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Q : How long have you been in your profession and how far have you achieved? A : This is part of my family tradition. I was into drumming since my young days, like when I was 11 or 12 years. Today it has become my profession. I run two art centres in Dambana and Henanigala where children and even young adults learn the arts and dance- related skills and in particular the culture specific to my heritage. I plan to proceed with this tradition. Q : This is a rapidly changing world. Your elders may be expecting you to protect and preserve the traditions of the indigenous community. The traditional life and the life outside has a vast difference. How does the youth of your community feel about it? Isn't it challenging? A : Truly it is a huge challenge. In the current economic trends we also have to have some sort of financial stability. It is not practical to just follow our roots. Youth are struggling to protect our heritage as well as to survive in the present world. It is tricky. If we try to change then we lose our roots. Simply by staying in the jungle we can not survive. Many youth of my community have gone to nearby towns and villages to find employment – whether they like it or not. They youth are trying to merge the traditional and the modern world. Recently they set up two cricket teams from Dambana and Henanigala as there were young people talented and enthusiastic of the sport. So they are trying their boundaries. We also like to see a development in our living standards. Living totally in the jungles is not a sustainable solution. Q : What would you suggest? A : There should be a place, a platform for the youth of my community to make use of their talent. There are so many young people with many talents. If a centre can be set up to exhibit their products it can create a good business venture and provide a better economic stability without damaging the culture. Today what happens is that their talents and products can only be seen if tourists or businessmen come in search of it to the village. There should be a common place for both these sectors to meet. Q : You said this is the first Youth Forum you attended. What will you be taking back home to share with other young people of your community? A : Yes, this is my first experience at a Youth Forum. Yet at the forum everything was so artificial. There was something artificial about the environment where the Youth Forum was held. I felt like that. Maybe because I live with nature in my village. The youth were so much away from nature. Youth must know how to live with their feet on the ground. Living away from nature is not a good thing.
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