Caught me off-guard, on the hop. IT, very much an astrological holiday (based on the astronomical ‘sighting’ of the new moon, is early this year. Most years it falls on April 14. In my mind ‘April 14’ is New Year. ‘April 13’ (which was the birthday of my maternal grandmother (who brought me up) was the OLD NEW YEAR. This year Old New Year is TODAY. Ooops. Yes, I have been busy (& yes, it is another book). So, I lost sight of it.
Well, not a total loss. I still managed to catch the New Year.
So, Happy New Year.
Those are my ADOPTIVE parents — lighting oil lamps (something we did for New Year). I don’t think these pictures are from New Year. My father is wearing a suit. Though he wore one OFTEN, he wouldn’t be wearing one for New Year. We usually spent ALL of Old New Year and the start of the New Year at home. When at home my father always dressed informally.
Well, Happy New Year.
The last of the THREE New Years I mark & celebrate each year.
Yes, though the final timing is determined by astrologers, it typically falls on or around April 14 of each.
But, we also have the tradition of marking the day ahead of it as our ‘OLD New Year’. Actually makes sense. A day to put the OLD year behind you & get ready, both physically & emotionally for the coming NEW Year — the next day. Many, especially those that don’t bother doing so daily, will take a good bath on the Old New Year day to wash away the old year.
We marked it more than most because it was my maternal grandmother’s birthday. She was the all-powerful matriarch of the family — & she had quite the family. So, our festivities definitely started on the 13th & carried on, unabated, to the next day. We used to be good at having fun.
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.
Click to ENLARGE. My adoptive mother doing something she loved to do. Serve food.
To mark the occasion I went looking for old pictures, from Ceylon, from the 1950s & 1960s.
I no longer have many. Plus, the ones I have are deteriorating. Some of you may not know, but photos in the 1950s & 1960s were SMALL. The films were small.
But, I managed to capture some. Yes, I also didn’t have much time. {Smile}
Click the images to ENLARGE them.
Any guesses as to who this could be? I think that that is a stray dog. I was NEVER allowed to have one.
Top left is my illustrious paternal grandfather, JP. Bottom left is my beloved Doctor Uncle — who was indeed a doctor, a very good one at that. These are all close relatives. My surrogate parents 6 down from the top — at right.
A fair chunk of the family is here, parents, aunties, cousins.
Click to ENLARGE. My teak elephant bridge, with ‘Ceylon’ inlaid into the wood. I bought in New Hampshire, at a consignment store, a few years ago. Got a good price.
Click to ENLARGE. Some of the gifts you can send for New Year via ‘Kapruka.com‘.
One of the THREE New Years that I celebrate EACH YEAR — January 1, Chinese New Year & this, my native, Sinhala New Year. Ironically, & sadly, I basically mark the Sinhala New Year as opposed to celebrate it per se. Basically there is nobody around to celebrate it with! Not like Chinese New Year when I can go to Boston Chinatown — COVID permitting.
Yes, of course, we celebrated it when I lived in Ceylon. That was a long time ago. I left in August 1967. I have not been back in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in April, for New Year, since then. But, I still remember it. All the auspicious times. Having to do some studies, at the right time, to step into the New Year with the right ‘academic blessings’. I remember this vividly & it has to have been around 60-years ago. The New Year day is busy — especially as we were in heavy demand as ‘First Visitors’ to various houses. So my father wanted to get the studying part done quickly as possible (for a change). He asked me for the square root of 100. I was stumped. My father was disappointed. After some coaxing & coaching I got it right. The deed was done.
Well, the two YouTubes above will give you an idea to what it was like.
