Maiden Flight to Sri Lanka – Part I
I had a blend of excitement, curiosity and nervousness about my initial journey to Sri Lanka. I was thrilled to pack my things for the whole family, as it was a five-day trip. I had to plan a lot and pack all needed materials as my kids were 5 and 6 years old
Actually, I was afraid to get permission in the school because the trip days fell on the reopening day after the Diwali holidays. But I provided all my tickets and permit letter in the school and got approved.
I was excited to enter the airport because it was my first flight trip. After completing all the procedures, I was shocked to hear that our friend’s daughter was not allowed in the boarding. The validity of her passport was about to expire (exactly one month), and her parents forgot to renew hers. The validity must be at least 6 months to travel to other countries. We had a bitter experience that we decided to leave her with their grandparents, full of tears. The child also took it sportively and didn’t show her sadness in front of us.
Then when I stepped in the plane, I was so excited to fly in the sky. That was amazing. The plane flew nearly 40 mins to reach Sri Lanka from Madurai. It was like a taxi. So soon we have reached there.
After the checking, we looked around the Sri Lankan airport. We met a young man named Amilan, who was our driver. He looked smart, and he was an honest, punctual, and kind man. He was also a Buddhist. He was also like us.
The fun was that he didn’t know Tamil and we didn’t know Singalam. The only language we spoke was English. I conversed much to clarify everything. We took some photos and started our journey.
On the first day, we went to Kandi; it was a hill station. Actually, we were about to see an elephant orphanage, but it was too late to reach the spot. So our plan changed, and we went to a dance show. It was none other than Sri Lanka’s traditional dance named the Kandyan dance. As we entered a little late, we had very few seats to watch the show. Our children were seated in the front row. It was a splendid performance by the people who performed throughout the show. The dancers were dancing gracefully and continuously.
Clowns were used as gap fillers. They made fun and called somebody to come on the stage. I was surprised to see that my son went on stage without fear and shook his hand. That was really memorable. At last, we went to our room for dinner. Let me continue in the next blog.
Suganya V
Grade III Teacher
Mahatma KK Nagar