What women want ...in Thambrapanne

yes, well, Himi parnum had set up his outlet next to a Hindu Kovil, those lovely smelling, cool, places of worship with the deep bells ringing and the gorgeous multicolored HIndu God Statues. Lots of local women came here to "make barey"s . A barey is a sort of bargain, although the technical translation reads vow.. they promise something to the relevant Hindu god and ask for something they really want, like recovery from an illness, having a son, a good job for the hubby or for a kid to pass an exam , what have you. When these are fulfilled they come back and carry out their part of the bargain. There is a lot of joss sticks, holy ash and coconut bashing(21) involved and everyone feels good.
Now where does a buddhist monk fit in this ?
According to the rules, Buddhist monks are not supposed to engage in commerce or work as such and even touch money. that is because they are supposed to be meditating, getting rid of mental defilement and working themselves upwards in the spiritual path. Unfortunately due to lots of Sri Lankan families who think that dumping their little sons into monestaries at a tender age when they know nothing of what it means, is a great merit which will lead them to good places, the young monks have not really understood or accepted this whole arrangement and they probably resent all the clauses. So you have many who drink, fornicate, ply various trades, drive cars and own any amount of fancy possessions that they can get their hands on, and they justify it to themselves which ias all that matters. The preferred and now generally socially accepted vocations for monks who want income are tuition, soothsaying and herbal medicine all of which can be picked up by a fairly dedicated conman, with a bit of practice and the respect that the robe gives them. The image is fairly authentic the rest is psychiatry.
Himi parnum therefore had set up his little booth next to the kovil to cater for the people, mostly women who wanted an extra boost on the way to achieving their fondest dreams. It was after all mostly women who had the time to make the required regular visits and bring him the various weird ingredients he made them locate. What they generally obsessed with was usually related to love sex and marriage although they didnt consciously recognize this, along with a generous dollop of hatred for various rivals who seemed to be getting there faster or in better style. Plus lots of women simply wanted some other man they couldn't get. Unreasonable but common. And there were the tiresome bunch who were fighting about land, since land in Colombo was a precious commodity and the legal system was tiresomely obscure and impotent in the retrieval of same; or as the case may be the justified acquisition of again, someone elses property.
Himi parnum made no judgments but cheerfully acceded to all requests since he was paid for this and he approved of money.
Plus women really believed the things he told them.
For example that to make love potions to attract their lovers he needed  body fluids which he had to veritably stoke from them....in a dimly lit annexure to his main office where there were nice "tables" on which they had to lie, and uhm, meditate or something. (and of course you mixed that with the frogs eyes, oil of a three toed newt and petels from the rare eastern glimmerwort and a powder made of  ground pieces of an old tooth from a cat who died in the tsunami, dont you know which was actually rarer than you think, although he happened to have a spare in his provision cupboard you know the drill...)
that if they did what he told them, and how, their men would remain with them...9well he basically told them to be very nice to the man for the next three months. thats not really rocket science. what man can actually up and leave a woman who is doing everything she can to be nice to him? seriously??)
and as for the baby making magic, well, theres not much to be left to the imagination there, is there.Himi-parnum got the job done, as good as any test tube scientist, and thats all there is to it...


(21) the significance of cracking coconuts to appease Gods is lost to me but there is a long story behind that too. Im sure.