Silent Hopes - Ceylon

I met this young boy in Galle, 125 kms south from Colombo. It was a sunny day & after long walk at Galle Fort I stepped in a local market which was colorful & lively. I walked around several shops & finally reached at a corner shop where a young boy was selling hand painted magnets and toys.

That little colorful shop attracted me & I started inquiring about prices and options available.

The gesture of this boy fascinated me because of some reason. His attitude was different , he was friendly & had a glowing charm on his face. A glow of happiness, A glow of satisfaction, A glow of dignity.

He started conversation by asking me from which country I belong & also he started playing with my 2 years old baby. He offered him few toys, I told him that I have no interest in buying them and even requested not to give to my kid he could break them.

But I was surprised when he replied “It is fine madam. Don’t buy, let him play here for some time, and if it will break I will fix them”.

His welcoming attitude forced me to get into further conversation with him.

I learned that all the memento & magnets were hand painted by him. It hooked my attention & I picked up few of them and observed carefully. It was neat and clean painting on each of the product. All were beautiful, different sizes ranging from 2 to 6 inches magnets depicting beauty and heritage of SriLanka.

I have spent good 20 years with my sister who is a born painter & have a deep interest in colors and canvas. She helped me in becoming a connoisseur in observing the art and knowledge to recognize the creativity & perfection.

The clarity of his art and combination of colors, increased my level of curiosity and forced me to ask him if he learned metal painting, he replied “No madam, never in my life”.

Then I asked , how he could paint so beautifully.

His answer was so convincing and disturbing too at the same time.

“I had little liking towards colors and I started painting & I got so much of perfection quickly because of my “NEEDS”.

His last word “NEEDS” pinched me and made me curious to know him more.

I realized that day that more than our interests our needs push us towards the perfection. I could sense the truth in his eyes.

He told me that he is pursuing his graduation in Literature at Colombo University. He hailed from a small town named Hikkadua, down south. He used to attend his classes during weekdays in morning hours & during evenings he manages to take out time to paint these magnets and toys.

On weekends he had a routine to come down to Galle to sell his self made products in open market. As Galle is hub of tourism so this is a potential market for him. His earnings depends on the flow of tourists, sometimes it is good but at times not so good, however at the end of the month somehow he manages to arrange money for his college fees and to support his family.

After a quick conversation he got busy in playing with my baby and in between he was handling other customers as well. For him it was a random chit chat with a tourist customer but on the other side, I found this conversation so deep and meaningful, a life of struggle & survival with dignity & still being happy and enjoying his time with a stranger baby without having a fear of loss or profit.

Ceylon ( Old name of Sri Lanka) had a very tough and critical phase in past. People not only lost lives but their freedom, basic rights, peace and happiness.

Thousands have lost their parents, kids, husbands, wives, families & friends. The life was so much disturbed for years. Though, past few years have been peaceful still the fear and pain can be seen in the faces of people who were victims & witnessed destruction. However, people are working hard and trying to cope up with their past and struggling in present to make a better & stable future.

Ceylon is a neat and clean country; people are aware with importance of environment and love nature. They have a warm and welcoming attitude for tourists.Despite of all odds and fear, life is still moving.

I concluded from my conversation with several locals that they are emphasizing more on good education of their kids which is definitely a progressive attitude.

Ceylon is a perfect example of "Life Goes On"…..

This place added lively memories and a new story in the life of an avid traveler. This young boy requested to stay in touch on social media & asked to share his pics with baby, which I clicked while they both were playing.

He offered an extra magnet to my baby as a token of love apart from the magnets and toys, which I purchased not because of his need but for his perfection and my interest.

And I left the place with a silent wish for Ceylon.