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Idiosyncratic, eccentric cast of characters steals the show at fuel stations
Every part you play, dramatists say, is a character. There are plenty of them characters converging on fuel queues at petrol pumping stations and morphing into plausible roles. No one is casting. They make up their minds and mould themselves into their roles.
On weekends, the drama is elevated a notch. There is live music, and food and friendship to help ease the petrol and diesel anxiety that drives people insane, day and night.
What unfurls is a throwback to the popular revolutions of old which we read in history books and yellowed news magazines, when idealistic youth began asserting popular sovereignty to bring in root and branch political change, challenge authority, and discard corrupt privilege.
Refreshments being served to people standing in queues in different parts of the country (above and below). Pix by Eshan Fernando and Hiran Priyankara
Music, slogans, art, and street theatre, helped the revolutionaries of 1968 to amplify their peaceful messages. The May student demos of Paris, Vietnam, Prague Spring, the University of California’s Berkeley campus, come to mind.
In Sri Lanka’s state of convulsion, for thousands, the dreaded fuel station has become a theatre where boundaries break down, once apathetic people become political activists, and some kind of tribal empathy takes hold.
Some arrive in groups ready for a long wait that will test their endurance and patience. They are either neighbours or friends. They bring snacks, biscuits, buns, and flasks of coffee.
In some instances, the family breadwinner is kept nourished by his family who bring lunch or dinner along with beverages.
The characters who gather have now been categorised in social media posts. 
‘Unannduwaa’ is the fellow who keeps a tab on fuel availability and alerts others. The ‘nidhikumbaa’ dozes off and others at the back have to wake him up to move his vehicle forward. There is the ‘traffic police’, who coordinates vehicle movement on the road and the ‘gypsy’ stays in the queue with the whole family. There are also the ‘drunkard’, ‘movie addict’, the ‘upasaka’, the ‘philosopher’, the ‘political analyst’.
“It’s exhausting, stressful and there is the constant worry that we might not get fuel. But it is these personalities who make the stay interesting. We all are in the same boat,” said Kamal Premaratne, a retiree from Colombo.
Some bring along plastic stools and collapsible chairs. People playing cards, carrom are common sights at fuel queues in the provinces. There is a continuous supply of plain tea, packets of rice and even fruit. At dusk, they break into song.
Shereen from Moratuwa says she prepares meals and snacks for her husband and the new friends he meets.
“Despite the exhaustion and stress, people are expressing their worries and frustration with fellow drivers. It is not an easy time for everyone, queues are a therapy to some.’’ 
Another person, named Yasas, says: “All those I have met are strangers. We ordered food from Uber Eats and had beer inside the cars.
When it was hot and humid, we asked motorbike riders to get into our cars for a while. It is not easy staying for long hours in the heat.’’
Shafran who runs a ‘masala chai’ outlet on Duplication Road said he decided to distribute about 1,000 cups of the spicy milk tea free to those lining up in Bambalapitiya and elsewhere.
The new friends and others part ways once the tanker trucks deliver the precious cargo and they get a limited number of litres.
The wallet is lighter by a few thousands, but the heart is content. Until another day.
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