Oh, Sugar Sugar

By Udan Fernando -October 1, 2014 

This column, as the readers must have observed, is often inspired by my encounters with food and my travels. I have been rather sedentary in the last few weeks, and hence, it was the food on its own that gave me food for thought for this column. Food, in a different way, though.

Last week I happened to be on the beach as early as five in the morning. It was still dark. Only a few dim lights were burning but from a distance.  Amidst this dark backdrop I saw a hefty creature moving at a rather fast pace.  Out of curiosity I jogged towards the hefty creature and found that it was a Buddhist monk. He was wearing a trendy pair of trainers with a matching pair of sports socks, I noted, below the hem of his saffron coloured robe, which was swaying rhythmically to his brisk walk. It was a bizarre sight to see a monk in trainers, socks and robe. But then, I told myself, – we live in modern times.

With the best of respectful language used to address a monk, I asked what brings him to the beach. “Seeni, mahaththayo, Seeni” (sugar, sir, sugar) said the monk, panting.  The monk made a compelling case as to why he’s doing this brisk walk well before the dawn. As an acute diabetic patient he needs some regular physical exercise in addition to medication. It was apparently not possible to do exercises in the temple as the ‘dayakas‘ would not be too pleased to see their chief priest doing push-ups and stretches on the bo-maluwa. So my newly acquainted monk does it in the dark, on the beach, a couple of kilometers away from his temple. He comes with a few child-monks as this is also a time for them to freely play around, without been seen by the dayakas. What he said was true. We met the small monks when we walked back. They were chasing the small crabs that emerge on the shore when the waves wash back to the sea.Read More