I stare at the newspaper. It wasn’t me. I gawp at the television. It wasn’t me. I trawl through the internet. It wasn’t me! I listen to the radio, podcasts, and conversations on the bus. It WASN’T me! At least — I hope it wasn’t me? Continue reading ‘Trails of the Unexpected’
Archive for the 'Sri Lanka' Category
Day One: “Oooh. Nice Turtle Farm, can we come and work here?” Day Two: “What’s the difference between a turtle, and a tortoise?” Day Six: “What do you mean people eat turtle eggs!?” Day Nine: “Welcome to the Peraliya Sea Turtle Farm, kids. Did you know that tortoiseshell is actually the shell of a hawksbill turtle and is one of the main reasons they face extinction?” Day Nine and a ¼: “Wanna set one free” Day Nine and ½: “A bit slow, huh. Wanna carry it to the water?” Day Nine and ¾: “No speak English?” Continue reading ‘The Reprint: ‘Turbo Turtle’’
I’d seen him from a short distance, twelve months previously, he travelled alone aboard a plane to Moscow. He wore a dark tracksuit top zipped over a light t-shirt, and loose pale green shorts covered the knees he cradled by his chest. His hair sprayed out in loose brown curls beneath a khaki cap, highlighted by scribbles of grey. His pale thin lips lined a shallow smile, and his early morning eyes seemed glazed with relief. As his homeland slipped beneath a thin veil of cloud, he lifted his cap and ran his fingers through his hair, his lips parted just once to release his farewell thoughts: Let the journey begin, my friend. Today, he lay upright on the rippled white sheets of a double bed, in a simple, homely room on the island of Bali. Continue reading ‘A Thousand Glorious Times’
Ding ding. Honk honk. My ears are being drilled with the blaring high notes of Hindi-pop. Ding ding, we stop. Rev rev, we’re off. Honk honk. We swerve through a checkpoint chicane, passed sandbag retreats holding tin camouflage roofs, we skim a stack of khaki patched tyres, it’s insides filled with soil and it’s top speckled with a circle of bright pink flowers. Ding ding. Honk honk. Rev rev. Passed camps of dull mud huts, with dusty yards and grey palm roofs. The victims: caught in the economic crossfire. Honk honk. We stop. Everybody off! Not I, the tourist. Not women, nor children. Rev rev, all aboard, we’re off. Honk honk. The driver’s face is framed by the reverberating rear view mirror, his expression reflecting the air of tension I’m breathing in. Honk honk. One side lays the ‘terrorist’. The other, the ‘terrorised’. Hindi-pop now screwing my eyes, my ears, my brain. The driver’s cockpit a rare theme of atheism, not Ganesh nor Lakshmi. If this bus should blow up, the tragedy would chew up these men in shirts and sarongs, these women in their elegant saris and neatly plaited hair, their uniformed children in once-white shirts and bright blue shorts, the bearded and bald, the baggy and brawn. From the gold and silver, the flecks of grey, blinking brown and pretty-in-pink we would be left with black. A sooty scar between the razor-wire, chicanes and military debris. But lest we not think of this, ding ding, we’re off, rev rev, honk honk. Continue reading ‘So Long, Ceylon’
Beep beep. One-forty. Beep beep. One-fifty. Beep beep. Two am, Monday morning. “What to do in Sri Lanka?” Step, step. Breath in. Step, step. Breath out. Step, step. Coffee. Black. Breath in. Step, step. Breath out. Step, step. Breath in. Coffee. Black. Strong. Breath out. Sigh. Step step. Breath in. Step… step. Breath out. Coffee. Black. Strong. Sugar. Breath. Breath. Step… step. Breath. Photo? Click click. Shiver. Click click. Shiver. Click click. Step, step. Coffee. Strong. Black. Sugar. Biscuit. Step, step, step, step… step…. step… st… ep. Eight-twenty am, Monday morning. Coffee. Strong. Black. Sugar. Biscuit. Toast, eggs, pancakes, fruit, cheese and a sandwich. Breath out. I climbed a holy mountain that Monday morning, what did you do? Continue reading ‘I Beg You, Don’t Ruin It’
Peace and quiet. Mr Peace and Mrs Quiet. Shhhh. Mmmmm. Shhhh-ri Lank-arrrr, their natural home. You’ll find them almost everywhere. On the beaches of Hikkaduwa their whispers sound like gently crashing waves resting on the twinkling beach. I looked for them on the bus as I wrestled my backpack into hidden space, I clasped my hands around the handrail and they gifted me a set of white knuckles to hold my attention away from the bully driver beating up the road. They stood with me atop the gaudy Buddha in Dickwella and once again at the edge of Tissa’s dagoba (stupa), one night they left the shores and shared with me a cigarette, beneath the rustling of palm trees while listening all the while to the trill of the local birdlife. Mr Peace, do you take Mrs Quiet to be your lawful wedded wife, in sickness and in health? I do. And you? I do. Continue reading ‘Beyond the Beach’
Driving down the road on your Scooty Pep (scooter), a guy flags you down and declares ‘coconut‘. Who are you to argue. Ten minutes later you’re surrounded by his kith and kin; his wife and seven month old son, his twin brothers, twin nieces, two young nephews, a neighbour or two and his spritely, toothless mother. The bright yellow king coconut emerges, tastes more fermented than usual but you smile politely and suck through the narrow straw he’d sent a now panting nephew to fetch from a neighbour. First comes the wedding photo, then the family holiday photo, a newspaper clipping or two and the obligatory line of questions; what’s my job, am I married, where am I staying, what’s my salary, is it my first time here, who-what-where-when-why? Food is sometimes offered, usually you politely decline on a variety of grounds, to which you receive a smile, an ‘arrrr‘ and a ‘maybe tomorrow?‘ Your stomach starts to belch from the thambili (coconut milk) prompting a festival of goodbyes, photos and address requests and you spark up the scooter feeling slightly enlightened, yet everso slightly bewildered. This Sri Lankan example extends far beyond the coasts of Serendib, it’s the South Asian way. For a wonderful moment, you’re one of the family. Continue reading ‘Coconut Kin’
