Alma mater
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Hi guys
I thought we should have a picture of the College that we are all so proud of in this blogspot. And there is a story behind this picture. I snapped this when I visited Colombo in 1995 wanting to take back a bit of the nostalgia. The moment I clicked there was this cop toting a machine gun grabbing my shirt and wanting to know what I was doing. This was a time on great tension in the ethnic conflict and security had been very tight throughout my visit. I tried explaining that this was my old school and all that I wanted were some photographs, but was not making much impression on the cop. Unfortunately I did not have my passport with me. It took my uncle who was with me half an hour to convince the cop that I was not a terrorist. The incident left me shaken and prevented me from taking more photographs from better views. And I narrowly missed the opportunity of seeing the inside of a police station and being treated as a state guest.
Rifky, could you please position this picture appropriately, maybe on the left side above or below the caption, Royal Groupies. Or better still if someone can upload a picture with a better view, perhaps from the front end, that would be even better.
Jawahar
posted by Jawahar @ 5:57 AM
2 Comments:
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09 May 06
Shocking. The usual rule is to carry your passport with you at all times when abroad. Show a passport and you are usually OK in most countries. In Sri Lanka if you carry a foreign passport you will be treated with more respect, and probably even more so if it is an Indian passport. They don't want to offend India. Also, make sure it says 'Doctor' on your passport, and tell anyone who questions you that you are a visiting doctor. You will aways get more respect anywhere in the world if they know you are a doctor.
I was also there in 1995. We were stopped several times by police when driving around, but after showing ID or passport we were allowed to proceed.
At Royal there were only security guards at the gate, who let me through when I said I was a visiting old boy. I took a few photos there but I cannot find them now.
Once I took a picture of my cousin at the Kottawa railway station, with the name board in the background. The station master sent his assistant to ask why I was taking photos. I told him the truth, that I was livng in Ottawa the capital of Canada, and I wanted a picture to show that Sri Lanka too had an Ottawa - but with a K in front! No problem after that.
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