Apr 24, 2016

Sri Lanka: First Thoughts

It has been such a long time since I blogged that I feel something like this Led Zeppelin song - "been a long time, been a long time, been a long, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time!"


As I was racing towards the other terminal in Chennai, I suddenly realised what I had in store for me. Two months in a foreign country all alone - as if that was not enough, I hadn't slept the night earlier chatting up with some old friends and I was practically in a trance state. By this time, I realize the earlier sentence is getting too long and I need to abort, or risk failing the Flesch test.

Cutting to the chase, I am in Sri Lanka for my internship with Unilever (and I have been given a palatial bungalow - more on that in a later post). I will directly go down to the crux of the matter and let you know what surprised me the most (or least).

Immigrations officers are the same everywhere

I actually feel sorry for them. This guy looked like he must have handled at least a hundred people since morning (and it was just 9 AM), and he makes a objection on the short address I have written on my form, to which I get through by saying "the post office is inside the campus" and a smirk.

Etisalat

Imagine my surprise when the first stall I see on landing in Sri Lanka is of Etisalat! During an earlier visit to the UAE, I blogged about how <sarcasm>wonderful</sarcasm> their customer service is! Definitely, this was a strict no no.

Milo

If you are a 90s kid from India, you surely know what this killer drink is. You would probably remember arguments with your parents to get Milo and not the other "health" drinks. Over the years, Milo faded out of the Indian market, but it turns out, it's still very popular in Sri Lanka. No prizes for guessing what my first purchase was. What's better is that Angelo Mathews wants you to drink Milo.

Clogard

Does the product look familiar? Does the font look familiar? I'll give you a hint - Colgate Max Fresh! This brand is the market leader in Sri Lanka, and no, it does not belong to Colgate-Palmolive.

Gelleme

Although I was careful not to be fooled by Clogard, this one had me fooled. I realized what I had bought only once I had returned home. Well played, Chinese Gillette.

Liked this post? Have any suggestions? Just let me know. Feel free to comment below!

0 responses:

Post a Comment