Serendipity in Sri Lanka (2004)-Part I

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Serendipity in Sri Lanka (2004)-Part I

This is not a thesis about Serendipity in Physics, Chemistry or Biology or any other science, but a blog about how I found THE star sapphire in Sri Lanka, which I was searching for in Nepal. Please refer to my blog Kathmandu Nostalgia, and my misconceptions about the ‘Polarization Effect In Star Sapphire”.

Well, I owed it to Bunny. I had to buy a star sapphire for her now (And, of course for Bambi also) or bust, and I DID go bust in buying the start sapphire, believe me.

We went to Sri Lanka just before the Tsunami of 26 Dec. 2004. (And that is why the tsunami affected us more than it normally would have done. We could picture exactly the sports stadium in Galle as well as the big bus stand behind it, from which people were swept away. The TV coverage was heart-rending when we saw the devastation wrought on that beautiful and serene landscape. The whole stretch of the coast from Colombo to Galle, which we had so happily traversed on our tour, was in shambles.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka#Prehistory

The mythology and history of Sri Lanka is closely linked with India. In the Indian mythology the villain Ravana was the king of Sri Lanka and had abducted Sita, and whom, the hero Ram later killed. (The indigenous people of Sri Lanka were regarded as ‘Yaksas’ or ‘Raksasas’ by Indo-Aryans at that time.) In the third century B.C. King Ashoka sent Buddhist missionaries to Sri Lanka.

In the Arabian Nights, Sri Lanka was mentioned as ‘Senredib”. Sinbad the Sailor might be a fictional character, but some of the descriptions of his voyages are startlingly realistic. The gemstone mines of Serendib, that he narrates, actually exist, and I can’t help wondering whether he was describing the Moas of New Zealand as the ‘mythological’ bird ‘Roc’. He has described a river as ‘flowing from the sea to the land’, and the ‘Tonle Sap’ river actually does that at least part of the year. (Read my blog ‘Temples of Siem Reap, Cambodia’.)

Anyway, all the fiction, including my blogs, is ultimately based on some kernel of truth.

Have you read the book “The Fountains of Paradise” by Arthur C. Clarke? It is worth a read. Incidentally, Arthur C. Clarke lived in Colombo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geostationary

The above link is useful for the technically inclined people. To all others also it will become interesting when I tell you that neither your daily dose of ‘sas-bahu’ tear-jerker episode, nor the world news would have been possible without the discovery of these orbits. So, all the devotees of the idiot-box should be thankful to these orbits. However, it is not necessary to understand them, so, go, enjoy your TV.

I think that Sri Lanka is a very beautiful country, and everybody, from Marco Polo to Mark Twain to Arthur C. Clarke, agrees with ME, that Sri Lanka is indeed a paradise on earth. However, off and on, there is strife in this paradise between Sri Lankan Government and LTTE.

When you get down on Colombo airport you get a feeling that you are still in India, and this part is just an extension of Kerala. The same palm-fringed seashore, the same backwaters and the same sort of people inhabit this country.

Kandy

The Sri Lankans are Buddhists, but they worship the Buddha in exactly the same way as Hindus worship their gods, with offerings of ‘leaves, flowers, fruits (mostly coconut) and water’. They even bring their very young babies for ‘blessings’ from Buddha. At Kandy’s ‘Temple of the Tooth’ (Dalada Maligawa), we observed this practice. This temple is also more like a Kerala palace than a ‘Stupa’ like the Sanchi Stupa or the ‘Boudhanath’ stupa in Kathmandu. It is a beautiful temple in a beautiful city with a beautiful name ‘Kandy’, on the shores of a beautiful lake. The name of the city would have been sweeter if they had spelt it as ‘Candy’.

http://www.explorelanka.com/places/hill/kandy.htm

We went to Kandy from Colombo in a bus, but while coming back, we could get the train. The train goes through a very scenic route but the railway carriage was ancient. Not only the carriages but the tracks also need replacement. It would have been alright, but for the rain that started pelting us during the journey. The carriage was overcrowded and they closed all the windows so that the rain would not come in, thus suffocating everyone. The rain, being denied the legitimate entry through the windows, decided to enter through the roof. The carriage leaked and I went through half an hour of Chinese water torture. When a drop fell on my head, I relaxed and then the tension started building again. I started counting seconds for the buildup of the next drop, and waited and waited for it to fall. A few hours of this torture would really have driven me insane. (Avi says that it may not have driven me fully insane, but has certainly has affected my brain. My repartee to this is that, it at least PROVES that I have brains, but no such proof is forthcoming in his case.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_water_torture

Fortunately, the rains stopped, the windows were opened and then we could concentrate on the scenery.

Colombo

http://www.colombocityguide.com/colombo_attractions.htm

In my mind, Colombo is synonymous with 5 days of unrestrained shopping, because Avi was busy with his official work and I was free to roam around. Our hotel was adjacent to the Galle Green, a very central and strategic location from a tourist’s point of view, and so, we did not have to go specially out of the way for sightseeing.

First two days, I just walked around and found where all the malls and the ‘Gems Museums’ are. Then I started going farther and farther away and found that I could not walk that far. “Auto” was the only way.

So, I hailed one auto, and asked the driver that I wanted to go to a particular ‘Gems Museum’, and how much he would charge me? (Like in Mumbai, those ‘metered’ autos do NOT charge according to the meter, but you have to bargain and fix a price before you step into one.) He looked at me in a puzzled manner, gauged that I was a tourist, and told me that he would charge me 10 rupees.

Now, I was puzzled. How could he take me to such a distant ‘Gems Museum’ for just 10 Rs? Maybe Chandrika Kumartunga had instructed them to be particularly nice and hospitable to the tourists.

However, I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so happily I jumped in the auto and went to the ‘Gems Museum’, and shopped to my heart’s content. (No, I did not buy anything there, though I was sorely tempted. Sri Lanka produces all precious gemstones except diamonds. The quality and quantity, both are amazing, and oh, the beautiful colors of the rainbow that they displayed!!!!!)

Then, I stepped out of the museum and hailed another auto. “how much to the hotel?” I asked. “70 Rupees” said the auto-driver.

“WHAT? I came here in just 10 rupees, and you want to charge me 70 Rupees for the same distance? This is highway robbery.” I said indignantly.

“WHAT?” the fellow was equally indignant. “You actually PAID the auto driver 10 rupees to bring you here? That is highway robbery” he said.

“WHAT? You mean I should not have paid him even 10 rupees?” I was indignant, puzzled and curious. This was taking the hospitality thing a bit too far.

The fellow had the cheek to laugh. “Yes. You should not have paid him anything at all, because the ‘Gems Museums’ pay us to bring the customers to their shops. That is why it is highway robbery to charge the customer ALSO, even 10 rupees.” He “Enlightened” me.

“OK, so now take me to the hotel without charging me anything, because you must have been paid by the shop” I said.

“No, the Gems museums only pay one-way fare to bring the customers to the shop. The customer has to pay for the return journey” He further “Enlightened” me.

“Even then 70 Rupees is too much” I said.

“We charge the returning customers double fare, because they have not paid for their journey to the shop.” He further “Enlightened” me.

By this time I had become a fully “Enlightened One” and had achieved Nirvana. The auto driver was my ‘Guru’ and had taught me the ‘Ways of the World’, and so I paid the ‘Gurudakshina’ of 70 rupees and came back to the hotel.

However, I was yet to meet the real “Gurus”, the gemstone-sellers, whose ‘Gurudakshina’ ran to thousands of rupees. I met those later, paid and now my daughters are the proud owners of star sapphires, blue topazes, rubies and aquamarines and all such things, while what I have is just ‘Enlightenment”.

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Photos

Colombo Highrises
This is the road along the Galle Green

Colonial building
The Raj has left many such buildings

Galle Green
The evening strollers at Galle Green

Sunset
The sunset over Arabian Sea

Temple of the Tooth-1
The temple is called 'Dalada Maligawa'.

Temple of the Tooth-2
The 'Stupa' inside

Temple of the Tooth-3
The outside of the inner temple

Temple of the Tooth-4
The mythological 'etching'

Temple of the Tooth-5
The lotus flowers and the joss-sticks

Island in the Kandy lake
The beautiful lake of Kandy