Junga’s eyes fluttered with tears as he looked at the fruits and breads for breakfast on the 8th day of the trip 11 Jun 2019, after a starving for a night .

The hotel he stayed in Galle was nothing special. There was no parking. The TV was faulty. The A/C timer did not work. The staff members had gone on leave. The kitchen was closed. So there was no food obviously. There were no shops outside too. For a vegan/vegetarian, Galle’s food market is a godforsaken place.

They purchased some fruits on the way to Nuwara Eliya. They managed with the same after their long trip from Gataragama the previous day.

The long trip started from Kathirkamam/Kataragama temple. Before that, the younger chap Bunga was searching for a toy-earth-mover at the shops near the temple. Thangamani was searching for a picture of ‘Kathirkamam Murugan’. Due to the assault on tourism industry due to Easter Bombing, most of the shops at Kathirkamam/Kataragama temple were closed. Very few shop owners opened their shops with their blanched faces. One akka made business with Bunga. But Thangamani did not get what she want.

Kataragama – Galle Highway

After blessed by Kadirkamam Kandan, they started their 4 hour journey to Galle .

It was like the two lane bypass road in Pudukkottai. The road was scenic, as it cut through many lakes, rivers, ponds and farm fields.

Hambantota Port

On the way to Galle, they passed through the port of Hambantota. On hearing the word Hambantota, Junga acted as if he was in deep sleep. Because Rangamani and Junga talked a lot about that port and debt trap diplomacy in Singapore. Junga knows that if Ranga opens his mouth about this topic, he will keep on orating like a suvishesha prasangakan. He does not want to get intoxicated by the worldly pleasures of his father.

But Rangamani did not mind. He started as usual. “British offered loans to the rulers of India before colonization. Rajah of Chandragiri approved lands to build St George Fort in a coastal hamlet ChennaRayan Pattinam (Chennai). Finally it became the bastion for East Indian Company. My son, after many centuries, the history is getting repeated in Sri Lanka.”

“Is history like a beach-horse?” asked Junga. (Beach horse will walk for some distance with a guest and it will retreat. It will again repeat with another guest.)

“Ha ha. Nice comparison. In a way, that’s true. Hambantota is ‘a China inside Sri Lanka’. As part the belt and road initiative, China considers this port as important. This port is completely under Chinese control.” Ranga might have repeated the same sentence for 1000th time. But he did not mind. He said it for the 1001th time, while looking at the four lanes stretch of the highway.

That was a grandly built port. They saw the new cranes, with the Indian ocean as its background. Rangamani talked a lot like a Diwali cracker, when the vehicle crossed the port. Unheard of that, Junga continued to act if as he was sleeping.

But Thangamani bite the bait. She wondered, “Darling, you talk too much about this port. But it remains locked. ayo there is a cow on the road.. Is this port closed for the day?”. Junga pinched his mam to signal her to keep quiet.

Rangamani’s face was shining as the summer sunlight of Chennai. He found an audience. He replied her with thrusted eye balls, shaking head and waving hands.

“Thangamani, that is what makes the matter more serious. The port and the nearby airport and infrastructure are world popular. They swallowed enormous amount of money, but it did not give returns. So they are still ghost towns. See the cow!! Sri Lankan rulers were blamed to push their country to the debt by building such non-performing-assets and finally offering the lands, infrastructures to foreign countries in return.”

Thangamani realized that her hubby – with all his gestures – looked terrific like the gigantic Agora Veerabhadra statue of Madurai Meenakshi temple.

Ranga described with utmost sadness, “See Darling, Colombo port, Colombo airport is so close to Hambantota. There was no real demand in the market to build a parallel facilities. A business without demand is a loss. At the same time, it brings an eastern power to Indian Ocean. Just because the eastern power is here, western power came here too. Sri Lankan rulers transformed a silent ocean into a another Sri Lanka. With this inefficient ruling, they ask international organizations to expand their sea space more.”

Ranga’s concerns are not completely exaggerated. Effectively, this is what happened in Sri Lanka in 2022.

Note: This article is not written by an expert in Sri Lankan politics. This is based on a general perception of dept trap.

Weeraketiya – Matara – Galle scenic highway

When Thangamani closed his mouth finally, the van crossed the next city, Weeraketiya. That was the hometown of Rajapaksas. From there, their journey became even more beautiful. Roaring seashore on the left; villages, forests, and rivers on the right side.

Tushara told that it was an ancient gem land – ‘Ratnagiri‘. Precious stones was dug up from the earth.

Galle

Finally they reached the seashore town Galle. Bunga was shouting on one side as he was afraid of sea. He maintained a social distance from Indian ocean.

Junga was shouting on the other side. “What da?” Rangamani got distracted from his attempt to convince Bunga to dip his legs in water. he screamed in air “Amma is afraid to get in”.

Rangamani keep Bunga to his shoulders and went near Thangamani. He said “See Thangamani.. We came for…” Thanamani understood that he is ready to advice. So she interrupted immediately… “Come on hubby.. I come already”. If needed, she is ready to jump into the ocean, than listening to his mann ki baat.

There comes the starving night with disturbed sleep in an haunted inn.

The family went to beach again, after they get up. Tushara might be searching for them. They never went anywhere without him. He came there to supervise their safety, as the beach was desolated. Such a kind man.

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