A Weekend at Mohana's
- Sascha Pare
- 14 nov. 2017
- 3 min de lecture
This weekend was eye-opening and humbling for me. On Saturday we invited the teachers over for lunch and spent the morning making veggie burgers, which we think they enjoyed but were not overly impressed by. We played a few games and they introduced us to some Tamil music and dancing. When the time came for them to leave, I packed my things and headed off to the Maskeliya bus station with Mohana, or Ms Perumal Pillai, a teacher whom I shadow every day and get along very well with. We did a bit of fruit and vegetable shopping before hopping on to the bus to Hatton, which goes along an incredibly scenic route around lake Mousakellie. It was raining and the sun setting by the time we arrived in Glengarian and walked down a muddy, overgrown path to her house. I was greeted by her mother, Lalita, and father, Mr Perumal Pillai, with a warm hug and wide smiles, then by her lovely grandmother, whose name I couldn't quite catch. I was truly taken aback by the conditions in which they live, especially knowing that Mohana has two brothers who are currently studying but usually live under that same roof. The contrast between her professional, put-together appearance at school and the difficult everyday life she leads is astonishing and made me realise that this is the case for most teachers and students at Tea Leaf Vision. What really struck me that evening was how sparingly Lalita cooked and yet how divine the food was. With half an onion, a handful of green beans and a few spices which she keeps tightly sealed, she made one of the best curries I’ve ever had. Any leftovers are either fed to the dogs or saved for breakfast the next day.
Mohana’s parents make orange spiral-shaped, deep-fried bites called Murukku for a living. I had seen them in shops before and it was fascinating to watch them prepare the dough and get the shape perfectly right every time. Lalita let me make a whole platter of bites, which was hard work and hurt my hands.

Once all the bites have been fried and received a dusting of chilly powder, Mohana helps her parents to pack and stack them to form bundles, which her father then goes out to sell to shops. One 250g pack costs only 10 roupies, the equivalent of 5 pence. Mr Perumal Pillai told me that before they could afford to buy a gas cooker, they fried the bites using an open fire which would burn their eyes and affect their breathing.
Mohana loves to swim in the lake and convinced me to join her, even though I was sceptical about the cleanliness of the water and the leeches, which lurk around any damp area. We went for a quick dip and then sat with our backs to the warm afternoon sun while her grandmother taught me a few words in Tamil.
Mohana had some creative writing exercises to mark so I helped her finish that before we went through her mother’s collection of sarees to chose one for me to wear on graduation day, on the 10th December. She showed me where to pin the different folds and I practised walking in it, which is much harder than the teachers make it seem! Mohana was very keen that I wear a saree to school today but admitted that I would have a hard time getting on and off the bus in it, so instead she made me promise that I would attend her engagement ceremony in one.
What I found particularly difficult and awkward was showering. The “bathroom” being outside and open towards the house, I had to wash myself in a dress using cold water from the tank. Living in a house such as this one, with only curtains to separate each room, there is almost no privacy. Everything is shared and done together, for instance they let me join in in their prayers.
On Monday morning I experienced rush hour on the bus. The people standing up just hand their bags and umbrellas to the people sitting down, and come and get them when they want to get off, yet another example of the friendliness of Sri Lankans.
Sascha xx
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