‘ Does everything really need to be Chinese ? ’

As we lowered our heads and entered through the wide opened mouth of a dragon, We were greeted with the usual homely smiles that we are used to followed by the usual ‘ enda miss ’. The interior décor was very much oriental and very red. Two large dragons seemed to hug the walls on either side of us. The typical red ball like lanterns hung from the ceiling, its tussles swaying to the blowing from the fan. Even more amused were we to hear local artiste Sunil Perera blaring out his chart topper “ Lindha Langa Sangamaya ” we soon realized we were made to feel in China right in the middle of Sri Lanka. The Menu card was laid before us and as our eyes ran up and down the wonderful spread, we realized the comfort of being able to talk and know what actually the dishes consist, and not bothering to come into conclusions what on earth tom-yang, ban fu-zhu, or jin jiao is. Not only we were explained as to what each dish consist of but also recommend the ideal blending of dishes for that perfect meal. We settled for rice, chop-suey, devilled chicken and most favoured dish kang-kung with shreds of chicken, ( although sinhala word for a kind of spinach, sounds very much Chinese we thought at that point),. After much waiting, our spread was laid before us, The flavouring and aroma was simply appetizing. The food tasted very much Chinese to us, although we really do not know as to how they managed to get the real or close to real flavour. We put it down to basic training from a Chinese culinary expert. The Main meal vanished rather rapidly, we were feeling stuffed and seams bursting, again our helpful waiter came to our rescue recommending ‘ lu-cha ’ when asked what it was, a wide grin followed by “ that is Green Tea madam – that is good to get rid of that stuffy feeling after a heavy meal ”. “ OK bring whatever lu-cha you got ” we said feeling really ballooned with food. Lu-cha indeed was great, within a couple of minutes we were feeling lots better. Having settled the bill we walked out, at this point even lowering our head to walk out of the entrance, seemed tiring. So much taken up, we looked up at the name board to make a note of the name for a probable next visit. One look made us to break into loud guffaws and it was quite certain that everything really need not be Chinese after all. Spread across the entire floor the building was the name of the quaint little place “ Ekanayake Chinese Restaurant ”

twisted accent

Before the dawn of a free market economy we were purely Sri Lankan in thought, word and deed. We are now a scattered lot each having a blended flavour with some place where some of us have chosen to call home. This blending has certainly added some colour and fusion to our society where otherwise it was a boring aspect of having to deal with the mostly like minded people. The other day at the famous mega complex in the heart of Colombo, I found an assorted range. Based on my own observations, I have concluded that in reality it takes only a couple of weeks stay in Europe or anywhere in the North America to develop a very real European or American accent of speech. I consider myself an average speaker of English with a typical Sri Lankan accent. Frankly I could not quite comprehend as to what was being said by these newly returned vacationers. It seemed to me that every trace of the local accent had vanished and a severe effort was deliberately taken to speak in this manner. Meeting the same cluster in a local store later on, what was more saddening was in the process of polishing off their local accent, they had also forgotten how to deal and bond with the vendors in getting the best deal. The vendor not wasting any time in letting his selling skills go waste, confirmed sales at double price, assuming they were non-locals. Of course, he was only sticking to the customary practice of selling double fold to non-locals.

Instant's Brood

‘ Instant ‘ has occupied a very important position in everybody’s lives and in different aspects of lifestyles. Instant has many relatives who appeared in various time lines. Take for instance ‘ Mobile ’ who is a close cousin of ‘ Instant ’ who has silently spread her presence into every single shirt pocket, handbag, brief-case. Teaming up with ‘ Instant ’ Mobile sure has shaken the world of telecommunication and made it possible to be reachable at any time and no room for waiting. If ‘ Mobile ’ is not reachable there is always her sister ‘ SMS ’ or ‘ Voice-Mail’ to rely on. After dealing with ‘ Mobile ’ if hunger or thirst sets in there are two very important cousins of ‘ Instant ’ to depend on – i.e. ‘ Ready-to-Eat or Ready-to-Drink (RTD nickname). Reaching either of these two are easy, pull the shutter down, swipe ‘ Instant Cash card ’and reach for either ‘ RTE ’ or ‘ RTD ’. They don’t take too much of your time as they could be dealt with along with ‘ Mobile ’ as and when you are interrupted. While dealing with all these folk, you hardly realize until you either crash against a wall or lamp post…(hopefully not another human being). Now that’s when ‘ Mobile ’ comes to your help ( not forgetting the extensive damage already caused ) to reach one of the recent entries - ‘ On-the-spot’Auto Insurance services. ‘ On-the-Spot’ will arrive within minutes (provided there is no mishap to him as well). Thanks to the arrival of ‘ Instant ’ and her brood, what was termed daily happenings have been christened with new names and changed lifestyles across the globe. Postal Mail has become ‘ Snail Mail ’ telephone calls to get simple product information have been ‘ automated ’ airline travel, medical channeling appointment, movie tickets, shopping, could all be done through Instant’s grand uncle ‘ online ’. Only when either of Instant’s folk decide to take a rest occasionally, we find life next to being impossible, forgetting that all of these were still possible before ‘ Instant ’ and her family came along and stole the human peace of mind !

Hurricane ICC’s toll on production Week : 10th – 25th September 2004

It doesn’t take an astrological prediction to expect a nose-dive in attendance and production levels of all private enterprises during the forthcoming ICC Cricket tournament. The wheels of commerce spinning at full speed will slow its tempo and pave the way for longer tea breaks, lunch breaks, extension of working hours, increase in patronizing of pubs and outdoor gatherings. Corporate marketing Gurus will not thump their sales teams to aggressively on snack food, batteries, liquor and cigarettes. They will decide its time to lie low for 2 weeks and let Hurricane ICC take on its share of victims. Media moguls will exploit this laid back attitude in full swing and offer attractive schemes to voice out their aggressiveness through their channels. An average corporate employee will take on a strange transformation and would be evident in the usual working patterns. Intermittent breaks for Tea, breakfast and lunch will stretch to a couple of minutes. The usual morning tea will linger longer in the palate teaching some traits of tea tasting as well. This will be the time for employees to take on the traits of a cow by chewing their food longer and absorb the excitement from the TV in the lunch room, some will not utter much except keep their pocket radios close to their ear. The carom boards. decks of card will be given some time off from their daily chore of providing light relaxation. Instead the TV would substitute this task. Output and speed of work will be sluggish as the mental concentration will not totally be focused on balance sheets, record keeping, correspondence or telephone calls, but purely on wickets and runs. These symptoms will spread to sales personnel in shops and street vendors and a considerable change in topic of conversation also could be observed, where the entire focus will be Jayasuriya, Attapattu, Vaas and the rest of the team. At the strike of 5:00 calling for the end of a working day, two contrast of personalities will develop - some will either chose to move out as fast as they can, adding to the standing crowds at the TV stores and others will chose to stay back and complete the work with either the TV or Pocket Radio accompanying them ! Such is the impact of this disorder, that every single person from every echelon of the social ladder will reflect even the slightest of symptoms beginning from a simple curiosity to know fall of wickets, fours, sixes, fifties and centuries, to the more serious leading to open air barbeques and gatherings in front of giant outdoor screens and lighting of crackers to complement either the batting or bowling.

Cry for power & demand through rice

The simple packet of rice ( or ‘ bath packet ’ as known to us ) can create a tremendous influence in every one of us. This product has become a promotional symbol of political campaigning and very often it is this humble product that causes many a staunch supporter to forsake its own political beliefs tempting to switch over to a party that is in total contrast to one’s principles. Wondering how ? It only takes a packet of rice and a paltry sum of Rupees for give-away to gather supporters to stand by the road and cheer for the political candidate. The packet of rice also occupies a very primary place in the orchestrating of all the strikes, protests and work to rule campaigns by the trade union activists. Again wondering how ? Well all the famished looking people you would see perched up on the floor of that made up stage is putting on their best act. What would otherwise be a ‘ fast unto death ‘ or ‘ hunger strike ‘ is well complimented by a packet of rice every day, after the entire act has been completed to satisfy the organizers. It is no strange fact that many are getting involved in the entrepreneurship of selling lunch packets. One look at the flourishing mini bath kades will speak volumes of rising sales, especially during election times. Rice for thought ?