Sri Lanka

I don't want Josh Tongue to be playing anymore this summer." Jofra Archer's been rested, but is there any value in Jofra playing in any of these games? I think when a few of the, um, the elder statesmen around the world, I think we...

Did, did Steve Waugh say something a little bit earlier, uh, in the month? S- There is another Australian come out this week, I can't remember who it was, basically said, you know, "50 Over cricket and bilateral f- ODI cricket, is there any point to it?" I think these three games on the 22nd, 24th and 27th of September in England, I don't see too many p- much point of that against a Sri Lankan side that's just been battered by England Lions at Chelmsford and, and wherever they've played at in the last, in the last week.

So no, I, I, I'm with you.

I think it's just content.

Yes, exactly.

So India beat Sri Lanka to win the title.

But the Indian women's team, point blank, declined to accept the trophy from the Asian Cricket Council chairman, Mohsin Naqi.

And the context of who is holding that trophy is absolutely everything here.

That's when Ke played Short Round in the Spielberg blockbuster Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

He traveled to Sri Lanka for filming and around the world for the press tour, and then the roles started flowing in, including the character of Data in the iconic '80s film The Goonies.

It was surreal.

Just a few years earlier, in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, Ke and his family had barely escaped Vietnam by sea, along with thousands of other people.

Goldie.

Yeah, I'm going on a little trip to Sri Lanka in a few weeks.

Very nice.

Yeah, I'll be relaxing and watching my own highlights.

But I think it's fair to say that tea is a more robust plant climatically and it will grow in further extremes of the world.

So we have these two bush varieties and mostly the spread, well that's the be clear here, the theft of tea bushes from China ended up in places like Darjeeling and the highlands of Sri Lanka.

But since that time, the Assamica bush, which is native to the northeast part of India, has had a wider spread through Africa, Argentina, and other parts of the world, Turkey, um the stans georgia um so so tea is is you know pretty widespread these days um but they all stem from these two original um parts of these original parts of the world the variety of seneca and the variety sinensis now that is tea true tea what is not tea and has be somehow managed to tag along with just being a brewed beverage are botanicals.

And of course, the French have a great word for it, which is tisane.

Small ones in Malawi and Jakarta, Indonesia.

Much larger ones in Mombasa, Kenya, which serves East Africa.

um, Colombo, which, um, so Sri Lankan Salon teas, and then three in South India, Kunor, Kwan Bator, and, um, Cochin, Cochi, and then, uh, Guwahati, Kolkata, Siliguri, and there's another one, which I can't remember, but which is small anyway, in North India.

So, these, um, These auction centres are primarily for black tea and mostly, particularly in Mombasa in North India, for the CTC teas for tea bags and for the Indian local markets.

Just listening to you guys, it brought back some fond memories.

I'm in my late 60s now, but back in the 60s when I was a teenager, I used to do some children's programs as a participant with SCBC in Ceylon, as it was known then, now Sri Lanka.

Wow.

Well, yes.

I've cut you off there.

What are your thoughts here? Yep.

Well, it's interesting because Bible Society in Sri Lanka or Ceylon used to do the recording.

They had their own studios.

What's the story? Welcome to the Sri Lanka podcast written by David Swarbrick and recorded at the Flametree Estate and Hotel in the jungle northwest of Kandy.

The monk at the end of the world waiting for the barbarians in Sri Lanka.

As two competing groups of pre-wedding photoshoot parties assemble optimistically around the hotel and its gardens, it's an unreadable monk at the end of the world that comes suddenly to mind.

And with him, the barbarians in Kefafi's unforgettable poem Waiting for the Barbarians.

Do we control our fate or is it all predestined? In Sri Lanka, both views jostle for ascendancy, but the decisive evidence all ends up plain to see.

It's all about what you do.

Nothing is inevitable.

And then, of course, more recently, there's Covid and the ill effects of Donald Trump.

I just want to update you guys first.

So if you've been following my videos, you know that I've been away in Sri Lanka for the past week, and it was amazing.

The people of Sri Lanka are so welcoming and laid-back.

Simply put, if India was the New York, Sri Lanka would be the LA.

Unfortunately, I didn't bring my DSLR, so there will be no documentary on my experiences as such.

It was amazing helping and talking to the kids over there.

I interviewed him and I asked him.

And he said that his last meal would be this dish called vatalapan, which is a Sri Lankan dessert.

And he said he couldn't have it anymore because he's lactose intolerant.

And so about a year later, we'd become friends.

And I went to his birthday party, his 40th birthday party.

And I thought I would bring along a version of this Vata Lapan.

So I spent nights up watching old Sri Lankan aunties on YouTube trying to work out how to make this fucking thing.

Sorry, I didn't know if I could swear on the radio or not.