Rain Again

Further snapshots I treasure of the rain was with my friends. Manel my best friend in school, Rosanna, Pamela and a few others would walk to the bus stop in the rain never bothering to open the umbrellas that some of us carried. We would sing along the way and Rosanna would even do an occasional wiggle of her bottom for emphasis of our songs. I don’t think we even noticed the strange looks we probably got from disapproving elders. All we knew was that we were with our friends, it was raining and we were enjoying our music, each others company and of course giggling away at the most inane things in the world. Everything was so hilarious; we would laugh till our tummies hurt.

Now come to think of it, the weather, the dust, the grime, the bus travel, the weirdoes in the buses, none of these seemed to be a bother. Everything was accepted as it was…… What a beautiful time of life adolescence is.

Hand-Picked Husband by Heather MacAllister

Sunethra and I were walking past our old bookman’s pavement collection yesterday, and as usual stopped to browse. This book caught my eye and since I had a long bus ride ahead of me, I immediately pounced on it. It was a sweet old fashioned romance from the Mills & Boon Enchanted collection. I would recommend the book to anyone ….. Well any lady really, as I know most guys would probably gag and throw up rather than wade through ‘sweet romantic mush’.

Childhood Memories of Fun in the Rain

I was speaking to one of my friends yesterday and it happened to be raining right about that time. That got us talking about rain and how mothers discourage their children from getting wet. Don’t go out in the rain… you will get sick, seemed to be a constant refrain, when all we wanted to do was to run out in the rain, jump in puddles and feel the rain on our faces.

I for one was very lucky. Looking back, my mom has been really cool. Not only did she allow us to bathe in the rain during a good shower, she actually joined us. The only caution was to wait for a bit until the rain washed the roof and the leaves of the trees clean before we went out.

Precious memories indeed are those where I remember my sis, my mom and I running outside splashing and laughing in the rain. The rain gushing down the gutters were ideal spots to get a freezing cold shower. Though the water was chilly we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Perhaps this was since we were in Colombo where catching a cold or pneumonia was relatively a distant possibility. After our rain bath, we would all have quick ‘proper’ baths, and then have hot mugs of something and all would be wonderful, warm and safe in our little worlds. I don’t think I ever realized or thanked my mom for understanding a child’s little pleasures in life.

SLAAPS Rendezvous 2005

The SLAAPS Rendezvous Coffee morning was held on the 3^rd of September 2005 at the Galle Face Hotel from 9.00 a.m. The Chief Guest on the occasion was the Hon Mrs Shiranthi Rajapaksa. She looked lovely, as always, dressed in a beautiful yellow and mustard saree. She was welcomed at the entrance by the Committee and led into the hall to light the ‘human lamp’. The human lamp then got rid of their lamps and did a beautiful traditional dance keeping the audience enthralled with their supple sinuous movements.

Soon after that Indu Dharmasena and his team kept the audience in fits of laughter in a skit.

Krithies, a leading designer in salwars had a fashion show where their beautiful models displayed even more beautiful shalwars. The almost 100% female audience sighed with pleasure at the gorgeous costumes displayed. I think the 01% male audience probably sighed in pleasure as well J

There were more dances by the Miripanne dance troupe and also Kevin Nugera and his partner. Kevin does such a fantastic show, it’s a pity his partner was not as good as he was. The usual scenario during a Latin American dance spot is that every eye in on the girl. However, in this instance, most people would probably have been watching Kevin.

There was another fashion show by Hamedia’s done by Brian. His models wore a range of outfits from smart casual, western office attire and of course more shalwars. The office attire drew raucous comments and appreciation from the audience so short were the skirts, while one model seemed to have missed wearing a shirt or skinny inside a jacket. The audience roared its appreciation, not sparing the models blushes.

Faizal Bonzo as usual kept the audience going with his lively compering. The last on the show was Ronnie Leitch who disappointed me a bit by some off colour jokes. There was the usual baila which had the secretaries out of their seats and on the floor in minutes. Angela Seneviratna also added to the fun by dancing with the Thattaya.

I was so thrilled cos Udesh, his wife and his mom all won prizes in the raffle and entrance ticket draws. Udesh’s mom walked away with the first prize…. A return air ticket to Singapore!!! I was so thrilled for them, especially so, since all the winning tickets were bought from me!