Mission accomplished! I have a new residence visa. Only until November 28, but the Controller has said he will renew if for a year at that time. That is if I can believe him. He will likely have forgotten by that time or have changed his mind. In any event, I now know what to do and can handle it myself the next time.
I had to get up at 0200 yesterday morning to catch the bus down to Colombo. I boarded the bus just after 0300. Good thing too as just after I got on, a long queue had formed. I may not have been able to get on another bus for over an hour. Monday mornings are busy as people are going down to Colombo to work for the week.
The ride was no problem. We made it in 2.5 hours. Of course, the driver was going like a madman, but that is par for the course. I got into Colombo just after 0600. Nishantha (the wily tuktuk man) wasn't even up yet. I got a tuktuk to the Hilton where I indulged myself in their buffet breakfast. By that time, Nishantha was awake and off we went to Immigration.
The lawyer was there and as promised the Controller showed up right at 0900. We went right in to see him. He was good and authorized the visa. Then it was on to the next counter to submit the application for processing. They actually did it very quickly. I was assessed a fine of Rs. 6587.50. Don't ask me why the odd amount. They back dated the visa to its expiry and gave it to me for 6 months. The are supposed to charge a visa fee of Rs. 20,000, which they seem to have forgotten. So all is well.
The lawyers friend who is an Assistant Superintendent of Police with the President's personal security detail also joined us. He took a copy of the police complaint and said he will work on getting my Rs. 57,000 back. I will go to the police station and update my complaint as well.
After all that was over, I went and had a good visit with my friend Deveraj. He is Jayanthi's uncle and was a good friend of her father's. He thinks the ideal of my moving to Thalathuoya is great. That made me feel good.
Then I went to Paradise Road and bought a drinking glass to replace one I had broken and went across the street to my favourite clothing place and bought two dupattas (scarves). Nothing like a little retail therapy.
After I got my train ticket, reloaded my phone, had lunch and went to the train station.
While waiting for the train, I watched a couple of crows collecting stuff to build a nest. There was a piece of metal sticking up from one of the spikes. One crow started working on it, but it would not come loose. He tried quite a number of ways to get it loose. He was very clever. You could see he was thinking about it. His mate was watching and after a while came over to help. They did not succeed, but it was very interesting watching them work it out and decide in the end that there was no use.
Onto the train. By then I was really tired so I had a nice snooze. Got back to Kandy around 1830 where Nissanka was dutifully waiting for me. Picked up some supper, got home, ate, showered Colombo's filth off me and fell into bed.
End of a long day and a long saga.
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