How we grew up in Sri Lanka!
They were Great times. Hard cheese, they will never return. WE WERE
THE MOST FORTUNATE GENERATION!
Remember the match-box telephones and the paper letter-boxes so
friends could drop notes to one another?
PROGRESS since then? Yes, in nukes and stuff to annihilate mankind.
Cheers! See you n the next Millenium!
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WHO WERE BORN IN SRI LANKA IN THE
1930's,1940's, 1950's & 1960's and 1970's! (and maybe even in the early 80's!).
As for the rest of you, this is for your information to read & enjoy!
First, we survived being born to mothers who did not have medical
checkups while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos.
They took aspirin, ate coconut, raw egg products, and processed meat,
tuna from a can, untreated water, and milk straight from the cow --
and didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer...
Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright
coloured lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine
bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no
helmets or shoes, not to mention the hitching rides with anyone in
the neighborhood!
As children, we rode in cars with no seat belts or air bags. We drank
water from the garden hose and the tap at the top of the lane (NOT
bottled water!). We shared one bottle of soft drink with four friends
and NO ONE died or got sick!
"Take-away" ("Fast food" was patties, rolls, pastries and vaddais;
With crusty bread (Malu pan or Rose Pan )
(No Pizza Hut, McDonalds , KFC, Subway or Nando's).
No Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter time...
14th Feb - wasn't that Independence day???
Even though all the shops closed at 8.00pm and most of them didn't
open on the weekends, somehow we didn't starve!
We could collect old drink bottles, Sunday news papers and cash them
in at the Bothal kade and buy toffees, chocolates, Bubble Gum and some
Fire crackers to have fun with (and no one got blown up!)
We ate prawn vaddais, Chilli raw mango, pineapple & boiled Kadala
(often full of dust) from street vendors (Duwana Giri Hotels) without
needing Pepto Bismol ..
We ate sponge cakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks
with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because....... WE WERE
ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!! We would leave home on Saturday morning and
play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
Then Church bells start ringing @ 6.30pm.
No one was able to reach us.. And we were OK. During our vacation,
our parents never saw us the whole day, not even for meals as we ate
at whatever house we were at during mealtimes. No one thought of
compensation or asking for money.
We would spend hours building our kites or go-carts out of old prams
and then ride down the hill, only to find out we had forgotten the
brakes. We built tree houses and dens and played with matchbox cars.
We played cricket on the streets amidst the cars, & hide and seek
using the whole neighbourhood as our playground, and no one
complained.
Our homes were always open & no security alarms installed.
We did not have Television, DVDs & PlayStations, Nintendo Wii ,
X-box 360's, no video games at all, no 999 channels on SKY, no
video/DVD films, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet
or Internet chat rooms, but we had such imaginations and we never
found ourselves bored..........
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
Lawsuits from these accidents...
Only the girls pierced their ears!
We shooed away flies hovering over our food, and probably swallowed
worms in our fresh fruits, and the worms did not live in us forever -
we just built stronger immune systems!
We didn't get air guns or air hockey on our 10th birthdays, just a new
one set of clothes on special occasions (Birthday, New Year. Easter,
Christmas).
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or
rang the bell, or just yelled for them! We didn't have to arrange play
dates or make appointments in advance to see our friends.
Many of our mothers didn't work and we survived on one salary... BUT
there was always food on the table.
Rugby and Cricket had tryouts and not everyone made to the team. Those
who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment... Imagine that!
Getting into the team was based on MERIT, not because of connections..
We got rulers landing on our hands or whereever the teacher could
reach, and they didn't get reported to the School Board!
Colleges were mostly unisex - but, this did not affect us
psychologically or emotionally, because we always managed to find girl
friends & boy friends..
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law & we were punished a second time
when we got home!
Our parents didn't invent silly names for their kids.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned
HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!
And we survived and became contributing members of society despite it all.
"CONGRATULATIONS!"
Share this with others who have had the same fortune.. before our
lives got over legalized for "our own good".
And while you are at it, forward it to the youngsters so they will
know how lucky and brave their parents were!
