way back on the 1st of January 2009, i met an unlikely friend. this tuktuk driver who drove me to my friend's whom i was visiting. a friendly person, like most tuktuk drivers i meet (hehe), who claimed that i was his first customer of the year and i'll bring good luck. i never knew i can bring good fortune to anyone till i met this person. ever since then, every now and again, when i'm walking somewhere he'd pass by me in his tuktuk, always in colpetty, waving hello, asking if i need a lift or just a general "kohomatha?". this usually happened every few weeks but i haven't seen him for several months now.
today, i was walking home from Keells with my friend, indu, when this tuktuk driver, stopped nearby and asked us to get in the tuktuk. my home was only 5 mins away but he still wanted to give us a lift, probably looking at the 500 kgs of groceries we were carrying. of course we didn't refuse the ride. he asked how i was and said "my friend, no?", and after i told him i'm leaving colombo tomorrow (in my halting sinhala), we said our goodbyes. he was genuinely happy to see me and likewise.
i'm happy i met him the day i was leaving. it seemed almost fitting to say goodbye to a place i have lived in and been with some of the nicest people, including my happy tuktuk driver friend.
1 comment:
:).. My sis and me once took a tuk tuk to odel and the driver actually shopped with us there! He bought himself a nice fancy cap. hehe.. and he was such a sweet and patient old man.
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