Street kids bathing at a roundabout near Odel
My friend had a dream about some island where his ancestors were buried, so we went looking for it. Modera, Crow’s Island, at the edge of the Colombo Port, near the Leper Hospital. Abouts. The city is my new fascination, only becoming a destination after the war. It makes Colombo cool again. I realize I’ve spent all my time in the suburbs. It’s nice to explore the slum beaches and alleyways of the city.
On the way we spot some street kids bathing in a fountain near Odel, the effective downtown during the war. This is what makes Colombo so great. Unlike India, the city is lived in without being urinated on. They’re splashing around and jumping in within sight of Town Hall, a mosque and the main department store. A statue of some Silva lectures, but in another direction. It’s hot. I feel like joining them.
Old colonial building, Whist House, I think
The Kelaniya River flows into the sea around Crow’s Island. If you turn off before the bridge, down Madampitiya Road you can get going parallel to the coast. Past the Fisheries Port, past the kovil, just past the kovil really, there’s an old colonial relic of a building. It used to be a drug den but has since been repurposed as a sort of wedding hall, in Sri Lankan modernist style.
Like the kovil, modern Sri Lankan architecture basically consists of converting every space to a bathroom. Lots of tile. Why so much tile, I don’t know. It seems like every upgrade turns the place into a toilet. But I digress.
Crow’s Island Beach
If you walk over the piles of plant garbage you get to one of the better beaches in Colombo. Everybody goes to Mount Lavinia, which is nice, except that the rips there actually kill you. I know of a few people who died there and I rarely venture beyond my knees. The beach at Crow’s Island, however, is coved in by multiple breakwaters and quite swimmable.
There were like a thousand people there, like Galle Face Green. Except I’d never heard of the place. The local kids were playing football, rugger. Women were there in traditional swimwear, i.e., whatever you wore to the beach. Sari, jeans, burqa, whatever. There was a bit of garbage and an occasional malodorous waft, but not bad. It’s a decent beach like 15 minutes out of the city.
Dudes are lounging. Can get some corn, ice cream. There’s a bit of security, a barbed wire enclosure near a playground. It’s a small pen manned by Navy chaps. Nothing ostentatious or obtrusive, just there. Planes fly overhead, big silver at first, fading into the orange clouds of the sunset.
Head down the road to the kovil, catch some pooja, people pressing fire to their hearts. I paid my respects to Vishnu’s guards and we went down the road. Head down the Fisheries Port road into the slums. Walk back towards the beach through alleyways. I wouldn’t even call this a slum, more like middle class housing with dodgy deeds. A woman is braiding a child’s hair. Some guys are blasting Snoop Dogg louder than I thought humanly possible.
Down at the water people are gathered at the shore, fishing. Seems to be decent catching. I fear it is the preponderance of human effluent, but one tries not to think. The sun is setting blood red near the harbor. It’s another day in Colombo. Not a bad one.
Nice post, good picture, like the aeroplane a lot.
next time stop by the church that’s en-route to Modera… Looks super inside…and always a hive of activity…. its after you pass the harbour area, near the junction past the Shore Police
Great images Indi. Love the one of the kids on the beach and the one of the plane. Kudos.
verey baeutifull , I like to join with you!
The picture of the plane is BEAUTIFUL man! :)
Nice photos. But I wish you hadn’t labeled those children enjoying the fountain “street kids” — they may just live in a house without running water or in a neighborhood with a public tap. During the summer months in the U.S., there are the inevitable photos of kids enjoying some cool water courtesy of a fire hydrant in the city — your photo strikes a similar chord.
Didn’t know it was so nice. Anyone who mentions that area only says be careful that you don’t get raped and murdered like Rita John.
Remember that?
I didn’t know what you were talking about till I googled and found this and this.
Mopeds!!!!That is the solution to the single commuter issue. Smart Cars are now here – Ray Catena’s has them and there was one parked outside of Stop and Shop the other day. Just have to wait until you can get one second hand. Perfect for single commuters with stuff who want to be protected from the elements.
tracey · Hi Gabrielle – I tried to stay a bit light on the glue with the Christmas cards I made, but I know that in younger years I would have been much more ‘glue happy’ … I bet your kids have fun making them though. My trouble used to be glitter – I’d end up with it EVERYWHERE!
Doesn’t it seem like so much of parenting is the gradual letting go? I mean every time I feel like I have it all “figured out” everything seems to suddenly shift and change, with no challenges on the horizon.I am so glad you shared this story b/c I too struggle w/ wanting and not wanting to want so often.