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| Sunday, 19 March 2006 |
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That's Life - I I don't believe I've ever written about what I believe is the most important place of everyday life in Colombo. You may argue all you want, or you might even refrain from arguing at all because you probably agree with me, but I believe that this pinnacle is Pitakotuwa also known as Pettah in English. Indeed most buses head to Pettah. You ask someone the standard question "gamanak yanawada?" and he'll say that oh yes, he's going to Pitakotuwa.
To tell you the truth, travelling to Pitakotuwa has never thrilled me to bits. Personally I've always found it to be far too crowded. So crowded, that if you ever decide to distribute leaflets here announcing that so-and-so will be giving away packets of money today at his home, so-and-so will find that more than half the population of the island have congregated on his doorstep. Another point is that Pitakotuwa has a most unique smell to the place. It smells of spoilt vegetables with undertones of rotten fish. Oh and it must be said that the countless number of internet cafes and "hotels" give Pitakotuwa a most seedy personality (the sort of place where all national crimes are discussed before being craftily carried out). All those facets will be heightened during episodes of rain when you will not only get the aforementioned unique smell, but also when you'll have to step into puddles of water containing the sources of these smells. (Spoilt leeks will feel like tentacles around your feet and so on...) So if you ever overhear a frizzy haired girl refusing the hand of a prince in marriage with the words...as, certainly not to go to Pitakotuwa please do stop and say hells to me. After all it's all very fine to sail through, here in a car thinking oh, now nice and photographic everything is with workers pushing hand carts while their hard muscles glisten with sweat under the sun and so forth, but tripods had better be mountable inside a car. All the same, Pitakotuwa will never cease to amaze me either. How an individual would know one lane from another is beyond my comprehension here. Pitakotuwa is one complicated labyrinth. The other day Bro-Boy and I had to go to Pitakotuwa to take a bus. We got off at one place and I hastily followed Bro-Boy as he confidently strode through lanes and crossed streets to get to the bus we had to take. i was amazed by how he knew where to go. I mean, you could kidnap and let me loose in the heart of Pitakotuwa and ten-years later I'd still be there. Of course, it's entirely probable that the said half of the Sri Lankan population who roam about the streets of Pitakotuwa have an IQ higher than mine. Or to be a bit fair to myself may be I'm geographically challenged. May be learning the left from the right is as far as I would go. Oh dear... what on earth is Pitakotuwa doing to me? - Dilini Algama
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