A sign on the back of a tuk-tuk in the Kandy town: "සල්ලි ගස්වල හැදුනොත් කෙල්ලො වඳුරොන්ටත් පෙම් කරයි." [If money was borne on trees, girls would even love monkeys.]
Two brothers (in their early and late twenties) talking about how their elder sister (early thirties) baked a cake when she was in her mid teens. "අපේ අක්කි කේක් එකක් හැදුවා එක දවසක්, හොඳද. ඒකෙ උඩත් හොඳයි, යටත් හොඳයි, හැබැයි මැද අමුම අමුයි." (The listeners are amused!) ["Once akki baked a cake, okay. The top part [of the cake] was fine; the bottom part was fine, too; but the middle ... it was totally raw."] For the record, the brothers did not know how to bake cakes. The implication that the sister was somehow supposed to know how to bake cakes while they did not was very much in the air.
A married couple in their late twenties. The husband was describing how the wife was driving on the high-way. "මම [මෙයාට] ඕවටේක් කරන්ඩ කිව්වහම මෙයා දැම්ම තමයි පාරට, මම මෙහේ........ම [swaying action] වෙලා ගියා" (and laughter follows). ["When I asked her to overtake she did it in such a way that I got pushed like this."] The irony is the wife had the oldest driving license and driving history of the two, but somehow it's the husband who knows the art of smart driving. This whole thing reminded me of the much beaten joke in many families (including my extended family) regarding female family members who drive. "මෙයා යනවා යෑමනක් කියන්නෙ, ගොන් කරත්ත පරාදයි." ["She drives so fast that bullock carts fail to keep up with her."]
Ramya met an old friend of hers, and they got into a nice little conversations. Soon, the obvious topic came up--KIDS. The friend had two boys. When she got to know that Ramya had two girls, she immediately said, "එහෙනම් තුන්වෙනියෙක් හදන්න වෙයි නේද." [So, you'll have to have a third then.]
It was around 7:45 in the morning. I had one of my daughters' pink bead necklaces in my pocket. As I was walking in the lake-round I took it out of my pocket and wrapped it around the middle-finger of my left hand. It made the finger all pink and very noticeable to the vehicles on the road. I got some VERY interesting looks!
At about 7:40 in the morning, I was waiting to cross the road at the Saranankara Road junction in the lake-round. There was a traffic policeman standing on the crossing directing traffic and a lady standing next to me waiting to cross. A red car was approaching from the Suisse Hotel side, and it was moving at a moderate speed. The policeman was annoyed; for him, the car was not moving fast enough. His violent hand gestures signaled the car to move faster. Then he turned to me and said, "මේ ගෑණු අය එලවනකොට ඇද ඇද එලවන්නෙ. හෙට නම් කියන්ඩ ඕනෙ ..." ["When women drive they drag. Tomorrow, of course, [I] will have to tell ..."].
Two brothers (in their early and late twenties) talking about how their elder sister (early thirties) baked a cake when she was in her mid teens. "අපේ අක්කි කේක් එකක් හැදුවා එක දවසක්, හොඳද. ඒකෙ උඩත් හොඳයි, යටත් හොඳයි, හැබැයි මැද අමුම අමුයි." (The listeners are amused!) ["Once akki baked a cake, okay. The top part [of the cake] was fine; the bottom part was fine, too; but the middle ... it was totally raw."] For the record, the brothers did not know how to bake cakes. The implication that the sister was somehow supposed to know how to bake cakes while they did not was very much in the air.
A married couple in their late twenties. The husband was describing how the wife was driving on the high-way. "මම [මෙයාට] ඕවටේක් කරන්ඩ කිව්වහම මෙයා දැම්ම තමයි පාරට, මම මෙහේ........ම [swaying action] වෙලා ගියා" (and laughter follows). ["When I asked her to overtake she did it in such a way that I got pushed like this."] The irony is the wife had the oldest driving license and driving history of the two, but somehow it's the husband who knows the art of smart driving. This whole thing reminded me of the much beaten joke in many families (including my extended family) regarding female family members who drive. "මෙයා යනවා යෑමනක් කියන්නෙ, ගොන් කරත්ත පරාදයි." ["She drives so fast that bullock carts fail to keep up with her."]
Ramya met an old friend of hers, and they got into a nice little conversations. Soon, the obvious topic came up--KIDS. The friend had two boys. When she got to know that Ramya had two girls, she immediately said, "එහෙනම් තුන්වෙනියෙක් හදන්න වෙයි නේද." [So, you'll have to have a third then.]
It was around 7:45 in the morning. I had one of my daughters' pink bead necklaces in my pocket. As I was walking in the lake-round I took it out of my pocket and wrapped it around the middle-finger of my left hand. It made the finger all pink and very noticeable to the vehicles on the road. I got some VERY interesting looks!
At about 7:40 in the morning, I was waiting to cross the road at the Saranankara Road junction in the lake-round. There was a traffic policeman standing on the crossing directing traffic and a lady standing next to me waiting to cross. A red car was approaching from the Suisse Hotel side, and it was moving at a moderate speed. The policeman was annoyed; for him, the car was not moving fast enough. His violent hand gestures signaled the car to move faster. Then he turned to me and said, "මේ ගෑණු අය එලවනකොට ඇද ඇද එලවන්නෙ. හෙට නම් කියන්ඩ ඕනෙ ..." ["When women drive they drag. Tomorrow, of course, [I] will have to tell ..."].