The Beauty & The Beast, at Bentota Beach

Dushy Ranetunge at Bentota -Island Newspaper.

Karuna Amman alias Vinayagamorthy Muralitharan was spotted swinging the night away at Bentota Beach Hotel on 31st December accompanied by a lady he introduced as his girlfriend.
His wife and children are in London.
Other goons hovered while attempting to gyrate to the rhythms amidst the discomfort of pistols lodged in uncomfortable crevices.
Lasantha Wickrematunge and his delightful new wife, Sonali Samarasinghe, both of the Sunday Leader fame, quickly rose from their table and excitedly greeted Karuna Amman, who was gyrating on the dance floor.
Karuna wore a silky, shiny, black shirt. They say that you can take a man out of Batticaloa, but that you cannot take Batticaloa out of the man. Or was it Jaffna?
The woman introduced as his girlfriend was hanging onto Karuna’s neck, while Karuna was attempting to navigate unsuccessfully holding on to the lady’s hips. The hold on the neck was too uncomfortable and he pushed her arms down.
Here was a man who is held by many to be responsible for the cruel execution of some 600 unarmed policemen who had surrendered during a ceasefire, and the abduction of Tamil children for use as child soldiers. Today in Sri Lanka, he has Michael Jackson star status and is a member of parliament after having been locked up in Britain for violation of Her Majesty’s immigration regulations.
The Karuna entourage included a "white man" dressed up in a Mahinda Rajapakse costume. He too was gyrating uncomfortably, as his skirt was getting in the way of his movement.
With the Bentota beauty queen prizes all being scooped up by the Russians and the Ukranians, the "white man" in the dress was overheard commenting that Karuna’s girlfriend should have entered the competition. Since I was one of the three judges, I could authoritatively state that her chances of success had long odds.
Observing developments were two gentlemen from the old country. They could be described as "the groper" as his wife frequently complained of her husbands wandering hands. The other was a thong spotter, who was having a field day with the place crawling with Russian and Ukranian beauties. His wife was joining in the fun.
The "groper" whispered if he should go up to Karuna and ask him if he enjoyed his sojourn in the Queen’s country at her Majesty’s pleasure.
The "thong spotter" was too busy beating a hasty retreat with his family in case a suicide bomber should decide to add to the new year fireworks display at Bentota.
Another, a legend and a great thinker, who enjoys his cigars, speculated about the future of Karuna Amman.
He wondered if the man would be pardoned for his war crimes. The "groper" from the old country interjected stating that no pardon has been yet forthcoming and that perhaps charges should be filed in the courts, local and international.
An opinion was expressed that although some may regard him as Michael Jackson, others may have not forgotten, and that a suspense account may have been opened with a debit entry, in anticipation of a corresponding credit entry in some future date to facilitate the closing of the account.
The Italian, Luca Pacioli, the inventor of double entry book-keeping would be proud.
They say that accountants never die, they only lose their balance.
As midnight approached, the elegantly dressed ravishing Sonali took to the floor with Lasantha, with Karuna Amman gyrating with his girlfriend next to them. The Beauty and the Beast were rocking at Bentota Beach.