Why is that whenever I come down to Sri-Lanka I meet people who are in envy of the fact that I live in Australia, and express to me their desires to want to migrate there when all I want to do is find a way to spend more time in Sri-Lanka ?
I could understand it if these people were part of the underprivileged in Sri-Lankan society who don’t have the opportunities which are available to everyone in the western world, but these people live in Colombo 7 with a nice car(s), servants and basically nothing to worry about… apart of course from the odd bomb which has been going off in Colombo recently.
When I probe further I find that their want to live in a western society stems from their desires for independence and freedom to do whatever they want without half the city of Colombo knowing about it. While gossiping has its drawbacks, part of the attraction of Colombo is being part of a huge extended family, and a sense of belonging which you certainly don’t get in a big city like Melbourne.
I guess the extent of these desires depends on whether you are male or female and on how much importance your family places on what other people think, but to me living in Sri-Lanka far outweighs life in Melbourne. The pace of life is not so hectic, you don’t have to drive 30 minutes to catch up with a friend for a coffee, people seem to have time to just hang out (maybe because their parents take care of all life’s chores) and to me it is a city which really grows on you and after a while no matter where you have come from you just belong there. I would be interested to hear about other peoples’ experiences and thoughts on this topic.
September 13, 2006 at 12:20 am
I completely agree with you. Being someone that lives in New York, I have people always telling me how lucky I am. You know what. I would love to just go hang out at barista’s for a while, or walk in Galle Face, maybe go do Dine-mor and eat a sub. Or even better yet, go to pilla and wack a kottu.
The grass is always or atleast always seems greener on the other side. When you are at home you miss the freedom, when you have the independence you miss the family and your friends.
I think the key is to find a good balance between the two.
September 13, 2006 at 12:29 am
Again, someone who completely agrees with you =) I moved to SL 4 yrs back and it is now my home. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else, having grown on me more than I could ever imagine when I first moved here. It always pisses me off when people complain about living in Colombo-but infact we live with so many more privilages than we would most other places in the world. It’s so saddening to see the situation deteriorating at the rate it is. Let’s just hope for the best.
p.s. Really nice post =)
September 13, 2006 at 3:37 am
Ahh yes my life summarized in a blogpost!
…I have to agree with ur analysis wholeheartedly. For me the independence and excitement of living in San Francisco is empowering and amazing, something that would be impossible in SL. But that doesn’t stop me from missing SL almost continously, especially the family and friends, the relaxed atmosphere, the familiarity of home.
My solution is to accept the situation as it is, have fun for awhile, try and keep the emotions in check, try to go back home as much as possible BUT keep to my resolution that by the time I am 30 I will move back, come hell or bombblasts and try and help the country. The ‘privileges’ we enjoy in Colombo also require that we have some responsibility towards the country and the millions without those privileges.
September 13, 2006 at 5:15 am
I envy the relaxed easy pace of Colombo life too. For me it depends to a great extent the gang you hang around with and whether they are around as well. One of the biggest amusements that keeps me occupied while in SL is its people. Thats just what makes SL a vibrant country. The rest of the details of life just adds on to the fun. Whatever forms of artificial entertainment we get here in the developed countries is nothing compared to the real life entertainment back home. Right now my ambitions keep me occupied somewhere else, but longing to back and settle down in SL some day.
September 13, 2006 at 5:16 am
I envy the relaxed easy pace of Colombo life too. For me it depends to a great extent the gang you hang around with and whether they are around as well. One of the biggest amusements that keeps me occupied while in SL is its people. Thats just what makes SL a vibrant country. The rest of the details of life just adds on to the fun. Whatever forms of artificial entertainment we get here in the developed countries is nothing compared to the real life entertainment back home. Right now my ambitions keep me occupied somewhere else, but longing to go back and settle down in SL some day.
September 13, 2006 at 6:33 am
Then why don’t you just go live in SL? It easy for people who have a choice to say this but if you have no other choice but to live in SL, life can be hard at times. I am living abroad too and love to visit SL. But I wouldn’t trade my opportunity to live in a western country with anyone in SL who cannot leave SL. Those who say so are full of shit!
September 13, 2006 at 7:10 am
dear bull, if that was directed at me, i am planning to go back and live in SL after I acquire the required technical know how to implement the plans i have in mind. I have certain family interests back at home and would love to trade the western life and go work with them because I will get to achieve more in life that way. I very well know life is hard but i still would like to trade in the 2nd class citizenship I would enjoy anywhere else in the world to living in my homeland. Btw, it hardly matters to me what u regard as ’shit’ in life.
September 13, 2006 at 2:45 pm
I love the connectedness that I feel here with all our friends and people in general. In a city, even in neighbouring India, you feel totally alone and isolated.I love the smiles, and having lived abroad as well, i feel it’s the warmth of human relarionships here that I really found lacking elsewhere.
September 13, 2006 at 4:22 pm
SL is a great place to live or visit that’s for sure. We all love the place and cannot be away from it too long. I feel that the problem is economical. You work as hard as you can and get a pay at the end of the month and it turns out that it’s not sufficient to get you 1/2 across your bills.It’s ok when you are young and single or earning something that only a few of the more previlaged could get. But it’s very very hard for a lot of folks who just do a job and try to get by.Specially those who know about the world and how things could be.
A lot of people who have not traveled out of SL do not understand the situ of the world. I feel it’s because most people who return to SL for visits only talk about how good life is in the west, no one talks about the bad stuff that happens in big cities, or the presurred lifestyle that you have to follow to keep up. In SL we take a lot of things for granted and yet complain, this is because we do not see what others have to pay (moneywise,timewise, lifewise) to just go on living in the west.The current situ of war/bombs/killing is becoming a non event as people get immune to it and just go on with life as the economic situ is more a in the face issue.
One thing is for sure,if the country develops to at least a early 1980’s situ(where the future looks at least brighter) with opportunities for the young and not so young, noboody will leave, actually we might see outsiders wanting to migrate to live or retire in SL.”
IT’s a BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY WITH MANY, MANY WONDERFUL PEOPLE, IT WILL ALWAYS BE LIKE THAT,THAT”S FOR SURE!
Sorry for the long comment, these are my feelings as I have being living in and out of SL long before my hair started turning gray from the lack sunshine and a good rub of coconut oil (age, no, not in my thoughts).
September 13, 2006 at 10:04 pm
yup the grass is only greener when it’s on the other side… unfortunate that
the lucky ones are those who can make the best of both worlds.. i’m still trying to hit the perfect balance.. it will come with time i’m sure 
September 16, 2006 at 10:45 pm
Let’s not get carried away here.
Relaxed, easy life in Colombo?
Are you all (who said these things) just trying to be politically correct or what?
If you are already living in western countries with more organised lives & not to mention civilized traffic, who are you kidding here?
Are all of you affluent cmb7 types, who go clubbing night after night around cmb with an enviable disposable income?
If so, I invite you to venture beyond your cmb comfort zones to see how every day ordinary folks live. They would give anything to have the income you burn off in one night just to put some decent food on the table or to pay for sons/daughters education.
I guarantee these folks will never say “it’s such a relaxed, easy life here in SL”
Only thing good about SL at the moment is, it’s your country, where most of us were born & it’s in our blood & naturally we who live overseas love to visit. But how many of us really want to live in the chaotic uncertainty, in all honesty?
Now to address a thought by the author or rather comment by someone he/she knows & living in cmb7.
I quote.” They want to live in a western country to enjoy the freedom & do what ever they want without half of cmb knowing”
*sigh* Dear me ;(
That was me some 18 odd years ago. Wanting to get away to ‘no one cares what you do’ atmosphere of the western world.
I left for a western country & landed in a country area, after couple of years living in the big City.
Boy, was that an eye opener. Every thing I did, where I went, who I saw, what I wore was the talk of the town.
Long story short, it was as if nature was having the last laugh at me.
October 2, 2006 at 10:27 am
Anyone who doesn’t like it in the west should just come bacl IMMEDIATELY instead of bullshitting and being hypocritical.