1. You are known to the public in Sri Lanka for your cooking, your hot pink cookbook 'My Way', your fashion shows & cross-dressing performances, and the myriad social gatherings you host & attend. But there is a shy & delicate flower behind that public image, isn't there? :)
Not really - actually, to be frank, I am not interested in most people. So when I see them showering attention on me, I tend to 'switch off'.
2. Also, under the flamboyance & showmanship, or perhaps as part of it, there is a business person, a creative entrepreneur, and a kind-hearted person who makes long and lasting friendships. Any comments?
I am really not a good business person. I make bad decisions because I am thinking of the creative side of things, and that is why I work best in collaboration with more business-savvy people. Even though I have had bad experiences of them, from time to time. Not all have been straightforward & honest.
3. You have also evolved into a public role as a social commentator, mentor & benevolent older brother/uncle? How do you see your role?
I love training enthusiastic cooks to encourage them to develop what is often a personal interest into a professional focus. In this profession, the learning never stops. A little knowledge is not only not good enough, but disastrous! And very visible! I try to help each person develop their own unique personality, confidence & signature style of cooking, serving, plating & presenting food.
I guess you could say, I have an immersive professional style! Most importantly, the subject/candidate must be willing to learn. Text books can teach you only up to a limit in this industry.
4. Your food makes us go 'Zing! Zing!' It sort of starts with the first taste, then rolls gently through the entire body of the person sitting at your tables at 'Ginger'. It's the textures, the colours, the freshness, the whole multi-sensory experience of eating. Genius. Any comments?
Our cafe menu offers good food which people want to eat. All the items are desirable and appealing to a variety of tastes. Asian influences are central, as the name 'Ginger' suggests. Fresh ingredients, of the best quality available. And the setting we have created here is designed to create a happy, refreshing and uplifting atmosphere: with white and yellow furniture and an outdoor al fresco courtyard with living green plants.
>> [Interviewer: I have seen many people come in, exhausted and stressed, from the dust and heat of Colombo, and collapse on the comfortable & cheerful sofa in 'Ginger'. After 10 minutes, they revive like flowering plants that have been freshly watered!]
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> 5. And what do you think of the so-called changing cultural attitudes to size & shape & diversity?
>>>
>>> Each to his own, as far as I am concerned. I am fairly sure none of us happy people who are round are aiming to be this size! But we enjoy our food, so we access it every way we can.
>>>
>>> My size has not been a struggle for me. It has limited me in the sense that there are back issues associated with carrying a lot of weight. But I am mindful of those, and have so far steered clear of any major health traumas.
>>>
>>> I believe in the Buddhist principles of contentment and the freedom from wanting what we cannot have.
>>
>> [Interviewer: Koluu has become known for sending a daily or sometimes twice-daily 'message' out on Facebook. It is a quote, or a cartoon, or both. And while some are well-known, they are often thought-provoking, biting & hilarious.
>>
>> These short & sweet electronic love notes actually put me in mind of the 'bites' people order with drinks before dinner. Savoury & bite-size. 'Bites', 'giggles' & 'bubbles' - this type of terminology is associated with Koluu's public milieu - a level of society known for its conspicuous consumption of all the good things in life - including literature. Their public and frank enjoyment of food, drink, clothes, & travel have made them the frequent targets of the satirical scorn of various commentators, who accuse them of shallowness, superficiality, triviality and empty-headedness. The 'elevated status' of those living the so-called 'high life' appears to offend the citizens of this Democratic Socialist Republic - without their even trying.
>>
>> Hi!! Magazine, for example, and its Book Club, and the fashionistas who patronised (and matronised) the former GLF, and attend Colombo Fashion Week, were seen to have treated fine food as being on a par with the consumption of the best available literature. The sight of celebrity chefs like Koluu and the 'caftan wearing', manicured, pedicured & coiffured crowd from Colombo 7 thronging the streets of Galle like many-coloured birds of paradise and attending Barefoot book launches and ColomboScope by the dozen appear to have continually enraged many people in Sri Lanka's small English-speaking/reading literary world, who feel that serious literature should be read & enjoyed & discussed only by 'serious' (presumably non caftan-wearing) academic & literary people, with acceptable academic intellectual credentials.
>>
>> They are accused (of course) of elitism & classism, of aping the West, of socio-political insensitivity, of flaunting their social mobility, their access to the trappings of privilege, and their apparent ability to have what the rest of the world wish to be having. A world of personal drivers, appointments at whiter-than-white spas & beauty salons, their every move documented by Instagram photos & selfies taken at all the most luxurious & expensive hotels & restaurants.
>>
>> The dichotomy between observed & observers makes me think of a beautiful line in 'The Great Gatsby', describing Daisy, the love of Gatsby's life, as 'Gleaming like silver... Safe and proud, above the hot struggles of the poor.' Daisy, whose 'voice sounds like money', who has bruises on her white arms, who, with her appalling husband, the thuggish Tom, vanishes at the end of the novel into the 'vast carelessness' which is made possible by their wealth & social position.
>>
>> This is not an un-nuanced portrait, I think we can agree?
>>
>> And what I notice is that many of these people of Colomboge, when you meet them, seem to be far from the caricatures people cast them as. They have real lives, real friendships, etc. Just like real people!
>>
>> This is just an aside, on my part. ]
>>
>>
>>>>
>>>> 6. Attempts people have made to 'fat-shame' you?
>>>
>>> A few have, but public tongue-lashing ensues! People are often totally rude and have such bad manners, I am often incredulous that such people seem to move around socially with relative ease. Their comments and attitudes in relation to body size really reflect their own bad attitudes.
>>>> 7. Most wonderful places to relax?
>>>
>>> My bedroom. On my own. My own private world. How many times can you see the sea, and the mountains before you get tired of them? I love to travel, but when night comes, I love to close the curtains and the feeling that I could be in any part of the world. But actually, your heart yearns for your own home, doesn't it? Your favourite pillows, your own sheets and coverlets...
>>>>
>>>> 8. Have you, do you think, by now really 'seen it all'? Yet not got cynical or jaded? Does anything shock you?
>>> I have definitely NOT seen it all, and am happy to say so. Nothing shocks me. But I have to say, nothing overly impresses me either. I have no idols, although I admire a lot of people.
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> 9. 'Oh! Colombo!' How do you stay friends with so many diverse people with huge egos & profiles?
>>>
>>> I know how to differentiate between my acquaintances & my friends. That is most important. Particularly because I am definitely a people person. But I absolutely despise negative people. First they bring others down, with their bad energy and their unhappy attitudes. We all have problems, but we should not have any one problem our whole life long. We surely have to work out how to solve them.
>>>>
>>>> 10. What would your response be to people who say that you & your close to 3000 Facebook friends are shamelessly indulging yourselves & having very public good times internationally with the best of food, drink, clothes, accessories, often in the most flagrantly expensive settings, while you know, so many people cannot share in these or even access them?
>>>
>>> I of course believe that every person has the opportunity to make a success of their own lives. If they put their mind to it, they can make success and fulfilment a reality in their lives. Success means different things in everyone's life. Greed ruins people. It's how they set their minds. Life hasn't been a piece of cake for me either! But I have paid my dues, and had my ups & downs - and that is how I have sifted out my acquaintances from my friends. It's fair to say I am now in a mellow & content stage of my life.
>>>
>>> Happiness is what we make of it.
>> 'What goes around comes around!'
