BITTER PILLS Sri Lankans are being forced to swallow their pride and more than a handful of bitter pills, such is the continually shameless state of their precious nation. Ironically, the temperature check isn’t flagging COVID-19 as such (although there’s Omicron to worry about too) but rather, an island that is enveloped by multiple wounds that even the ‘doctors’ don’t seem to know how to heal. The illness is multifaceted and covers the gamut of what people in most countries take for granted. In the midst of this mayhem, the house by the lake continues to run like a politicking circus, the business community speaks out only when the wounds hurt them and the rest of us have no choice but to suffer in silence. If there’s a silver lining on the horizon, may the man on the street see it.