Taking an 80 ft plunge to make a living
Tilak Pushpakumara SENANAYAKE
D H M Samarakoon Banda (47) of 77, Deveni Rajasinghe Mawatha, Kandy
is an acrobat who earns a living by diving into the Mahaweli Ganga from
the suspension bridge at Dodanwela almost 80 feet above, to entertain
people.
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No easy task stunt man Samarakoon Banda making an 80 ft dive
into Mahaweli Ganga to entertain tourists and local people. |
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Samarakoon’s partner and brother D H M Abeykoon. Pictures by
Gamini Ramanayake |
Among the large number of people who gather to the spot to watch his
spectacular do or die stunt are local and foreign tourists visiting the
area.
Samarakoon Banda recollecting his experiences said he first trained
himself to do the diving at the age of 24 or 25. He used to repeat the
exercise four to five times a day to overcome fear of heights.
Samarakoon Banda said he has nine brothers and sisters in the family.
Father D H M Heenbanda and mother M Tikiri Menike loved and treasured
all of them alike. Sometimes his younger brother D H M Abeykoon too
joined him in performing the fete on request.
He said he earned Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per each dive. His monthly
income sometimes totalled nearly Rs 20,000. Several other youth in his
village have now taken up the job following in his footsteps. Samarakoon
Banda said he had been featured in English films like Jungle book and
Indiana Jones and many local teledramas. It would be of great assistance
for him if local authorities provided some official recognition for his
vocation and allowed him to issue tickets for charges levied from the
people coming to watch his stunt. |
