Sometimes in life, you meet some strangers, and all you realize is they are like your extended family whom you didn’t get the chance to meet yet. This is a narration about such strangers that we met during our trip to Sri Lanka, who treated us like a family when we needed it and are friends for life now.
During my stay in Sri Lanka – Induruwa and Bentota, we used to often go for one Indian meal (epecially hand made chapati for the baby – Indians would know how important chapati can be :D). For fulfulling our Indian cuisine craving, we went for a dinner at a resturant “Kandoori” in Bentota. There we met a very friendly Sri Lankan family. They were there to celebrate their daughter’s 21st birthday. My son Kay kept on peeping on their table because of the cake and the candles. They were a family of four (mother, father, brother and sister). They not only welcomed Kay but also invited us to join their table for their celebration. They offered us cake and also some goodies for Kay. Their generosity just melted our hearts. They made us feel so comfortable and it felt like we are part of their family. They spoke to us, tried to know more about us and our country India, and in turn they shared lots of things about Sri Lanka.
In no time, we exchanged our phone numbers and after the short sweet meeting we left the restaurant. We thought it was just a regular meeting with a family but it was not ! Next day we received text message from the family and guess what, they had invited us to their home for dinner. We were awestruck again! There were multiple thoughts running through our head…shall we go..shall we not go..etc. etc, especially because we are in a foreign land. After some thoughts, we politely declined their offer thinking it would not look nice. But, they kept on insisting and really made us feel important. So, we decided to go, but only to meet them and not bother them making us dinner. We planned to meet them on the last day of the trip, but unfortunately baby Kay got sick on last day. Our doctor in India suggested to see a physician. As we didn’t know anyone there, we reached out this family and asked them. They not only provided us with the details of the doctor but also came to pick us up at the resort, took us to the doctor and finally took us to their lovely home.
It was just wow to see a Sri Lankan home. Their house was just amazing with lots of space and greenery. By just having a glance at the walls and things kept on tables etc. one could tell thousands of stories about of them. The walls were literally talking to us. They had displayed their pictures, achievements, childhood memories. The love between all of them was clearly visible. No wonder, they loved us too and invited us to their home. They had even prepared veg snacks for us and they offered us fresh coconut water from their home grown tree (one of the best king coconut water i had in Sri Lanka).
As baby Kay was sick and we had a flight back to India, we couldn’t stay at their home for long. They gracefully accepted goodies that we bought for them (the way we do in India, never go empty handed to someone’s home). From one of their cabinets where they had displayed all the toys their kids had when they were young; they gave it to baby Kay. It was a very emotional moment because someone so far is going to take away memory of your child. We clicked some beautiful pictures with them, and we were dropped off to the hotel by them later on.
P.S. Baby Kay still has that toy and plays with it once in a while. Every time he is playing with it, I remember the family and pray that they all remain happy wherever they are.
It was truly a “athithi devo bhav” moment for us with them. Moments that we will never forget and cherish all our life. We are in touch with the family till today. Hope we continue it in future…!
