Ambalangoda, Anuradha Puri

Ambalangoda is a small coastal town on the western coast of Anuradha Puri, on the southern edge of the island, only 70 km from Colombo. Due to its close proximity to Galle, a second-tier port, the development of the coastal town was not too fast, and it could not become a city. However, due to its access to the Bharatiya Maha Samudra, local trade was still popular in the town, as many smaller ships transported coconuts, fish, spices, and other local varieties to the nearby larger ports, where the goods of the town and the interior towns accessible from Ambalangoda were sold throughout the empire and even across the eastern hemisphere.

Due to such opportunities and business, although the town has not become a city, a small number of people who took the opportunity and started their entrepreneurial journey a few decades back ended up becoming millionaires. The coastal part of the town, a few km away from the main port area, right on the beach, is where all the rich people live, in a gated Community.

The houses are all Tamil-style courtyard houses, all gigantic in size, looking like palaces of ancient Maharajas, but looks could be deceiving because these were not outdated ancient houses but modern houses built with modern amenities in mind, like water tanks on top of each house with a small atmospheric steam engine pumping up the water to all the houses into the individual water tanks. Some houses even had swimming pools with desalinated water, and some had gigantic gardens, and all the houses were also fit with ceiling fans, ventilation ducts, and various other modern features. Not only that, the drainage of the houses was also completely modern, with the plumbing connected to the drainage of the street.

On top of all that, there were even kerosene lamps built into the walls, and in front of all these houses, there were multiple cars, all sparkling clean and of different brands and models. If car enthusiasts find this place, they would think that they were in heaven, because in some of the houses there was even the Kashi VK3, one of the most prized cars manufactured in the empire, and more surprisingly, in front of one of the houses there was even an Aakarsh A7, the undisputed king of cars of the empire and the most desirable and sought-after car ever produced.

If the Kashi VK3 was like a Lamborghini of Vijay's past life, then Aakarsh A7 was like the Ferrari La Ferrari.

Ravindu Silva was a young 23-year-old son of the Silva family, a family that owned a large fleet of 20 ships used for coastal fishing, and even a canning factory used for processing the fish and selling it abroad.

They were basically one of the richest people not only in their town but also in the whole western coast of the state.

So it's safe to say that Ravindu Silva had grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth, but currently, he is sulking. He stayed in his room, bouncing the cricket ball off the wall with a dull and lifeless expression on his face.

Truth be told, Ravindu was not too bad in his behaviour. He was nothing like the typical second-generation rich who looked down on the poor and bullied the weak. Though not exactly kind, he was far from being an evil bully. His marks weren't impressive, but they were average, and considering he attended a first-tier university in the educational capital of the state, his education could still be seen as very good by the median standards of college students in the state. The real problem, the thing that gave his parents a big headache, was that he was an adrenaline junkie.

Of course, no one knew what that meant. He did not know either, but what was clear was that he liked to take risks, whether riding his bicycle down the hill at high speeds, going up a hot air balloon, or even trying out the new bungee jumping. But recently, a new obsession took hold of him: that was car racing.

He loved it. He absolutely adored it. The feeling of becoming one with a machine and speeding down the road, defeating the opponents, makes him tremble with excitement as if he were climaxing at that very moment.

Unfortunately, after noting down the licence plate number, the police came to his home looking for him, and he was even detained for a few days for his reckless driving. His father had to pay a hefty fine. After he was released from custody, he was grounded the whole time throughout the holidays until he could go back to his college.

Hence, his current situation, lying like a dead body in his bed. After experiencing the thrill of racing, he felt like his hands and feet were tied, and he was put behind bars. He felt no different than being locked up in a prison cell, but what could he do? He really did not want to get arrested again.

Just then, he heard his mother calling. His attention was diverted, and he couldn't catch the ball, which flew in the air and fell on his head with a thud.

He rubbed his face with annoyance and quickly went out to see what had happened.

"Ravi, see what's written in this letter."

Ravindu took over the letter with curiosity and was surprised to realise that it was actually a transcript decoded from the Arkha Dristi communication. The thought of the letter being for his father immediately came to his mind, because such letters do come to his father several times a month, but his expression froze when it was actually his name that was on the letter.

In confusion, he quickly read through the letter, and by the end of it he could not hold on anymore; he was bursting with excitement. He was not able to hold himself back. Running into the house, he grabbed the car keys he could find. Unexpectedly, it was the car keys of the A7. He hesitated, because normally he wouldn't touch the A7, because his father looks after this car as if it were his own son, but still he was too impatient to go back and get the other car keys, so he started up the car and immediately set off outside the gated community.

He knew where his father was, so his destination was clear, and the place was not too far away either; it was only five kilometres away, at a small shipyard that usually repairs all their ships.

Guru Prakash Silva was immediately furious after realising that it was his own A7 that was becoming bigger as he looked towards the horizon. When his son got down from the car, he felt like he had to give him a slap on the face, but looking at his excited expression that had been missing for so many days, he didn't have the heart to do it; the raised hand was slowly put down.

However, Ravindu was not in the condition to notice all these micro details of his father; he was too excited for that, so he quickly thrust the letter into his father's hands.

Guru Prakash was surprised, but reading the letter made him even more surprised. He did not know someone would start such a company. He fell into a dilemma: should he accept it and send his son, or reject it? In the end, he felt like he could not make the decision alone.

" You go home, I will talk about it afterwards."

Ravindu was disappointed that he couldn't get the answer immediately, but getting in the car that was yet to cool down, he headed back home.

" Be careful, if something happens to the car, I'll break your legs."

" Ya...Ya, ok."

Ravindu spent the whole day in anticipation; every movement was like an hour, and every hour was like a day. Finally, by evening, his father returned home.

He was waiting for his decision, but unfortunately, it looked like his father wanted to wet his appetite and make him wait, like a dog, if he could add. His father washed his feet, ate his dinner, and went for a freaking walk....a freaking walk now? WHY? Normally, the activities of his father did not bother him, but thinking about what was at stake, his father's every action irked him to no end.

After the walk, it looked like he finally went to discuss with his mother. Ravindu tried to eavesdrop on the conversation, but in the end, only his mother's pleading and his father's helpless sigh were heard.

"Alright, you can go. If this can turn into a career, it is indeed an option, but there are several conditions."

"Yes, father, tell me."

"Vedangam will come with you, and you're only allowed to take the Vishwakarma V-1."

"But Father..."

"No, you can't have the A7."

"Ugh... What about the Veer then?"

"No."

"S12?"

"No."

"At least mother's Suraksha."

"NO. Means no. Ask one more time, and I'm not even allowing you to take the V1."

Ravindu was depressed, but in the end, he let out a deep and turbulent breath and agreed.

He immediately started to prepare. Although the deadline given was for a week, he wanted to set off the next day; he could not wait that long.

---

Similar scenes happened in the nearby port city of Galle, in the political capital Kandy, and in the coastal city of Puttala, which was over one hundred and twenty kilometres away and in many other places.

Pritam had sent a total of 20 invitations, but only six had agreed to participate, six boys from six different parts of the East Coast. They all set off immediately: some loaded their cars onto a carriage for an overnight journey, others transported them on a fishermen's vessel by cruise ship, and a few even rode them themselves.

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