Down past Balangoda, passing the high hills of greens and greens, we hit the main Galle Road going south. Kilometers later, it was on this Galle Road we then took a stop between a couple of alleys to view what used to be my dad's home back in the early 1960's.
Our van parked in front of that home, we saw dad's eyes light up. And as he started reminiscing, we listened and reminisced along with him. He spoke of the garden we saw in front of us; where him and his brother used to play cricket, and the window from which their father called out to them, 'Boys stay still, there's a snake behind you!'.
We saw the gate to the house. Dad said it hadn't changed a bit, the same old, white, metal gate that stood there today was what he used to swing himself over when he was just a boy.
He spoke of the downstairs, right corner in the house that used to be his mother's stitching shop. Here, my grandmother and her fellow seamstresses would get together to stitch up the most adorable victorian dresses for little girls.
And then the window by the side of that stitching room; the window dad and his brother would sneak out from in the afternoons while their mummy napped, to play yet some more cricket!
Young and delightful, my grandparents lived elegant lives on that Ratmalana street alongside neighbors who live there till date. The karyavasans, dad told us a little about them and how the families were in and out of each other's homes.
We all drifted to the 1960s, what life would have been like back then. When he was just a boy. My dad.
Our van parked in front of that home, we saw dad's eyes light up. And as he started reminiscing, we listened and reminisced along with him. He spoke of the garden we saw in front of us; where him and his brother used to play cricket, and the window from which their father called out to them, 'Boys stay still, there's a snake behind you!'.
We saw the gate to the house. Dad said it hadn't changed a bit, the same old, white, metal gate that stood there today was what he used to swing himself over when he was just a boy.
He spoke of the downstairs, right corner in the house that used to be his mother's stitching shop. Here, my grandmother and her fellow seamstresses would get together to stitch up the most adorable victorian dresses for little girls.
And then the window by the side of that stitching room; the window dad and his brother would sneak out from in the afternoons while their mummy napped, to play yet some more cricket!
Young and delightful, my grandparents lived elegant lives on that Ratmalana street alongside neighbors who live there till date. The karyavasans, dad told us a little about them and how the families were in and out of each other's homes.
We all drifted to the 1960s, what life would have been like back then. When he was just a boy. My dad.
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