Tag Archives: Serendipity

‘Serendipity’ – The Story Of Its Origin.

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by Anura Guruge
on June 29, 2022

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Click image to access the ‘Amazon’ listing for this (2021 edition) book.

To me Serendipity involves three things: chance, luck and delight.

I am cool with ‘happy accident’ or ‘pleasant surprise’. Wikipedia, at one time, had this example, and I like it too: ‘to look for a needle in a haystack and get out of it with the farmer’s daughter‘.

I am eminently qualified to talk about Serendipity.

I was born in Serendipity.

I grew up in Serendipity.

The next book, after the one I am currently writing, will be called: ‘Tales from Serendipity‘.

‘Serendib‘ which morphed to ‘Serendip‘ is the Persian and Urdu (spoken in India and Pakistan) word for Ceylon, (now) Sri Lanka — the country in which I was born in 1953.

There was an ancient Persian folk tale about ‘The Three Princes of Serendip‘. (See image above). A hallmark of these three Persian Princes was their knack to stumble upon lucky discoveries.

This story had been translated and published in Italian, in Venice, in 1557, by a Michele Tramezzino, as Peregrinaggio di tre giovani figliuoli del re di Serendippo.

Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (1717 – 1797), a man of significance in Britain, coined the term ‘Serendipity’ from the Persian tale to connote lucky, chance discoveries as made by the three Princess. All of this is well known among the right circles and copiously documented all over the Web. [Note that we have an ‘Orford’ in NH with a rather delightful diner.]

I personally think there is more to this story than just that.

In a country as old as Ceylon, with a written historic record going back to 3,000 BCE, you are bound to find various stories as to how the people came to be — in particular the Sinhalese — who make up 75% of the population. Yes, I am Sinhalese.  ‘Sinhala’ basically translates ‘lion people’. I always think that that is cool, given that I love BIG cats. The dominant feature of the rather spectacular Ceylon flag is the Rampant Lion.

Ceylon — now Sri Lanka — flag.

So far, so good. All makes sense. Right? Wrong.

Over the centuries Sri Lanka has been known as: Serendib, Serendipity, Taprobane, and Ceylon. However, irrespective of what it was called, Sri Lanka, the island, does NOT have lions (or tigers) and never have! We only have leopards. Yep. All true.

My adoptive mother’s family is ‘Jayasinghe‘ — again the ‘Singhe’, lion, victorious lion in this instance.

The story that we were told was of Prince Vijaya, exiled by his father, in three ships, with 700 followers — who, when supplies were getting rather low, luckily, stumbled upon the resplendent island. Serendipity!

I like Vijaya. He was a player. Many Sri Lankans take after him. That is why Vijaya was kicked out to sea by his father. Vijaya, as far as we can tell, came from far Northern India. Hence all this with lions. The Sinhalese, based on our language, are classed as being ‘Indo-ARYANs’. That part has always amused me. I always joke about having to explain to a German that we, brown all over, are indeed Aryans.

But, back to Serendipity and ‘The Three Princes of Serendip‘. Isn’t it serendipitous that the Vijaya story sounds so much like the Three Princes story. As to the three princes — he had 700 followers with him in the three ships. So, there must have have two other princes in that crow.

They sure lucked out when they found Serendipity by chance. It all fits together nicely.

The ONLY DC-3 Float Plane In Existence — Belonging To Max Folsom, Of Greenville, Maine.

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by Anura Guruge
on July 5, 2021

I am SORRY to inform you that ‘Max Folsom’ passed away on Tuesday, September 19, 2023.

Click images to ENLARGE.

Max Folsom, the owner & pilot, with his ‘only-one-left‘,
DC-3 Float Plane,
at ‘Greenville’ Airport, Maine (at ‘Moosehead Lake’)
— below & at very top.

Click to ENLARGE & read here. Here is the link to original: http://www.douglasdc3.com/float

I lucked out; lucked out BIG time (as often happens to I (which is only fair for one who hails from the ‘Isle of Serendipity‘)). Not only did I get to see this unique & amazing DC-3 at close-quarters, I also got to meet & get to know the even more amazing Max Folsom. This alone would have been enough to make my 5-day trip to ‘Moosehead Lake‘, in Maine, last week, special not counting some of our other adventures (& as I will tell you in a later post, I also got to see & photograph the actual ‘VW Bus’ from ‘The Field of Dreams’ movie). Yes, I lucked out.

I had been by Greenville, ME airport before, in 2019. But, I did NOT see this DC-3 that time around. The weather wasn’t as good & I never went into the airport per se on that trip.

This time around, last Tuesday, April 20, 2021, I spotted the DC-3 from across the airport. Saw it was a BIG plane for what is a small airport. It didn’t take me long to realize that it was a DC-3. I know my DC-3s. I did all of my initial flying, & I did a fair amount, from 1956 to 1967, on DC-3s. The entire ‘Air Ceylon‘ fleet consisted of DC-3s. It was the first plane that I flew in. I was three. I think I remember it, but I can’t be sure. I could have reconstructed the memory much later. I do remember, quite VIVIDLY, my father having to be WEIGHED before we could board the plane. My father, especially those days, was BIG. They had to adjust the freight they took on plus the trimming of the plane around my father. He thought it was funny. He was a VVIP in Ceylon so it was all mere bagatelle. “Yes, Dr. Guruge. No, Dr. Guruge. Three bags full, Dr. Guruge. Anything you say, Dr. Guruge“. Max Folsom would have liked my father.

I am determined to get to know Max Folsom better. I asked him what HIS relationship was to the prison of that name & he laughingly told me that I would have to find that out myself. I have already started.

The Folsoms, I learnt over the next 72-hours, are BIG, VERY BIG in & around Moosehead Lake — as they should be. Lots of business, including the real estate agency, that proudly bear that name.

Max told me that he thinks he last flew the DC-3 in 2020. But, I found this picture of his plane, on Wikipedia that claims it was taken in 2003.

Max is HOPING to be able to get it up in the air THIS SUMMER. If he does, I plan another trip to Greenville to see that. I will keep YOU posted.

Say ‘Hi’ to Max Folsom. It is folks like him that make this world so rich & rewarding.

This post was originally published on my old, now archived ‘nhlife.wordpress.com‘ blog.