Malki remembers

The last trip I took with Aunty (in 2011) was around Sri Lanka with Dr. Memie, Shehera, Izmeer et al. We were checked into Nilaveli Beach Resort in Trinco and it was around dinnertime. While we were waiting in the buffet line for hoppers, there was a calypso band playing in the background. Suddenly, they started playing "Aju Thapara Lahila" and next thing I know, Aunty grabbed the dinner plates off Memie's and my hands and dragged us in front of the band and started dancing away!

When Aunty and I traveled together in the UK almost 12 years ago, I remember after a long, tiring day of traipsing through London, we decided to rest a bit. We sat on the grey stone steps of Trafalgar Square munching on Cadbury Crunchie chocolate bars and watching old British ladies feeding pigeons. In the background, there was a street musician strumming the guitar and playing Otis Redding's 'Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay'. I thought it was one of the more perfect moments of that entire trip.

To me, the power of music lies in the fact that nowadays, whenever I hear "Aju Thapara Lahila", I can almost smell the warm sea breeze and visualize the vibrant colors of the wraparound skirts that Aunty and Memie were wearing in that moment. Otis Redding reminds me of that 2005 trip to the UK, the first time I really got to know Aunty.

George's comment: The original performance of "Aaju Thapara" can be seen at this Youtube site: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXr-JxCJFVY

The young male dancer is Chryshantha Rodrigo, who lives at Hantana and whom Roy knew well. Later, he managed our house at Hantana and became friends with Fawzia and me. 

Small world!