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| Sunday, 15 September 2002 |
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Another invitation to meander to Sri Lanka for the whole forest lot to view the New Peace in the island. Preparations were frenzied with everyone trying to do everyone else's work and bumping into each other and Bottom trotting round,for once in a good mood but not too happy at the thought of Sri Lanka's summer heat. Again new clothes had to be made, but that is no problem with Starveling around; he is an expert tailor and at a pinch, with Snout, can even turn out some shoes. The clothes would have to be light summer ones without much ornamentation because we would be travelling by air into a drastic change of climate. It was decided unanimously that we would not be floating through the air, which is how we usually always travel, especially to such far-off climes, so we would have to board a commercial flight to Colombo. That is really very easy;no tickets, passports, visas or anything of that sort is needed because,being invisible when we choose to be, no one will see us boarding the flight. Also,we will not be packing much stuff into our cases as we will be wearing the same clothes in which we travel, to meander around Colombo to experience the peace that has been established there after 20 years of war. It was one mad dash to the airport or we would miss the flight and that would not be a good thing. Bottom is so slow, and so stubborn that we almost had to drag him along to ascend in flight to the airport. He was grumbling about his clothes and about the fact that he did not have time to finish his lunch. But Puck perked him up by saying that he would have a good lunch on the plane. Once at the airport it was plain sailing. The aircraft in which we were to fly was parked and waiting; passengers had not yet begun to embark. We were free from red tape and security checks so what we did was we went round the airport shops to see what we could pick up. Titania was looking for a pair of cocktail sandals because she had left with bare feet for our own flight to the airport. She did manage to get a very elegant pair fit for a queen, in silver and glass with silver buckles. She would wear it in the plane. Some sort of a message was being read on the public address system; it was time to start boarding. Oberon, of course, led the way with me, with Puck minding our trains and Peace Blossom and Mustard seed following and the rest behind with Bottom bringing up the rear. Puck loved going up the ramp and was cheering us on, he was so excited. But Bottom who was trailing-he hates flying-was told by Quince to hurry up, which he did. Once inside the huge plain we picked and chose our seats. It was First Class, of course;kings and queens and their retinues do not travel Economy. The seats were very comfortable and even before we could fasten our seat belts, the beautiful Sri Lankan stewardess brought round a tray of sparkling wine. Lift-off was a little bit of a problem. It was Bottom again. He couldn't fasten his seat belt and you cant take off without fastening your seat belt. Quince helped him and then he said he wanted a window seat which made Quince quite irritated. 'I must have my window seat and my glass of wine in my hand to get through the dreadful ordeal of flying,' Bottom lamented. So Quince unfastened his belt and directed Bot to a window seat where the sunshine dappled his head and the wine sparkled in his hand. When we left the sun behind, night came in gently and before dinner drinks were brought round. Bot had had his lunch, after all, and was now getting ready for dinner. Ob and I chose Bloody Marys as appetisers and Puck went for the sherry because he likes sweet drinks. So did the rest. It was a smooth flight but suddenly Snout came out with something about a hijacker. Said he thought he had seen someone in a hood trying to enter the cockpit. "Hood? Could it be Robin O' the Hood?" That was Peace Blossom who was terribly fond of Robin. Suddenly the Fasten seat Belts sign came on and Bottom began to get restless. Was it really a hijacker? Could Snout be right? We kept very quiet to catch any untoward noises, but there was nothing to hear except the whirr of the aircraft's engines and the soft clink of glasses as people sipped their drinks before dinner. It was a false alarm and Quince reprimanded poor Snout rather harshly. After dinner we all slept and Bot began to snore. But the night passed swiftly and uneventfully and soon we were in Colombo's International Airport where, too, we had no worries with travel documents etc. As we went into the street there was a seeling of calm we had not experienced on our last meandering in the island. There were no soldiers to be seen anywhere and people were going about their day with relaxed looks when previously they all looked harassed. This, then we thought, was a great thing. There were tourists everywhere which was good to see. It wasn't like that before. 'I think we have to celebrate this new aura of Peace,' Bottom said, whisking out a bottle of sparkling wine he had managed to smuggle into his pocket. 'Good idea,' chorussed the rest. They had all done the same thing that Bottom had done, so a toast was passed round and we all sang the National Anthem of Sri Lanka. |
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