Jak the bread winner
Jayanthi Liyanage
Ariyadasa brings Jak in his wheel barrow |
Gone are the days when Jak (kos) fruit was regarded as "the poor
man's food". As a local delicacy, Jak has crossed gourmet boundaries,
adorning the affluent dining tables with equal aplomb.
But the messy and sticky process of cutting Jak fruit and cleaning up
Jak gum (Koholla) has made him sell only the Jak fruit - a poor man's
livelihood. This is a blessing for Hewavitharanage Ariyadasa . So every
morning he trudges many a mile to gardens where he knows jak fruit to be
thriving and fills his wheel barrow with the fruit he buys, usually
around Rs.40 per fruit.
"I leave home around seven in the morning and walk to areas like
Koswatte and Malabe where I know Jak to be growing," said Ariyadasa,
explaining the exhausting process of gathering jak fruit to be sold
every day. The morning we met him he had been to Udahamulla and Batapola
and returned around 10.30 am to Lenat Perera Mawatha in Battaramulla
where he lives, pushing his wheel barrow filled to the brim with Jak
fruit.
By the main road in front of this lane, his wife Thamara Kusum awaits
him and assists him in cutting and packing into sili bags about two
kilos of Jak fruit each and placing them on array to lure Jak-loving
customers. The moment the array is ready, customers begin trickling in.
A bag of Jak fruit changes hands at Rs. 50.
"Some of my customers have Jak trees at home but they buy from me as
they don't want to go through the hassle of cutting and cleaning Jak
fruit," Ariyadasa smiled. "Some times they let me pick fruit from their
gardens without even charging money."
"Jak fruit is rather scarce these days," he says with disappointment.
"I have to go a longer distance in searching for it. By the month of
May, the situation should
Thamara sells Jak fruit |
"
Thamara sorting out Jak fruit |
be better."
When there is a scarcity of Jak fruit in home gardens, Ariyadasa goes
to Pettah and buys Jak at Rs.150 a fruit from lorries brining Jak to
Colombo from distant areas such as Kandy. His is a life of constant
effort and physical exhaustion, spurred on by having to support three
sons and two daughters, four of whom are still school going.
Ariyadasa used to be a mason. When his work began to reduce, he
changed from masonry to selling jak. Originating from Aparekka, Matara,
where his father of 98 years and mother of 85 years are resident, he
says, "It is my parents you should ask about Jak fruit. They know all
about it. When there wasn't enough food to eat, they used to have Jak
for all three meals."
Being a Samurdhi recipient, he obtained a loan from his allowance and
for short while managed a vegetable cart.
That venture turned out to be not profitable and Ariyadasa gladly
stuck to his business of selling Jak fruit in which he has been engaged
for the last eight years.
The income of not less than Rs.650 a day he earns from selling Jak
fruit goes to educating his children and covering household expenses.
Ariyadasa's eldest son (21) works as an accountant at a lottery
agency, having passed his advanced levels with three credits in the
commerce stream.
The other four attend school. Being a Christian, Ariyadasa says that
his church helps him with class fees of one of his daughters. When he
was a child, his foster parents gifted him the land where he now lives
with his family.
Selling Jak fruit is Ariyadasa's trade now. This courageous man and
his family so dependent on Jak fruit deserves help from any interested
persons who can uplift them to a more comfortable living.
Craftsmanship
Ariyadasa with his wood carving. Pictures by Saman Sri Wedage |
Ariyadasa couldn’t continue to be trained in wood carving and
furniture making at the National Youth Services Council because “I
didn’t have money to buy wood”, he said. He showed us a sofa he had made
from neem wood with decoratively carved arms. The Council asked him if
he would prefer a training overseas or locally. He opted for local
training and seemed interested in making use of this knowledge but
financial difficulties keeps him occupied only in selling Jak (kos)
fruit. |