If you hadn’t noticed, I have been on sabbatical from our North Dakota headquarters the past couple of months, and spending some time in the continent that some of the inspiration for our mutiny comes from. While I have been based in Sri Lanka since the end of May, this past week I had the opportunity to visit a far-off corner of the territory considered part of South Asia, the beautiful and oft-forgotten Maldives. I thought that in honor of the Maldivian Independence day (July 26), I would drop a little knowledge on one of the most beautiful places in South Asia.
First, it is unclear to me whether it is the Maldives or Maldives, although I believe since the country is a series of atolls (groups of islands), the “the” could potentially be appropriate. Since I was there for all of four days, I am not really an expert on the place and this is more of an observation post than anything.
The main thing that struck me, outside of the natural beauty, was that an Island-country, separated by lots of water from the rest of the sub-Continent, while keeping its own distinct culture, shared so much with the rest of the region. I guess it isn’t that far away–the flight to Male is only 85 minutes from Colombo.
One thing that was blatantly different was the English-speaking accent. We all know what I am talking about, that Indian “Hobson-Jobson,” Apu English, spoken in variation by those from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, NepalÂ…etc. It was nowhere to be heard by in the Maldives. Instead, most had an almost Australian intonation to their English, which I assume is from its proximity to that part of the world. Also, Maldivians don’t have that same interest in cricket–they seem to follow soccer more. That being said, the country is currently taken by Bollywood, Star Plus and their Hindi language soap operas, by Jay Sean and Raghav, and by curry and rice.
Even some of the food items are similar in style and name. Instead of roti, they have “roshi”, and in the savories department, Samosas and Bhajiya are both part of the repertoire, only for veggies like myself, they are off-limits because fish is the added Maldivian ingredient. For dessert they have both bondi and zileybee (jalebi)—which is coils of batter deep fried and served in a syrup, also available in the rest of South Asia.
And if you haven’t noticed, the country is simply beautiful.
Hey Sajit,
After the Tsunami, there was some talk that whole islands in the Maldives had disappeared. Is it true? How are people talking about the tsunami there now?
From what I saw, Male, and the resort Island I stayed at were not touched by the tsunami. From what I heard, many of the resort islands were untouched or if the island was affected, it is now open for tourists again.
There were a couple of inhabited atolls that were affected by the tsunami and the damage is still visible, but for tourism purposes, the ones that arrive at the airport, checks out Male, and goes straight to the resort, you would never know a major tsunami hit the country a bit over six months ago.
From what I can remember, The Maldives declared a state of emergency before any other country, and braced themselves for the worst. But I think the impact and death toll on this beautiful little archipelago was far less than expected, which is odd as the highest point in the Maldives is about chest-high at 1.5metres. I think about a dozen resorts remained shut at the moment.
Last I heard, the relief and reconstruction efforts were going well – although perhaps somewhat biased towards tourist areas. However I did also hear that 10,000 people were still homeless, so I don’t know what’s being glossed over to keep the punters coming in.
I think “atoll” is one of the only English words derived from Maldivian?
a·toll ( P ) Pronunciation Key (tôl, -l, tôl, tl) n. A ringlike coral island and reef that nearly or entirely encloses a lagoon.
[Maldivean atolu; probably akin to Sinhalese ätul, interior (from the interior lagoon), probably from Sanskrit *antala-, interior, variant of antara-. See en in Indo-European Roots.]
atule is Sinhalese for inside…so the etymology makes sense..
So, a really wild guess about the english accent difference? Every Australian I meet (quite a few scandanavians too) talks about The Maldives (not sure if the article is supposed to be there) when I mention growing up in Sri Lanka. It’s the surfing, apparently. They’ve been going there for decades, chasing the waves. Maybe that did it?
I have no evidence for this theory whatsoever, so take it as you will.
Sajit, the fish you mentioned, in the samosas? Were they salted and dried, then broken up like little wood chips? I ask because dried fish bits are used as a pungent flavoring agent in many Sri Lankan dishes.
Also, the bogeyman story we were told as kids? All the tiny islands between Sri Lanka and The Maldives were full of kidnapped children from Sri Lanka…kidnapped not for ransom but for free labor, salting and drying the fish under slave conditions. If a helipcopter or something passed over, they’d be forced to hide in the salt-water barrels or in some mangrove, or under a canoe or something….so don’t talk to strangers! don’t wander away! Don’t eat anything not cooked by family!
Again, I have zero knowledge if there is/was any truth to this. It is a beautiful (and expensive) place…
Hi..
I’m Maldivian. Quite flattering to see u have praised the Maldives here.
Just trying to answer ur questions, cicatrix…
The fish in Bajiya (samosa)is not dried. Traditionally it was made with freshly cooked tuna saueted (?) with onions and chilies and other small ingredients..but now fresh tuna is replaced by canned…and it tastes much better
And like u said its just a boogeyman story..I have never heard such a happened in our past..