Oh! Colombo 

Colombo society is full of crap. One observation is of those who are hob knobbing with each other which is commonly referred to in Colombo as ‘the fashion magazine culture.’  They all act as if they are born in some European nation and are now living in Colombo. This group of people tend to chase after the white skins who are in Colombo, and most of them act as if they are the end all of this potty society. When it comes to anything local they love to turn their noses up and it would seem that they only eat paté, foie gras and drink the finest of wines and bubbly all of their lives. Any person who knows about wines is quite amused watching these la di dah types drinking some cheap plonk or wine and acting all superior whilst safeguarding their money and scrounging off others. 

Going to ‘Event Openings’ is a perfect opportunity for the fashion magazine culture to gas up in dresses, that look more like costumes, and to hang around in until they are chased out of the venue. When leafing through the local society magazines it is amusing to see the usual suspects featured,  who are increasingly becoming more like a rent-a- crowd at all these functions: beauty contests, fashion fiascos and the famous tea parties or anything that is a free invite or entry. One is also assured that social media is also filled with all of them pasted to each other taking selfies or group pictures. 

A couple of months ago I was at the filled house concert by Maestro Amaradeva, a brilliant musician and legend of Sri Lanka. What was nice about the audience was that they were from a different sector of Colombo who understood and appreciated good classical Sri Lankan music and an audience dressed appropriately for the occasion. Most noticeable was that there were no fashion magazines covering the event and, thus, we did not have to see women posing for the photographer as if they had some spine ailment or were crippled and looking slightly mental gazing at the cameras. 

It is amazing how any local cultural event or local artiste is dusted off and looked down upon by our self-appointed jet setters. One great comment I read on social media recently was “all of you B*&%$@s eat curry at home,” which I thought was quite apt and very funny.