Waiting with food for thought

Demi HEWAMANNA

Sri Lanka is a country that has basically everything in just one pot and yet people just don’t know how to put their hand in and search for the best routes that lead to some of the amazing places that make you go “aww” each time you go there. The country has got amazing beaches, green forests, rainforests, national parks, simple but tasty dishes, music of many variations and warmth and friendliness that many fail to see and many don’t use.

Being a Sri Lankan…all you need is a road map and a good sense of direction to go check out all the places that just boast of history, art, culture and natural beauty. One thing I never do when I travel long distances is ‘sleep’. Why? Well simple…because there is so much to see in this amazing Pearl of the Indian Ocean. People say that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”? I don’t think that is the case here…because when you open you eyes as you enter the mountains of Nuwera Eliya or hills of Kandy or the clear beaches of Unawatuna, Passikuda and Arugam Bay – it’s true natural beauty all around.

With all this and more, I still don’t understand why certain people treat their own country people differently when they go as local tourists to the same spots that are known to be “tourist’ destination for the foreigners. You hear about the fact how people are so warm and friendly towards the tourists that come to a certain part of the country. But is that warmth only to the foreigners?

Being in Hikka last weekend was one experience I don’t think I could ever forget. I’ve been there many times by myself and with my friends. Last week, when I got off the bus to join friends for some sun, sea, sand and adventure I was shocked to see how the town basically was empty.

There were no three wheels, most of the shops were closed and when I went into a shop that is right next to Chaaya Tranz and asked the guy where have all the people gone, he was like “it’s off season” and no one is there during the off season. Well it was my first “off” experience and questions started running in my head.

So are locals who visit the city not tourists? Is our English not good enough to get some quick service? Is our own currency not enough to rent a room and enjoy the luxury of our country?

After a nice beach bath and some auto tanning, my friends and I decided that we go check out some places to eat as we were all hungry and some of us hadn’t even had breakfast (like me as usual). We walked and walked till we found a place that had a board hanging saying “rice and curry”. As we walked in we already saw some 10 youngsters taking seats and ready to give their order. The six of us, dripping wet walked in and got some extra plastic chairs pulled up to sit down. By the time the guys washed the sand off their feet, our waiter boy was still taking the order from the other table. And sadly there was only one menu book available.

When the menu did come to us, we had a quick glance at it and soon made our orders. Then began the waiting…the random look through the curtain that showed us a man cutting onions…then another walking in 10 minutes later with a bag of spices in his hand. As the waiter took our order we had asked him how long would it take for us to get the food, he smiled and said 15 minutes. And mind you 15 minutes for 5 different dishes. And by this time, 15 minutes had gone by, and the table that gave the order before us still didn’t get their drinks even. When I turned to look at the other table…I saw one of the guys bringing a Mango nectar bottle and giving all to have a sip.

Now 30 minutes had gone and when Merisha had turned to see what’s happening, she was telling that only now they started cutting the meat and this was being conducted on the ground at the back of the kitchen. By this description my appetite was dying slowly (as I knew it was not hygienic) and then a few minutes later we could smell the oil heating up in pans and mind you the other table still didn’t have their drink.

By the time our tough guy friend Vikram went over to check on what’s happening, they had not even started washing the rice and they said our meal will be ready in five minutes. When he mentioned that we were leaving he just turned around and said “that they don’t mind, if we are leaving”.

So…after one hour of waiting with a lot of “food for thought” we made our way to another place – Moon Light restaurant - that was just adjoining the place we were in earlier. Before we made it into the restaurant...we asked the guy in there whether the rice is prepared, meat and vegetables cut and waiting. He was like...yes...and the spot seemed decent and clean enough for us to go sit down and fill our hunger. At that moment all of us were like “we can eat anything right now”. We gave our order and once again we were told it would take 15 minutes. After five minutes went by, one of the guys came up with the cutlery and then another five minutes later came with plates. Now we were all just starving to death basically with minds being tortured about the yummy stuff we could have right now. Withing 20 minutes of us coming there, we got our orders and it was just gobbling down the food immediately as we began serving and sharing with one another.

The food truly was delicious and we were so famished that we finished within a matter of minutes and telling one another how good the food is and just been so happy that we were able to satisfy our hunger.

We were really happy with everything and we explained to the guy – Sudda – who served us about the treatment we got at the other place. We took his number down, in case we can’t find another place for dinner or something. The next day too, we went driving around the town, trying to find a place to eat and it was just surprising that they have these big boards put out and when we go ask if they have food, they said they don’t. So why be opened if you got no food to serve the customers, why put big signs if you haven’t got half the things mentioned in the menu?

I believe, that many of us travel during the off season as and when we can. And I should say that, people should be open up for business even for local tourists because when there is no foreign revenue or guests coming into their hotels, resorts and guests houses, it is us who fill that gap. We are tourists in our own country. When we hop into a bus, train or car, get our camera, backpack and diaries to write about our adventures in our own country we are well geared with everything because it is our soil and we have every right to go anywhere we want, explore it as much as we want and basically be treated the same way everyone else who is skin tone fairer than us are treated.