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 Most
Maldivians lead a simple existence in harmony with nature. One of the
great attractions of Maldives is that it does offer a way of life
adapted to the environment; a life style in which the people have little
material desires. However, it would be wrong to conclude that Maldivians
lead a life of "lotus eaters" in a lost paradise. To scratch a living
the islanders spend long, hard hours fishing at sea, entirely at the
mercy of the elements. Women worry about making ends meet; men worry
about their catch. Most family's experience enforced separation, with
the men either working in the resorts or foreign shipping lines. There
is a large element of stoic resignation in the Maldivian approach to
life. Perhaps because they go away and return so often, Maldivians have
no word in Dhivehi for "goodbye" or "hello". At the same time, the
burning interest in political intrigue and the volatile nature of their
personal relations must surely reflect the need to express emotions that
are necessarily repressed in close-knit, all embracing island
communities.
Society:
Maldivian society is distinguished by strong social divisions.
Traditionally the upper class, with names like Don Seedi, Don Kaloa,
Ibrahim Fulu, Ibrahim Maniku and Moosa Didi, were close friends and
relatives of the sultan and his family. Yet even among these families
there were marked differences. Well into this century Bell noted that "a
Didi marrying a Maniku lady raises her to his own rank; but the children
of a Maniku father and Didi mother are, strictly speaking, not entitled
to the appellation Didi". Years ago it was unacceptable to eat with a
member of an inferior class, and people of a lower class mixing with a
superior only sat on a low stool. Now these distinctions are breaking
down. Indeed, the terms Maniku and Didi are sometimes used as nicknames.
Today advancement is based more on merit than birth, although education
is now less important than wealth in commanding respect from others. The
number of islands a person leases or the number of boats they own is
also crucial to their social standing. The boat owner takes about half
the day's catch, while the skipper, keyolhu, earns about one fifth. The
rest is divided equally among the fishermen. The men who make the boats
"Maavadi meehaa" are respected craftsmen; on their skill depends the
fishermen's lives and thus the well being of the community. The medicine
man "Hakeem", stands on the same social rung. Skilled tradesmen like
blacksmiths and jewelers also command a great deal of respect. At the
bottom of the social heap is the toddy-tapper, "Raaveria", who looks
after the coconuts and taps sap for toddy and syrup. Although long ago
Maldives was ruled by sultanas and may have had a matrilineal system of
inheritance, it is very much a man's world today.
Homes:
The government owns all land. Villages are laid out on a rectangular
plan, and each family is granted an area known as a "goathi" measuring
fifteen meters (49 feet) by thirty meters (98 feet). Surrounded by small
coral walls, within each goathi is a garden with several shady trees
including mango, breadfruit, coconut, arecanut palm, banana and papaya.
Most have several chair like hammocks on wooden frames, "Joali" fixed in
the sand or hanging from a tree, and a swinging wooden bed, "Udhoali",
an ideal place to relax on a hot, sultry day. The main house in the
centre of the compound, has several rooms and is used for sleeping. Food
is cooked in a separate, coral shack, "Badhige" with a thatched roof and
no windows, containing two or three hollows for stoves. Most families
also have a deep well for water. The "bathroom" is behind an inner coral
closure called a "Gifili" where a latrine is dug in the coral sand.
The rectangular houses were originally constructed from cadjan (woven
palm fronds), but walls are now commonly made from coral fragments held
together with lime made from burning coral slowly for a long time. Coral
is mined in the adjoining reefs to a depth of a meter (three feet) or
so. An even stronger "cement" can be made by mixing the lime with ash,
charcoal and "syrup" made from coconut sap. Although iron is hotter,
islanders prefer corrugated iron roofs to thatch because it does not
have to be replaced every few years. Inside, the houses are very dark.
The small windows are not placed to create a cross breeze. Flat wooden
benches serve as beds at night and seats during the day, and there is
invariably a swinging bed, Udhoali hanging from the rafters. Most
families keep their valuables in a wooden trunk under a bed. During the
day, a great deal of time is spent in the shade of the verandah or under
spreading breadfruit trees. Swings and hammocks attached to wooden
frames are favorite lounging spots for grandparents and children. At
night the doors and windows of many houses are shut tightly to keep out
any passing jinni.
Family Life:
The close-knit island communities practice mutual aid to
survive difficult circumstances. Extended families take care of their
own members and it is usual for the mother's family to look after the
children. When they are together families say little and rarely express
emotions. It is not often anyone raises their voice, even at the
children. Few children speak to their remote but respected fathers.
Women usually serve the family two meals of rice and fish a day, adding
to their limited housekeeping budget by mat weaving or making coir.
About one-third of the houses and coconut trees are owned by women,
giving them a degree of economic independence. Since men usually work
away from home either fishing, in the resorts or sailing with a shipping
company, the women are responsible for the everyday running of the
household. On some islands there are few men between the ages of
eighteen and forty-five.
Women usually spend about three hours a day on household chores:
cleaning the house and compound and preparing food. Their chores include
tending fires made from scarce wood in the smoky kitchens, making the
morning unleavened bread, roshi, and preparing rice and fish broth,
garudia, for the main evening meal. Preparing the golden honey from
coconuts, "Dhiyaa Hakuru", involves several hours of stirring, as does
the concentrated fish paste "Rihaukuru", which goes with most meals.
There are also coconuts to grate for curries and boil for oil, and the
time consuming task of making the rock hard black fillets of tuna, "Hikimas".
The main opportunity for relaxation and gossip comes when the women sit
on their verandahs or in their yards cleaning the evening's rice spread
out on a tray. Their greatest preoccupations are the education of the
children, food and the daily catch. In the early history of Maldives, it
was common to have a sultana as ruler, and it has been suggested that
the society was once a matriarchy. Now, under the Islamic law of shari'a,
men deal with religious and judicial affairs. Women cannot be judges or
priests and they say their prayers in their own mosques. According to
the present constitution, the president is the religious and political
leader.
Traditionally, Maldivian women never wore purdah and until this century
they often went topless. Now, however, an increasing number of women and
young girls cover their heads, legs and arms in a tradition known
locally as Burugaa. It's usually the job of young girls to collect water
from the well in a metal pot which they carry home on their heads. Their
mothers walk to the local village store, Fihaara, which stocks basic
items like rice, sugar and onions, as well as a few luxuries like
condensed milk, sweets, oil and soap. All women, young and old, clean
the compound and the road or path outside it, carefully picking up all
the leaves and spreading the coral sand evenly. This is done with a hand
broom, "iloshifathi" made from the thin flexible spines of coconut
leaves. To earn extra money women make coir rope, a long and drawn out
process. The husks of coconuts are first left to rot in swamps for three
months or so, then beaten with heavy sticks to release the fibers. The
fibers are then washed, dried and woven together, usually across the
weaver's thighs. When several strands are woven together they form an
extremely strong and waterproof rope, capable of mooring a large dhoani
to its anchor. Formerly Maldivian coir and cables were exported widely
to the Far and Middle East. It was also the Maldivian practice to sew
the planks of the ships together with coin A ship's hull held together
with nails is rigid and can splinter to pieces against an Indian Ocean
reef. If sewn with coir, however, it maintains a certain resilience and
flexibility. Women also make cadjan for screens and walls by threading
dried palm leaves together with coir. They weave beautiful and intricate
mats, especially in the southern atolls, showing the same skill in
developing their abstract patterns as their husbands do in building
their boats simply by using their imagination and trained eye.
Marriages:
Education is broadening the horizons of Maldivian women, who
traditionally were expected to remain at home and look after the family.
Girls usually marry very young, at about 15 or 16. The ceremony often
takes place in the groom's house or in the island office. The bride does
not even attend. It's enough for the husband-to-be, his father, her
father or the uncle of the bride and two witnesses to confer with the
local judge, gazi, to formalize the marriage. Under Islamic law, men are
allowed up to four wives, in the past it was considered a mark of esteem
and piety to have as many. But today it is becoming rare for a man to
have even two. Each wife is considered equal and lives in a different
house. Although some marriages are still arranged, there is an
increasing desire for romantic love, partly inspired by Hindi romance
films and Western literature. It's even easier to divorce than to marry
at least for men. The husband merely says "I divorce you", thalaaq not
three times as is usual in Islam, but once and then reports the fact to
the gazi.
It's more difficult for women, who must take their case to the gazi and
prove cruelty, desertion or adultery. There are strong Muslim sanctions
against adultery. The culprits are liable to be beaten. It therefore
makes sense to form temporary liaisons within the marriage bond, even
for a few months (and in some cases weeks). One well placed inhabitant
of Male' is reputed to have been married eighty-six times. Ten times wed
is not uncommon, but four times is the average. Eight out of ten married
people divorce at least once. Married couples are usually from the same
island and endogamy is preferred. Little fuss is made over weddings.
Sometimes a newly married couple arranges a small reception, "Kaiveni
Sai", with tea and snacks and perhaps some dancing with their friends.
More elaborate affairs, however, are creeping in. The wedding of a
daughter of a wealthy family, for instance, who marries a civil servant
in Male', can be a grand affair, with local dignitaries and up to 250
guests attending a feast. On such occasions, the trees are often
decorated with tinsel and colored paper. If there is a generator on the
island, the whole compound blazes with lights.
Traditional Medicine:
Islanders still rely on traditional medicine men and women.
At the crossroads of the Indian Ocean, healing secrets from Indians,
Arabs, Persians, Malaysians, Sri Lankans and Chinese were acquired and
synthesized, then used to develop local herbal remedies.
Legends abound about the feats of such special healers as "Buraki Ranin",
the sixteenth century queen of Sultan Muhameed, who was said to cure
sword wounds overnight with her own dressings. The treatise written by
Sheikh Hussain of Meedhoo in Seenu Atoll who died in 1916 forms the
foundation of today's traditional medicine. Known as hakeems,
practitioners of this medicine are well respected by the village
communities. A basic tenet of their philosophy is that good health is a
result of a proper balance between the hot, cold and dry "humours" in
the body, so "cold food" is recommended for someone with fever, and dry
fish for flu. Some hakeems are schooled in "Unani" medicine, which
treats the whole person, combining ancient remedies with new drugs. In
recent years there has been an attempt to integrate traditional and
modern medicine. Advice and training, for instance, is offered to local
midwives who learned their skill from older practitioners.
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