Images from Sri Lanka

Here are some pics from the Emerald Island, the Pearl of the Indian Ocean.

The South

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7444188@N05/sets/72157628773183565/

Kirinda and Usanagoda
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7444188@N05/sets/72157628792886199/

Yala National Park
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7444188@N05/sets/72157628790081249/

Kataragama
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7444188@N05/sets/72157628787602881/

Kandy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7444188@N05/sets/72157628804799689/

Colombo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7444188@N05/sets/72157628631150001/

Chekhov's tryst with Sri Lanka

The great Russian author and playwright Anton Chekhov never visited India but he managed to spend 3 days on an island often described as “the teardrop of India,” that is Sri Lanka.  While the author’s brief stay in Sri Lanka gave him a lot of happiness, little did he know that the island-nation would continue to celebrate his work and legacy with zeal.

Read more here on the Russia & India Report

Hambantota: A New Era

Before writing this post, I would like to make 1 thing clear: I am a fan of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. He is by far the best leader the country has ever had. I may not agree with everything that he does but by and large, I think the man is a visionary who sees Sri Lanka as a high-income country in Asia in the next 3 decades. He is also the most pro-India leader in independent Sri Lanka's history.

There was a time when a pilgrimage to the temple of Kataragama (Murugan) in southeastern Sri Lanka was dangerous. There were very buses that plied the roads and stories of elephants attacking jeeps weren't uncommon. A friend of mine once recounted how his bus broke down somewhere near Hambantota in the 1970s and they feared for their lives from an elephant attack. "There were no shops, no petrol pumps, nothing from Matara to Tissamaharama," he said. Now, development is visible everywhere but it isn't the ugly variety that you would find on the other side of the Palk Straits.

President Rajapaksa hails from the south of the country, where he is reverred. As a gift to the people in his consistuency, he is modernizing the sleepy areas on the southern part of the island. The first step is the Colombo-Matara-Hambantota expressway. The 1st phase is ready and now it just takes an hour to drive from Colombo to Galle. The Chinese are building the port in Hambanatota, which will also have Sri Lanka's finest airport.

The town of Hambantota is also witnessing rapid development. Many complain about the environmental impact of all the developmental activity in the region, but ask the locals if they want to remain relatively poor. The southern part of Lanka is where a unique Sinhalese culture has been well preserved. The differences between the south and the up-country highlands is almost as glaring as those between the Kenyan highlands and the Swahili coast.

I personally think it's wonderful that pilgrims can fly in straight to Hambantota and visit Kataragama before heading out to see some game in Yala, all this while completely avoiding the Colombo area. After spending almost 25 percent of the country's national turnover on a 26-year long war, the money can now go into making the island, an economic powerhouse of the region.

Nugegoda Mon Amour!

Just a few kilometres away from the madness of central Colombo is the peaceful town of Nugegoda, a place that I call home whenever I am in Sri Lanka.

Nugegoda is a friendly town and a reflection of Sri Lankan society at large. A smile greets you at the smallest of shops, most of which are family-run. The clerks at the post office are actually helpful and still understand what letters and postcards are!! There is a genuine sense of relaxation in the town. The High Level Road is Nugegoda's main street, with its share of shops and offices of utility providers. Along the railway station is a spotlessly clean and civilized market.

What I like most about Nugegoda are the leafy lanes with traditional houses. Many of them were built in the late 19th century and there is a peculiar charm about these homes (complete with well-moved lawns) that have combined Sri Lankan and European architectural styles. Tucked away in 1 such lane is a beautiful Buddhist temple, where monks chant and sing prayers both at sunrise and sunset.

Yes, KFC and McDonalds have reared their ugly heads on the High Level Road but that won't stop me from grabbing some cheese kothu from a smaller shop. No multinational can dare to compete with Fab, the best cake shop on the island!

138

The dreaded bus number 138 that connects Colombo Fort to Maharagama is the bane of many a motorist or pedestrian in Colombo. I am surprised that 138s haven't killed more people in their quest to reach their destinations faster and grab as many passengers as possible. I have had many a tense moment on the High Level Road when a 138 missed me by the narrowest of margins.   

For me, the bus is like a number 7 subway train from Grand Central to Flushing or an Andheri local from Churchgate. It takes me home to Nugegoda a lot faster than any other mode of transport and at 19 Sri Lankan rupees, it's the cheapest way to pass the Havelock and Kirulapona. Despite the fact that a 138 passes a bus stop every 3 minutes, there are standees at rush hour. I will never figure out how that is humanly possible, considering the fact that there are less people in Sri Lanka than Bombay.

The owners of the 138s are among the most open-minded religious people in Sri Lanka. You will see photos of Kali, Murugan (Kataragaama, Buddha, Ganesha, Laxmi and Saraswathi above the dashboard of each of these buses and one special and large pic of Laxmi (for wealth, of course). It is in the 138 that religious and linguistic lines blur in Sri Lanka. Sinhala, Tamil, Hindu, Buddhist, whatever!

Notes from Kandy

This quiet provincial town, which is an entry point to Sri Lanka's hill country, appeared to be more crowded than Bombay on New Year's Day. It looked like all of Sri Lanka descended on Kandy to pray at the Temple of the (Buddha's) Tooth. Of course the crowds thinned by sunset.

There is a permanent relaxed and holiday feel in Kandy. A walk around the small lake is always a pleasure and it's quite a spectacle to see the birds go crazy at sunset to find space in the trees. Kandy, is an early to bed, early to rise town. It looks abandoned after 7 pm and activity starts from 5 am, with the prayers at the Temple of the Tooth.

I have been to the temple a countless number of times and not once did I pay for an entry ticket. Now that my Sinhalese is not bad, no one on earth can tell I am an Indian. At worst, I am a Sri Lankan, who lives/was raised abroad.

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As far as hotels go, the Queen's Hotel is one of my favourite boutique hotels in the world. Old-world charm and elegance are personified in the hotel. I love the red-carpeted wooden staircase, the antique elevator, the elegant ballroom and the wonderful rooms with wooden flooring and a lake view; not to mention the wonderful architecture of the building.

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Kandy can now proudly boast of a large shopping mall (sigh). The mall contains everything from electronic stores to bookshops and a supermarket. Why oh why do the authorities insist on playing instrumental Bollywood music from Shah Rukh Khan's films? Oh did I mention that the 2 bookshops in the mall have more books written by Indian authors than those written by Sri Lankans? It is impossible to find Martin Wickramasinghe's classics in English anywhere in the country!!!

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One of the "best kept secrets" in the city is no longer a secret. The wonderful hill from where you get a great view of the lake and the temple and the city as a whole, has now become a tourist attraction. Yes, the area is full of souvenir stalls, touts and package tourists! I am glad I enjoyed the place before it was discovered.

Twilight in Mount Lavinia

This is how every evening should be: A crimson sun sets into the Indian Ocean; a stunning twilight follows ...The rough waves are at their loudest when a train isn’t passing nearby. Colombo’s World Trade Centre and Bank of Ceylon buildings shine in all their glory in the distance. 

Away from the beach, the cool January ocean breeze carries with it the aroma of the flowers that brighten the gardens of the elegant villas of Mount Lavinia. The last train from Kalutara passes the station en route to the Colombo Fort. And in a quiet lane in a pretty neighbourhood, gentle tunes from a guitar come out of a white-washed house, which glows in the moonlight from a star-lit Sri Lankan sky.

City life ought to have been this simple, this pleasant, this memorable...I know that this is not the kind of life that awaits me in the madness of Bombay. Yet, I dare dream of more Mount Lavinia evenings.