(my)Tale of Two Islands(In two episodes!)                                                          

Apologies to Charles Dickens to (mis)quote him for my convenience!!

For me, “It is the best of times, it never is the worst of times, it is the age of wisdom, it is the age of crazy travel  , it is the epoch of self-confidence, it is the epoch of amazement, it is the season of Light, never it is the season of Dimness, it is the spring of anticipation, it is the winter of further expectation, I have everything before me, I have the whole world before me – in short, the period is where I feel like a free bird – carefree, without problems, with no worries or cares for me to crisscross the latitude, longitude of our beloved earth. Oops… I got carried away after I chose my title. I have my chief editor (of course, none other than my lovely wife) to cut off all extra frills in my blogs. With an anticipation that this lengthy introduction escapes the guillotine of my own Madam Therese Defarge, I am gonna record my travel to the two beautiful islands in Indian Ocean way back in the year 2009 – record it in two parts. The more and more I think about those now, I feel astonished as to how the trips are etched in my memory that even after more than a decade it is very fresh.

June 2009: We, a group of ten of our family members, left for a jewel in the Indian Ocean -Sri Lanka. The Colombo airport was swarming with the army personnel wielding automatic guns- the war in the Northern part was just over.

A lovely airconditioned mini bus was awaiting us to take us to Taj Samudra Hotel- situated on the beach with a spectacular view of the ocean- the weather was astoundingly pleasant due to a formation of depression in the Arabian Sea.  We had our rooms facing the sea and we were so tempted to barge to the seashore at once. After freshening up, we were on to the waters-just crossing the other side. Since the presidential palace is down that road, all places were under surveillance by the military. There were probing penetrating glare by them when we were taking pictures on the beach. There was an uneasy calm in the atmosphere. It was a different experience altogether – a tense relaxation??!! The same evening Unilever Lanka was having a launch of the Walls variants in the same hotel- me, an employee of the giant Unilever and also that the Brand Manager in Lanka being my close associate, I was also invited to be a part of the launch of the Sandwich Rainbow variant!  The next morning’s breakfast was phenomenal. To this day, I compare the spread of Taj Samudra with any other leading hotels I have been to across International destinations- honestly, it stands two steps ahead. I hope the standards remain the same now also! One more exciting factor was the Australian cricket team were staying in the same hotel- we waited for a while to have a glimpse, but they did not show up for breakfast-they missed a chance!

Wondering how it would be to have acres of lush greenery in the midpoint of the buzzling city-we can see it in Colombo. The central park -the biggest in Sri Lanka, oxygenise the surroundings. The park has well defined pathways and magnificent lawns. The towering thick grown trees suggests their age. Our tour Manager Mr.Mendez – an English professor in the Colombo University, well versed in Botony as well, was explaining to us about each and every species of plants and trees. Since it was a vacation time, he was pursuing his other passion-tourism. He was a bundle of knowledge and joy- loved to speak! With a lovely accent he was giving us information about the cultural, historical and the contemporary heritage. My sister and wife were deeply engrossed in – as usual my spontaneous reactions were bouts of stretching yawns- wonder how my mouth did not tear up!! The Buddha statue in the centre of the park adds serenity to the place. We had a very relaxed time playing and chatting in the vast greenery. It was dusk and we headed to the Buddhist Monastery in the city – to our delight the headquarters of the Sathya Sai Organisation-Sri Lankan chapter was next door. We participated in the evening rituals and Bhajans- a lovely way to wrap up the day.

The next morning, we were on to the central part of the country- our final destination for that day was Kandy. Lanka is a replica of Kerala- be it the topography, landscapes, culinary habits, simple living, the plantations & estates and much more similarities. One such is the Elephant. We were told that rearing of them is a status symbol in the suburban districts. We spotted many enroute – we also had a stop at the sanctuary. It so happened at that point of time, no less than fifty of the herd were returning from the river after a bath- a remarkable sight. The last one elephant was limping in three legs- it had lost its leg in a mine blast. We had our lunch in Tea fortress – not a great place for compulsory vegetarians. For that matter, vegetarian food options across the country are very much limited in restaurants. A giant architype copper boiler drum is erected in the periphery of the edifice, a photo spot indeed!

We were right on time for the evening rituals at the Kandy temple-the Holy abode of the Buddhists. The sacred tooth of Lord Buddha is kept in a golden casket inside a stupa-like structure, enshrined in the temple. The ritual observances were very similar to the arthis in temples in India. The temple housed in a palace brim with architectural excellence. We wandered around the other rooms detailing the story of Buddha, before making our way out to the courtyard where more incense fills the air.  Just as in the Kerala temples, thousands of lamps are lighted on the walls across the periphery of the temple- the burning coconut oil smell and the awesome spectacle of the glow of the temple was really mesmerizing. Though there are numerous steps all along, still good arrangements are in place for elderly people. My mother and aunt, in their late seventies then, did not miss out the happenings in the temple- all places were people-friendly. I seem to have got deeply engrossed in the serenity of the atmosphere – I now realize that no photos were taken the whole evening by any one of us!! The evening highlight was the hour long Kandyan cultural show- an electrifying live stage show-filled with very swift movements of dance, the mesmerizing drum beats and resonance of the various musical instruments amplified across the auditorium. The costumes, facial expressions, movements and theme are very similar to Orissa’s Yakshaganam and Kerala’s Kathakali. The distinctive local musical culture on the island is best reflected here-it is a blend of Indian and Lankan traditions that celebrate the folklore.

After a very modest dinner, we checked in the Mahaweli Reach Resort – a palace converted to a hotel. Each family checked in the royal Kingly rooms – not a bit of exaggeration- every thing in the room was multi-big(!!) -be it the cot, the mattress (we had to jump up to get into the bed) the mirror, the teak furniture, the balcony, the shower room, the ethnic art paintings …whew….. each room was different. We spent quite a while in touring each other rooms. We retired to our rooms for a much-deserved sleep.

The Resort is situated on the banks of the sacred river Mahaweli. A walk through the palatial garden along the river at dawn breathing the fresh air is a memorable incident. There was quite a spread for the breakfast. Soon after, we packed off and were heading towards the lagoon – it was a long ride along the calm roads. Fact that being a country that is famous for its quality of tea and coffee, there were (probably the scenario is different now) not a single roadside beverage shop- being a “Madrasi” where we come across at least one Hot Tea Shop in every block, it was a very surprising factor for me. We reached the waterbody sooner- a big family boat was awaiting us. It was a sunny, breezy day- there were few fishing boats in the vicinity. The attraction was eagle feeding – the birds were not as smart as their cousins in Langkawi (more of it in Part 2 of this travelogue)- but it was a lovely sight to watch. The crocodile warning sign was put up in most places. The boat hauled up in the Cinnamon Islands. The elders stayed back in the boat. We were to have a glimpse of peeling, oiling, harvesting, rolling of the much sought-after spice world-wide. We walked a few hundred meters inside the island on a wooden bridge- it was damp, slippery and seem to be a worn out one! The mild scent of cinnamon was all pervading. We reached a plantation and on seeing us, the farmer cut a bark of the tree and started doing the process- at one point the smell was overwhelming. We bought the freshly processed ones and were returning to the boat. There he was-the petrifying creature! One small reptile sitting between us and the boat- the boatman kept assuring that it was harmless hatchling of a mugged crocodile. Our family is so brave – even a small house lizard terrifies us- that is our reputation!!  My mother and aunt are at least not as weakling as we are, but they were in the boat. Without further uncertainty, the boatman stepped out and took it by its tail and threw it back in the water. That was the saturation point for me- for rest of the sail to the land I sat in the middle of the boat with a deafening silence immersing me!!

Taj Exotica, Bentota – the 5-star Resort situated over a lush hill that overlooking the Indian Ocean was our final destination in Sri Lanka before our getting back to India. We travelled in a road that runs along the coast and the railway line. In the 2004 Tsunami this region was devastated to the core- we could sight damaged structures, broken fishing trawlers even on the highlands even years later -it remains there as a sign of the national calamity. The Taj property is one of the best of its kind-a great fun time was ahead of us till the next evening when our return flight was scheduled from Colombo. The beach un-winded the child in each of us; I do not remember having been in the seashore and water like this any time before. We spent most of the evening – continued the ‘activity’ in the morning, even when the horizon was orange, much before the Sun God gleamed at us.

Pssttt… I am letting a secret out after 12 years!!! This is for the senior S of our closest friends SSS (refer to my blog on Dubai). The other 2 SS – his wife and daughter were part of this entourage to SL along with his mother-in-law. He was afraid of the post-reprisals of the war in the island and was totally opposed to our trip to Sri Lanka. We made him believe that we were travelling in Kerala – kept sending photos of places- thanks to the Nature, he could not make the difference between the two places!

Even while writing this, I yearn to get back to Sri Lanka and revisit these places apart from the many that we have not explored yet.

Till I lace up for the next…

J.Ram                                                                                  BEWARE!!! PART 2 FOLLOWS SOON…………….