Good Grief!

I always thought grief should be something private.
Something which should not be shared with others.
Something which should be put behind you in the shortest possible time.
This was one reason why I used to be very cynical when people had funerals spread over 07 days with the entire neighborhood inside their house. In fact I was always for the short dead today and buried today or at least by tomorrow kind of funeral.
However having a chat with two psychologists changed my perception completely.
There I learnt that the entire village coming to you over a long period of time was the ultimate group love exercise. It was the ultimate support group. A giant shoulder to lean on during a time when someone needed it most. And the extended period of time helps the person to grieve properly and get it out of their system. Amazingly people who have this kind of support find it extremely therapeutic and thereby avoid falling into depression or committing suicide.
In fact during the Tsunami they say Sri Lanka’s figures of people who were able to cope without falling into deep depression was the best in the regions which were affected.
Isn’t tradition amazing? 

The Terribly Beautiful road less taken…..

One road ends and another begins

 First I thought of it as just a rumor - this was many decades ago – as people were talking about a track which connects Puttlam to Mannar going through the jungles. Where one could run into elephants or bear and sometimes the roads were impassable. To me it was enticing as listening to a tale from the Arabian Nights. As time went by there were more whispers and then information began to trickle in about this track which has transformed into a road. Of course I could only listen as there was no way I could go down this road due to the LTTE problem. My fascination with this road grew even more when I read about it in Nihal Silva’s famous book “The Road to Elephant Pass”.
It has been many years since the war was over. I had traversed through sections of this road on many excursions to the Wilpattu park – you cross this road to go to Kudiramalai point - it is only recently that I got an opportunity to drive through the entire length of the Mannar Potuvil road.
It was a dream that was about to come true.
We arrived in Puttlam and drove straight through via Eluvankulama. It is a picturesque drive. There is not much traffic and with each mile you see civilization disappear and nature take over. At one point the well carpeted road ends abruptly and from there on it’s a dirt road. You drive a couple of kilometers more and you come to a navy camp near a beautiful stream which is actually the boundary of the Wilpattu Park.

 As the road goes through the park there is also a barrier manned by staff from the department of wild life.
It was here that my dream nearly got shattered to smithereens.
Because they closed the road at 5 o’ clock!!!
We did not know that! Damn it! And no one told us that!
We looked at our watches. It was 5.45
Our hearts sank with the setting sun.
Firstly we looked forward to experiencing this drive. Secondly if we were to turn back to Puttlam and go on the Anruadhapura road it would delay us by at least three four hours.
What were we to do?
I could understand the reasoning behind the road being closed at 5 by the Department of Wild Life. After all this was the best way to ensure that the lives of animals were not endangered.
But darn…. We sure were going to be screwed.
Fortunately for us the two rangers on duty took pity on us and allowed us to go through with strict instructions to not speed.
It was forty odd kilometers of sheer bliss. You drove through thick jungle. Fortunately for us the roads were not too muddy but the drive was bumpy. 

The jungle from my window

Tough roads

Nevertheless it was a wonderful experience even though we did not come across any elephants.
It was a slow drive with an average speed of less than 20 kilometers per hour. It took us a good two hours and a bit more to emerge from the Mannar end. We heaved a huge sigh of relief when we did. Because if the vehicle broke down or got stuck then we would have been stranded. And with no cell phone coverage that’s a scary eventuality to even think of.
Fortunately my trusty wheels did not let me down and I am alive to tell the tale.

478 – A simple breathing technique for people with sleep complications.

I could not believe it when I read this.. I have heard of 420 but never 478.
It was too simple to be true.
A breathing sequence which takes less than two minutes to perform enabling you to enjoy undisturbed blissful sleep for a complete night.
Not that I have problems sleeping but there are many nights which I am tossing and turning instead of snoring away.
So I thought I would give it a try.
All you do is lie back. Breath in to the count of 4, hold your breath for the count of 7 and then exhale to the count of 8. You are supposed to do this 4 times continuously but not exceed 6 times at any given moment.

It works. I kid you not it works. I switch off like a light and then I wake up eight hours later completely refreshed.
In fact I have shared this with some of my friends. And those who have not dismissed it as some mumbo jumbo tell me they have experienced the same sleep benefits.
I know it is difficult to imagine. But it sure is worth trying.

Kumare – Unveiling the truth through a lie.

I always wondered what it would be like to be a guru.
Would it help you to get laid more? Would people believe you? Would the follow you?
It seems I am not alone. But this guy – Vikram Ghandi – actually put the thoughts into action.
He disguised himself as a Guru. Being a boy who has grown up in New Jersey it would have been quite a difficult act for him to put off. But he succeeded.
I can’t remember how I came across they documentary Kumare. But in all probability it was through my fb feed. Anyway once I started watching Kumare I could not stop.
I first thought this would be an exceedingly funny comedy. In the same ilk of “The Dictator” and “The Guru”. Watching the trailer of this documentary gives you that idea.
However it is quite far from the truth.
In fact this is quite a serious documentary with some extremely funny bits and quite an emotional ending.
Since Vikram has been in the communication business I found it more appealing and relevant to me.
But anyways it is well worth watching if you can spare 90 minutes of your time. If you can’t at least see the TED talk he gave.
I learnt something. Maybe you might too.

The mother of all food promotions!

Prawn Tempura? Check

Prawn in Thai style Red Curry? Check

Ginger Style Prawns? Check

Fried Modha? Check

Tamarind Cuttle Fish? Check

Hot Butter Cuttle Fish? Check

Crab Singapore style? Check

Crab Curry? Check

Rice? Check.

Veges? Check

Dessert? Fresh fruit or Chocolate mud cake? Check

Cheque please?  

And then I fainted....

A rational thinker would think this is because the cost was sky high. The truth is completely the opposite. After eating so much the bill was only 2000/- Net.

Ladies and Gentleman fellow foodies and gormandizers welcome to the mother of all food promotions. The All you can eat sea food promotion which is happening at the Ocean Kingsbury right now for lunch on weekdays. And when they say all you can eat they seriously mean all you can eat. They have a selection of sea food which includes Fish, Calamari, Prawn and Crab. You order any amount, in any preparation you want and they make it then and there for you and serve it to your plate with rice, veges and a dessert to boot as well for the all inclusive sum of two thousand rupees. This is going to be my new favorite haunt for a while.

Nimoli – Hindi jazz at its finest

I came across this on a friends newsfeed on FB. And now I can’t seem to get enough of it. The tune is so infectious and addictive. I have been listening to it three or four times a day. And much to the annoyance of those who travel with me frequently in my vehicle as well.
I love the treatment which has been given to it Dhruv Ghanekar a well respected Jazz guitarist in the Indian music indutry. Nimoli has been a folk poem which he has put to music for the MTV Coke studio program. Nimoli is the fruit of the Neem tree. Kohomba to you and me in Sri Lanka. This lady is singing about the bitter sweet nature of love. Just like the neem fruit. The song also features an appearance by Bobkat a rapper . He performs the role of the completely unromantic idiot who this lady is in love with and who thinks she is quite nutty to be comparing him to a fruit. In fact when he had been asked to write the lyrics for his part he had been surprised on how love can be compared to a fruit. And his rapping captures his confusion perfectly.
“hold up, hold up
just hear me out yo
now gimme just a one minute let me figure it out
nimoli or lemonade, whats that all about
got me wondering if i could be loosing my mind
coz everytime i think about it
i be hitting rewind
lets take it one step at a time with my rhyme
i am wearing a suit but your talking about a fruit
i am trying to communicate but you dont give a hoot
kinda reminds me why everything is moot
stop getting philosophical
don’t give me that rhetorical
just give it to me straight coz
i don’t need that psychological
nimoli is bitter with a little bit of sweet
but you'll have to tone it down if you wanna meet”
I suggest you look at a more detailed video on the background to the video here if you found this an interesting post.

Panther - Chhimi Tenduf-La

First I curse the traffic. Why can't it be more congested?
Then I curse Chhimi Tenduf-La. Why couldn't he have released his new book on Kindle?
Then I curse myself. Why the hell am I writing like him? In short punchy sentences.
I have started reading Panther. The second novel by Chhimi Tenduf-La. Of The amazing racist fame. As usual I can't put it down. Sadly I have to. I have three free hours ahead of me. Three hours I could have spent immersed in this great story. But you can't be seen reading a book at a wedding can you? Even if you don't know anyone else there. It is considered rude. Not acceptable. Unlike staring into your phone. Only if his publishers had allowed him to release the kindle version at the same time he released the hard copy of his book in Sri Lanka.
Life is not fair.
So I leave the wedding early. Tell the driver to take the longest route possible. Pray that there is loads of traffic. Sit back and slip in between the pages.
Panther is a great second novel. Far more powerful than the first. A dark and complex tale. A story line with unexpected twists and turns. And amazing funny bits which has become a trademark of this author.
"There is great value in shaving one's legs if one's legs were female."
This much is true. You have heard that. Most nights. Most mornings. Sometimes over lunch or with a cup of tea. Sometimes while in the car.
Amma never listened but Appa let it go. No complaints. Hell, one physical fault was nothing to worry about for a man as chilled as your Appa.
Things they say started to go wrong when your amma found a waffle iron in a bombed out restaurant.
You had no electricity, so Appa tapped into the local army camp's generator. A military policeman caught him. Appa bribed him. With waffles.
But he was running short of ingredients, so he used his van to spy for the army. They paid in him in flour, jaggery, eggs and milk.
The gossips say Amma fell in love with waffles. Thought of waffles first thing in the morning. Dreamt of waffles at night. With this obsession came rapid weight gain.
And once your amma hit one hundred kilos, your Appa could no longer ignore her body hair, so they say.
Appa like most men in this parts had needs, and if people in these parts had needs, they visited the hairless wife of the unemployed film critic."
Isn't this irresistible? To me it was. So much so that I copied the entire passage manually. Laboriously typing in one word at a time. Whilst being jerked around in rush hour traffic. Squinting hard to see my screen against the morning sun.
Chhimi says this book is about terrorism and it's impact. And he has (very wisely) created a fictitious terrorist organisation called The Panthers to do so.
But to me it is also about racism. Not the brown vs white that we read about in his first book. This time it's about the haves against the have-nots. The well educated against the poorly educated. The do-gooders against those who accept their charity. And worse of all Sri Lankan against Sri Lankan.