Burping for attention

Just when you think that you can no longer be surprised by the behavior of the Sri Lankan male, they surprise you again. Sri Lanka is filled with this curious species who seem to be on a lifelong mission to shock and surprise you on a daily basis. This particular specimen was met on a Sunday afternoon at a roadside cafe. Seated in the cafe facing the main road visible through the glass facade of the shop, I could see a man staring inside the cafe as if the people inside have just converted themselves into huge headed aliens and started dancing the samba. After a while he comes inside, orders some food and sits himself down at the neibouring table. Now I don't want to sound like a snob or a prude but the range of sounds that he made for that short period of time as he went through his food were just unbelievable. This could have been simply disregarded if not for the atrocious burping that started right afterwards which makes you wonder if indeed a human being is capable of burping such a lot. That's when we realized that he was burping and slurping to get our attention.

Now the cure for such attention whores had always been indifference and although my face muscles contracted and formed themselves in a painful grimace once or twice, I managed to look straight ahead while the man kept on burping and making repulsive smacking sounds with his mouth. We got up to go at which this curious specimen of a man too scarabled to his feet in a hurry and rushed out from his table, leaving more than half of his food still left on the table. Needless to say he followed us right out, slurping and burping. The sound was positively sickening.

The weekend itself was a smooth one. Went to the theater with Daddy Dearest just like the old times, found tickets for Evita and good seats too which was very lucky because they were the only seats left in the house by that afternoon. Now Daddy Dearest had always been my partner in theater as we share the same near-hysterical love for drama and with Mommy Dearest not being too keen on the art, I had always managed to drag him away with me whenever I set my mind upon watching a play. The Darling has always been a reluctant Theater goer and therefore, Daddy Dearest willingly filled in for the spot to keep me company for the evening. We had already checked for tickets on Saturday. They were all gone except for the balcony ones.

The play was good, it was a long time since I had last seen one of Jerome's plays. However, I did feel that the play in itself was a teeny bit crowded with too much information. Nevertheless, it was an afternoon very well spent.

Watched "Karma" on Saturday and spent the rest of the day in blissful joblessness, wandering around the whole of Colombo with a bunch of equally happy-go-lucky companions. Speaking of Karma, it was ok and I am glad that I watched it. However, I do feel that despite the astounding amount of awards and nominations that it had received, it could have omitted certain scenes and information here and there. Seemed a wee bit crowded in there, would have been nice if it were "cleaner". The idea was powerful enough, it could have been presented in a more striking manner. Oh well..............

I broke my mug of 2 years! Its funny how attached I've grown to that mug, seeing as it was an inanimate object. Nevertheless it had been my friend and companion through good times and the bad and it had always been there, that rounded weighty presence keeping me company through countless sleepless nights, nights of utter hysteria, blissful dreaming or hour upon hour of studying. Daddy Dearest had always referred to it as 'the Barrel', referring obviously to its shape and size and it had indeed been big and cosy just the way I liked it. That pudgy heaviness had always comforted me, holding my tea and coffee throughout the years. It had warmed me when I needed the warmth when everybody else had walked away. It was the only companion that I could tolerate on peaceful rainy evenings with the balcony windows thrown open or those difficult times when nothing seemed right. My mug always held the correct kind of comfort for trying times. That mug had a sense of humor. Nothing else would do, nothing else would ever take its place. R I P Mug. There can never be anymuggy like u :'(