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I
even saw buildings painted in eclectic shades of
blue, red and yellow or a three-tone colour scheme
of just kaleidoscopic purple. I’m referring to
only one building here which was painted three
shades or three different colours! It did make for
a visual feast that remains in one’s memory. Apart
from the splash of colours, the Sri Lankans are
good at clever and innovative use of space. I
passed by a little cottage abutting the main road
in Kalutara, a small village on the way to Bentota
(which is their premium beach area). I saw a man
standing in a giant oval shaped photo frame! When
I took a closer look, I realized that was his
door. It had been cut into the stone exterior of
his cottage in a perfect oval and the doorway was
framed by wood trim that was painted a green
colour.
In Sri Lanka, transport is mostly by SUVs and MUVs (multi-utility
vehicles) of foreign makes like Mercedes-Benz,
Toyota, Honda and Mazda. That is one reason why
Sri Lanka looks and feels richer than India.
Having much cleaner streets and completely paved
pavements, than India, also adds to the country’s
appeal. Sri Lanka has taken the effort to go all
out to impress tourists and make it idyllic and as
safe as possible.
I passed by gardens that
overflowed with foliage. Lush bougainvillaea,
exotic orchids and frangipani that grows wild in
the fertile Sri Lankan soil. Hibiscus in an
unusual cream colour peeked out over most people’s
garden walls and gulmohars bloomed everywhere. In
one garden, I saw a unique installation. The
family had knocked out all the windows of their
redundant SUV, stripped it off seats, engine,
chassis and tyres and kept only the shell in their
garden and had put clothes out to dry, where
earlier the windows had been. It was such a eye-poppingly
different garden ornament. Though, at first
glance, it also looked like the van had just been
abandoned by its occupants who had left their
clothes behind in a hurry!
Another interesting facet
is the hundreds of statues of Buddha which dot the country. These ranged from small statues
encased in glass to monoliths placed in strategic
places. They were made of a bewildering range of
metals – bronze, copper, gold-plated ones to
marble, terracotta and plaster of Paris.
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The
magic begins! Read all about 
A
history of the geography of Mumbai / Bombay