If Sri Lanka was a Lady

My new host didn’t crowd me with the suffocating attention that India bestowed upon me. Instead, she politely let me know from the moment I landed how excited she was to have me, but she was not going to make me feel all special like India did, with her constant stares and friendly chats. Yet, Sri Lanka was nothing short of warm and welcoming. The thing about her that took me by surprise was that her house was neat and sparkling clean. And it smelled good! That was the first thing I noticed. And don’t let other foreigners tell you otherwise, they obviously haven’t been to India. Sri Lanka dazzled me with her sidewalks, lack of trash and comfortable roads. Big deal you will say. But if you spend endless hours travelling on bumpy roads, have hair caked with dust daily and when you trip over road junk for months, a clean sidewalk and a well paved road will seems to you like the most fascinating human invention.

Sri Lanka appeared to me more liberated than India, not only in the clothes she was wearing, but also in her culture and traditions. She carried herself elegantly and with the confidence of a modern girl. She left me speechless with the way she combined elements of her rich colonial past with a unique Sri Lankan sensitivity that wowed the architecture snob in me. Her signature was clean lines, structural rhythm and bold moves. To shake things up she threw in color with mischievous ease that felt unexpected and very fresh. Ultramarine blues with pink and lemon yellow. Purples with brown and indigo. Greens with ochre and gray. This lady made me crave color and inspired me to dream in color, just like India did.

Sri Lanka was playful, chill and easygoing. She didn’t elicit from me the strong emotions India did. She never made me upset of angry, only content and curious. Her and I had also tons of fun! We swam with baby sharks and sea turtles, we boogie boarded huge ocean waves, bigger than I have ever seen before, we ate delicious pancakes ‘roti’ for breakfast because this is what she offered and the family was happy to oblige. We also tracked elephants and we took a toy train across her mountains and tea plantations. Through our adventures she always met my gaze with a smile. I know that the smile also hid the pain from her recent dark past. I looked everywhere for signs of the long war but I saw none. On the surface my host seemed healed, happy, with her gaze on a future of peace and prosperity. Her people told me though that to see the sadness of the war I needed to go North, to Jaffna, the place that allowed a glimpse in Sri Lanka’s heart. I do plan to come back one day and dive deeper.

What did I like about Sri Lanka the most? That she was always herself, never putting on airs or crafting special presentations to charm her guests. What you saw was what you got. Nothing less and nothing more. Our photos can capture only a speck of her lush beauty, her ancient history and captivating spirituality. To taste her delicious dishes, to see the full spectrum of orange to red of her sunsets and her papayas, and to bask in the warmth of her smile you have to pay her a visit.

Only by walking on her shores you will feel how endlessly smooth the bottom of her ocean is, how sparkling her eyes are and how gracefully the palm trees shade her beaches.

~M