Mind Blogging. Mind Boggling.

We had 10 days in Ceylon. It was the first trip with Baby-A, and the three adults on the trip me, S and A, had to all pull their weight in terms of baby-tending duties. However, Baby-A was generally co operative and mostly predictable, a key contributor to making it a good trip. The planning constraint was to minimize shuttling between hotels- so that we could spread out the clothes and other paraphernalia and not bother to pack 'em all up often. We had a cab with a driver - a large-ish Toyota sedan - through the trip. We needed all the boot space, with the bags + portable stroller often spilling over into the back seat. 

Itinerary 

We landed at Colombo on Friday evening. After a stay at a hotel near the airport (Spicepeek Boutique), we set off early the next day after breakfast south towards Galle and its friendly neighborhood beach, Unawatuna. Unawatuna proper is quite commercialized, think Baga of Goa, so we stayed near a beach called Thalpe which was 5-6 km from Unawatuna's main drag. Beach hopping, SL vs Aus cricket match at Galle stadium, tea plantation tour, turtle conservation center, leisurely grazing at numerous good restaurants, bird-watching, walk through a non-touristy Sri Lankan town (Thalpe), walking Galle fort and beholding panaromic views it offered, cafe hopping in Galle fort, and shopping in Ceylon Spa - these were the memorable and pleasant highlights. On Wednesday morning, we set off towards the hill country town of Ella. Hike to Little Adam's peak (Little A going to Little A!) was enjoyable. The trip to Buddhist Pagoda atop a hill was not remarkable. We ate hearty meals at numerous restaurants in close proximity to each other, at Ella. We got back to Colombo for a crammed Saturday. Went on a tour of legendary architect Geoffrey Bawa's house, grazed at a cafe, the best showers of the trip at the Cinnamon Red (part of the famous Sri Lanka Cinnamon chain of hotels) and light dinner at the Cricket Club restaurant, browsing the stunning cricket memorabilia donning the walls. Sunday morning in the hotel gym, and an afternoon flight back to BLR.     

Thalpe/Unawatuna + Galle

We were concerned when we discovered that our hotel Serenity Boutique was around 2 km inland from the main road from which all the beaches originated. However, it was a blessing in disguise- firstly we were able to see 5-6 Sri lankan endemic birds in the verdant green surroundings, and secondly the neighborhood was less commercial - pretty much jungle and farms. Baby-A woke up at 6 every morning, too early for any tourism, so one memorable morning A and I carried him and walked for a good 2 km through rustic Sri Lanka sceneries. 

Most of our meals were in the main Unawatuna drag which did not dissapoint even once- we twice ate at Koha Surf lounge (international cuisine) , once at Hideout Mexican restaurant, and once at Wasantha Sri Lankan cuisine (fantastic local food - rice with 5 curries). The other restaurants near Thalpe we enjoyed were Wijaya- the breakfast was nothing to write home about but we saw huge sea turtles swimming in shallow waters near the sea, being fed by tourists, mostly Russian. Wijaya famously has a wood fired oven, whose pizzas we did not eat. Shanti Shanti cafe was on the beachfront with excellent relaxing ambience and lip smacking food. I'd say ambience-wise my favorite restaurant on the trip. Food wise, Wasantha was #2, the numero uno coming up later in Ella. We also heard from Wasantha herself about the story of her restaurant. From her, and other interactions, we realized how Sri Lanka was upended by the tsunami. 

Thalpe beach was enjoyable from the sense that it had multiple lagoons where you could settle down into. The sand was a bit coarse, which is not to S's liking. There was a small Angel beach between Thalpe and Unawatuna where we spent firsbee throwing time. It had fine sand which I enjoyed but it was sinky as per S so again not to her liking. On our way to Ella, we stopped at Welligama, which is a popular and massive beach full of surfers. We breakfast-ed at After Surf rooftop cafe, which can get crowded but we were lucky with seats. It commanded a great view of Weligama. The highlight from the roaming the historic streets of Galle fort , laden with cafes and shopping, were Cafe 82's ice-coffee and coconut ice cream, chitchat with the proprietor's son, and Kothu rice at Anod's lounge. The cashew ice cream at talked-about Dairy King was not great. Plenty of fine dining options at Galle fort, which we engaged with at lunch- Italian at Aqua Forte. Nothing spectacular. 

We bought various types of aromatic products (perfumes, room mist, soaps) at Ceylon Spa - Sri Lanka's Forest Essentials. Teas, and spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg were purchased. A loves the colors of Sri lanka's flag, so she bought a crickety-cap embellised with the flag.

We stumbled into quite the moment when, in the middle of our pleasant walk along the ramparts of Galle fort in the orange-yellow-light of dusk, two military folks along with trumped drew down on the flag at the Galle fort. The views of the stadium was great. The 4th day of the test we watched was also memorable. Easy to get into and get good seats at Galle, compared to Indian venues. Labuschagne's wristy straight drive against spin, played almost with a horizontal bat, was the standout shot. I read about Galle being a 'fortress' (literally and metaphorically) for SL cricket pre pandemic. It was spin friendly, and with their riches of Murali and Herath and Ajantha-Mendis and the like, they would bamboozle opponents. However, with the flattening spin playing abilities with the emergence of IPL, and lessening of the sheen of their own spinners, SL cricket can no longer call it their fortress. 

I enjoyed savoring the range of 15-16 teas we got to taste at the end of our tea plantation tour at Handunugoda tea estate. The weather that day - our most outdoor day of the trip including Thalpe beach and tea estate, was very co-operative: sun was mostly hidden behind clouds and it was breezy. We chanced upon the Koggala turtle conservation center. It was fascinating to get up close and personal with 4 types of sea turtles, including the vegetarian Green Sea turtle who we could touch, the aggressive looking Hawksbill, the sedate Loggerhead and our Indian friend, Olive Ridley.      

Ella:

Being more of a mountain person, I am glad we were able to go to the hills and it wasn't entirely a beach trip. Our hotel Little Folly was slightly cosier than optimal, but overall nice- it was a log cabin. Weather was quite cool. Just 100 m from our hotel we discovered AK Ristoro, an international cuisine restaurant with excellent live music. Jiving to Abba played on the live violin, we enjoyed Japanese dishes. The best food of the trip was at Matey Hut in Ella. Basic chairs and restaurant, but the curries were lip smacking. The view was gritty but great- overlooking a main road and a rail track. Little Adam's peak hike was around 2.5 hours up and down and not demanding. Views were nice. We missed the free meditation at our trip to the Buddhist Pagoda, without which the trip there was not quite memorable, for me. 

Colombo:

After riding back Ella via the same 'Southern Highway', stopping at the same restaurant complex for lunch, we reached Colombo with exactly 24 hours to play with. We stayed in the fairly upmarket Cinnamon Red (albeit not the more high end Cinnamon Grand) . The Bawa house tour was interesting, and inspires me to mindfully collect art at home, telling the story of my travels. I was also uncomfortable, because it was full of architects and people deep into the Bawa story, which I was not. We missed the famous Kumbuk cafe, which shuts at 6 pm. We ate at Cafe Coco verandah cafe instead- nothing to write home about. After enjoying material comforts of the best shower of the trip, we set off for a light dinner nearby- The cricket club cafe. They had eye popping signed cricket memorabilia adorning the walls, and the food was decent. The waiter was a massive India cricket fan.   

News and Geopolitics

There was a nationwide power cut when we were there, and the news coverage of that in their newspaper made for interesting reading. It was interesting to read the main paper of the country as it always is during travels - talked about how the economy is still in trouble and there are strict IMF norms which the country needs to adhere to. Was surprised by the lack of locals frequenting the restaurants and tourist spots we went to - mostly caucasian tourists thronging. Also read up a bit about India's complex relationship with SL especially given the sad Tamil war of the 80s and 90s. I remembered how the word 'Serendipity' is drawn from Sri Lanka, with the other name for Sri Lanka being Serendib. 

Appendix

• We were eggetarians, therefore all the restaurants listed above are to be viewed that way. 
• Trip Credits: T for the cab, F for the portable stroller which was invaluable for Baby A's trip and CSS-S for brainstorming. Lonely Planet on kindle, as always, for restaurant, hotel and itinerary suggestions. 
• Cafe Shanti Shanti had a flyer which mentioned all the events happening that month. 
• First night hotel near Colombo airport: Spicepeek boutique: rooms are fine, location great, food and service nothing to write home about (NWHA)  

Labels: Travellog

# posted by Ashwin Ravikumar @ 8:14 PM 0 Comments

 I attended a great course called ‘Culture in Media’ in Undergrad in 2007. As part of the course, we watched the 70s movie ‘Deewar’ starring Amitabh Bacchan in his classic angry young man avatar. As a mafioso, he faces off against his brother the cop, essayed by Shashi Kapoor. Some of the commentary and discussions in our undergrad class focused on how the movie reflected the anger and frustrations of the youth against the Indian state, during those times.

During the 70s right through the 90s, the shambolic and helpless depiction of the cops symbolized the state of the Indian state. Financial health in decline, the country was tottering towards the balance of payments crisis of 1991. The Naxalite movement was burgeoning. Arch enemy Pakistan’s  GDP per capita was 1.5x of India in 1970, and Pak replaced India as the numero uno Hockey team in the world, winning Gold in 1968 and Silver in 72. The only bright spot seemed to be the 1971 victory in the battlefield against Pakistan. The Nana Patekar movie Prahaar demonstrates the situation well- the hopeless situation of the common man, contrasted with the effectiveness of the military.

While anger in the form of ‘angry young man’ was one response, the other reaction was escape. Escapist romantic love was the overarching theme of big Bollywood movies. A deep romantic love can lead to a complete loss of one’s logical faculties and convenient escape from the realities of day to day life- which I read later are actual neurological side effects (albeit momentary) of deep romantic love.  Suddenly, the courting couple are in Switzerland! How did they get to Switzerland from Dadar in a blink of an eye! And how can they dance and sing at the same time! Where are the drums playing? Those dance moves are ridiculous!

So many big movies of the time had this romantic love form of escape from reality. The desperation to escape (via the route of romantic love) was to the level of SRK chasing Kajol in DDLJ despite her refusal to entertain him. Message to the viewer caught in a gritty job and hopeless circumstances – try hard and find this romantic love at any cost. It allows a beautiful escape. Apart from dangerously encouraging stalking, this era of movies created a foolish exaltation of romantic love which I believe would have affected many impressionable young minds of the generation, including me. I had a complicated relationship with romantic love in my teens and 20s, on one hand despising and ridiculing the Bollywood depiction, but at the same time desperately seeking it and going weak in the knees at times, Bollywood style.  I avoided using the word ‘love’ in the ages 18-28- it was too loaded.

The escapist romantic love shown in Bollywood was also not the right kind of romantic love to demonstrate to vast audiences. ‘Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction’, said Antoine de Saint Exuperey, something a mature me resonates with. The romantic love of Bollywood rarely depicted the nitty-gritties of looking outwards in the same direction.

The romantic love of the 70s-80s-90s not only caused escape but overruled and ultimately defeated other kinds of love. In DDLJ, romantic love was the ultimate manna towards which paternal and maternal love were subservient or worked to enable. Love towards one’s work could not be talked about, because work itself was hard to come by, and if it came, it would likely be desultory and dissatisfying. Private sector was small and the uninspiring yet sprawling public sector was parodied in shows like ‘Flop Show’. ‘Love siblings, parents, or neighbors’ would imply a grounding of the screenplay in the domestic mileu, which was to be avoided because of lack of material comforts and the poor state of housing, sanitation, and public services. ‘Love friends’ was difficult to show because ‘friend-zones’ such as college or travel were not common. ‘Love nature’ was not possible, because the world then was in thrall of industrial and human invention, and the zeitgeist was of humanity ‘conquering’ nature. The conservation movement was yet to take off seriously.  

The term 'love-story' was a common term when discussing a movie plot. It referred entirely to escapist romantic love. So 'love' in this definition did not refer to all the other kind of loves (parents, siblings, friends, community, work, nature, hobbies, what not). Together, these other loves can play as big, if not a bigger role, in many lives, than romantic love. There could have been fantastic stories woven around those loves too. 

These thoughts came to me at a spiritual event I attended recently, chaired by Nipun Mehta (who by the way has done lot of good through the organization he founded called Service Space). My friends RR (a regular volunteer) and NP were also with me in what was a beautiful evening. So in the middle of some other point he was making, NM said something on the lines of expressing love towards others, and casually added ‘not like the Bollywood kind of love’. This was not even the key thrust of his talk, just a sidenote. However, it stimulated me to put down these thoughts which I’ve often blustered about in bits and pieces to friends and family over the years.

To some extent, I concede that the conclusions I've drawn might be somewhat amiss due to my limited knowledge of Bollywood movies. I’ve watched few Bollywood movies compared to many friends. So my data set might not be big. Happy to engage and be corrected!

Labels: Cinemas

# posted by Ashwin Ravikumar @ 8:54 PM 0 Comments