Top gun

When in Sri Lanka, don’t do what the Lankans don’t do. Like buy a Made-in-China, wind-up guerrilla that shimmies straight into a chasm of clichés. Not on a holy island in post-war Jaffna, where nothing but a barrage of sacred artillery — water lilies, incense, coconuts, palmyra jaggery — is aimed at armies of Buddhist and Hindu devotees seeking divine grace at the Nagadeepa Vihara and Nagapooshani Amman Kovil. 

 Yet there was something so irreverent, so creepy-crawly about this plastic Joe that I had to get it. In my defence, I did dither awhile before I surrendered the LKR 100 (Rs 46) bill — a bargain price for a really cheap thrill. If only it had earned its stripes in rebel fatigues instead — now that would be a coup.