bookends

leaving home in our part of the world is a big thing. 16th of may 1981 was a saturday and i was taking the night train to trincomalee. i was working for aitken spence, who in their wisdom, had decided to open an insurance branch office on the east coast, and in their further wisdom, to appoint me there as “branch manager”. the parenthesis is used because the title means nothing. in february of the year before, i had joined the company as a trainee executive and i still was that. my salary was rs. 450 per month.

i had been to trinco twice before. once with the cousin & co as kids and again in the late 70’s with my college pals when we stayed a few days at my good frind sai hung yu’s home in the town. there was something about the place, old dutch forts, mysterious temples, ancient houses, white shimmering beaches and calm aquamarine waters, that got to me. so when asked if i would like to go work in trincomalee, i jumped at the idea. everybody thought i was mad. they still do but that’s another story.

so, there i was that evening with all my earthly goods ( 3 old slacks two shirts, two t shirts, some books, a used two-in-one with knobs missing) packed into a battered suitcase, one of those hard ones which opens with a loud click. ronnie, with faizul on the pillion of his ts 185, had turned up to say goodbye. sai, who had arranged for a place for me to stay in trinco, turned up a little later as well.

around 7.30 pm i leave home in an old black morris minor taxi. i was not to return until exactly five years later but i wasn’t to know that. ronnie, faizul and sai pile in to the taxi as well and we head for the fort railway station. truth be told although i wanted to do this, it was a bit scary. back then living on rs. 450 was still pretty tight. i had booked a “sleeprette” and the three guys help me settle into my seat and lift my bag onto a rack. sai says the train gets into trinco at around 6 in the morning and leaves trinco for colombo at around 9.30 am. maybe i look apprehensive. maybe i look scared. ronnie suggests to faizul that they all make it to trinco, drop me off and catch the train back. sai wants to know if they are mad. he questions their parentage. ronnie and faizul dig their pockets for money. they are fifty bucks short. sai, still questioning their sanity, gives it to them. and we all go off to trinco.

“old friends
old friends
sat on their park bench like bookends
newspaper blowin' through the grass
falls on the round toesof the high shoes
of the old friendsold friends.

winter companions the old men
lost in their overcoats
waiting for the sunset
the sounds of the city sifting through trees
settle like dust
on the shoulders
of the old friends

can you imagine us years from today
sharing a park bench quietly?
how terribly strange to be seventy...”

- simon & garfunkel – old friends / bookends