The good old days in good old Ceylon

*The good old days in good old Ceylon*

Off to School in red Double Decker
>
> The ride was a must in a CTB bus
>
> One leg on the foot board
>
> The other dangling free
>
> Imminent danger
>
> Was a mere glee
>
> 20 kids plus
>
> In a space for three
>
> Hung on the silver pole
>
> How many could it hold?
>
> Galle Road to Maradana
>
> 5c half price ticket
>
> Cost was not so dear
>
> Cut school on a lazy Friday,
>
> Off to the show at 10.30, the Liberty,
>
> Queued down the street not long to go
>
> Braving the sun for ten thirty show
>
> ABBA the movie, the latest release in 70mm
>
> The gallery destination please
>
> The cheapest seats, a 55c each,
>
> Dripping sweat from our chins to our knees
>
> Gallery was for the lower class
>
> Rs 1.10 for the second class
>
> Never could afford the first class
>
> ODC was for the upper class
>
> Been there free of charge
>
> Once thrown out by security guards
>
> Balcony was certainly no go
>
> There was always not enough dough
>
> Friend drove a Morris, we’d all pile on in
>
> His friend had Ford, a little more space
>
> Uncle too had a car
>
> That kept us all fit
>
> With a “thallu” start to gain more pace
>
> Waited for March, big match day
>
> And the Cycle Parade was before that day
>
> Collect the money for thosi kade
>
> And the fun was to ring the College bell before the end of
> school time.
>
> First stop was the belfry, to ring the bell then run like
> hell,
>
> laughing all the way.
>
> Then the man in charge shouting and start chasing all the
> way
>
> Meet the girl friend for a chat
>
> Holding hands was the most we got.
>
> Bus halt the preferred place
>
> These were the good old days.
>
> Zellers, Knickerbocker Glory and Bambalapitiya flats
>
> Perhaps some of you are too young to appreciate this…
>
> You may however ask your parents and they would agree.
>
> When the worst thing you could do at school was smoke in
> the
>
> bathrooms, fail a test or chew gum.
>
> And the banquets were in the tuck-shop,
>
> And we danced to a gramophone later, and all the girls wore
> fluffy pastel gowns,
>
> And the boys wore ‘longs’ for the first time,
>
> And we were allowed to stay out and watch a 9.30 PM show at
> the
>
> Liberty and the Majestic and the Savoy
>
> And the biggest thrill was holding hands…!
>
> When a Sunbeam Alpine or an MG was everyone’s dream
> car,
>
> To cruise, peel out, lay rubber and watch the road races and
> people went steady.
>
> It was the greatest weekend to go to
>
> the Galle Face Hotel’s ‘Coconut Grove’ with the
> JETLINERS,
>
> or The Ceylinco Ball Room with the SPITFIRES
>
> Or The Little Hut With the AMAZING GRACE
>
> Or The Akasa Kade with Sam the Man! / Sun & Sand
>
> And no one ever asked where the car keys were ’cause
> they were always
>
> in the car, in the ignition,
>
> and the doors were never locked,
>
> and you got into big trouble if you accidentally locked the
> doors at
>
> home, since no one ever had a key.
>
> Remember, lying on your back on the grass with our friends
> and saying
>
> things like “That cloud looks like a…”
>
> Playing cricket with no adults to help kids with the rules
> of the game.
>
> Back then, cricket was not a psychological group learning
> experience –
>
> It was a game!
>
> Remember when stuff from the store came without safety caps
> and
>
> hermetic seals ’cause no one had yet tried to poison a
> perfect
>
> stranger?
>
> With all our progress… Don’t you just wish… Just
> once…..
>
> You Could slip back in time and savour the slower pace…
>
> And share it with the children of the 80’s and
> 90’s…
>
> So, send this on to someone who can still remember
>
> Bill Haley and the Comets,
>
> The Hardy Boys,
>
> Laurel & Hardy,
>
> Roy Rogers and ‘Trigger’,
>
> Famous Five,
>
> The Galle Face Green,
>
> The Lone Ranger, Kinross…. The Otters,
>
> The Piccadilly at Wellawatte,
>
> ‘house-dances’, Jam Sessions,
>
> Zellers at Bamba,
>
> ‘The Blue Leopard’ and of course Sirisanda…
>
> Bill Forbes and The Jay Cee Shows at Mount Lavinia Hotel
>
> And Evenings filled with bike rides,
>
> Playing in cowboy land, and visits to the pool…
>
> The ‘Bamba Flats’….
>
> Fish & Chips & Sundaes with that special Chocolate
> sauce at the ‘Fountain Cafe.’
>
> Mouth-watering “knicker bocker glory”, and the
> jaggery sundae.
>
> Buriyani at Pilawoos.
>
> Mayfair….Lion House …
>
> When being sent to the principal’s office was nothing
> compared to the
>
> fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home.
>
> Basically, we were in fear for our lives,
>
> But it wasn’t because of terrorism’….drive by
> shootings,
>
> drugs, gangs, alcohol and road rage…etc.
>
> Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat!
>
> But we all survived….
>
> Because their love was greater than their threat.
>
> Didn’t that make you feel good? .
>
> Just to go back and say, “Yeah, I remember that!’
> ……..
>
> And was it really that long ago?