Most people get only one chance to live. I’ve been blessed. I got two and I’m on my second round right now. It is an interesting story and one worth writing about. Many people get a second chance at life when they suffer a heart attack and survive. In my case I dodged a bullet.
I was feeling like cooking this past weekend, so I invited my friend J who has been craving Sri Lankan food over for dinner started making some pol roti, kiri bath, pol sambol, lunu miris, some parripu and beef curry. I digress, but the food actually came out really well 
He came over and we were chit chatting for a bit before sitting down to eat.
A little while through dinner I got up to change the CD on the stereo and stood by the system and was chatting to him before heading back to the table and sitting down to eat. About 30 seconds or so after I sat down we both heard a loud bang and as I turned around saw a cloud of smoke and dust in my living room. My first thought was that my stereo had blown, but wait; I can still hear my music. I turned my head and noticed a hole in my living room wall that separated my apartment from my neighbor. That’s when it dawned on me that what I had heard was a gun shot. Just 30 seconds before I had been standing exactly in front of where the hole now was. 30 seconds earlier and my brains would have been splattered all over my living room.
J and I immediately hit the floor, Sri Lankan instincts kicking in and called 911. Needless to say about 10 minutes later the cops came, and went to investigate what had next door as the shot had clearly come from the adjoining apartment.
We heard a lot of shouting and the sound of hand cuffs being clicked on someone and finally the cops came back and filled us in on what had happened. My overly smart neighbor was playing/cleaning his rifle (which was not registered) and forgot to check if it was loaded. It was loaded and so it went off, the bullet went through our adjoining wall, missed my head by 30 seconds fragmented, hit the opposite wall, went through the opposite wall into my bedroom and the police found shrapnel embedded in the opposite wall in my bedroom.
Apparently my neighbor had tried to stuff the bullet hole on his side with creme cheese???
He was arrested and the gun was taken into custody. Since no one was hurt, all they can really put on him is recklessness and possession of an unregistered weapon, which is nothing at all really. Life goes on, I guess.
The irony in this and what makes the whole incident humorous is that 23 years growing up in Sri Lanka, survived a bunch of years in New York and the closest I come to getting shot at is in Palo Alto, California!
In the meanwhile I am happy I am still alive.
OMG!!! see i tell ppl.. no place as safe as good ol colombo!
WOW! By far the story of the year for me! Hope you are a spiritual person, I’d be praying and thanking the almighty!
ohh yeah, i was praying like i’ve never prayed before.
Did God save you, or the devil? Ponder that, melad.
wow! that was close! good to hear u are still alive and kicking!
Whoa… I got goose bumps reading that.. What ever said and done.. the chaps who use weapons in Col know how to use em, not available for every Tom, Dick n Harry. And to think even if he shot you, he would have gotten off easy.. as the crime would have been un-intentional.
On a lighter note.. you should have bought a lottery ticket as well, just to see how lucky you are.. he he
Glad to have you Alive.. and writing mate..
I guess u will never really understand it till u experience it or till you hear it from someone who’s close to you…
You should really have a good think about sewing the guy (in courts). you could get a crappy load of compensation for threat to life, like.
Anyway, the story is fantastic to us who are not at the end of the rifle.
Glad you servived!
That’s crazy! The sort of thing you might see in a movie but never really expect in real life. At any rate you’ve got a nice story out of it!
Damn it….stupid neighbor missed…..he he just kidding Yupus
…..Glad that ur fine mate…. Bloody hell 23 years of civil war crap in SL and surviving that when you get to the US you get shot at……maarai…..
Woah..close call!
Are you Abbas’s bro by the way?
Right see.. there are a couple of gaps in this, which should give it a whole new perspective..
What happened to all that food? Surely after such a brush with death.. u didnt eat it… or have your mate eat it..
Therefore my take on this whole thing is that your mate was the real lucky one ‘cos 1. he dodged a bullet, 2. and even more importantly.. he escaped eating whatever bollocks you were about to feed him..
This leads me to yet another angle… could it be… that your mate staged this whole thing to escape ur cooking, and get rid of you for good (if possible) but if that failed, at least the night wouldnt be a total loss, cos he’d get at least creme-cheese baguette from your neighbour .. GRIN!
I had to! i know..!!!
Well thank heavens you’re alright! i shall pray for you some more too. and while i appreciate that this changed your outlook and perspective, u seriously need to think about getting that half-cocked moron evicted so he doesnt get trigger happy or plain dumb lucky next time!
Lots of love and hugs!!!
Congratulation man!
Now you have a story to tell till you die, (off cause in a natural cause eventually) and make everyone jaw drop. Quite a adventure I suppose. Nice to come out of safe form the other end. tell us, how it feels right now after all?
Knowing Yusuf, and Sri Lankans in general, I’m willing to bet after the cops left every single grain of that Kiri Bath and beef curry was polished off! Nothing like a near death experience to build the appetite
Stay safe cuz, and I still think you should consider redocorating w/ kevlar wallpaper. I hear it’s west coast chic these days.
First of all thank you everyone for your best wishes. I have to say just thinking about it and knowing that if i had stood there for another 30 seconds i would be dead right now does send shivers down my spine. It certainly does give you a different perspective to life.
@Malaka: i sure hope it was god that saved me
@Char~Max: dude i wish i had bought a lottery ticket men. damm!
@The benevolent Dictator: yes i am
@A: uhumm…. trust you to say that hehehe well actually we were in the middle of dinner when it happened, and the food was soo good that while we were waiting for the police on the floor we continued to eat.. were sri lankan’s first.. heheh and nothing comes between our food
@Hussain: hahah tru tru. we polished off the food… it had gotten a little cold, popped it in the microwave and ate.. lol
that kevlar idea might not be too bad.. orrr we could build houses with good old solid brick walls like in sri lanka!