 
Roses for remembrance
by Swarnapali Amerasekera
Apsara and Sarath were a young
couple who owned a boutique at Ohiya. Apsara was 25 and Sarath was 28.
Their boutique was known as `Ohiya Kade’. In this boutique they sold
cooked food, beverages, fruits and household provisions.
Ohiya Kade was situated just opposite the Ohiya Railway station
overlooking the breathtaking beauty of the wilderness of the hill
country. The road to World’s End one of the finest attractions at Horton
Plains starts near the Ohiya Station. Ohiya has a salubrious climate
too. Therefore, it is always frequented by visitors and was the ideal
place for a boutique.
Apsara as her name denotes was like a maid from a heavenly dream so
beautiful, kind, good and adorable. Sarath was also a very pleasant
looking young man with a boyish face and stylish whiskers. It is said
that a man who cannot smile cannot run a business.
On the contrary he often had a very natural happy smile on his face.
What is more, he had an incomparable humour and an unusual charm of
character that made him the most delightful of companions imaginable.
They were exemplary models as a host and hostess.
Though their location had attractions, the spade work of starting
business was very difficult and they were not well off at the beginning.
His boutique was the only shop at Ohiya, when he started business.
People dare start business here in spite of its beauty, the roads are
rugged and winding round hills, down a slope one goes, up again and so
forth and so on. To make matters worse there is often mist around the
hills, and the roads are enshrouded by the mist.
Driving is very risky, to procure necessities one had to go to
Bandarawela, and there was no bus service to Bandarawela at that time,
and the markets were far away from the station.
But Sarath was very courageous, and hardworking and liked to take
risks. He bought a small van to bring goods, and was a very cautious
driver. Apsara was a tower of strength and the success behind him.
She was a very devoted wife, and a wonderful woman who toiled and
slaved for him day and night to make him prosperous. She was an
indefatigable worker. In spite of the bitter cold she would get up at
the first cock’s crow; the earliest messenger of a new day and a new
life.
Then she would clean herself, and worship at the statue of the
Buddha. Next she would briskly prepare hoppers, string hoppers, thosai,
sizzling seeni sambol and display them neatly on racks, with bananas
hung on a railing in front of the boutique. The aroma of appetising food
assailed the noses of the passers by. All these tempted almost everyone
to step into this kade.
They were heartily welcomed by this couple, Alankara diligent and
courteous smiling and gracious served the guests with her loving hands.
Sarath made them feel homely and comfortable with his incomparable
humour and friendly ways. All these enhanced their joy and before long
Ohiya kade became the rendezvous and the favourite resort of the people
of Ohiya. A carrom board to while away their time was another
attraction. This couple’s devotion to each other increased their wealth
in leaps and bounds and they constructed an extension to their boutique.
 After two years of married life, a baby boy was born to them. They
reached the zenith of happiness of their married life. The love they
cherished for their first born was indescribable and the parental love
for this bundle of joy penetrated into their very bones. They named him
Priyankara.
It happened that on the second day of their baby’s first birthday
Sarath set off from home to Bandarawela to bring a present to Apsara and
necessities for the baby.
He set off at 8’clock in the morning. Apsara waited jubilantly for
his return, but he was getting late. Minutes ticked past lengthening
into hours. Her gaiety was chilled by an unaccountable gloom. The time
is now 2’clock. What’s wrong ....?
After a few hours a messenger brought the tragic news that Sarath had
met with an accident. On his return a tree has crashed headlong into his
van, and he had died instantly.
Their happiness was short lived Apsara was stunned by grief at his
death. The whole of Ohiya lamented over his death.
At his funeral there was a whisper among their relatives that
astrologers have predicted that there was a malefic star in his
horoscope and that he would die a premature death, leaving his wife a
widow, but they didn’t heed this warning.
What mysterious things govern our lives? Who knows? Life is only a
dew drop at the edge of a blade of grass.
They both loved roses. to perpetuate Sarath’s memory she planted
roses in front of their boutique, and they bloomed profusely and
luxuriously in the salubrious climate of Ohiya, and now their boutique
is known by all as Rosa Kade. |
