The first visit to a girl friend

The first visit of a male medical student, to the female medical hostel at De Saram Road, Colombo, to visit his girlfriend in the early days of romance, is always a stressful experience. The incident I am relating happened in the late 1950s. After much hesitation near the entrance to the female hostel, our friend, let us call him Mark, well dressed and groomed with polished shoes, walked into the porch of the hostel. He found a middle aged lady seated on one of the chairs. He presumed that the lady was the warden of the hostel. He approached her and timidly told her that he had come to see a Miss. Sujeeva, resident in the hostel. The lady looked surprised and asked him, with  a smile on her face, ‘Whom shall I tell has come to see her?’ Taken aback and blushing, Mark had told the lady ‘Tell her that it is her brother’. This was to avoid any further embarrassing questions. The lady promptly replied ‘As far as I know, Miss. Sujeeva has no brothers. She is an only child. I ought to know because I AM HER MOTHER’. Mark felt like running away from the hostel, but waited and was introduced to her by Lalani, who arrived just in time. That was how Mark met his future Mother in law. The romance proceeded smoothly and both became well respected Consulant Physicians in later life.