About
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a random photo of me from Flickr
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This is always out of date
My name is Indrajit Samarajiva. My Montreal friends call me Indi. My parents and people in Ohio call me Jit. People in Sri Lanka call me both, but I think I prefer Indi.
I was born in Vancouver in 1982, while my parents were in Grad School there. My family is Sri Lankan. My dad Rohan (who I call Tha Tha) and mom, Sujata (Amma), grew up in Sri Lanka. They worked really hard and got into University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser, and I got born with a Canadian passport.
We moved to Sri Lanka when I was 3. We lived with my Achi for a while, I forgot English and learned Sinhalese, ate some fruit, stepped on the dog’s tail. When I was 5 me (and me two new sisters, one in Amma’s tummy) moved to the USA – Columbus, Ohio. Thatha taught Communications at Ohio State University and Amma worked in the Chemistry Department for a while, then for the Ohio Board of Regents. I forgot Sinhalese and learned English again.
I grew up in a typical US suburb. Rich, white, and boring. but good schools and safe. As soon as I got the hell out of high school I came to McGill University in Montreal, Quebec – which is my favorite city ever. I still love America, especially the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. And the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Boston Red Sox (for Merit).
I graduated from McGill with a degree in Cognitive Science. I’ve studied Psych, Linguistics, Education, Philosophy, and Computer Science. In my last year I learned about DNA and Brains. I also worked full-time for the McGill Faculty of Education (and took breaks for class). I guess I’d describe that job as Office Geek.
I live in my Colombo. I can be contacted via indi@indi.ca
Bangalore is a developed, wealthy city with beautiful people. Yet there is no nightlife. Everything closes at 11:30 and most people are in bed around then. I have gone out with friends and the bars really do close. People sometimes go to house parties, but the energy tends to dissipate and the cops break them up if you play too much music.
The only law is ‘don’t oppose Mahinda’. General Sarath Fonseka is 
One of the first people I met in India turned out to be a Sri Lankan. His name was Felix and he was from near Wattala. He fled in 1984 after mobs burned down his house and turned his family into refugees. He’s originally an estate Tamil (not Jaffna), which they tried to explain to rioters, to no avail. I said I was terribly sorry for his loss, and our loss of him and his family. He lives in Chennai now, he was visiting his kids in Bangalore.
Off, all the possibilities in the world, it is interesting to run into old friends in Bangalore. Literally, I met a friend from high school and we talked about who got old and who turned out to be gay and people and places I haven’t thought about for over 10 years. I’m wondering whether to go to my reunion now. Meanwhile, I’m crashing with a French/American friend from university.
There’s this place called Kenko where little fish give you a pedicure. They literally crowd around and nibble off the dirt and dry skin. When you first dip in there it feels really weird like, well, fish are nibbling your feet. Then it feels kinda cool. I coulda put my head in there, but another friend couldn’t stay still or stop giggling for ten minutes. It’s a hundred rupees, in Bangalore.
