Features
Travellers and traders: Muslims of Sri Lanka
By Uditha Devapriya
udakdev1@gmail.com
In 851 AD, an Arab merchant, called Soleyman, wrote an account of his travels to the island of Serendib. Impressionistic but insightful, it records the earliest known engagement of a Muslim with Sri Pada, also known as Samantukuta.
Soleyman does not refer to Sri Pada as “aadam malayi”, the name we see in later Muslim reconstructions of the peak. Instead he calls it “Al-Rohoun”, which is what the ninth century Indian poet Rajasekhara used in the Balaramanaya. “Rohoun” was a corruption of Ruhuna, to which the area around the mountain belonged. Literary sources inform us that this was the term used, and preferred, by Arabs and Indians from that time.
Around five centuries later, the scholar and traveller Ibn Batuta is reported to have climbed the peak. Patronised by the king of Jaffna, Batuta ascended the summit and came across a grotto bearing the name “Iskander.” Poets, travellers, and even historians would later posit this as evidence for the view, now largely debunked, that Alexander the Great climbed Sri Pada on his horse. Writing of his ascent, Batuta also noted that a Muslim Imam called Abu Abdallah, said to have died in 953 AD, was the first Muslim to make the climb. What we can speculate about from Batuta’s travels, other than the identity of “Iskander”, is that Muslim engagement with the summit dates to the 9th centuries.
Muslim engagement with Sri Lanka, of course, precedes these pilgrimages, while Arab engagement with the island predates even the coming of Islam. From the Mahavamsa we know that Pandukabhaya, after emerging triumphant from his war with his uncles, settled a community of “yonas” at the Western gate of his capital, Anuradhapura. “Yona”, we know well enough, was the term the Portuguese and the Dutch later used on Arabs.
We can’t really confirm whether the community Mahanama Thera referred to were the ancestors of the traders and settlers European colonisers encountered many centuries later. Yet, the coincidence is striking: it suggests that European colonisers considered the Arabs as alien to the country as the yonas of yore. Of course, the truth was more complex than such colonialist perceptions would suggest: by the 15th century, Arabs had become active participants in Sri Lanka’s economic, cultural, and political life.
We come across extensive references to Arabs in the country no earlier than in the sixth century AD. The literary sources we have tell us that merchants, from this period, made their way to Sri Lanka through three trade routes: the Indian to the North, the Chinese to the East, and the Arab to the West. Braudel writes that by the seventh century, trade in the Far East was dominated by these three economies. Sri Lanka’s receptivity to all three had a great deal to do with its emergence as a distinct geographic entity, separated but not cut off from the Indian subcontinent. It is from this vantage point that we should delve into the Arab origins of the Muslims, specifically Moors, of Sri Lanka.
Where did Arab traders settle in Sri Lanka? One school of thought argues that they first settled in localities in the north. Another school contends that they moved southwest, with records showing that a landing was made in Barberyn in 1024 AD. It must be noted that two of the oldest mosques were built in the latter region: the construction of the oldest of them, Al Abrar, dates to the 10th century, and that of the other, Kechchimalai, to the 12th.
Regardless of where they settled, we know what role they played in Sri Lankan society: they were, first and foremost, traders and merchants. In this, they became intermediaries between the island and the world. Enmeshing themselves in the commercial fabric of the country, they introduced practices that may not have been familiar to locals before their arrival. To say this is certainly not to deny the vitality of Sinhala civilisation; merely to note that the assimilation of other groups to that civilisation reinforced that vitality.
These encounters were hardly limited to the southwest, or even the north. Wherever they settled, Muslim traders wielded much influence, serving not just as merchants but also patrons of society. Encountering Colombo, for instance, Ibn Batuta wrote of a vizier called Jalasti, who had with him a retinue of 500 Abyssinians. Tennent suggested that his presence showed the Sinhalese were indifferent to commerce. Tennent’s view is, in one sense, a generalisation in line with colonialist readings of Sinhala culture, but it belies the reality of Muslim involvement of the island’s trade after the 10th century.
Their sense of privilege and proportion was significantly enlarged by a concession they won from Sinhala rulers: the ability to be tried by their own laws. This was an expedient necessitated by commerce: according to Lorna Dewaraja, whenever a dispute arose in any of the ports where they traded, it had to be settled “by a tribunal consisting of Muslim priests, merchants, and mariners.” Such privileges were crucial, because like any trade-based community Arab Muslims required a body of laws they could apply to their kind, wherever and in whatever part of the world they operated from. Their importance in this regard was not lost on local rulers: part of the reason why Arya Cakravari patronised Ibn Batuta so well was his desire to tap into Arab trade in the region.
Unlike European colonisers, even Muslims from other parts of the region, Arab traders formed one of the more peaceful communities in the island. Their pacifist nature, a stark contrast to the fanaticism of their compatriots in India, the Maldives, and South-East Asia, encouraged Sinhala kings to grant them settlements of their own. Eventually they became not just a part, but a fact, of life in the country.
In his account of Portuguese rule in Sri Lanka, Paul E. Pieris recounts an incident where, upon their first arrival in the island, the colonialists managed to anger locals by attempts to slaughter their cattle. What is fascinating about this episode is that Muslim settlements in Sri Lanka preceded the Portuguese by nine centuries, and even more fascinating, the fact that cattle slaughter was one of the few crimes for which a refugee could not escape the brunt of the law if he or she escaped to a viharagam (where cattle were held in high regard). It was, to borrow the parlance of modern law, a non-bailable offence.
Based on such fragmentary evidence, the conclusion we can reach is that cattle slaughter would have been tolerated as a practice of a community, in this case Muslims, assimilated to the country’s society. When committed by a foreign group, on the other hand, it would have constituted an act of disrespect, or even aggression.
There is, of course, no doubt that Muslim settlers and local communities faced a common enemy in the European coloniser. In their attempts to convince the king of the perfidious nature of the Portuguese, for example, Buddhist monks actively took the side of Muslim traders, warning the Sinhalese court of the dangers of allowing the Westerners too many privileges. By this point the reputation of Muslims had transcended their position as mere traders; they had entered other fields, as diverse as medicine and the crafts, flourishing in whatever domain they settled in. In incorporating them into the court, as physicians or members of the military, the Sinhala polity thus absorbed them into its social structure. It is this that explains the high regard Buddhist monks had for them. Historians who tend to play with categories of race, without noting the role caste played in Sinhala society, fail to appreciate fully the implications of such developments.
We see these processes continue in the Kandyan kingdom. For a social structure that was so rigid and fixed, it is astonishing that it absorbed outside communities so well. Muslims not surprisingly figured in its scheme of things: they were decreed a place in the Sinhala caste system, banded together with the karavas or the fisher folk. They were also allowed their own headmen for the villages they settled in. This gave them a twin advantage: while maintaining amicable relations with the king, they continued with their cultural practices that set them apart from other social and caste groups. Readily genuflecting before rulers and nobles, they played a role as merchants, physicians, and envoys.
The fact that we do not come across records of tensions between them and other groups, particularly those such as the Buddhist clergy, indicates that, for all its limitations, Kandyan feudalism did a better job than British colonialism in maintaining inter-group relations. To say this is by no means to romanticise the caste system; only to suggest, as historians like Lorna Dewaraja have, that colonialism brought an end to a period of symbiotic harmony between groups who were, with the advent of Western rule, to see themselves in ethnic rather than caste terms. This, however, is an entirely new domain of research, one which most contemporary scholars, barring the likes of Asiff Hussein, have not explored. That it should be explored is implied in the unfortunate, though hardly inevitable, conflagrations of ethnic tension which crop up from time to time today. As Regi Siriwardena suggested a long time ago, what needs to be emphasised is not imagined unity, but actual diversity: a diversity that remained a force for unity for so long.
PALESTINE and IRELAND: UNITED BY PARTITION – I
by Jayantha Somasundaram
“Partition is the Englishman’s favourite way out of a difficulty. But it is a confession of failure” Irish Independent Dublin.
On Sunday, 15th December, Israel’s Foreign Minister closed their Embassy in Dublin. The following day The Jerusalem Post pointedly remarked that “if Israel were to close embassies in all countries that are diplomatically hostile, its number of representations would be dramatically reduced…Norway and Spain have also recognised a Palestinian state, and their criticism of Israel is often as equally harsh…the same is true of Belgium and smaller EU states such as Malta and Luxembourg.” Interestingly Dublin did not retaliate and closed its Embassy in Tel Aviv. Ireland had recognised Israel in 1963 and they exchanged Ambassadors in 1996.
The Irish Army has, since 1978, participated in the UN peacekeeping force in Southern Lebanon, named UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon), as does the Sri Lanka Army. On three occasions UNIFIL was commanded by Irish Army officers. Not only has the Irish Army suffered 48 fatalities, the most casualties of any of the UNIFIL participants, but they claim that in 1987 Corporal Dermot McLoughlin was deliberately killed by Israeli tank fire.
Though the Tel Aviv-Dublin diplomatic standoff may seem trivial, and marginal, given the brutality, the intransigence and the intractability of the Israeli-Palestinian War, the Irish sideshow throws up a plethora of issues relating to history, religion, nationalism and conflict that impact on the main drama.
Though Jesus of Nazareth and His disciples were Asian, His most influential follower Paul, through his missions to Turkey and Greece in the first century, took Christianity to Europe. There, with the conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine in AD313, Christianity became the religion of the Empire and consequently of Europe. And, in time, traditional European religions and local beliefs disappeared.
As early as the 4th Century missionaries to England established churches along the Bristol Channel; while St Patrick is revered as having Christianised Ireland in the 5th Century. Though England would become Protestant during the reign of King Henry VIII in the 16th Century, Ireland remained faithful to Roman Catholicism despite English persecution. But over the centuries many people in Northern Ireland did adopt Protestant Christianity.
The Irish War of Independence 1919-21 led ultimately to the predominantly Catholic southern counties becoming the State of Ireland in 1937. While Ulster, the predominantly Protestant counties of the north, remain part of the United Kingdom.
Jews in Europe
The Jewish presence in Europe preceded the rise of the Roman Empire. Once Christianity dominated Europe the Jews remained the exception, a conspicuous minority who rejected Christianity. Moreover, Jewish contemporaries of Christ had listened to Him, seen His miracles and yet refused to acknowledge Him; and succeeding generations in Europe, living among Christians, continued to deny Him. This refusal to accept Jesus as the Messiah long promised to the Jews was construed not as ignorance, but diabolical obstinacy.
In fact St. Augustine (354-430) the most influential Christian theologian of his time, argued that Jewish communities should be allowed to survive in conditions of degradation and impotence to underline the failure of Judaism and the triumph of the Church. Consequently Christian attacks on Jewish Synagogues in Europe began as early as the fourth century. Soon the Jews would be denied all rights and access to office in Christian Europe.
The Greek Christian John Chrysostom in his ‘Sermons against the Jews,’ delivered in Antioch, presented the Jews as murderers of Christ. Thus by the 5th Century anti-Jewish pogroms spread even to Palestine resulting in the burning of entire villages. And in 629 when Emperor Heraclitus retook Jerusalem from the Persians, there was a massacre of Jews by Christian Rome.
In Spain, Jews were forcibly converted to Christianity on pain of death, and the Inquisition was established by the Church to uncover under torture, those Jews who remained secret believers. When the Moors from North Africa invaded Spain in 711 the Jews welcomed them because under the Caliph, Cordoba became a centre of Jewish learning, a city of Jewish scholars, philosophers, poets and scientists. By the 11th Century the Muslims had created an Islamic Commonwealth that stretched from Spain to India. To the Muslims, Jewish monotheism was as pure as their own.
Rumours that Christians were being ill-treated in Palestine by Jews and Muslims, fuelled hostility in Europe and sparked the Crusades. The first Crusade was launched in 1095, and as they marched across Europe these ‘holy warriors’ targeted the Jews. “Marauding crusaders on their way to the Middle East in 1096 stopped to slaughter Jews in the Rhineland. One crusader account recalls thus: Behold we journey a long way to seek the idolatrous shrine and to take vengeance upon the Muslims. But here are the Jews dwelling amongst us whose ancestors killed him and crucified him groundlessly. Let us take vengeance first upon them – let us wipe them out as a nation,” records Collin Hansen in the journal Christian History.
Martin Luther
Anti-Semitism
By the 15th Century Jews had been expelled from all major west European areas: Vienna in 1421, Cologne in 1424, Augsburg in 1439, Bavaria in 1442, Milan in 1489 and Florence in 1494. And in Venice, in 1541, the term ghetto nuovo was applied to the area in which the Jews were confined. European Jews tended, therefore, to move east into Poland, Lithuania and Russia.
In comparison to continental Europe the Jewish presence in Ireland was not significant, but when all Jews were expelled from England, in accordance with the Edict of Expulsion of 18 July 1290, a Jewish holy day (the ninth of Ab, commemorating the destruction of the Second Temple in AD70), it is believed that Jews in the English Pale in Dublin would have been also evicted.
Initially, European Jews had welcomed the Protestant Reformation in the expectation that the persecution they had endured for centuries at the hands of the Roman Church would end. Martin Luther in turn expected the Jews to voluntarily accept Protestant Christianity. When he realised that the Jews still remained faithful to their own beliefs, Luther turned on them with fury in his 1543 publication On the Jews and their Lies. “First their Synagogues should be set on fire…their homes smashed and destroyed…they should be put under one roof or in a stable like Gypsies…banned from roads and markets…their property seized…drafted into forced labour.” The Holocaust had been chartered!
Not only Karl Marx but Eduard Bernstein in Germany, Rosa Luxembourg in Russian Poland, Bela Kun in Hungary, Kurt Eisner in Bavaria and Leon Trotsky in Russia dominated revolutionary politics in Europe. Jews like Martov, Dan, Radek, Zinoviev and Trotsky were conspicuous in the Russian Revolutions of 1905 and 1917. The Russian Revolution prompted the creation and dissemination of a forged document, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion about an international Jewish conspiracy. The ‘Revolutionary Jew’ became a further excuse for Europe’s Christian establishment to persecute Jews.
Holocaust
Race theories that Nazi intellectuals were formulating concluded that as Teutonic Aryans, the Germans were inherently superior to the Jews of Semitic ancestry. Even before the Nazis took power in 1933, Jewish lecturers and students were being driven out of German universities. Adolf Hitler himself was explicit – as early as 1922 he said: The annihilation of the Jews will be my first and foremost task. Paradoxically, there is reason to believe that Hitler’s own father may have been the illegitimate son of a Jew.
Once they took power, the Nazis used the 1935 Nuremberg Decrees to strip the Jews of their basic rights. On the Kristallnacht or Crystal Night the Nazis attacked and looted Jewish shops and burned all the Synagogues. Hitler had promised a ‘final solution’ to the ‘Jewish problem.’
Himmler responded by opening the first concentration camp at Dachau. By the end of World War II in 1945, of the eight million Jews in German-occupied Europe, six million had been killed.
Not far from the Dachau concentration camp is the Bavarian village of Oberammergau. Because its inhabitants believed they were spared during the Bubonic plague of 1634, they enact a now world-famous passion play every 10 years. In 1934, having witnessed the performance, Adolf Hitler said, “it is vital that the passion play be continued; for never has the menace of Jewry been so convincingly portrayed. There one sees Pontius Pilate, a Roman racially and intellectually superior, who stands out like a firm, clean rock, in the middle of the whole muck and mire of Jewry.”
At the height of the Holocaust, in 1942, when the Papal Nuncio – the Pope’s Ambassador – in Slovakia was asked to intervene on behalf of Jewish children destined for the gas chambers, his response was: “There is no innocent blood of Jewish children in the world. All Jewish blood is guilty. You have to die. This is the punishment that has been awaiting you because of the sin of deicide (the murder of God).”
A contrite Pope John Paul II admitted in 1997, that many Christians had looked the other way during the Holocaust because in their estimation, the Jews were getting what they deserved for rejecting Christ.
By Ifham Nizam
The Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, biodiversity hotspots along India’s southeastern coastline, play a pivotal role in sustaining marine ecosystems and supporting the livelihoods of coastal communities. Amid growing concerns about climate change and human-induced pressures, a comprehensive study, titled Marine Ecosystem Status and Health Monitoring 2023-24, has brought much-needed attention to these vital regions.
Edited by Dr. Terney Pradeep Kumara of the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka, along with Dr. Jayanthi M. of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and Dr. J. K. Patterson Edward from the Suganthi Devadason Marine Research Institute, this publication focuses the importance of regular ecosystem monitoring.
Speaking to The Island, Dr. Kumara, Professor in Oceanography, Department of Oceanography and Marine Geology, University of Ruhuna/ Director of the Centre for International Affairs (CINTA), told The Island: “Marine ecosystems are the lifelines of coastal economies. Their degradation not only impacts biodiversity but also the communities that depend on them. Our study aims to provide actionable insights for sustainable management.” With over 4,000 species reported in the Gulf of Mannar alone, these ecosystems are treasures of marine biodiversity.
The report, authored by V. Naganathan, Deepak S. Bilgi, A. S. Marimuthu, T. K. Ashok Kumar, and Bakan Jagdish Sudhakar, highlights several key findings:
Coral Reefs: Live coral cover has seen a slight recovery in the Gulf of Mannar, increasing from 23.3% in 2022 to 23.5% in 2023. However, the Palk Bay’s coral cover remains precariously low at 18.4%.
Seagrass and Mangroves: Seagrass beds, critical for carbon sequestration, exhibit varying health across regions, while mangroves, vital for coastal protection, remain under threat from anthropogenic activities.
Pollution: While physico-chemical parameters are largely within safe limits, seasonal fluctuations and marine debris continue to pose significant challenges.
Dr. Kumara emphasizes the global significance of these findings: “As part of the Indo-Pacific realm, the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay hold a unique place in global marine conservation efforts. Collaborative actions between India and Sri Lanka are crucial.”
The report, backed by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department, and other key stakeholders, provides a framework for future conservation efforts. Dr. Kumara and his co-editors, Dr. Jayanthi and Dr. Patterson Edward, hope the findings will catalyze policy changes and foster stronger community involvement.
“This decade is critical,” Dr. Kumara concludes. “We must act now to ensure that future generations inherit thriving oceans.”
For conservationists, policymakers, and researchers alike, this report is a clarion call to protect the invaluable marine ecosystems of the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay.
Marine Ecosystem Monitoring: Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay (2023-2024)
The Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, located along the southeastern coast of India, are biodiversity hotspots with immense ecological and economic significance. These marine ecosystems encompass coral reefs, seagrass meadows, and mangrove forests, supporting a vast array of flora and fauna while providing livelihoods to coastal communities. This article explores the findings of the 2023-24 monitoring report, highlighting the status and health of these ecosystems, the threats they face, and recommendations for their conservation.
The Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay fall within the Indo-Pacific realm, known as the world’s richest region for marine biodiversity. With over 4,000 species reported in the Gulf of Mannar and nearly 3,300 species in Palk Bay, these ecosystems are critical for sustaining marine life. The Gulf of Mannar is India’s first marine biosphere reserve and was designated as a Ramsar site in 2022.
However, these ecosystems are vulnerable to both climatic and non-climatic factors, including coral bleaching, pollution, overfishing, and habitat destruction. Recognizing this, the Tamil Nadu Forest Department has established permanent monitoring sites to assess and manage the health of these vital habitats.
Dr. Terney Pradeep Kumara
Coral reefs are among the most biologically diverse ecosystems on Earth. The monitoring data for 2023-24 revealed a slight improvement in coral health in the Gulf of Mannar compared to previous years:
The live coral cover averaged 23.5% in the Gulf of Mannar and 18.4% in Palk Bay. However, these figures are significantly lower than the baseline of 37% recorded in 2005 due to multiple bleaching events and human-induced stressors.
Some 70 coral species were identified in the Gulf of Mannar and 36 in Palk Bay. Massive corals dominated, followed by branching and table forms.
Juvenile Coral Density: This metric, indicative of reproductive success, averaged 9.0 m2 in the Gulf of Mannar and 5.8 m2 in Palk Bay.
Coral reefs are threatened by invasive species like Kappaphycus alvarezii, marine debris, and rising sea temperatures, which have consistently exceeded the bleaching threshold during summers.
Seagrass Meadows
Seagrass beds are crucial for nutrient cycling, coastal protection, and as habitats for species like dugongs and sea turtles. The study recorded:
Seagrass Cover: The Gulf of Mannar showed seagrass coverage ranging between 27.9% and 67.8%, while Palk Bay ranged between 19.5% and 60.9%.
Species Diversity:
Nine seagrass species were identified, with Cymodocea serrulata, Syringodium isoetifolium, and Thalassia hemprichii being the most common.
Shoot Density: Higher in regions with greater seagrass cover, showcasing a healthy ecosystem.
Mangrove Forests
Mangroves are natural buffers against coastal erosion and provide critical habitats for marine organisms. The study recorded:
Gulf of Mannar: The largest mangrove cover was in the Tamiraparani river estuary, spanning 172 hectares. Four mangrove species were identified, including Avicennia marina and Rhizophora mucronata.
Palk Bay: The Karankadu region had the highest mangrove cover of 250 hectares, with three dominant species.
Challenges: Mangroves face threats from habitat destruction, pollution, and encroachment.
Coastal Pollution
Physico-chemical parameters indicated that water and sediment quality were generally within acceptable levels. However, seasonal fluctuations caused by strong winds and water currents led to elevated turbidity and suspended solid levels. Heat stress during summer also exacerbated coral bleaching.
Marine Debris: Significant debris was observed, affecting 838 m2 of reef area in the Gulf of Mannar and 90 m2 in Palk Bay.
Conservation Efforts and Recommendations
The Tamil Nadu Forest Department has taken steps to mitigate threats and improve the health of these ecosystems:
Invasive Species Control: Manual removal of Kappaphycus alvarezii has significantly reduced its spread.
Community Involvement: Programmes, like eco-development committees and self-help groups, empower local communities to engage in conservation.
Regular Monitoring: Permanent monitoring sites provide long-term data critical for effective management.
Recommendations: Strengthen marine protected areas and expand eco-sensitive zones.
Promote sustainable fishing practices and regulate tourism.
Enhance public awareness about marine conservation.
Continue monitoring and restore degraded habitats using scientific interventions.
The Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay are ecological treasures that require vigilant protection. While the current state of these ecosystems is fair, ongoing threats necessitate robust conservation efforts. By fostering a balance between biodiversity conservation and sustainable livelihoods, these marine ecosystems can thrive for generations to come.
by Admiral Ravindra C Wijegunaratne
(Former Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy
and Former Sri Lanka High Commissioner to Pakistan)
The Navy, under the aegis of its Commander Vice Admiral Priyantha Perera and his lady, and President of Sri Lanka Navy Seva Vanitha Unit, Mala Lamahewa, conducted the National Canoeing and Kayaking Competition in the Jaffna lagoon last September. It was a difficult task as boats/equipment and teams required to be transported to Jaffna.
The National Regatta, held in the Jaffna lagoon off the picturesque Jaffna Dutch Fort, under the able leadership of the President of the National Association in Canoeing and Kayaking in Sri Lanka (NACKSL) Rear Admiral Chinthaka Kumaratunge, and with the assistance of Secretary of NACKSL Captain Wijesiri – injured Navy Special Forces (SBS) officers and their staff.
Practising at Diyawanna Oya
Canoeing champs
Delft Dragon Boat youngest member receiving her gift from Mala Lamahewa
What is interesting was that the Boys and Girls teams from Delft Maha Vidyalum beat all Colombo Schools in the Dragon Boat category, after just one week of training !
It was amazing to see these youngsters paddling together as a team and winning both the categories convincingly.
The President of the Navy Seva Vanitha Unit, who was present with the Chief Secretary of the Northern Province, L Ilangovan, kept to her promise and arranged these talented Northern Children to visit Colombo last week and undergo special training sessions at the Diyawanna Oya Navy Rowing Club, under the guidance of proper coaches.
Out of 42 children who visited Colombo, under Navy arrangements, 32 of them were visiting Colombo for the first time. They were delighted. Students of other leading schools joined their counterparts from the North at Navy Rowing Club and now they have friends in the Delft Island when they visit Jaffna next time and enjoy the breakfast at Deft Island with pittu, Ssodai curry and sambol!
The children were hosted to Dinner at the Navy’s Wave-N-Lake Restaurant at Walisara and the First Lady of the Navy had a gift each for those students from Jaffna .
They are badly in need of two Dragon Boats and I wonder if there is anyone who could sponsor them?
Canoeing is in their blood. They paddle Theppam with their fathers every morning, before going to school!
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