One Day In Sri Lanka

BOMBAY SWEETS on COLOMBO STREETS
I heard the bell ringing first – it seemed far away but close enough to peak my interest. The streets of Colombo have many different mobile street vendors, some sell their wares from baskets atop their heads, others push two-wheel carts, while some have tuk-tuks or bicycles. Every morning I hear the pineapple sales men going buy the hotel – he yells, “Anansi” or something like that – I’m not sure how he’s carrying the pineapple, I’ve only heard him – and friends have told me what he does.

So who was ringing the bell…and what was he or she selling? Luckily, the sound got louder as I entered the cross street I wanted to use to get up to Galle Road from our hotel. I caught a glimpse of a man with a square container wearing a hat and swinging his hand back and forth before he turned into an alley half way down the street. The ringing continued and a man’s voice called out..I could not make out what he was saying. I waited for him to come out of the alleyway, he seemed to circling a large apartment building – he must have something people from the building would want…I mused to myself.

As he approached, I asked him, “What is it? What are you selling?” – “Bombay Sweets!” He replied with a toothless smile. “Can you show me?” I queried motioning towards the can. He opened it up and grabbed a small handful of stringy stuff using a piece of recycled paper as a barrier between his dirty hands and the food. Just as he handed me the mound of string, a group of Sri Lankans passed, looking wantingly at the yellow stringy stuff – “Mmmm, bombay sweets, GOOD!” There was a little boy with the group so I asked if he could have the man’s sample. “Sure!” they replied. I just couldn’t see myself taking a chance on this street food. The little boy smiled as he took the mound from me.

I asked the vendor how much I owed… He stopped pensively, looked at me and then said, 100 rupees. “What?!!” That’s too much! I exclaimed – that little bit of sweet did not equate to the price of a chocolate bar in my mind… I gave the man 20 rupees – thanked him and continued on my way.

As I walked I thought that maybe he had misunderstood me – Perhaps he thought I didn’t want to just pay for the sample he gave me but rather a regular amount…

Sometimes the language barrier really gets in the way.