THE CORONA MONSTER

CORONA monster lords over the world,

Unabashedly scaring mankind bold,

Clawing into the roots of existence,

Even as humans fight it with resilience.

CORONA has changed the very way of life ...

Social networking lessened face-to-face communication,

Next we may even unlearn the art of human interaction,

As we may de-recognize the once familiar faces,

With stay at home due to CORONA cases.

Saloons and spas and beauty parlors are shut.

Men sport mustache-beard and roam with hair uncut.

Women happily sport the mask, during their brisk paces,

As they cover their bushy brows and facial-seeking faces.

CORONA has changed the very way of life ...

Gone are the rejuvenating walks,

As we know not where the virus stalks.

For fitness, no gym nor yoga classes,

Not even parks and playgrounds for the masses.

Adults working from home, backs bent over laptops,

Are only allowed quick and short errands.

With no office, or excuses for drives,

Untouched vehicles gape with punctured tyres.

CORONA has changed the very way of life ...

Where are my lady's days of parties, and interaction?

Of relaxed days, with maids plunging into action,

To maintain the home spotlessly clean,

Also assisting in kitchen chores, as we've seen?

Gone are the days of pleasurable activities -

Marketing - has now become quick, unexciting,

No self-selection of tender vegetable varieties,

With the now busy vendor, no thrill of bargaining.

CORONA has changed the very way of life ...

Kids are cooped up at homes,

Mind you, outside no one roams,

Like caged birds from windows peering,

When over video games, not pouring.

Kids learn online, not within school gates,

Seeking self-entertainment with no mates.

Now babies bawl, kiddos cry - events once rare,

They know not why, may be for fresh air.

CORONA has changed the very way of life ...

Bracketed in the high risk category, 

Independent seniors put up a brave face,

Burdened with home chores, saddled with health issues,

Dreading to venture out even for essentials.

CORONA has changed the very way of life ...

No birthday parties, no social calls,

No vacation trips, no malls,

No movies, not even online shopping,

Yes, that's forced expense-chopping.

Caution and care are the best bets -

Be it own self, or home gadgets,

Fragile - handle with care,

No chance of help for repair!

CORONA has changed the very way of life ...

With drained income, lost jobs,

Economy plunges, global trade bobs,

Food, shelter, travel for stranded mobs,

A nightmare of desperation and sobs.

The swelling numbers of COVID patients,

The statistics of deaths and cases,

Send heads reeling; with crest-fallen faces,

The world waits for relief with patience.

CORONA has changed the very way of life ...

As we crib even to safely stay home,

Doctors and hospital staff risk their life,

Attending COVID patients, their numbers running rife,

In suffocating safety kit as in wards, they roam.

Then there are the brave CORONA warriors,

The messiahs from different sectors, who cross all barriers,

Offering selfless services; with patience and grit,

Compassion and concern, they pitch in their big bit.

CORONA has changed the very way of life ...

Changed are our ideas of enjoyment, our lifestyle,

Our eating habits, our dressing style.

The biggest boons - hygiene, health consciousness,

Tolerance, resourcefulness, and economic awareness. 

MAGNIFICENT MALDIVES

We boarded the flight from Colombo and landed in Male, the capital of Maldives after an hour.

Immigration was quick. We came out of the airport and walked towards the two speed boats booked to take us to Eriyadu Resort.

We wore our life jackets and seated ourselves, about twenty of us in each boat.

We happened to get the last two seats - we could see the rear of the boat, as there was an opening right in front of our seats.

As we started moving, we could see the buildings of Male receding from our sight. The boat picked up speed, raising the waves and splashing water. It started getting scary. We held on to our seat handles tightly - I started imagining that one terrible jerk would take us tumbling into the gushing waves.

Soon we could see a resort coming up and then ..... slowly receding..... then yet another .... and another. No chance of taking photos as the ride was terribly jerky.

Then there was nothing in sight except the blue waters, the azure sky, and of course our speeding boat cutting through the ocean. Not a single boat in sight, not even the second boat with our tour group. Come to think of it, we were holding on to dear life, without the least clue of what was in store for us if there was to be a small mishap. We were continuously sending up prayers, thinking of our loved ones, even for a moment regretting the moment when we had paid for this tour, unaware of such a stressful boat ride. I'm sure my face reflected my stress, more due to our positioning in the boat. Also because we just knew the resort was some 45 minutes ride. Every time, we approached an island resort, our hopes would rise with the thought that, that was it. But the boat continued with its unabated speed.... we kept consulting the watch ... 50 minutes ride, 55, 60..... we finally reached our resort after 75 minutes. We heaved a sigh of relief .... and forgot about the boat ride ...

as we walked towards the inviting Eriyadu Resort.

We enjoyed our welcome drink at the reception, then collected the key to our cottage and started walking towards it, admiring the scenic surroundings.

Our group was allotted cottages in a line facing the shore. We could not only hear but also see the waves from the front yard. Walking a few steps, we'd be at the beach. It was so exciting.

We explored our cottage - it had all basic amenities.

The bathroom needs special mention. It had a nice bath tub. It also had a shower area, which was located bang next to a door which was the second exit for the cottage. Whenever we'd return after an outing to the beach / restaurant / reception, we did not have to get the cottage sandy by entering from the front door. 

We could wash our feet at the tap located outside the bathroom, then use the key to unlock the bathroom door and enter the cottage, after cleaning our feet again.

We wanted a quick exploration of the island before sunset - we couldn't wait till next morning. 

The front yard of our cottage had young coconut trees. 

We felt like excited kids as we climbed up the low branches of other trees.

The reception area had great seats close to the railing. We did not realize it then, but seeing the photos later, we realized, it looked like a ship on the sea.

We could see herons perched here or there.

There was a swimming pool, we decided to get back there the next day.

 That was our resort island - small and cute!

There were a few activities that could be undertaken for a fee - cruise ride, snorkeling, where we would be provided with the gear etc.

There was a well-stocked bar too.

The restaurant was earthy, modest. The multi-cuisine fare  - from 'sambar' to pizzas, from 'bhajias' to souffles, croissants to waffles - was delicious. Most of the staff were from Kerala, and we enjoyed indulging in small talk with them in Malayalam.

That night there was a 'Karaoke Nite' at the reception area, where guests participated enthusiastically.

We retired for the night, but only after our stint at the social media. Though we were in a remote little island in the middle of nowhere, we had WiFi connectivity in our cottages. How cool!

We were up early the next morning. After our morning cuppa, we were ready for our beach walk.

We have always enjoyed our early morning walks whenever we were at beach resorts - be it Hawaii, North carolina beaches, Havelock (Andamans), Cape Town ....... and now Maldives.....

We got to see the sun painting the dark grey sky with strokes of pinkish orange.

Soon we were joined by our friends. 

We behaved like kids as we enjoyed ourselves going knee deep in the waters, some even swimming. Many could not have enough of the waves ....

We were excited to pick up exotic shells and admire them.

We had been warned to put back the shells as it was illegal to take them home.

Interestingly we found that someone had hung a string of shells from a tree in front of their cottage.

We would have continued on and on at the beach, but hunger pangs directed us to our cottages. We showered and went to the restaurant for a hearty breakfast.

After breakfast, we took a leisurely stroll around the resort. A simple place, but enough to revive the child in us. We enjoyed the swing. We climbed the small branches of trees. We stretched ourselves on the beach chairs or under canopies ... Life seemed so calm, peaceful, stress-free, easy .... with nothing much to do.

We wanted to waddle in the swimming pool too. As there was no strict enforcement of swimsuit at the pool, I entered a swimming pool for the first time .... and probably the last! Just loved to 'swim' at the shallow end; ventured to the mid pool with a tube .... Oh wasn't it fun!

My better half had a blast swimming a few laps and his face radiated his joy.  

That evening we were ready for our 'outing' ... thunderclouds darkened the sky but did not dampen our enthusiasm ....

We started on a Sunset Cruise - once again in two boats, loaded with snacks. The speed was modest and we enjoyed it.

But the weather forecast cut short our two hour cruise to one hour.

After we returned, we had the third shower for the day before going for dinner, followed by DJ night, where everyone was ready to shake a leg.

Next morning we continued the same routine of loitering along the beach and wading in the waves .....

Somebody even managed a catnap before lunch.... and where? Outside our cottage, lulled by the gentle breeze, with the accompanying lullaby of the waves ....

Two days of bliss, as we lazed about, enjoying the picturesque place. Guess we would not have lasted more than two days there - specially the ones with an adrenaline rush in them!

We vacated our rooms and gathered at the lounge, and enjoyed high tea. Our luggage was boarded in the two speed boats. Then we boarded the boats and put on our life jackets and geared ourselves up for the one hour boat ride on the chopping waters, looking at the island resorts showing up one after another. 

This time, we managed to click a few pictures too.

Finally we reached Male, docked opposite to the airport, 

disembarked, collected our luggage and walked to the airport. Once again, we completed all formalities.

We shopped for curios / souvenirs at the airport, which is the best place for shopping, as island resorts do not provide much and are high priced too. Currency used everywhere in Maldives is USD.

As we were waiting at the lounge, we noticed that some visitors - mostly Chinese, were wearing masks. This was on 25th of January 2020. We did not know then that this was the beginning of the world-changing COVID 19!

We flew to Colombo and from there to Mumbai. It was the  end of a fantastic tour, ending with a rejuvenating and heavenly short vacation in picturesque and peaceful Maldives.

SRI LANKAN DIARIES - COLOMBO

We left Nuwara Eliya after breakfast and started our long drive to Colombo. After some two and a half hours, we visited a Spice Garden. 

We had expected a tour of the spice garden, just as we had enjoyed on the way to Munnar in Kerala. But that wasn't to be. An ayurvedic expert, distributed pamphlets about the various ayurvedic products prepared and sold there for various maladies. As he explained, each of the products and its effectiveness, all of us in the group being above 50, fell a prey to his enticing words of cure for illnesses trying to befriend us.

We had all made a mental list of products to be procured from their outlet right there and followed the expert. Everyone started piling up a couple of bottles of each, for themselves and relatives. But at the payment counter, they realized the exorbitant prices, and quietly put away most of the products. I bought only a bottle of red oil - for arthritis - paying just 3300 INR for a 300 ml bottle. My husband was joking that we could buy Volini or its ilk for our entire lifetime with the amount shelled out.

After another hour's drive, we stopped for lunch at an Indian restaurant.

Another three hours drive, and we reached Colombo and drove straight to the craft store - Laksaru, Sri lankan experience. Lots of souvenirs to choose from, but prices were pretty high.

I picked up a few memorabilia - shell items, magnets, ladles ... But the high-priced moonstone and masks put me off.

As we drove around the city, we could get glimpses of the different architecture there. 

Places of worship included temples, shrines, churches, mosques ..... 

We passed by St. Anthony's Church which had been bombed a year ago; it had been rebuilt. 

Our local guide pointed out to us, the traffic policeman, with his motor bike parked next to him.

At another point, he showed us a traffic policeman on horseback. There were very few electric signals. Vehicular traffic was less. 

We could see lot of pedestrians at market places.

During the drive, we did not fail to observe several statues of Buddha.

We also noted that there were places of worship of different religions.

We then had time for more shopping, yes, at a mall. We could pick up some gifts / souvenirs from here.

We then checked in at Hotel Pearl. 

For dinner, there were wheat chapathis for the first time - after all these days in Sri Lanka. Another point to note was they had never heard of 'Sugar free'; we were glad that we had carried some with us.

We checked out of our hotel after breakfast.

After an hour's drive, we reached Kelania Temple.

At the entrance to the temple, florists sold colorful and fresh lotuses and lilies,which devotees bought for offering at the temple . 

It was a sprawling temple complex.

Kelaniya Temple is a sacred Buddhist temple dating to the time before chronologically recorded history of Sri Lanka. It is believed to be the place where Lord Buddha visited Sri Lanka for the third time. The initial temple is said to be built on the ground where Lord Buddha preached dharma to people in Kelaniya, enshrining the jeweled seat lord Buddha sat on for the preaching in 543 B.C.

The interiors have beautiful paintings, statues, golden roof....

Devotees attired in white, maintained silence as they offered flowers / water at the deity.

Many chose to sit there and meditate.

The temple was destroyed frequently throughout history by Dravidian attackers giving rise to the popular saying ‘if Kelaniya falls, the country falls’. Kelaniya temple was completely destroyed by the Portuguese in 1510. The temple existing today was initiated in 1927 and completed in 1946. 

How is Kelaniya Buddhist Temple related to Ramayana Story of Sri Lanka ?

  

This important Buddhist Temple has a direct link with Ramayana, which states that after the death of King Ravana, his brother Vibhishana  was crowned as the King of Lanka by Lakshmana in Kelaniya, which had been ruled by him. This was because Rama had to return to India as he had to continue his self-exile of 14 years to honor the commitment to his father, King Dasarath of Ayodhya. King Vibhishana was considered a fair king, as he supported Rama against his own brother Ravana’s injustice, and is still venerated by Sinhalese Buddhists as a God, as one of the four guardian deities of Sri Lanka, especially in its western territories. There are no temples for King Ravana but many temples for King Vibhishana in Sri Lanka, which proves that his stand for Dharma and justice has raised him to the status of a God.

Attractive murals are found here.

In the temple of Kelaniya a shrine of Vibhishana can be noticed even at the present. Murals depicting the crowning of king Vibhishana by Lakshmana give proof to the epic story of Ramayana and its importance in Sri Lanka. Many devotees visiting King Vibhishana’s shrine pray to him asking his intervention to a fair recourse to their problems even today.

We spent almost an hour there. Then we started our one hour drive to Colombo airport to fly to Male, Maldives. Our tour guide collected packed lunch for all of us from an Indian restaurant close to the airport.

After formalities at the airport, we sat outside our gate and enjoyed our 'biriyani' and 'raita' and juice - yes, all these made it through security check!

It was one hour before our flight that we were allowed inside the 'lounge' of our gate. We were surprised to have yet another security check there.

From Colombo to Male, Maldives, it was an hour's flight. Sri Lanka and India are in the same time zone. Maldives is 30 minutes behind IST.