A rainy day in Sri Lanka

We are having a month of monsoon between the full moon days of October and November!

Folklore says that it is because the monks stay in their monasteries and the villagers take food to them. Or do the monks stay there because it is raining?

Hmmm.

Anyway, one such rainy afternoon, produced an unexpected pleasure. A trip to the cinema with a group of my Nangi's (younger sisters) from the village. We stocked up with snacks at the supermarket and went to watch the latest Bollywood release - "Don".

I didn't have a clue what the commercials were about, but the other viewers seemed to get very excited about them. They don't provoke those responses in English cinemas.

The film was very entertaining, a fast paced action thriller, interspersed with all singing and dancing scenes. Imagine what should be a steamy love scene and then the woman strips off her coat to reveal a sequined strappy dress before throwing herself around the apartment singing to her lover. That was as steamy as it got!

What did astonish me though was when we got up to leave I noticed a row of cubicles along the back wall of the auditorium. When I asked Iranka what they were he burst out giggling. They were painted black and had double doors on them that were low enough for the occupants to see over. Inside was a double seat. They were courting boxes! Or lovers boxes!

I never expected to see anything like that in what generally appears to be such a chaste society!

It was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon and not one that most tourists would have an opportunity to experience. But then I'm no longer regarded as a tourist here.