I like plants. I find their variety fascinating and their many uses pleasing. When I encounter a new plant, I want to know about it - it's name and uses, at the very least. During our many hours in the car, I had a constant stream of questions about the various trees, shrubs and vines whizzing past. My ever-patient driver Sunil would answer to the best of his knowledge, which was solid, but given the attention that driving in Sri Lanka demands, I tried not to distract him too much. As a result, there were several very intriguing but poorly located (at a hairpin turn on a narrow stretch of road, for example) plants that I did not get to learn about.
Rather than spend hours languishing at my eventual destination of Nilaveli beach, I asked Sunil if there were any gardens we might visit nearby. He knew of just the spot. It was not on our way, but neither was it too far off our path.
After a somewhat longer drive than I expected, we pulled into the dusty car park (that's what they call parking lots here) of the No. 25 Highland Spice Garden ("Ceylon Tourist Board Approved"), where several men were loitering. My driver got out and I followed suit, whereupon one of the loiterers approached me and shook my hand. My driver motioned to him and informed me that this man would be giving me a tour of the spice garden.
My guide introduced himself by placing his hands on his chest, tilting his head and smiling demurely - "Aye yam Magesh." Mr. Magesh was a tallish, trim man in his late fifties, neatly dressed in slacks and a short-sleeved button down shirt. He possessed a full head of well-oiled black hair dotted with a few stray grays, dark skin, teeth that were somewhat crooked (and a few broken) but all very white, and unbelievably long black hairs sprouting from his ears. "Madame will pleece follow me." He led me to the other, empty end of the car park, stopped, and began his lecture. (Frustratingly, I cannot relate Mr. Magesh's voice well - his Sri Lankan accent sounded more Indian than most, and he conveyed a very knowledgable air.) One of the first things he shared with me was that he was a botanist - or an herbalist, I can't remember which - and I knew at once I had found a comrade in my love of plants!
I think the No. 25 Highland Spice Garden would best be described as a sort of Disneyland for people like me. A fabulous collection of very interesting and useful plants, all jammed up next to each other - turmeric! ("used to dye the robes of the Buddhist monks"), then ginger! ("veddy good for stomach ailments"), peppercorns! ("all four colors - white, green, red and black come from the same plant, just different processes"), vanilla!, cacao! ("cocoa butter is veddy good for the skin"), and on and on. The thing about being at your own personal Disneyland, you sort of lose your common sense. You get so wrapped up in your own wonder and delight that you just don't pay close attention to things that you usually would. And I think Mr. Magesh could see quite clearly the effect this garden had on me. In retrospect, I can see the effect as well, because under normal circumstances I would have caught whether he was a botanist or an herbalist. A botanist would be someone who has made the study of plants their focus, whereas an herbalist would be more interested in their effects and uses. And of course there's the educational difference - a botanist would actually have a degree, whereas an herbalist - well, I suppose anyone could call themselves an herbalist.
Once we had finished viewing the plants, he led me to a covered pavilion. In the center was a card table arrayed with bottles and jars filled with various oils, ointments and tonics. A lone chair faced the table. He led me to the chair, sat me down, and offered me a cup of hot tea an assistant had magically appeared with. And Mr. Magesh commenced the second half of his presentation.
He handed me a very informative list of each of the products, all helpfully numbered, with their uses and benefits laid out in strange English, typed by someone with an affinity for the space bar ("King Coconut Herba Hair Tonic is made out of pure ingredients derived from herbs. It ensures health of he hair and promotes the hair growth , stops hair dropping, improves the beauty of hair by reaming those condition that make hair thin and lifeless.") Beginning with item number one and moving his way down the list, he presented each product to me, occasionally grabbing my hand to dab a sample ("Jasmine essence - calming and good perfume for the lady"), rubbing something or other on my face ("Green oil - effective against the migraine"), or demonstrating on himself ("Hair cream; I use it on my ears and you can see - veddy effective!"), and asking me if I suffered from this or that ailment. And I, in my Disneyland trance, responding to his questions with some enthusiam - why yes, yes I do suffer from lower back pain. "Ah, Madame, then red oil is just the thing for you." No, no I don't think I have any varicose veins. "Well perhaps your mother?" No, I don't believe so.
And then he put his palms together in front of his chest, gave a slight bow, and told me that this was the end of our tour of the spice gardens. I did have a moment of clarity and asked him if I was supposed to tip him or if he earned a commission off of sales. "It is up to Madame to decide whether to tip or not." I assumed he hadn't heard the part about a commission and gave him a tip that I suspected Sunil would not recommend.
Thanking me, Mr. Magesh ushered me into the shop in front of the gardens, where the same products he had just demonstrated were all stocked. He pointed out that the products were all in their number order ("You may refer to your sheet Madame") with their prices clearly marked, though the bottles were all turned so I could not actually *see* the clearly marked prices. He then led me down the aisle, picking up select items and suggesting that "perhaps Madame would like this one, for the back pain?" Oh yes, yes I need that one. "Or this one for the hair removal?" Well, it is all natural - yes, I think that would be useful, too. "And this one for the dark eye circles?" Ouch. And then he made a small error - the bottle slipped and I saw the clearly marked price - 8000 rupees. And I did the math. $60. His spell was starting to come undone and I knew it was time for me to go. I paid for the items in my hand (I had to use my credit card - not enough cash on hand) and said my goodbyes.
Once I was back in the car with my purchases, Sunil asked "What did you buy?" Red oil. "Ah, yes, Ayurvedic." And hair removal cream. He suppressed a smile and looked at me sideways. "Did you test it?"
And it was then that I realized - Mr. Magesh was neither a botanist nor an herbalist. He was a violinist.
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