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Saturday, 10 May 2014 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The duo, ably assisted by two others, is the hands behind the longest Buddhist flag in Sri Lanka. For six years running, they have laboured to create the magnificent flag that flutters next to the Dematagoda Bridge.
This year, the flag weighs over 200kgs and is 100 feet in length and 50 feet in width.
What is also interesting is that despite the religious issues the country has been grappling with in the recent past, here, in the tiny shop cum house near the bridge, it is four Catholic women who keep the operation running, with Nisha at the head.
No matter the challenge – be it monetary, too many orders or health problems – the duo is keen on keeping the tradition going.
The Master’s story
Hemapala Master, as he is known, entered the stitching business long years ago. Unable to find work elsewhere, he began this enterprise by stitching children’s clothes, uniforms, pillow cases, etc., which he sold outside schools. It was later that the five-coloured Buddhist flag became his main product.
“This was something I have always wanted to do,” he said. “I am a Buddhist. It saddened me to see people paying little or no respect to our flag. There was also a time when people were moving away from our religion, making it harder for those practicing it genuinely. It was against this backdrop that I started stitching Buddhist flags.”
Now, he has given up stitching everything else but flags. “There is a demand for this throughout the year”, he assured. However, the peak period is only during April-June. From January to March, it is the colours of schools that adorn the little room, as they undertake orders for school flags during the Big Match season. The business is slowest from August to October.
“I will not stop this business,” he said firmly. “I believe everyone has to do something, however small it is, to keep any culture or tradition going.”
Nisha’s story
Nisha found her way to Master’s one room operation nine years ago through her friend Nilanthi. “I had no job even though I worked in a factory before. I desperately needed the cash to keep my daughter fed and clothed. It was at this time that Nilanthi, who was already working here, brought me to Master.”
Nisha’s husband passed away 13 years ago, leaving her with a daughter who is now 12 years old. “I was desperate and despite the low profits, he (Master) decided to hire me.”
Since then, she has never left his side. Affectionately referring to him as ‘uncle,’ Nisha expressed her gratitude to Master for teaching her everything she knows. Now she handles the accounts, does her share of sewing and looks after him when he falls ill.
“I am a Catholic but I never look at this as a Buddhist business. For me, this was where I found refuge. I do what I have to do with honesty and love. Maybe that is why I never feel tired,” she observed.
“The racial and religious divide is not for us. I don’t care which religion any one of us belongs to. I respect the monks, just as I would respect a priest. Maybe it’s true, for the poor, race or religion does not matter.”
The story of the longest flag
It is Nisha who undertakes the sewing of the flag, while Master oversees the operation. “I do it with immense commitment and pride.”
Thanks to the years of practice she’s had, it takes her only a week to sew the entire 100 foot flag.
However, she stressed that the cost is significant. Over Rs. 2 lakhs is spent on material alone while the frame costs around Rs. 3.5 lakhs.
Due to the tight monetary situation, Master buys large pieces separately whenever he can from Pettah and Nisha use her magic to fit the pieces together.
“I can run this business on a larger scale but the money coming in is so little. When that gets distributed among the four of us, what we have left is minute,” Master reflected.
To help him with the cost, Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, who has for the past five years been the Chief Guest of the flag unveiling event and has been invited for this year’s ceremony as well, introduced Master to the Maga Engineering Group Chairman, Capt. N.G. Kularatne who has undertaken the responsibility of setting in place the steel frame on which the flag will be supported.
“This flag is dedicated to my wife, children, other family members and all my deceased friends and relatives,” he said.
Nisha added that the decision to make this gigantic flag again this year was only taken on Monday. “Uncle suffered from a heart attack a few months ago, while I too, was not feeling too well,” she noted. “But he said to me that this flag contains his breath and life; and the life of generations of his children. And for us, his breath is our breath. So we decided we will do this once again.”
Pix by Upul Abayasekera
