Stories of the open road

When I saw a “Double-Decker” bus coming towards me, teetering, it was like seeing an old comrade. As a little boy, I always wanted to ride on a Double-Decker bus, but never had a single chance. When the bus stopped in front of me, I hopped in and ran to the upper deck with glee, settled in a corner seat. Slowly the dusk clouds are closing down around the city yet Colombo looks sheen and shining!

The enchanting city of Colombo is always a heaven after the sunset. Yet I can feel an extra glamour, a feeling like an invisible aroma hovering throughout the city. Yuletide Splendor you could say.

What are the best color themes for Christmas in tropics? Will “Red and silver” do the charm, or could “White Christmas” add a special allure? In Sri Lanka, you will find neat combinations of Yuletide colors around Colombo city limits and suburbs. And instead of snowy and crepuscular ambiance and dim lights lucent through mist; you will find bright and fulgent light arrangements, yuletide decoration and a living vivacious Christmas feeling floating around the Colombo night.

If you are in Sri Lanka where the majority of population is Buddhists, you will find out that Christmas is a season which even Buddhists enjoy together with their Christian brothers and sisters. As well as the Wesak festival, Sri Lankans celebrate Christmas too, maybe not with an idea of a religious ceremony, but surely in a chromatic manner.

When I’m eagerly looking outside the window of swiftly moving Double-Decker, I could see light arrangements and vivid Yuletide decoration hanging on walls, down from ceilings and roofs of almost every building passing by. Big huge hotel buildings and malls, arm to arm with tiny shops and wayside boutiques are picturesque with not just classic Yuletide decoration, but innovative and creative modern decorations as well. Especially I loved this new wave of creating Yuletide ornamentations with traditional Sri Lankan art and crafts. It’s a brave new world...

If you decide to take a walk in the heart of this Commercial city-Colombo after the dusk, you will probably be amazed by seeing the practically unending deluge of raving people who are eagerly wandering around to do shopping during Christmas season. Not just malls and big shops, but diminutive boutiques comparing to those giants bestow amazing Christmas discounts and runs numerous Christmas Promotions Island wide. However that is not the only reason behind the shopping spree during Yuletide almost in every major city of Sri Lanka, it’s simply the festive attraction, the intriguing, spirit of yuletide and people’s tendency to celebrate, being joyous!

To love Santa, you don’t need to be a devotee Christian. Everybody loves Santa Claus, especially when he offers gifts and candies. When my bus stopped for a moment in a traffic jam, I felt a sudden jolt in my arm. It’s from a giant candy stick and in the end of the pole; I could clearly see a Santa, with the red and white suit and his Classic deep laugh, pointing me to a newly opened mall! An advertising representative Santa, a creative concept to commercialize the pure yuletide, so I thought!

Many Hotel lobbies and malls are adorned with Christmas trees embellished with Angels, stars, snowflakes, icicles and chimes, and cribs with tiny statues of baby Jesus, Virgin Mary, Joseph and three wise men. Even from the jogtrotting Double Decker, I could see outdoor Crib decorations which reminded me a painting, "Adoration of the Shepherds" by Gerard van Honthorst.

Double Decker sauntered toward and stopped in front of Galle Face open space. I could hear “Silent night” in the breeze. I didn’t want to leave the city. I didn’t want to see an end of Yuletide season. When I stepped out and looked back, I could see heart red, snowflake white, pine green and celestial blue tiny lights in the city, glittering against the cloudless night. It was Yuletide in Colombo...

Pathum Punchihewa