Colombo

So I'm in Colombo sitting in the balcony of The Swimming Club looking at this gorgeous view and listening to the ocean make soothing sounds. The cup of Dilmah chai is adding to the overall loveliness. I almost fell asleep on the flight here when the husband took a picture of me with the flash full on in a dark airplane and all I could do was give him a dirty look as he laughed happily. Yeah he's like that.

And imagine my surprise when I heard the whistle of a train and it went right past the beach! I had spicy veg biryani for lunch not caring about the usual delicate state of my stomach. I'm on holiday after all and since I don't consume alcohol I might as well enjoy spicy food at least. And I loved it! I'd been living as such a satvik being for the past few weeks that the tears in my eyes brought on by the chilli gladdened my heart more than any gin and tonic.

We went to the oldest lighthouse in the country along with Himanshu, Shikha and their children Vedant and Vanisha. The view was spectacular as the sun waved goodbye with its last brilliant colours of the day. We drove around the city and the whole place was lit up like bride with lanterns and people were flying kites on the beach with swirling tails. It was the occasion of Buddha's birth and nirvana just a couple of days ago and the celebrations continue for a while. We chose a good time to land in Colombo.

And there I am satiated with all the chilli resting comfortably in my tummy, my ears burning, nose watering and lips smiling. As I tried to put aside all the veggies and gobble up the rice along with the spicy curry my husband shook his head and said,"What does one have to do to get you to eat vegetables. All that goes into your tummy is potatoes." I felt a bit guilty and tried to eat the carrots and beans and he smiles and said,"It's okay you don't have to." So I didn't. He thinks I'm four years old.

And there I am in my favourite green dress all set to go to the casino on Duplication Road. I was wondering why that particular name for a road? I don't know. May be I'll ask someone today. The casino was buzzing in the middle of the day. Anshuman played and won as he usually does. I walked around drinking water, tea and eating 'Chinese dumplings' (that's what the server said). I was standing rooted to one spot trying to understand Baccarat (which I just couldn't eventually even after staring at the table for half an hour) when a very old and grey Emirati man in a dishdash smiled at me and said," Your new look is very beautiful." I was startled and replied," I've never been here before." So he said,"Do you have a sister here?" I said,"No." and walked away quickly. I hung around some three card poker tables but didn't play. A man in a ponytail gave me dirty looks because I wasn't betting and occupying a seat next to him so I left. I would have liked to play but the 1000 Rs minimum on the poker tables was too much for me to lose.

Then some nice music came on and I 'helped' Anshuman at the roulette table putting chips on numbers that didn't win. Then I wandered off again and saw another man in a ponytail accompanied by a man playing a synthesiser making the music. The singer was quite nice and no one was paying attention. The stage was dark, not even a small spotlight. I felt a bit sorry for the musicians so I gave them two thumbs up and they smiled back. I managed to get my husband away from the casino at the right time. You know how it is. You win and then you start to lose. I can usually tell when that is about to happen.

Now I'm going back to my Dilmah which has gone cold so I shall make myself another lovely cup. Bye bye for now from lovely Colombo!