Hiya

Does anyone remember when a Glasgow based publishing company wanted to set up a magazine to rival Hello and called it Hiya? Didn’t last long, wonder why. Anyway as I’ve said before in this blog, wherever you go in Galle, people say hello to you all the time. On my way to and from work, I have my “regulars” that I am on nodding or grinning terms with – roughly 300 on my 40 minute walk. (Sometimes I get to work and I’m all talked out – yes, me, can you believe that?)

Anyway, anyway (must learn not to digress so much) some I say “hello” to, some “good morning”, some “sooboow desenak” (no that’s not how you spell it) and some, the ones I feel more familiar with, I’ll just wave and shout “hiya”! Very *Weegie of me I appreciate.

The thing is “hiya” is the Sinhala word for the number 6. So it only occurred to me the other day after weeks of this that I’ve been walking to work calling out the number “six” to all and sundry! They’re very polite the Sri Lankans, if someone did that to me I’d shout “seven” back at them but then I’ve always had a very contrary side to me!

*Weegie - means Glaswegian.