sri vihar | Nanda Wanninayaka

I started my blog somewhere in 2007. By now there are over 77,000 hits for it. That is not a big number of hits for an active blog. That is not a bad number either. I don’t get that many comments though. But I do get a considerable number of telephone calls. I have put my contact details in the Contact Me page hence the telephone calls.

I get the most number of telephone calls for the post I wrote about VIP Radio. The problem here is that the callers think I am the one who runs the radio station. I don’t think most of these callers actually read the post I wrote. They just browse for the radio’s website and through the search results they come to my blog post and without reading it, they call me to request songs, complain about weak radio signals, etc. It takes a while to convince them I am just a writer and I have no relationship with the station.

Some call me after reading my post on M. D. Gunasena’s Sinhala translations of famous English classics inquiring where they can buy the books. I am kind of happy at least they are keen on reading though they don’t read my post properly.

After reading my post on the Sinhala translation of Homer’s Iliad in Sevilla magazine with the drawings, a painter from the USA wanted me to find the entire series and email him the drawings of the Greeks and Trojans. I did it happily as I too am in love with those paintings.

A Sri Lankan in Australia, after reading my post on Robin of Sherwood, wanted my help to get a complete series of videos.

My post on supporting Sri Lankan cricket team was published in a magazine published by Sri Lankans in Australia.

I think I get a big number of hits for the simple book reviews I wrote after reading various books and Shakespeare dramas. It is surprising that my blog gets enlisted in their search results because there are hundreds of links in search engines to other more academic links for those books.

Some kids call me and ask if they can play computer games with Singer SINX-243AT laptop after reading my post on Singer SINX-243AT laptop. I feel sorry for the kids as I have to disappoint by answering in the negative as I am not a big game fan and don’t try that many games with my laptop.

After my post on selling my Bajaj Pulsar 200 bike through ikman.lk sometime back, people started calling me and asking if I can sell the bike to them. I can’t tell them today I regret selling it as the new Pulsar 150 I bought after selling the Pulsar 200 doesn’t give me the same pleasure as the latter.

The best part of the joke is when some people call me and order thosai after reading my post on Sri Vihar Restaurant.

Shanthi Vihar Closure

Shanti Vihar, a famous South Indian restaurant in Thummulla Junction, Colombo closed its operations in 2010 and now is reopened and runs under a separate name, the Sri Vihar. The 35 workers who served the restaurant were asked to leave immediately on the eve of New Year 2010 and the restaurant was closed suddenly. According to the Sunday Times, sources close to the owner of the premises said the tenant had been asked to quit by December 31 in line with a court order over non-payment of rent and other issues and sufficient time had been given to settle the workers. The restaurant was due to open under a new management.

New restaurant, Sri Vihar is cleaner and more spacious than the old one but does not have the old ‘feel’ as it doesn’t spread the ghee smell like the good old days as the kitchen is in the interior of the building and cannot be seen from outside. Thosai is not the same big ones we enjoyed before the 2010 closure. Besides, the prices have skyrocketed. Yesterday evening I had a plain thosai and an ulundu wade but the price was a staggering 112 LKR. The waiter was not friendly or professional. He served with a conceited mind and I didn’t leave any tip as I was kept for a long time at the table and not welcomed by the waiter. He never wore a smile for the few customers who were there.

The new management has failed to understand why old Shanti Vihar was popular. Sacking the old staff is a big mistake. Sri Vihar has ample parking space but there seems to be less crowds now. Maybe other customers got what I got and decided not to visit it anymore. I won’t.

P.S.

I have been getting a quite a number of telephone calls (orders) that should go to Shr Vihar. There is a totally positive review of the restaurant in the link below. Please visit that and their telephone number is there. Do not call me for orders.

http://www.yamu.lk/place/sri-vihar.html