Bonsai:

An ancient art growing in popularity

What is bonsai? It is the ancient art of producing miniature trees. The trees themselves are called bonsai. Look at the pictures given on this page. Showing different dwarf trees. Bonsai's range in height from a few inches to about two feet.

In the Grade 8 English Pupils' Book, on page 17, there are a few facts about bonsai. Two students who had been told by their teacher to write a short essay on bonsai, asked me for more information. There may be others, I am sure, who would like to know more about this art of growing miniature trees.

Bonsai is an art (believed to have originated in China) that the Japanese have perfected, over the centuries. The first records of dwarfed, potted plants in Japan is in a picture scroll (roll of paper or parchment) done in 1309, that is 700 years ago.

So, it is likely that the Japanese had been cultivating dwarf plants for a 100 or more years before that scroll of pictures was made by one Takashino Takakane in 1309.

Bonsai is becoming a popular pastime in Sri Lanka, as in many other countries. In Japan it is not only a pastime; it is part of the nursery industry. Bonsais are for sale in nurseries along with other plants and trees.

Bonsais are ordinary trees dwarfed by pruning roots and branches, and tying the branches with wire, to restrict growth, and also to bend them into the correct shape, that is the natural shape of the ordinary tree.

The Japanese plant a seedling or a rooted cutting of such trees as pine juniper, maple or azalea.

In Sri Lanka, I have seen bonsai bo trees and dwarfed mango and pomegranate trees growing in pots.

Pruning roots and stems is not enough to restrict the tree to miniature size. New shoots must be nipped during the growing season and the plant must be re-potted from time to time.

Before re-potting, the roots have to be pruned. When the roots are pruned periodically, the "soil ball" holding the roots will get smaller and fit the container; it can then be grown in the same container for years. Once the tree has been dwarfed to the desired height, it can be kept in the same pot or tray.

The time taken to cultivate a bonsai to the desired size varies. It takes 5-10 years training (pruning, tying branches with wire and nipping of new shoots) to get a tree that is about 5 cm (2 inches) in height. A bonsai of medium height - 6 to 12 inches - can be cultivated in three years.

Bonsai trees are hardy. They can live over 100 years. Some Japanese families hand down bonsai trees from generation to generation as valued family possessions - heirlooms. In Japanese homes bonsai is displayed in their living rooms on small low tables or in alcoves (that part in the wall that is further back from the rest).

The aged appearance of the trunk and branches and the weathered look in the exposed upper roots are features highly prized in a bonsai tree. The Japanese say these aesthetic qualities in the bonsai trees are a reminder that all things change. It is the same concept as anicca in Buddhism-nothing remains the same for ever; everything changes.

The Japanese word bonsai means 'tray-planted', bonsai is very often grown in wooden trays. The container in which the tree is planted in, is very important in this art of growing dwarf or miniature trees.

The container can be of wood or clay. It can be round, oval, square, rectangular or even octagonal and it must have a hole in the bottom. But it must be selected to suit the tree planted there in. It must complement (add to) the colour and the shape of the tree when it grows to the desired height.

The placing of the seedling or the rooted cutting in the container is another important factor. The shape of the tree when it grows must be considered. Most trees have branches spreading all round. In some trees branches hang down like cascades. Pine trees are cone-shaped.

The bonsai trees are watered as frequently as other plants.

Liquid fertiliser is also used. As bonsais are hardy plants they can be left outdoors if the weather is not too cold or if there is no rain.

Sumana Saparamadu

Women hold up half the sky

More than half of Sri Lanka’s population comprise women, as you may already know. It is also quite a well-known fact that they make an invaluable contribution to keeping the island’s economy afloat.

Despite these facts, women and girl children continue to recieve the short end of the stick when it comes to many fields. The basic rights that they are entitled to - such as food, education and security - are denied to them while they also have to encounter a lot of violence when making their way in society.

The issues concerning women and girl children are highlighted on March 8 every year, on the United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace, generally known as International Women’s Day (IWD), an event that is celebrated around the world including Sri Lanka.

This year’s event would be conducted under the theme ‘Shaping progress’ and would comprise over 250 different events. They would range from small and informal events organised on a random basis to large, highly-organised events.

Another important factor regarding IWD this year is that we are only three years away from the centenary of this leading event officially launched in 1911.

Although the first IWD was held on February 28, 1909 in the USA, it was officially recognised at the first international women’s conference, held in Copenhagen, Denmark by Socialist International in 1911. It was marked the following year by over one million people, both men and women, in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland.

The day also commemorates the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire in New York in 1911, where over 140 women workers died due to the lack of safety measures. On March 8, 1913, women across Europe organised peace rallies against World War I. The event was revived during the 1960s.

In 1975, which had been designated as the International Women’s Year, the United Nations officially sanctioned and began sponsoring the Day. Celebrations on an international scale got under way in 1977.

The goals of the annual event are to celebrate the progress made to advance equality for women and to assess the challenges that remain. It’s a major event which honours and acknowledges the economic, social and political achievements made by women around the world.

Ice cream baked inside a cake

We all love good food especially delicious desserts. An unusual dessert, which makes an appearance around Christmas time, is Baked Alaska.

Have you ever wondered why this lovely dish is known as such? Alaska is a part of the United States...the 49th state to be exact. How can you bake a part of a country? Read on and see.

Baked Alaska is made of ice cream placed in a pie dish lined with slices of sponge cake or Christmas pudding and topped with meringue. Now you may be wondering how exactly ice cream is baked.

The dish is kept in the freezer until serving time, then it is placed in a very hot oven, just long enough to firm and brown the meringue. Some use a small blowtorch to brown the meringue, which acts as an effective insulator, and the short cooking time prevents the heat from melting the ice cream.

The idea of baking a dessert with ice cream at its core seems to have originated with the Chinese, who used pastry instead of meringue for the casing. It was introduced to Europe in the mid-19th century when a Chinese delegation visited Paris.

The use of meringue was introduced in 1804 by the American physicist Benjamin Thompson, who investigated the heat resistance of beaten egg whites; he found that while pastry would conduct the heat to the ice cream, beaten egg whites would do so to a lesser extent.

The dish was named glace au four, omelette surprise, omelette a la norvegienne and Norwegian omelette; the Norwegian part being used due to its Arctic appearance and cold centre. It was renamed ‘Baked Alaska’ in 1876 when Delmonico’s Restaurant in New York City named it in honour of the newly acquired territory of Alaska.

The dessert was popularised worldwide by the chef Jean Giroix in 1895 at the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo. The process was simplified in 1974 by Jacqueline Halliday Diaz who invented a special baking pan with a fillable hollow.

In 1969, the microwave oven enabled Hungarian physicist and ‘molecular gastronomist’ Nicholas Kurti to produce a ‘reverse Baked Alaska’ (Frozen Florida), which was hot on the inside and cold on the outside.

Many variations of this dessert are now being made with fillings like raspberry being used instead of ice cream. However it may be made, it sure is a heavenly dessert.