2017 Jan 23
by Vandana Hiranand
Sri Lankan roads are filled with much bustle, different people, and many unusual, funny and even dangerous things! Let’s look at some of these below.
1.Tuks Tuks slowing down near you
Whenever you have absolutely no need to hail a Tuk tuk, you will find multiple drivers slowing down near you, trying to match your walking pace, and trying to make eye contact with you. After all, if you needed a tuk tuk, you would be standing at a fixed point looking for them, wouldn’t you? The irony is, that whenever you do need one, they seem to miraculously disappear.
2.Continuous Catcalling
The exceedingly sad reality of our Sri Lankan roads is the relentless catcalling, whistling, and sexual harassment all women have to experience. No matter what you wear or where you walk, Lankan roads are filled with catcallers. However, if you’re fortunate, you may also encounter a woman retaliating and scaring her catcaller away, which is always a joyous event to watch
3.Passing extremely cute stray dogs
Our Lankan roads are filled with adorable dogs, who begin following you around after you have either pet or fed them. When walking on Lankan roads, you will undoubtedly encounter at least a few of these loving strays. Wonderfully, you may even decide to adopt one of these playful puppies – it’s quite difficult to ignore those puppy-dog eyes, after all.
4.People risking their lives to cross the road
Even in the midst of heavy traffic, jaywalkers are always ever present in Sri Lanka. While we may have upgraded our system of traffic lights and pedestrian crossings, Lankans will always find it inconvenient to walk those extra few steps to get to the zebra crossing. Even if they must run, risk their lives, or do that awkward half jog in front of oncoming vehicles, they will cross the road exactly where they please. And as a driver, you will always be afraid of knocking one of them down.
5.If you’re walking within Colombo during rush hour, you just might be even faster than the cars
This isn’t even an exaggeration. Certain areas of Colombo are so blocked during rush hour, that it would be more fruitful to simply walk the distance. As a pedestrian, you will probably pass many vehicles which are at a complete stop and reach your destination even faster. In fact, you will always witness several Tuk Tuk passengers leaving the vehicles and opting to walk instead.
6.You will be jostled, groped, or will get lost amongst the crowd in certain areas!
Certain areas are always so packed with people, that you could easily get lost. Some of these include Pettah, Maharagama, and basically almost every bus stop during the evening rush hour. You will be jostled by a crowd of people fighting to get into a bus first, or trying to shop first. You will most definitely lose sight of whomever you’re walking with at least once.
7.You just might get run over even on the pavement – by a motorbike, tuk, or even a bus
The division between the road and the pavement is quite murky in various areas of Sri Lanka. If there is traffic, a motorbike or Tuk may decide to travel on the pavement instead, to get to the front of the line. Even enormous buses will come ridiculously close to pavements, making you fear for your very life.
8.You will be handed at least one flyer
Let’s be honest, you never wanted to take that flyer anyway. However, the person distributing the flyers held one out right in front of your face, and you felt it was too rude to ignore this and walk away. Consequently, you now have a flyer which you will fold and never look at again in your life. Most likely, this will be for a university, tuition classes, or something of that sort, which you may have no interest in.
9.Be it in the sun or the rain, you will most definitely be knocked by a lady’s umbrella.
This is an undeniable fact of walking in Sri Lanka. Most of the population carries umbrellas, yet women notably seem to make use of them more. Walking in Sri Lankan rain isn’t the most comfortable experience, what with the mud spraying all over. This is not improved by the dozens of people rushing by, knocking you with their umbrellas. In the sunny weather, this is very likely to happen with someone rushing to get into a bus. Personally, I have nearly gotten my eyeball poked out by a rampaging umbrella on countless occasions!
10.You will have many awkward nonverbal interactions with people
You will most definitely make eye contact or smile with people who may or may not smile back. Initially, you will make eye contact and wonder whether to smile or not. After all, you don’t want to seem too rude. Once you smile, comes the awkward moment where you wait for the other person to smile as well – which may or may not happen, probably making you very angry.
