Colombo: Same same, but different
I’m back at home after what at times felt like a long term but at other times a short one. It’s always good to be back, and particularly in December bc a lot of friends from all over the world converge upon the Island. It’s my first 18 hours back home and somethings have changed while some have stayed the same. One of my favourite feelings is to get off the plane and feel that blast of hot humid air when walking down the stairs towards the bus. This time I was in for a pleasant surprise, the airport has undergone an amazing metamorphosis. There are now direct passages from the plane to the terminal (I can’t remember the technical term for that), and the airport itself is looking very flash, modern and posh. Except that I don’t particularly like the granite floors and the few emaciated christmas trees. But very impressive all in all. I think the immigration officers changed sometime ago, but the ones who used to be there were classic, they all seemed to share Vlad Lenin as their fashion icon. The beards, the uniform clothing and that “I hate you, you’re not letting me sleep” look stamped across their faces. For a few minutes I was wondering if i had disembarked at the wrong country when I got a nice reminder of where I was. One of the security buggers near the baggage claim place summoned me with a quintessential “sss sss malli.” I smiled and we had a chat during which he asked me for US$ in exchange for SLRs at the “hari rate eka”, he claimed to want to buy a fridge at the duty free but I suspect he’s trying to collect $s for some blackmarket deals. The customs buggers haven’t changed and are still very much of the Lenin mould. My one eyed me suspicously as if i’ll turn into a mushroom and then decided that I probably won’t so he let me go.
I got home to the frantic greetings of my puppy. She had become a “big girl” in my absence but is still very much a baby to me. Sometimes she falls asleep and suddenly wakes up and realises that i’m in the room she greets me all over again as if i’ve been gone for an year. Dogs are simply the best. Loyal, loving, devoted and unconditional. I think i missed her the most in my absence. Despite being exhausted bc of the flight delays I managed to stay up to watch the first part of the test match. Murali was in a devillish mood and bowled two amazing doosras to clean up Dhoni (pitched outside leg from around the wicket, turned past the outside edge and crashed into off) and Harbhajan (pitched on middle and off from over the wicket, squared him up, turned past the outside edge and hit off). I then fell asleep missing the rest of the game, even stevens at the end of play. Woke up around 6 and took the pup to Independence Sq. for a walk. Inde Sq. is much the same, couples under umbrellas, little kids on bikes, bigger kids in flash cars revving their engines as loud as possible, annoying stray dogs, DS looking grand but lonely and plenty of huffing and puffing ppl trying to get some cardio going.
Another change is the Acoustic show on TNL on Sunday evening. I only caught a few minutes of it but there was some very good stuff playing. I think it’s an excellent idea bc acoustic versions of songs are often so different from the originals. Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows once said of their Across the Wire acoustic Album that while they recorded it they realised for the first time how some of their songs were really meant to be played. That’s certainly an album worth getting btw. MTV (music) has done some bad things in their time, such as encouraging very ordinary music to get away with record sales purely based on the looks of the performer and the extravagence of the video. But one good thing MTV did was come up with the MTV unplugged stuff. Top three MTV unpluggeds are in my book; Nirvana, Eric Clapton and REM.
Went to seeya’s for dinner in the evening as is customary on weekends and met Leela after 16 years. Leela used to be the cook at seeya’s place when I was 5 but she left and was re-recruited last month. She recognized me instantly and I her. I used to play with her two sons Sunil and Kumar. Sunil taught me how to climb trees and Kumar taught me how to make paper rockets fortified by an iratta and propelled by an elastic band such that they fly above the water tank on the top of the Walauwwa. Sunil is apparently married now and has a kid and Kumar is working at Sampath Bank. It was good to hear that their next generation is moving beyond domestic work but sad to see Leela in the same state after 16 years, still trying to support her drinking husband. Leela reminded me that the first thing that I had ever asked her was “matata wathura tikak denna puluwanda?”
It’s been a nice chill start to what should be a pleasant month. Must set about discovering more of what has changed and revisit my old favourites that I hope have stayed the same. My mother was in Phuket for a meeting and had got me a T shirt that I’ve always wanted to have, the one with the classic Thai phrase, “Same same, but different.” Just like Colombo.
