HOMO SAPIEN [TOP100]
My attempt is to explain about a magnificent culture that has a close relationship to
the Homo sapiens humankind, which exists from the pre historic Mid Stone Age and
covered from the world. Their unique ability of living in undestroyed and covered from the
world without tossing with the present world and the society bound to it, Bourgeois world
etc., up to now from the Mid Stone Age in between 10,000 – 15,000 B.C. We introduce him as
“Vedda”, the protector of the forest.
If we want to get the live experience and to research many factors of archeological
evidence of the evolution of the human kind, this Man has won a specific place by the
remaining living factors, which are recorded only in the written form. Among the specific
factors on study of the human body, the direct compatibility of the cranial joint of the Pre
historic man and the Vedda can be identified. Most of the Vedda people are belonged to the
“O” blood group while a few belonged to “A” blood group. Any other blood group cannot
be found among them.
The marriage takes place among only the tribe, which has promoted the birth for the
children with poor intelligence. However, with the usual life, health etc., indicate that they
have a very strong immune system and the ability of vulnerability to the diseases is low.
They never wear shoes, do not brush teeth and do not use western medicine. It seems that
there is no a harm for their life by this behavior.
The rituals, own language, adaptation to the environment, the bearable physical and
mental ability in ill conditions are obvious differences from our society. The present
situation they, who hunt, collect bee honey, take grams and roots as their food to survive,
face is a tragedy. A main reason for it is the loss of their traditional living lands owned for
thousands of years. Livelihood, medicine, rituals etc., embedded vast forests are no more
with them. For the distancing between elders and younger generation of Vedda has
occurred by the tourism, deforestation, civil wars, modernization, etc.
The saddest thing is the threat caused to their life by the economical background of
the society around them, the globalization and the political effects. Their impoverished life
with the impossibility of earning food has caused to increase the children and mothers
suffering from malnutrition. The deforestation in the country, the global warming, the
timber rackets, the creation of the reservoirs in the catchment areas to build hydroelectric
power plants cause no rain in time, disasters in agriculture have been affected to their life. It
is sad to mention here that the Government takes no any action to find solutions. We have to
accept the sorrowful truth that this Man will become extinct from this world soon and there
may remain artifacts like a memory, a book, a set of photographs etc.
I thoroughly believe that my role as a photographer is to find these information and
disintegration and summarizing of the subtle social information of them. I believe that living
with them more than three months in that bitter life after receiving a special permission
from the head of the tribe, Uruvarige Vannileththo, to enter to that task by taking pictures, is
a great opportunity that I received in my life.
GW ANUJA LAVAN SOMARATHNE SILVA, Sri Lanka, Colombo
