Student Snapshot: Coconut Rice and Charity, A Sri Lankan New Year
Taka Tanabe is a 4th year medical student at Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU). His mother is from Sri Lanka and his dad is from Japan. Taka was born and raised in the capital of Sri Lanka, Colombo, where he lived for 18 years before moving to Vietnam with his parents. They lived there for 1,5 years before Taka came to Riga to study.
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Where does your interest in medicine come from?
My parents are both engineers. My mother is a civil engineer, and my father is a hydrological engineer. I found medicine because I like science and I like the idea of helping others professionally. Another reason I chose medicine was because I had chronic asthma when I was small. A doctor prescribed me traditional Sri Lankan medicine, and my symptoms disappeared!
Because I can now do so many things I couldn't before, like sports, it made me understand how important good health is.
What branch of medicine are you interested in?
I think I would like to do surgery, or specialise in otorhinolaryngology (ENT). I'm looking at orthopaedic surgery, trauma surgery, or ENT right now.
What culture do you identify with the most? What traditions did you keep at home?
Culturally I am more Sri Lankan. It's the culture that I've been exposed to the longest. Right now I actually live in Japan. My parents moved to Japan from Vietnam when I started studying, so technically I live in Japan and that's where I go for holidays. I'm learning more about Japanese culture now.
I'm a Buddhist like my father, but my mother is Christian, so I go to church and temple. I'm very open to learning about different cultures and religions.
Is there anything that you miss from home?
I miss the food and the weather! It's actually not too hard for me to get Sri Lankan food here nowadays. You find a lot of places that have spices, meats, all of these things, but I think Japanese food is still a little bit challenging to make here.
What was the biggest culture shock coming to Latvia?
I think the biggest shock was probably how small Riga was. Not in a bad way, but I always found Colombo quite busy. There are a lot of people and a lot of traffic. You get used to seeing tons of people on the road, but coming here was really nice and peaceful.
Another thing that surprised me compared to Sri Lanka and Japan, is that here, you can get a lot of things more easily.
I was surprised at how easy it was to get a SIM card, activate it, and use good internet in Latvia!
The procedures back home are slightly more complicated.
What traditions are there in Sri Lanka and Japan at this time of the year?
Christmas is celebrated in Sri Lanka so you have Christmas parties, choirs, singing, dinners, church mass and so on. Christmas isn't celebrated that much in Japan and you only get half a day off work. In Japan there is also a separate branch of religion called Shinto.
People go to temple, light candles, and at the end of the year, there is a Bell-Ringing Ceremony where a special bell is rung 108 times before midnight on New Year's Eve, symbolically welcoming the New Year. It's basically like a prosperity symbol to wish good luck for the next year.
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How do you practise Buddhism in Latvia?
For me, Buddhism is kind of a philosophical approach to life. It's not really a religion as such. For example, I have certain prayers or sayings that I say before an exam or before something important in my life. For me, Buddhism means self awareness, being aware of the moment. We also respect others and their opinions. I don't really have a place that I go to. If there was a temple, I would go and pray, but it doesn't hinder my ability to practise my religion. Buddhism is different to each person. The values and core principles are the same, but the practice depends on each individual's approach to life.
How will you celebrate New Year's Eve?
For New Year's Eve I follow Sri Lankan culture. What we normally do is to boil coconut milk and cook coconut milk rice on 1 January. This is called kiribath. We make this and offer it to friends and family who come to visit on the first day of the year. We also light a special brass oil lamp. If you don't have one, a candle or something similar will do.
In Sri Lanka we also have our own Sinhala and Tamil New Year in the month of April, which is celebrated with more traditional events, dance, and food.
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How do you make kiribath?
You cook rice with a bit of extra water and you add the water from coconut milk. You get this really smooth and thick kind of rice at the end. You eat it together with spices or a condiment like chutney and other side bowls. You can eat curries with it too, like a fish curry, or soy bean curry. We also eat various Sri Lankan sweets with it, sweet, crunchy deep fried treats called kokis. You can also have fruits, like bananas on the side.
Are there any rituals associated with the new year?
It depends on the household, but in my case I would boil coconut milk in a special clay pot that is then kept outside the front door, either hung up or on the floor. It's not for consumption but just a good luck symbol.
The main thing is to do money transactions on the first day of the new year. We'll sometimes go to the bank and deposit money, which is supposed to bring good luck both financially and in general.
In Latvia, I donate money. I have found the website ziedot.lv and I donate money every 1 January. I do it both as a charitable gesture and in memory of what I would do back home in Sri Lanka.
Have you chosen the cause that you'll donate to?
I always donate to health care related causes. I look for people who have difficulties paying their medical bills, or people with various health-related problems.
