Life of Silibiris 18

 When Ambarawa postman arrived bearing a telegram in Silibiris name, he was not home. As usual he had gone gallivanting around the village.
Siriyalatha apprehensively accepted the telegram by putting her thumb print on the postman’s register.
It contained a short message in English.
Siriyalatha asked the postman to read it for her. He could not understand it either. Most villagers ran in search of Silibiris for translation whenever they received a telegram.
Siriyalatha too had to run around in search of Silibiris to read the very first telegram that came addressed to him.
Almost three months before the telegram arrived, Dahmmaloka Lokuhamuduruwo had accompanied Silibiris to Colombo for an interview at the Department of Irrigation and Agriculture.
Silibiris had been overawed by everything that happened in Colombo. He had not realized how well respected Lokuhamuduruwo was in Colombo until he saw the way Department Officials received the now famous monk. Silibiris too basked in the shadow of Lokuhamuduruwo glory. The interview was a mere formality.
Silibiris was fascinated by the hustle and bustle of Colombo. Cars, people, Rickshaws going hither thither. He was amused to see a man cantering along pulling a buckki karaththe (Lokuhamuduruwo told him it was called a Rickshaw) with a fat man sitting on a seat under a black canopy.
He stuck to Lokuhamuduruwo like glue, not wanting to get lost amongst thousands of people. They had taken the train from Medawachchiya, alighting at Maradana Station some hours later. Silibiris particularly enjoyed the trip in a green coloured trolley bus. He got to sit upstairs, right up the front. He was alarmed at seeing cars coming towards the bus being gobbled up by the bus or the bus just ran over them silently. He could not quite comprehend what he was seeing. He had heard Ambarawa people refering to Colombo as “Gendagam Polowa” . May be the genadagam in the “gendagam polowa” was affecting his senses.
He was even more fascinated by the ladies of Colombo wearing fashionable clothes which Ambarawa women will never be seen in. They even looked taller than Ambarawa women aided by high heeled shoes. They seem to have one thing in common though. They too must be chewing beetle like Ambarawa women because their lips were red too.
Who needs Kusumalatha when these city girls were around?
Silibiris had no idea that in fact it was Kusumalatha who had been instrumental in getting him to apply for the Government job.
Ever since the triangular meeting on the bund, Kusumalatha had avoided Silibiris. Silibiris had hung around the usual meeting places to confront Kusumalatha about the incident without even a glimpse of her.
When he returned from the trip to Colombo with Lokuhamuduruwo, there was some kasu kusu about Kusumalatha in the village. Silibiris noticed even his friends avoided mentioning his name in front him.
Silibiris overheard Siriyalatha talking to a village woman cursing Chandare for some incident Chandare was involved in. He thought she also mentioned something about Kusumalatha. He didn’t quite hear the rest of it. Siriyalatha had changed the subject sensing he was listening.
Silibiris did realise he hadn’t seen Chandare around either, ever since he returned from Colombo. He didn’t miss seeing Chandare around.
He did miss Kusumalatha.
Silibiris was not to know when he left Ambarawa for the Big Smoke; Kusumalatha had been sent far away from Ambarawa to stay with her aunt.