Choose to Forgive

email from Kamalini Kanapathippillai

Life in Sri Lanka.

 email from "J. K. S. Weerasekera" 
Cc: 
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2014 15:32:03 +0530
Subject: FW: Excellent - Life in Sri Lanka. Very authentic.

Four samples of life in Sri Lanka. For tourist, expat. 12 minutes total. Don’t miss.

Now you know why I live here.

Susiri

Subject: FW: Excellent - Life in Sri Lanka. Very authentic.

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Friends…Watch ALL four episodes..They’re very watchable..

 Four video clips on what life in Sri Lanka is really like today no 5 star but many HUMAN STARS!.

http://www.theperennialplate.com/episodes/2013/03/episode-116-walking-sri-lanka/

http://www.theperennialplate.com/episodes/2013/04/episode-117-tea-for-two/

http://www.theperennialplate.com/episodes/2013/04/episode-118-coconut-nose-to-tail/

http://www.theperennialplate.com/episodes/2013/04/episode-119-do-not-blame-the-sea/

Mother Superior's advice.

email from Kamalini Kanapathippillai.

In a convent in Ireland, the 98-year-old Mother Superior lay dying. The nuns gathered around her bed trying to make her last journey comfortable. They tried giving her warm milk to drink but she refused it.
 
One of the nuns took the glass back to the kitchen. Then, remembering a bottle of Irish Whiskey that had been received as a gift the previous Christmas, she opened it and poured a generous amount into the warm milk.
 
Back at Mother Superior's bed, they held the glass to her lips. The frail nun drank a little, then a little more and before they knew it, she had finished the whole glass down to the last drop.
 
As her eyes brightened, the nuns thought it would be a good opportunity to have one last talk with their spiritual leader
"Mother," the nuns asked earnestly. "Please give us some of your wisdom before you leave us.
 
She raised herself up in bed on one elbow, looked at them and said,
 
"DON'T SELL THAT COW." 
 

Seat on public transport, London.

email sent by Dawood.

UK, Prime Minister David Cameron 

failed to find a seat on public transport (Train) ...
In Asian countries can we ever imagine politicians travelling in public trasport..????

while Indian ministers can't move their feet 
without 'business class' or sedan class.

Check this out!!!

http://indiandefence.com/threads/the-beauty-of-leadership.25487/

'Excuse me, are you the PM?' Indian woman asks Cameron

London: "Excuse me, are you the Prime Minister?", a stunned 27-year-old Indian woman inquired from David Cameron, who chose to travel in a tube train during rush hour.

Sanyogita Mayer who has featured in eight Bollywood films, told Cameron that politicians in her native India would never travel by public transport, the Daily Mail reported.

The Prime Minister, traveling on the London Underground to an appointment because it was quicker than going by car, tried to make a good impression with commuters by complimenting a young mother on her baby.

But the conversation stalled somewhat when the baffled woman had to ask her husband who the strange man was inquiring about their child.

Mayer was traveling with her husband Yanko, 31, and their three-month-old daughter Sayama when Mr Cameron approached them.

Mayer, who recently moved to Westminster from India, said: "We were on our way to go shopping. This man got on at Westminster and came past me and said: "Is it your baby?" "I said 'yes', and he said: "Your baby is really beautiful."

I thanked him for saying that and he moved away but stood near me. I asked my husband: "Who is this man complimenting my baby?" "When he told me it was the Prime Minister I told him to stop joking with me.

"But my husband insisted so I went up to Mr Cameron and I said: "Excuse me, are you the Prime Minister?"

He said "yes" and I started laughing. Then I apologized for having to ask him the question."

"He told me he had a very busy schedule and it was quicker for him to travel by train than go by road," she added.

Cameron, who was accompanied by a bodyguard as he traveled on the Jubilee line, responded by striking up a conversation about her home country.

He told her that he had used the train in Delhi, visited Mumbai and once received a signed cricket ball from Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar.

Mayer, who said she felt compelled to take a photo of the meeting, added: "I was so surprised that a man like him would travel on the Tube and I was very struck by how down-to-earth he seemed."

Malaysian Airlines MH370 simulator flight.

 Forwarded message ----------
From: Nihal Gooneratne 

when you have 9 minutes to spare:-

  

Pretty scary if this simulation is what really happened.

Click on link below to see video ... about 9 mins.

http://au..news.yahoo.com/thewest/video/watch/22226497/flight-mh370-simulator/

Hats off to Lawyers.

 Forwarded message ----------
From: "J. K. S. Weerasekera"

The Help The Needy Volunteer Organisation  noted that it had never received a donation from the
city's most successful lawyer.

So one of them pays the lawyer a visit.  'Our research shows that  your annual income is
over two million dollars but haven’t given anything to charity. Maybe you would care to contribute something  to your community through the Help The Needy?'

The lawyer takes a deep breath and says,

'First,

did your research also show you that my mother is dying after a long, painful illness
and she has huge medical bills that are far beyond her ability to
pay?'

The volunteer  mumbles, 'Uh... no, I didn't know that.'

'Secondly,' says the lawyer,

' did it show that my brother, a disabled
veteran, is blind and confined to a wheelchair and is unable to
support his wife and six children?"

The H.T.N. rep begins to stammer an apology…….

'Thirdly,

did your research also show you that my sister's husband
died in a dreadful car accident, leaving her penniless with a mortgage
and three children, one of whom is disabled and another that has
learning disabilities requiring an array of private tutors?'

Completely shaken, the volunteer apologises, 'I'm so sorry.
I had no idea!'

And the lawyer says,

'So, if I didn't give any money to them, what
makes you think I'd give any to you?

Dr Subramanian Swamy's Lecture--Genetics in Sri Lanka.

email from "J. K. S. Weerasekera"

Mixing of genes. A big mix. Not surprising as the Moors, Muslims and traders of old kept their women back at home. Except those who came here from the east .

Actually it was claimed  statistically  that within 500 years a gene would spread to each and every individual in the world. That was before gene evidence came in.

The Sinhalese and the south Indians have about 10% “Aryan” blood, according to a very limited gene study conducted in the last decade.

And how mixed are the pure ‘Aryan”s? Ask the late unlamented Adolph Hitxxx !

Adolph too was very very mixed!

jksw

Interesting piece --worth a read-Thanks Philip

FORWARDING AS RECEIVED

Race in Sri Lanka: What genetic evidence tells us By Asiff Hussei

Muslims least exclusive community in Sri Lanka 

Race is a touchy issue almost everywhere in the world but nowhere is this more pronounced than in countries where there is a plurality of peoples. People become more race conscious when another group of people differing in physical features, language, culture and religion live in their midst. The greater the difference, the greater the distance. But there is one little thing that people often miss out on, which is that all races can freely interbreed with one another. This, needless to say, points only to one fact, that all humans have a common origin. From the Darkest African to the Fairest European or the Red Indian from a continent discovered a little over 500 years ago, all men are one. The Biblical story of Adam and Eve after all does seem to have a factual basis.

The latest genetic studies done on Sri Lankan populations have overturned some popular misconceptions with regard to race exclusiveness. For one thing, it has shown that the country’s Muslims known as the Moors, are the least exclusive of the peoples studied. On the other end of the spectrum are the Veddahs, who, despite some intermarriage with neighbouring Sinhalese have managed to preserve much of their original gene pool that goes back to the island’s Stone Age.

The study Development of Databases for Autosomal, Y-Chromosomal and Mitochondrial DNA Markers and their application in forensic casework and population genetics in Sri Lankan Populations by Dr. Ruwan Illeperuma took into consideration paternally inherited Y-Chromosome DNA, maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA and non-sex determined autosomal markers. It revealed some interesting facts on the peopling of Sri Lanka which both confirm and question established notions of race in the country.

Muslims least exclusive

The country’s Muslims, the Moor community have been shown to be genetically the most diverse of all communities, challenging the stereotype of the Moors being a rather exclusive people who hardly marry outside. Dr. Illeperuma found that the Muslims (Moors) possessed greater genetic diversity than the other ethnic groups studied, which would indicate that they have mixed more with others. For instance with regard to Autosomal or Chromosomal Non-Sex-inherited DNA, the Moors were shown to be the most heterozygous of the groups studied. This suggests greater gene flow into the Moor community from other communities when compared with the rest of the groups studied. This indicates that they had freely intermarried with these other groups.

Further with regard to paternally inherited Y-chromosomal DNA, the Moors were shown to possess certain male lineages that came from other communities and most closely approached those of the Sinhalese. They had the lowest number of population-specific haplotypes (Y-STR haplotypes), which indicates more sharing of male haplotypes with others than the other groups shared with each other. Furthermore, a phylogenetic analysis of male-inherited Y-chromosome haplotypes showed the Sinhalese to be closest to the Moors in male lineages when compared with the other groups.

With regard to maternally-inherited Mt DNA, the Moors shared the greatest proportion of non-unique haplotypes (HVS1) with others showing that they had been subjected to gene flow from the other groups in connection with female lineages. The Mt DNA tree indicated a clustering of Sinhalese and Moors, suggesting a close affinity when compared to the Veddahs and Sri Lankan Tamils. This suggests a greater contribution to their maternal lineages from the Sinhalese. Dr. Illeperuma however cautioned that the small number of Moors represented in the study does not permit us to be conclusive in this regard and that it is only a larger sample that could be reliably taken to be representative of the community as a whole.

What all this suggests is that the Moors have been the least exclusive of the country’s major communities, as far as the genetic evidence is concerned. That their maternally-inherited Mt DNA should closely resemble that of the Sinhalese should not come as a surprise given the historical evidence for Moor men espousing Sinhalese women. There is considerable evidence to show that the early Arabian settlers of the country intermarried with the daughters of the land. These early seafaring Muslims who arrived to trade here did not bring women with them and so married local women when they chose to settle down here.

The Moors of Akurana for instance trace their descent to three Arabian mercenaries who espoused Kandyan women during the reign of King Rajasinha II (1635-1687). The Gopala (Betge Nilame) family of Moors domiciled in Getaberiya in the Kegalle district likewise claim descent from Arab physicians who arrived in the country from Sind during the reign of King Parakramabahu II (1236-1270) of Dambadeniya and espoused Sinhalese women. Indeed, some of the members of this clan are said to have been given in marriage daughters of the Kandyan nobility. According to a surviving member of the clan who is now over 90 years old, Mohamedu Udayar of Gevilipitiya, oral tradition passed down the generations has it that their first ancestor who settled in the country took in marriage Tikiri Kumari, daughter of Unambuve Rala. This is interesting since the Govi clan of Unambuva were deemed to be of a very high status in Sinhalese society, being a clan with which even Sinhalese royalty, including the last true Sinhalese monarch, Narendra Sinha, married into. In fact, we were informed by Sheikh Mohamadu Udayar’s son, Sheikh Hamees that his father is still addressed as Nilame by elderly village folk while he too has been addressed as Punchi Nilame. The women of the clan he pointed out are likewise addressed as Menike. Titles such as these were used in the olden days only to address those of a high social standing.

However it was not only women of the higher classes of Sinhalese that the Moors espoused. E.B. Denham observed in his Ceylon at the Census of 1911: “Amongst the Moors in Colombo and Galle at the present day there must be a fairly considerable infusion of Sinhalese blood; the number of Sinhalese women married to or living with Moors is fairly large”. We even hear of a Moor who had settled in a village of the untouchable Rodi caste of the Sinhalese, sharing their life and enjoying connubium with them, if we are to believe M.D.Raghavan who observed as such in his work Handsome Beggars. The Rodiyas of Ceylon published in 1957.

What is however interesting is that their paternally-inherited Y-chromosome DNA also showed some affinity with others, especially the Sinhalese, which may perhaps best be explained on the basis that some Sinhalese males entered the Moor community by way of adoption. There exists considerable evidence to show that the Moors of a little over a century ago adopted Sinhalese boys and girls, and brought them up as Muslims G.A. Dharmaratna observed in the latter part of the 19th century, in his work Kara-Goi Contest (1890) that “the Moors add to their number poor Singhalese boys and girls who are duly received into their community”. And Paul E. Pieris could observe in the early part of the twentieth century, in his monumental work Ceylon. The Portuguese Era (1914) that the adoption of anboys of other communities was “still a popular practice among the Moors”.
What all this shows is that the Moors of old do not seem to have harboured racial prejudices of any kind, unlike some who do today. It was probably in keeping with the spirit of their Islamic faith, which, like Christianity, held that all humans had a common origin – from Adam and Eve.