Ceylon --Srilanka

Aibovan --greetings to all

I grew up in such a beautiful place that it has remained with me all these many years Nostalgic memories of our house -No 4 fountain house lane Colombo 10 Our neighbours all different sinhala Tamil Gujarati Berger Hindu Muslim Christian Buddhist a mixed neighbourhood taught me to live peacefully with anyone I wonder why all this fuss about the different caste language religion that people fight over for even murder all in the name of what/why? I wonder Is it not possible to live in harmony just as human beings --all being created in a similar manner by the supreme power above -GOD whom we all pray to in different forms Depending to which family we are born to A child is born caste-less without any religion just a human being How then can one grow up & be nasty to anyone all in the name of religion language & different caste? the more i think about it i say to myself -well to each his /her own
we as kids played together & had a real rollicking time a very happy childhood we had sports meets drama cricket Gulli danda ,seven stones Hide& seek Make believe stories were told to all creations/imaginations from the mind of a innocent child

Our school AnandaBalika Vidyalaya was about 1/2 walk from our home, me my two elder sisters walked together My eldest sister had to nudge & prod me on as i had the habit of just standing & watching anything on the way to school if it interested me -forgetting that i had to be in school on time school was from 8am to 1pm & were back home for lunch then homework & ready to go out to play at about 4pm Coming home time was about 6pm After coming home & a wash we lighted the deepa & we all sang -Ragupathy Raghave Raja Ram, Patita pavana seeta Ram'' Looking back I thing my father was a Gandhiji follower We did not know any other to sing together Then a bit of silent prayer I do not remember what I prayed for but I am sure in my very satisfied life there would not have much to ask for from GOD

every Full moon day we visited the Buddhist temple just walking distance from our school I just Loved this & waited for this day every month

school was a 5 day week with Saturday & Sunday off we had somewhere to go -either to the Town hall with its spacious unending green lawns I loved this & loved to just roll on the lawn! what simple joys the thought still fills my heart with warmth we went to Gall fa ce the beach temples dance classes -learning Manipuri dance we never had any toys as it was the 2nd world war raging on nothing was available but some vegetables &; bread--this was in plenty that by the time i was 10 years I was fed up with eating bread cheese /butter After we moved to India for the next 15 yrs or so I did not eat any bread if I could avoid it !! Now I again have started liking bread as it is handy when I do not cook- here I should say that I am now a ripe 70 year old<
In the good old 2nd world war days I can still hear the siren blaring & cutting into the night & my mother collected her herd & rushed us in to a bunker built by the government very close to the house Most of our neighbours also occupied it & for us kids it was like a midnight party -but without any music or food, later I do not know the reason we were herded in to the store room of our own house & were made to lie down prone with a spoon in our mouth & I still remember mostlt we slept off with saliva drooling from the mouth!! the spoon i still remember was to avoid biting on our tongue why & how we would bite our tongue I always pondered

life went on peacefully & very happily till my father decided that it was time for the family to move on to our home land India

again being a child I was very excited moving to a new country

Now India is my home & I have no regrets I think my outlook as a kid in Srilanka has helped me to shape my life<