Instructions : Nonchi carrying a tumbler referred as “Baaldiya”in Sinahala . Carrying Soil of the Ground (symbolize Motherland) and requesting people to repeat saying the word exactly.
This performance re-enacts the 1983 mobs attack on the Tamil civilians.
Mother narrates that they used carry a tumbler(or any light weight object), request their captives to speak a word from Sinhala . Through their distinguish accent , the mobs identify the “other”.
Simple act of wearing a bindi or mottu
( Red dot kept in the middle of the forehead was considered a taboo) was prohibited to be worn by all females including Sinhalese women.
Sandy soil collected from the ritualistic Garba ground was placed as a bindi or mottu on those who made a mistake in pronouncing of the word ” BAALDIYA” in Sinhala language were distinguished by this act.
