India lost the game but won many hearts early

‘‘Indian companies located in the World Trade Centre were among the first to lend a helping hand,’’ says Ashoka Pathirane, a manager at the Hilton Hotel, near the city’s seafront. It’s a job he got after the tsunami, in which his house and family were washed away.

Such is their regard for the help they received that a few newborn have been named after the Indians who helped their families survive after the disaster.

The Sri Lankans have always had a liking for the Indians, who they feel have been the most generous of neighbours. The tuk-tuk drivers in Lanka are the most prominent ones to treat an Indian like a revered guest.

The island has still not been able to completely revive itself in the aftermath of the December-26 horror. Not many in India may still believe but the Sri Lankans are adamant that it is the money collected by the Indians— through various means—that was sent to them in times of distress.

Any local shop-keeper on the Galle Face road in Colombo is ready to swear by the Bible that an Indian will always remain a friend for life.

On Tuesday evening, at the Premadasa Stadium, the Lankans celebrated for all of that. Indeed, they made sure that Indians would not return home as losers but as friends who played cricket on the island to entertain one and all.

‘‘It is only apt that India played their first series of the season in our country. It is a perfect beginning for more of such entertainment whenever India and Lanka play,’’ said a group of fans at the stadium.