Colombo has been blossoming under the keen watch of Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, who, in his self-appointed role as Godfather, presides over a grand plan of urban beautification that will ultimately, we suppose he believes, turn Colombo into a first-world city like any of the world’s greatest cities; high-rises crowding the skyline, up-market stores selling everything from Lamborghinis to Cartier diamonds, storefronts all groomed and decked up to mimic vintage colonial bungalows lining the beautifully paved streets, people sipping passion fruit daiquiri and eating tapas on the coast in a beautiful sea-side capital of an idyllic tropical island.
