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| Sunday, 16 November 2003 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Nostalgia by T. M. ARIYAWANSA RODRIGO. A long time ago, when I was a small boy, I lived in a village a few
miles away from Colombo. There were only a very few houses in the Flowers of various colours and shapes were in bloom all the time. Birds of different shapes and colours were there singing their different songs. There were other small animals too. Some were dangerous I was told. But it was a natural tapestry of vegetation beautiful to behold. Our house was not large. Like all other houses in the village it was a thatched cottage. There was no tap water or indoor toilets in any of the houses. Almost every house had a well. Some had two. One for drinking and another for bathing. None of the houses had electricity. There were no radios. "Telephone" was only a word. T.V. never even dreamt of. The gravel road that went pass our house joined the tarred road leading to the city after about a mile. Footpath A footpath behind our house meandered off towards a small lake. Along with other boys of my age I roamed the woods, climbing trees, eating various kinds of fruits and playing hide and seek. Sometimes I sat along with others on the bank of the lake and fished with improvised fishing rods and earthworms as bait. I still can't recall ever having caught any fish. But it was fun. I never felt bored or lazy. Fascination We saw cars very rarely. So when a car approached our village in those rare occasions it was a great event. People came out of their houses and watched the car with fascination till it disappeared from sight. Then for days they speculated as to who was inside the car. One day there was a wedding in one of the houses. It was an occasion I really enjoyed. Not so much the wedding. It was the Gramophone that fascinated me. The songs that came out of it held me in a trance. Ceremony There was a Pirith ceremony one night in one of the houses. We boys were allowed to sit and listen to the Pirith chanting the whole night. Along with some friends I sat on a mat out-side the house. Instead of listening to Pirith chanting we chatted among ourselves. Someone asked what we liked most. "A wedding, Pirith ceremony or a ride in a car"? I had no idea what I liked nor the others. But then in unison we said, "climbing trees, roaming the jungle and fishing". A few hours later we were fast asleep on the mat dreaming of tomorrows adventures. |
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village.
Trees, shrubs, bushes and grass grew all over the place.
