Fireworks Like No Other

Action on the night of the World Cup Cricket finals between Australia and Sri Lanka: Brass bands playing the baila on the streets... Supporters waving flags from car windows... Quite a festive atmosphere and I was loving it..!

Rain delayed the start; so, I went to sleep. I was woken up during the early hours of the morning and – from my bedroom window - saw fireworks, due North. I soon figured out that those were tracer bullets, i.e. anti-aircraft fire, and assumed that that was how the Sri Lankan Army celebrates victory.

Only later did I realise that M/s Gilchrist, Duckworth & Lewis had done Sri Lanka in… and that LTTE aircraft had dropped bombs on the outskirts of Colombo. Never a dull moment, huh?

The Tourist Board describes Sri Lanka as ‘a land like no other’. Tell me about it!

Death of Bob Woolmer (1948 - 2007)

"If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same...

"Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools...

"If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss...

"Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!"

- Rudyard Kipling

Throwing Minnows with Fishbowl: GT

If I may make a point: Sri Lanka was like Bermuda/ Canada, when the former participated in the inaugural World Cup in 1975. They were also described as “minnows” then – but went on to win the Cup, some twenty years later...

Who knows? They would possibly have never made it so far so soon, had it not been for the exposure they got along the way. And, again, who knows? Perhaps we will be imbibing our favourite beverage, chased by some dry ginger ale, together. How about Canada Dry?

And while we are at it, let's also dress for the occasion when one of today's minnows wins - in 2028 or whenever... How does knee-length shorts sound? Bermudas, anybody?!

Sporting Action in SL: GT

In terms of atmosphere at sporting venues, I think Windies and Sri Lanka have much in common. There is a lot of music and dancing in the stands, for example – and some picturesque stadiums in the smaller towns... I managed to catch a rugby international here (between China and Sri Lanka) – and was absolutely blown away by the crowd. There was music and beer and such a fantastic sense of camaraderie that it felt like one was at a party or something!