Back to the good earth:

You are what you grow

Aditha Dissanayake

Could it be that the new year has found you in a bad mood? Especially when it comes to the increasing prices of food items. Especially when the prices of vegetables seem to have risen even more every time you go to the supermarket or the Sunday fair. Especially when you see one kilo of onions costs Rs 500. Isn’t it time you did something about it?

The way Michelle Obama did when she came to live in the White House; the way Queen Elizabeth II did after she met Michelle Obama. The way ‘posh ladies’ did, according to a recents editorial, during the ‘grow more food’ campaign of Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake. The way Renton de Alwis is doing in Kiula, the way Chef Pubilis Silva is doing in Colombo.

According to reports in the New York Times, Michelle Obama started digging up a patch of the South Lawn to plant a vegetable garden, no sooner than she stepped into her new abode in January 2009. Though the Clintons had grown a few vegetables in pots on the White House roof before her, this is the first proper vegetable garden at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt’s victory garden in World War II. And what do you find growing in it? Almost anything except beets (because President Obama does not like them). Possibly taking the cue from the First Lady, the Queen too joined the ‘grow your own’ revolution after she met Michelle Obama and, according to The Telegraph created a vegetable plot at Buckingham Palace. Her garden is said to contain beans, onions, leeks, carrots and an endangered variety of climbing French beans called “Blue Queen”.

Closer to home, Chef Pubilis too grows his own vegetables, though not in a garden, but in pots (pochchi is the word he uses to describe them). He believes every household should have one tree of karapinchha, one plant of green chilly and one bush of rampe. He is confident one need not go hungry if one is daring enough to step beyond the conventional list of vegetables one sees at the market to prepare a balanced meal. “There are only about fifty vegetables in the market; carrots, leeks, knol khol, cabbages, capsicums etc. But there are more than two hundred edible plants in our country,” reminds Chef Pubilis. If we can enlighten everyone about these edible plants he believes the present crisis could be solved. “Why do we buy expensive, poisonous wild plants from plant exhibitions, bring them home, nurture them with water and fertilizer when we can easily spend less money, time and effort to grow a few vegetables?” he questions and suggests plants like brinjals, ladies fingers, and beans will provide the same kind of beauty one wishes to find in an inedible ornamental plant. His final words though is a reprimand to the over excessive lifestyles of the present generation. “Don’t live to eat. Eat to live.”

But to eat, even if only to live, you need to find a way to overcome the exorbitant prices of vegetables for sale at the market. “Learn how to grow some or most of your own food,” advises Chandrani Abeygunasekara, Programing Assistant (Agriculture) at the Horticultural Crop Research Development Institute, Gannoruwa. “This is not as complicated as you might think. If you have access to a patch of ground no larger than a flower bed or if you have a few polythene bags (the kind rice is stored in), you can grow enough vegetables to feed your family,” says Abeygunasekara.

Before you begin your garden though, she suggests you pay a visit to the home garden maintained by her institute. Though it is in Gannoruwa she feels it might be worth a visit as you are bound to receive instructions on everything you need to do to create a vegetable garden in your own backyard, as well as what types of vegetables and fruits you can grow. “Brinjals, chillies, tomatoes and leafy vegetables like gotukola can easily be grown even in pots,” says Abeygunasekara. “Even if you have never planted anything in your life, it’s never too late to start.”

For the more adventurous, Agriculture Department Assistant Director Dr Rohan Wijekoon has another suggestion: “Create an edible landscape.”

Instead of restricting the vegetable patch to the backyard, where it is out of sight, vegetables can be grown in the front garden in attractive ways. An edible garden will not only please you but feed you and still be a home for all the others who come to pay a visit, from caterpillars to butterflies to your grandchildren.

“A variety of colourful vegetables can be used to create a beautiful garden,” says Dr Wijekoon. “Pathola and watakolu can be used for arches. Hedges can be made of gotukola, kankung, mukunuwanna and different varieties of sweet potatoes.”

Time to close your eyes and visualize going out into your garden, (or to the pots on the porch or to the bags of polythene on the balcony), to pick two or three different kinds of vegetables for the mid day meal. Now shouldn’t you get onto your feet, step outside and start digging? A little fuss.

A little mud. Unlimited patience. And you have it all.

No act can be more gratifying, and more basic than the bond you create between yourself and Mother Earth as you till the soil, plant the seeds, watch the leaves unfurl, and finally bring home to the kitchen table, a handful of tomatoes.

Do it just to know that you can do it, or to save money, or to keep your family safe from weedicides and pesticides. Or do it, just to live.

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Towards a disciplined nation

Lionel Wijesiri

The extent of gross indiscipline in our country is so widespread that it has become a thorny issue of which both the ruling and the ruled are culpable. This is also true among both the educated and the uneducated. Today, people flout rules and regulations with impunity: we litter the streets, dump refuse indiscriminately, park our cars at unauthorized places, erect structures anywhere we please, trade at undesignated places all under the pretext of ignorance.

Undoubtedly, the entire Sri Lankan society is heavily diseased with the maggots of indiscipline. Most of us are behaving as if we care less where Sri Lanka ends. Some drivers, policemen, students, traders, workers, contractors, business bosses, and politicians - everybody is just out of control. Lamentably, we fail to appreciate that the various evils that we face today are the direct and indirect cost of our undignified demeanour in our society.

The other day I was in our local Super Market and a little boy wanted his mother to buy him something because a favourite cartoon character was on the box. It was obvious that the lady didn’t have the money to get everything she needed, much less the kid’s item. She said ‘no’ and tried to go on about her business. The kid wasn’t going to give up so easily. He began the begging routine, trying to wear her down. When that didn’t bring about the desired result, little ‘terror’ began doing the fit throwing thing. The little lady didn’t have a clue I was inwardly hoping she’d put her foot down and take control, instead of allowing the kid to rule the roost. (I’m sure I wasn’t the only one in the store feeling that way.) But no, she gave in, and rewarded the kid for his unacceptable behaviour... reinforcing his belief that if he just gets loud enough and angry enough and obnoxious enough... he will always get what he wants in life. What a wonderful man he’ll turn out to be, one day!

Mode of life

Most of us seem to think that without any discipline whatsoever, we can become what we want to be, our children will turn out wonderful, our horses will automatically handle like we want them to, and our nation will always be strong. Wrong! It would not happen that way. Nothing good comes into being without discipline. Leave discipline out, and sooner or later, it erodes into total chaos and disorder. Whether it’s a home, school, a business... or a nation; without discipline, the quality of life quickly deteriorates. Discipline means a mode of life in accordance with rules. It, however, does not mean the negation of personal liberty. Discipline means to subject oneself to control. In a democratic country like Sri Lanka, progress can only be achieved if there is discipline among the citizens. In order to maintain law and order in the country, the Government makes laws. This is to make the citizens disciplined and to maintain harmony in the country. But if people have reservations regarding a certain law, then they can mobilize public opinion and force the government to withdraw or amend it. However, it is possible only if they do not take the law in their own hands. They must act with restraint and organize peaceful agitations; otherwise there is every possibility of violence and threat to life and property.

Importance

The importance of discipline in educational institutions is well recognized. The temples of learning must have a serene atmosphere to enable the students to learn.

This is possible only if the teachers and students remain disciplined. In fact knowledge multiplies only when there is perfect discipline.

Unfortunately, we notice that discipline in our schools and universities has considerably declined. Students are disrespectful to their teachers; they misbehave in classrooms and organize strikes. This alarming trend has been attributed to the fact that there is a growing discontentment among the students. Over-crowded classrooms, lacklustre teaching methods, unaccountable academicians and an uncertain future, all contribute to indiscipline.

The importance of discipline in the social and political life of a nation is also very great. The elements of apathy and submissiveness have been the causes of backwardness of our country.

We have made much progress in the field of science and technology, but still as a country we have not been able to shake off our backwardness completely.

Sri Lankans are known for their warmth and friendliness, yet they are narrow-minded, bigoted and indifferent at times. Government officials shirk their duty, they are indifferent towards their responsibilities, spend their office hours in canteen and pay no attention either to the long queues of people waiting outside their counters or the rising pile of unattended urgent files. Thus, the work accumulates. It is only when they impose self-discipline and perform their duty with dedication that things will improve.

In the political sphere also, there is a need for discipline. Personal ambition and jealousy are the driving forces for the men in power.

This is a cause of great agony to the people. The political parties too are divided by internal politics. They cannot set an example for the nation to follow. This has lowered the image of the parties in the eyes of the common man. The government must take immediate steps to improve its image and restore people’s faith in the democracy. This can be achieved only if each party member follows a certain code of ethics.

Reason

The reason for acts of indiscipline cannot be attributed solely to an individual, but also to the environment that individual is coming from. Acts of discipline begin from our various habitats.

If a child is not taught how to show discipline and be disciplined; the possibility of the child living out of the life of discipline, is very high. It is very easy for a child, to copy blindly, attitudes from parents or guardians, especially when those attitudes are exceptionally against the norms and values of society.

Though charity begins at home, the reality of a child derailing from the track of a disciplined life is very ordinary in terms of peer pressure influence. Peer pressure so far has been a good educator of bad habits and indiscipline. A well-behaved person will love to make it a point, to adhere to all rules and regulations, pertaining to the good of the community and the people, but for peer influence he or she may eventually decide to go against them. Apart from the peer pressure and the way a person is brought up, sometimes simple lethargy will compel them to acquire undisciplined behaviours.

For instance, one might know that a overhead bridge is for crossing the street without facing any risks, but due to laziness one will decide to just cross the street itself.

Finally, society can be partially blamed for the decline in standards of discipline. Moral and spiritual values have being shunned by society all in the name of modernity and technology. Society seems to have lost track of the essence of a disciplined life.

For a nation to develop, it depends on the attitude of the citizen towards their daily activity, the environment and their fellow man. A disciplined nation, with principled values, can assist to bring about a well-developed and civilized people. It is the duty of society, and all respectable bodies, organizations and institutions to help inculcate the attitude of discipline in its people.