Lilamani de Silva, Bio continued

About 74 percent of the population of Sri Lankan's are Sinhala who are akin to North Indians in language. The largest minority groups are the Sri Lankan Tamils and the Indian Tamils, which together account for about 18 percent of the population. The remaining population includes the descendants of Moors (Arabs), Burghers (Dutch), Malays, and Veddas.

The official language of Sri Lanka is Sinhala, or Sinhalese and Tamil. Sinhalese a language of the Indo-Aryan branch of the family the family of Indo-European language is spoken by more than 70 percent of the population. Tamil, a Dravidian language of Southern India, is spoken by people living in the northern and eastern provinces. English, the official language of the country from 1815 to 1956, is still widely used.

In Sri Lanka schooling is compulsory for children from 5 to 16 years of age. Free education to the university degree level is provided by the state. There are public elementary and secondary schools and also many private religious and non-religious schools, 18 public Universities and several private institutions of higher education in Sri Lanka. Many students from affluent families come to the United States for higher studies. Most of the students that go abroad for higher studies have gone to private schools in Sri Lanka. Only a small percentage of students receive scholarships from public Universities or government organizations to come to the United States for higher studies.

Sri Lanka has a colorful mixture of religions, cultures, and ethnic diversity similar to the United States. Sri Lanka has a pluralistic society comprising of a Sinhala majority along with Tamil, Muslim, Burgher and other minorities. The traditions and customs that people follow are so different. We do have several community organizations to celebrate the cultural events of the various traditions and customs. The traditional foods are served on each special holiday or celebration. These organizations in the United States are so important to pass on the culture to the Sri Lankan American children.

Religion plays an important role in the customs and traditions people follow. Most public holidays are based on religious festivals. In Sri Lanka Buddhism is the predominant religion as in India Hinduism is the predominant religion. In addition to Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity both Roman Catholic and Protestant Christianity are among other religions that nourish the social fabric of Sri Lankan society. Throughout the country there are several Buddhists temples. In Southern California I have personally gone to three temples. The Sri Lankan Hindu's go to the Indian Hindu temples for worship and weddings. There are a sizeable percentage of Muslims (6%) and Catholics (8%) in Sri Lanka. When I was growing up my parents had friends from different religions and ethnic groups. We would celebrate with friends as they celebrated their religious holiday. This was a great experience for me growing up as I learned early in my life to respect other people's religion and their traditions and customs. I like to see these same kinds of celebrations exposed to the Sri Lankan American children.

Very often we are considered or taken for granted to be Indians from India. People automatically stereotype us as part of the Indian culture. We do have several similarities but we are not the same. I have had difficulty when I am faced with the task to fill out forms. I check the box that says Indian Asian. I do have a problem being categorized, as I am not an Indian Asian. I wish that this section would be blank where people can write the country of origin accurately.

Although Sri Lankans are considered a colored ethnic minority group they are more accepted in the American society and finds it much easier to blend and acculturate into the main society. It has been hypothesized that voluntary entrance and class may facilitate Sri Lankans to blend and acculturate into the main society. It has been hypothesized that voluntary entrance may dispose a person to seek admission into the dominant society, whereas, the opposite may be presumed about African Americans and Native Americans, who may be described as conquered races (Mclemore, 1983; Morrison, 1968).

The Sri Lankan immigrants are often from middle or upper class of Sri Lanka. Because of their privileged status in Sri Lanka they have an easier time being accepted and adjusting to the standards of American life, than did earlier waves of uneducated Asians such as the Chinese coolies, the Japanese farmers, and the Sikh laborers of the Canadian lumber industry. Professional employment, vertical mobility, and geographic mobility in their adopted country have led Asian Indian and Sri Lankan immigrants to adopt an intermediate level of assimilation (Siddique, 1977).

The literacy rate in Sri Lanka in 1995 was 90% and the school attendance is 98%. Since the Sri Lankans who are living here are educated and can read and write English quite well they are at an advantage. The majority of families that live in the United States are professionals; their standard of living varies from middle upper to upper class. Most of them are Doctors, Attorneys, Entrepreneurs, stockbrokers and other professional. When newcomers come to America their families who are already living here helps them to get settled. Other Sri Lankans help them to get jobs, keep them in their homes until they are financially ready to move out.
There are approximately 80,000 Sri Lankans or about 30,000 families in Southern California. Many of the Sri Lankan families live in Beverly Hills, South Pasadena, Orange County, Newport Beach, Lancaster, Northridge and Cerritos. The Sri Lankans who live in Southern California has formed a community of their own to keep the connection and linkage to the culture and traditions of Sri Lanka.

There are several Sri Lankan organizations here in Southern California:
· Four Buddhist Temples - Hollywood, Crenshaw, Sun Valley and North Hollywood.
· The Sri Lankan Association.
· Several cultural and professional organizations.
· Several past pupils associations. (The schools that the Sri Lankans attended have formed associations).
· Sports - Cricket, Golf, and basketball clubs.
· Sri Lankan Hindus go to the Indian Hindu temples - One in Malibu and the other in Northridge.
· Sri Lankan Muslims go to the Pakistani mosques.
· Sri Lankan Christians go to the American churches and they assimilate with other Christians. Sri Lankan priesthood active in churches.

The California Sri Lankan Association includes all the ethnic and religious groups and all Sri Lankans comes together for events of this organization. Some of the events are:

· New Years eve dinner dance at the Marriott Hotel in Los Angeles.
· A Valentine's dinner dance at the Hilton in Woodland Hills.
· Sinhalese and Tamil New Year celebration at Woodley Park in April. There is a cultural show that the Sri Lankan children perform. Every family brings food to share.
· In May the Buddhists celebrate Vesak. There are many events at the Buddhist temples and also many cultural shows.
· In August there is a basketball tournament played among the Sri Lankans against each group.
· In September there is a Golf tournament, which is held in Palms Springs. Most of the men play golf and only a few women have got into it.
· In October there is a cricket match (game). It is a game similar to baseball. Many Sri Lankans play cricket against each other's school teams. The women join them to serve afternoon tea, with pastries and finger food. (Similar to the English High Tea).

Sri Lankans have a great cultural mix of the eastern and western. Sri Lankans
assimilated to the Western culture from the British, as it was a British colony until 1948. For all our dances, Sri Lankans have English and Sinhalese Bands. They do know how to disco, ballroom dancing, swing, waltz, line dancing and every western dance. Sri Lankans are social human beings who love to wine and dine. They love to party and entertain. Most Sri Lankans has an event to attend every Saturday and Sunday or they are entertaining. We socialize mostly with other Sri Lankans. Birthdays, Anniversaries, and weddings are celebrated. The weddings are beautiful with a mixture of two cultures. The women always wear saris and the men wear western suits. The customs and traditions that they follow for the weddings differ according to the religious beliefs.

Most Sri Lankans who lives here eats their ethnic food almost on a daily basis in their homes. Children are taught to eat spicy food at an early age. There are several Sri Lankan stores in the United States especially in States that several Sri Lankans resides. Most Indian stores also carry Sri Lankan spices and other ingredients. In Cerritos there is a large Indian community. It is called 'Little India'. You can get everything you want from there, including saris, jewelry and spices. There are only two Sri Lankan Restaurants here, one in the Valley and the other in Hollywood. There are many Sri Lankan housewives who cater food from their homes.

When there is a funeral in the Sri Lankan community everybody gathers to help the family. The customs back home are still followed here in Los Angeles. As a community we take turns and take food for the family. Everybody helps the family to get through the grieving period.

Fellow Sri Lankans are a support to each other. In any crisis they all come together to help not only moral support if needed monetary support is also given. The strength that you get from your fellow Sri Lankans is unbelievable even though every body leads a very busy life here. People make time for other people and they go out of their way to help other Sri Lankans.

Both parents are involved in the daily activities of the their children. Mostly the women are involved in the management of the home and children. Very often women do not have to work and they choose to stay home when their children are young if economically well off. But even if they are not, they try to work part-time, so they can be home when the children come home from school. They sit with the children to do home work. Education is very important and the parents push their children to excel in school and they do. Most of the children go to private school and some to public. Private or Public, the parents get involved in the child's education and the schools.

Children are taught to respect their elders, teachers, and people in authority, to be obedient. They are encouraged to take part in all the cultural events, interact with other Sri Lankan families. Most of the children understand their language but speak only English. Most of the children are well adjusted to being bicultural and can function well in both cultures. The culture is surrounded by the religious beliefs of the family. Sri Lankans keep the linkage with family and friends in Sri Lanka and take their children for vacations. This helps parents to keep their Sri Lankan culture, traditions and to instill the values to their children who live in the United States.