A living hell, between the deep blue sea, not so blue at times but angry and glowering, and the railtrack, not in some God-forsaken area but right in the heart of Colombo, hidden by a wall in close proximity to posh high-rise buildings, neatly paved roads and efforts to beautify the city.

For a garment that could be charitably described as ‘skimpy’, a bra can be remarkably complex. Into the making of one particular bra went a range of elastics, lace and yarn; there were the cups and hooks, the embroidery and the underwire. In total, it added up to 21 components and 8 packing materials each of which was sourced from 12 different suppliers.