...and the band played on.

“the situation here is very tense, machang” said bala when i spoke to him last night. he was on the beach in trincomalee having a booze with some pals.

“cannot be very tense if you are having a night on the town”, i answered not very kindly.

the supreme court petitioned by the jvp and others had just ruled that key sections of the agreement between the government and the ltte were unconstitutional, effectively negating the agreement. meanwhile tit for tat reprisal killings and shooting continue between the government and the ltte in the trincomalee area.

“what to do, men? can’t sit at home with a long face waiting for a bullet, no? cowards die many time times, brave only once.”

this from a guy who once darted into a liquor bar in the middle of a race riot downed half a bottle of old arrack in minutes and then escaped death by joining the mob, was perhaps valid.

“nawe gilunoth, band chune?” i asked innocently but accurately in a sri lankan context.

“ya man! there is a rumor that the chief justice is coming to trinco with the jvp to fight the ltte. must get then for a drink on the beach. everything will be ok and back to normal. don’t worry. need another bottle, machang. gotta go.”

he hung up.

one thing about us sri lankans is our amazing ability to imagine super nova brightness in the black holes we create for ourselves every now and then.