The Unbungalow : Maradanmaduwa Wilpattu.

It is very rarely that you can get a Wild Life department bungalow when you need it. Which means you are left with the fancy lodgings which has sprung up around the national parks. Whilst they are definitely more comfortable it just does not cut it for me. Nothing can compare to the bliss of waking up inside the jungle away from it all.
Fortunately there is a new lodging facility which is fairly new which has escaped the eyes of a majority of those wild life lovers who generally fight tooth and nail for the available slots of the Wildlife Department Bungalows.
How on earth is this possible? Because it is disguised as a dormitory!
To be honest it is a dormitory. A fairly large one at that because it can sleep 60 people. If I am correct that is the largest lodging facility available inside a national park in Sri Lanka.

The Exterior view of the Maradanmaduwa Bungalow

 By the beautiful Maradanmaduwa lake just 09 kilometers from the main entrance to the Wilpattu national park lies the stately Maradanmaduwa Bungalow. It is a misnomer to call it a bungalow. But somehow it just does not feel right to call it by any other name.
The beauty of this place is that even though it can accommodate 60 they let it out to small groups of people on an exclusive basis.Which means it is the next best thing if you are unable to book a bungalow.
The Maradanmaduwa Bungalow consists of two large upstairs blocks connected in one end in the shape of a V. Downstairs is the dining living and kitchen area and believe it or not a little meeting space with lecture chairs, podium and a small public address system - I did not check if it works though - making it a perfect venue for an official outing or retreat for a medium sized company.
The upstairs of each block consists of a large dorm with 30 bunk beds and communal toilets and showers. However the sleeping area is enclosed unlike the usual Wild Life Department bungalows which has only a half around it. Now if like me you are used to sleeping in the open this is going to create a problem. Also if all the bunk beds are full I am sure it can get really stuffy. But we were only a group of thirteen and the caretakers of the bungalow allowed us to put mattersses on the verendah and sleep which was far more comfortable. Also unlike in the usual bungalows the caretaker does not do the cooking if you come in a large group say twenty thirty people.You are supposed to cook your own food using their kitchen which seemed to have all the facilities of an industrial kitchen.. Personally I felt the caretakers could have taken care of the building better but I must admit taking care of such a large building is a tough task for just two people. But I must compliment them on their cooking skills which was outstanding. 

The moon reflecting off the lake 

The beauty of this place is in its location. Firstly it is situated in a picturesque setting. Secondly it is just a couple of minutes to the main entrance instead of a couple of hours – which is usually the case in Wilpattu. Thirdly even though it is close to the entrance it is reknowned for sightings of elephant, leopard and bear. It might not be the ideal bungalow for me but it is definitely a great alternative.

The Amazing Racist by Chhimi Tenduf-La. An amazing read.

They say a picture paints a thousand words. But can the reverse happen?
Can words bring a myriad of scenes alive in your mind? I did not think it was possible till I came across the book "The Amazing Racist” by Chhimi Tenduf- La. I know the name is quite a mouthful… fortunately the book was too but in quite a delectable way.
“Curry for breakfast was a bad idea. I burped up Cumin. Farted our the turmeric. My sweat was chilli powder and Garlic, and the little pee spot on the inside of my khaki shorts had a hint of coconut milk in it”
These were the opening lines of the book. It just made me go wow and stand up on edge. Even the hairs on my arms stood up. Somehow the words captivated me unlike the start of any other book I have come across.
Not even God of small things or Shantaram.
For a moment – just a moment - It made me wonder if this was too good to be true. With such a great start so full of power and passion (and turmeric) would things fizzle out to something insipid at the end? It has been known to happen to me. For instance I could not get to the end of “Eat Pray Love” or “The life of Pi” for that matter. But in this case it was just me being pessimistic.
It just kept getting better and better.
It made me want to drop everything I had to do, lock myself away and just read and read . That is exactly what I did. Well I could not exactly lock myself away as I had daddy taxi duties to perform. But I did not answer phone calls. Did not respond to text messages or even look at incoming emails. I even caught myself reading it while waiting for the traffic lights to turn to green. Only once before has a book consumed me this ferociously and that was when I was reading the lost symbol by Dan Brown.
It is an amazing story, simply but cleverly written. It is so simple that when you read the plot in the reviews you tend to go "so what?"
I am someone who takes great pleasure in admiring the style of writing and looking at certain segments as one would view a painting. And in this book I found not one but an entire gallery of such words to admire and appreciate.
"The four men sat in a circle around a potted tree that dropped araliya flowers at their leathery feet. Around them, coconut shells dipped in kerosene burnt light and mystery into proceedings. Each of the men, Gehan included, wore cologne so strong that the aroma battled with that of the dried fish, chilli and onions being fried downstairs. The sparkle of fireflies got lost in the collection of thick gold chains, watches and bracelets on display” was just one such passage.
I found the manner he weaved his words about Sri Lankan culture with a mildly cynical twist absolutely fascinating. I generally high light passages which enthrall me to enjoy later. But in this case I had to give up after a few pages as there were far too many of them. If I were to continue I would end up highlighting a majority of the book.
I am not going to write about the storyline because however much I try I will not do justice to it. It is quite complex. Light in certain parts and dark in the other but the twists and turns of the plot were gripping. In fact the story made me laugh. A lot… so much so people were giving me strange looks as I was laughing to myself whilst reading on a treadmill. And certain parts made me angry and I caught myself saying "serves that bitch right" out loud. Something I rarely do at least while I am reading a book.
This is an amazing first novel by this author who is currently residing in Sri Lanka. To me this book is in the same league of “The God of Small Things” and “Shantharam”. First novels that were iconic.
I am so glad to hear that the author is already into writing his second novel because I am craving for more. If the first one is this amazing I can't wait to see how he is going to better it. But something within me says he will. Kudos to you Chhimi!

An interesting perspective by an Economic Rock Star

“The slow going Industrial Countries cannot absorb a significant amount of additional imports in the foreseeable future, hence the world does not have room for another export led china… therefore we have to move away from subsidizing exporters with cheap inputs and undervalued exchange rates…”
These are the words of someone I classify as an Economic Rock Star. He is Dr. Raghuram Rajan the Governor of the Federal Reserve of India who is on leave from the University of Chicago where he is the Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the Booth School. Between 2003 and 2006, Dr. Rajan was the Chief Economist and Director of Research at the International Monetary Fund.
I find his perspective absolutely unique and relevant though it goes against popular wisdom and the policies of the Modi government whose Mantra is “Make in India”
He also is against import substitution to improve domestic production via tariff barriers which reduces domestic competition and increases the cost to the consumer. You can find the speech in which he outlined his opinion here. It is 45 minutes long but absolutely intriguing if you are into economics.
However what amazed me the most is that he has the confidence and the balls to say it out loud without fear of reprisals. I sincerely hope that our central bank too would take a leaf or two from his book.

The Thrilling thriller: Gone Girl

He says "Yes, I loved you and then all we did was resent each other, try to control each other. We caused each other pain."
"That's marriage." she said
And that my friends is a classic scene from one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. Which was a refreshing change from my previous movie experience.
Now here was a movie which had got everything right. From the casting to the story line to the direction the eternal sceptic in me could not find any cracks in its armor of absolute perfection.
I am not going to give away the plot on here and kill the excitement for you. But you know I generally don't review mainstream movies on here so it has to be something extremely special. So please please please just watch it and thank me when you discover how great it is.
p.s. I heard the book was even better. I just bought it and can't wait to read it.

Scarred for life by a movie

She held her husband by the ear and menacingly whispered "it does not matter if you come home or not... but your pay packet has to..." This was the scene which tickled my wife’s fancy and made us stroll into the Savoy 2 on the night of the elections when everyone else was lying low indoors just in case curfew was imposed. It also meant that we were the only people in the entire theatre. We laughed at this unique experience thinking how cowardly the others were. Not for teeny weeny moment did we suspect that maybe the theatre was empty because people were actually keeping away from it.
Not that we were expecting fine art and performances worthy of Oscars.
But we were certainly hoping that we would have some good laughs like we do when we watch the antics of H.E Chaminda Puswedilla. After all the movie "No Marks, ko marks" was starring Wijeya Nandasiri an excellent comedian and he was depicting the life of a politician. Quite similar to Puswedilla. Or so I thought. But what we experienced was absolutely pathetic. It seems that the only effort that has been put into the production has been to string together something in the fastest and cheapest manner possible. I intentionally refrained from calling it a movie as it would be an insult to movies to do so.
I never knew that there could be so many dimensions of bad in something till I saw this monstrosity. Bad acting, bad casting, bad costuming, bad storyline, bad lighting, bad camerawork, bad editing, bad graphics... I could go on and on for hours.
And the worst part is a refrain from the movie where this guy says "sathutoooi" is etched into our minds like a bad itch which never seems to go away.
I also could not help but notice that one of the people I respect very much who is considered a legend within the industry has been the editor.
The only consolation is if this gentleman asks me what I thought of the movie I can say "it was an unforgettable experience" truthfully.

New discovery at the Gallery Cafe

The challenge of being at the top of your game is that it is extremely difficult to better yourself. This was the situation I used to experience with the Gallery Cafe when it came to desserts. For the past ten years or more my top three all time favourite desserts have been from the Gallery cafe. The top title definitely belonged to their chocolate nemesis. However their was a constant battle for second and third place between the passion fruit meringue cheese cake and the double chocolate cheese cake.
But lo and behold when one thought things were never ever going to change they just did with the introduction of the all new Mocha Hazelnut cheese cake.
To say it is "heavenly" is an understatement. But the flavour is absolutely perfect and the texture on the tongue divine. I have had this dessert twice so far and both times my experience has been awesome. My only grouse is that the slices seem thinner than usually "not so generous" portions they serve. But as one could say good things come in small packages. And good things happen to those who wait... a long, long time.

"Turn left at the model"

It was way too early in the morning. And I had just travelled an hour to get to an opening ceremony at the factory of one of my clients.
These were the words which were said to me in order to direct me to the function area in the large factory premises.
As I was sitting and waiting for the dignitaries to arrive it dawned on me even though the phrase “turn left at the model” was a simple grammatical mistake it also outlined very clearly how people perceive  females today. Especially the pretty faced females, who are hired for functions to greet people, bring awards on stage or just wear revealing outfits and be eye candy making a boring event that much more interesting.
In my line of work I have to attend far too many events than I would like. One of the things I find distasteful about attending these events is how the "models" are treated. Of course I am sure I belong to a very minute minority.
For instance I was at one function where there was a game being conducted where a ball
had to be thrown to a target through the legs of two females who were standing with their legs apart. How demeaning is this?
How many times have I cringed when I see all the males and sometimes the females as well leering and drooling over the girls wearing revealing outfits?
Another particular function comes to mind where the event organizer was told by the client contact that  one of the directors of the company is offering 200 dollars for one of the models for the night.
The sad thing is that to many these models are lifeless things like mannequins in a shop window. They don’t see them as living human beings with feelings thoughts dreams and desires. To me it seems a crime that some of these ladies were born pretty. Their looks have turned out to be a curse instead of a blessing as it lures them into a world in which you make money in the short term with very dim prospects for the short term.
But to me the biggest crime of all on that day was that the words "turn left at the model" was uttered by another female.