My favourite things…

Favourite memories:

When I was three, I flew in an aeroplane with my parents and grandfather. It was to Gal Oya, in the eastern part of Sri Lanka, on a domestic flight. I vividly remember the aeroplane painted red and yellow. The beautiful air hostess gave me peppermints to chew and cotton buds for my ears. I felt like a bird flying up in the air. The scenes below me on the ground were breathtaking. Manna to a toddler.

We stayed at Gal Oya, for a couple of days, in the middle of a jungle that was being transformed into a new farming community by the government of the day. Due to the construction, many roads were muddy and unsuitable to travel by car. We did a Safari tour to see wild elephants. I sat on my grandfather’s lap, enjoying the bumpy rides in a rickety lorry used during WW2.

Favourite thing to cook:

Sri Lankan pork curry. It’s awesome and so delicious. It is made with pork belly, pepper, chilli powder, vinegar, olive oil and a smattering of salt. A close friend insists that I make pork curry whenever he visits. We both enjoy it with white jasmine rice and salad. I love my pork curry.

Why do I love pork curry so much? It resonates with my childhood. Back in the day, when I was a young kid growing up in Sri Lanka, there was a grand arms-giving when someone in our village died. Kids were served first at those ceremonies. Kids sat on the ground cross-legged. Banana leaves were laid in front of us. Then the servers came around and served rice and lots of curries, particularly red-hot pork, which we ate off the banana leaves. Because my mother never made pork at home, believing it to be unhealthy, I loved eating pork whenever I got a chance outside the home. I still cherish the rich taste of those pork curries. This is my effort to re-create that taste and memory.

Favourite piece of advice I have received:

‘Never get attached to anything, and ‘Believe in yourself. I listened to this advice and role modelling from my parents and grandparents. I could move continents, jobs, and careers easily because I never got comfortable with my lot. By believing in myself, I have done many things, like being a lifelong learner, techie, photographer, occasional artist, avid reader, storyteller and, more recently, a budding writer. I learnt to be a self-giving father above all.

Favourite overseas trip:

About three years ago, I visited my country of birth, Sri Lanka. I accompanied my kids and their partners, who are proud Australians, on a historic and cultural trip. We visited my ancestral homes, villages, cemeteries where my parents and grandparents were laid to rest, and some holiday destinations as a big family of nine. My kids and their partners have had the unique opportunity to walk on the ground where my grandparents and parents married, raised their children and lived. It was a moment of reckoning for me. I wanted them to know where my descendants had come from and their inherited heritage by immersing in that environment even for a few days.

Favourite thing to do:

Lately, I have taken to writing a lot. What else could I do in between when I work full time from home during these Covid-19 inspired lockdowns? I have my favourite music playing on Sonos sound system in the background. Standing up on my standing desk, all I do is write when a creative idea hits me. I also love listening to ABC’s conversation podcasts during my walks.

Favourite author:

Rohinton Mistry. I love his unique writing style. I have read all his books. They are heavy and big, but they are fabulous. His titles: A Fine Balance, Family Matters, and Running in the family. He is from the part of the world where I am from. He writes to an international audience and is famous worldwide.

Favourite thing about hometown:

I am a village boy who grew up in Dalugama, a simple village in Sri Lanka. Although I have been a city nomad on many continents and travelled the world, mostly for work. It took my village to raise me as a child. I grew up with a community spirit with an immense sense of harmony and camaraderie in my village in the sixties and the early seventies. It is about the mementos I have carried from my early life in my home village. I have written not one but two stories about those unique experiences.

Favourite artists:

I loved Elton John and Santana in my youth. Now I listen to shuffle music from Buddha Bar, Cafe Del Mar and chill-out channels. They keep me sane, happy and tuned in.

Favourite thing about my life:

Living my life to the full: There is not a dull moment in life. I have four great kids who have four beloved partners and three grandkids. The dozen of us are united and look out for each other. I am so blessed to have such a united and loving family. My job is done.

Favourite Sydney haunt:

Waterfront wharf in Barangaroo. I worked in Westpac Bank in their prime building in Barangaroo until recently. The wharf there is beautiful, one of Sydney's most artistically designed and modern city locations. I did my 1:1 with my team members walking along the wharf. We had lunches, coffees and drinks in the classy restaurants, coffee shops and cool bars along the waterfront. It is such a beautiful space to thrive in. It is out of this world.

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