training and exposure. So the Association seeks to organise workshops and training programmes for rural youth on beauty culture and hair dressing, said President of the Association Lal Weerasinghe at the launch.

"It is a rapidly expanding industry. Nearly there are 5,000 to 10,000 beauty salons in the country. The market is flooded with hair care and beauty products. But with all this, we lack professional beauticians and hair dressers to exploit great opportunities arising both within and outside Sri Lanka," he added.

Beauty culture and hair dressing is an excellent solution for the unemployment problem too. So the Association expects to recruit 300 members this year and to conduct 10 workshops covering 10 provinces like Negombo, Tangalle and Maharagama in cooperation with State institutions.

"We are planning a grand exhibition in March of next year for which leading beauticians around the world would attend. We hope to introduce a National Hair Day," Weerasinghe further added.

Treasurer to the Association Premasiri Hewawasam said that through the Association a pension scheme for beauticians will be proposed. "We ensure equal treatment to all members," he added.

Sheila Fernando, General Secretary, Dora Attanayake - Vice President, Nadeesha Weerasinghe - Assistant Treasurer are the members of the committee and Rosy Senanayake is the committee advisor.