Western Australia SRI LANKA ASSOCIATION – WASLA ‘Break-Up’ 2020 – A Great ‘Katha’ and ‘Bajaw’ Party 

WASLA Committee 2018-2020 at the Break-Up Party

Source: Western Australia SRI LANKA ASSOCIATION Newsletter

One of the best perks to be offered – especially when one has been fortunate to get to the age that I am – is to be driven/taken  to  parties or places of entertainment particularly after the sun has set.  Such was my privilege when my worthy young cousin Ken picked my wife and self to enjoy a night of conviviality and fun on Friday 2nd October. It was the occasion of the traditional   ‘Break-up Party’ that follows the final official Committee meeting for the calendar year.

It had been a wet evening and the car-park at the Innaloo venue was full.  I’m certain that even if I had –miraculously – been able to have cycled there  I would not have found a spot to park my bike.. The Sasuke Isodaya Japanese Restaurant/Bar with an upstairs location was the chosen space for the night’s doings. Though the short but steep climb was a tad perilous for my dodgy old pins the interior was warm and cosy.

Including the supportive partners of the WASLA Committee there was a gathering of over twenty bodies in the restaurant. Reflecting– it seems all this happened a much longer time ago – a phenomenon that may be attributed  a `psychological mind-play’ due to the disastrous pandemic that has devastated the world in this Year of the Rat. 

The WASLA Committee concluded  its formal final procedures in a very tolerable lapse of time  and then it  was sing-song ‘welawa’ with  members and invitees attending to their personal watering and feeding needs. To be truthful – though the location and the `brand’ was Nipponese in name and ownership – the fare – in my reckoning’ was ‘pseudo-Japanese, but tasty. Table service – mainly by a tall polite and pleasant young Indian man- was spot on and the Manager and his partner too were very friendly  Whilst the meeting was in progress we invitees occupied ourselves with the usual interchange of harmless gossip and our individual acquisitions of the latest in  FB and other cyber knowledge. I  – self-appointed `official photographer’ went around harassing and intruding on the others with the click of my humble Canon hoping at least some of the `candids’ come out  fine Though there was a licensed bar that served all types  nearly every one of us carried in their own favoured BYO wine – for a minimal charge,.

Getting back to the sing-song – Cross my heart – on and off – I have had the enjoyment of  being either a serving  Committee Member or an invitee for nearly 40 years  at these get-togethers –  the  vibes and song on this occasion REALLY ROCKED! It was one of the best of many great previous  `bajaws’ and was filled with warmth, jollity and happy camaraderie. Everyone contributed their bit base,soprano, tenor, falsetto, Ken on spoons, Ranjit on guitar – Roshan –specialist  bailas vocals  and even `Pope’ Don Francis – light vocals – excelled. It truly was a Damn Fine  Party – fabulous  mutual exchange of the warmest of camaraderie. Keep On Carrying On – Break-Ups …Looong may they live on!    

• Max Gerreyn