Actually, I thought nobody cared. There I was writing about the strange happenings at SriLankan, our very own national airline that is 43 percent plus owned by Emirates but fully run by us. Or so we are told.

Hardly had last week’s column made its appearance on that Sabbath morning when I get a telephone call from a colleague saying that somebody was trying to contact me and should he give my number.

Oh no I said. Who knows, the next thing I know there will be a white van drawing outside my humble abode in Nedimala and a couple of chaps looking like over-grown gorillas will be trying to break down my door.

Even though the door is made out of nadun wood, the locks don’t look particularly strong. One good kick from Chuck Norris or Mervyn Silva’s sidekicks (definitely no pun intended) and lock and bolt would go flying. Well, what could you expect from today’s profit-conscious property developers.

"Ask him to send an email to office and I’ll take it from there," I told my colleague and went back to sleep.

At today’s prices it is better to have a brunch and dinner than three meals a day though I would not recommend it to our parliamentarians who live it up on subsidised food at their parliament restaurant.

Whoever was trying to get in touch with me was obviously desperate to get a few things off his chest.

I was not wrong. When I turned up at this newspaper office on Monday afternoon (though it is my off day I am a conscientious man as the more perceptive of my readers would have already realised) there was this long email awaiting me. It was addressed to the newspaper but for the attention of Pachoris who happens to be me.

I immediately looked for the name of the sender. "One Who Knows" it said.

This cloak and dagger stuff is not for me. I’d rather he said who he was like I do. I mean Pachoris is my name and I am not hiding behind some fictitious name like that fellow, Col. Karuna who dared travel under a Sinhala name and on a genuine diplomatic passport too.

Pachoris might not be as well known as Carolis or Girigoris but that is good, no. There are Pereras, Silvas and Fernandos falling out from the trees like leaves. As that fellow Shakespeare said, what’s in a name and all that jazz.

This is by the way of course. I am more interested in this Mata Hari or whoever the person is, has to say than the cloak the person is hiding under.

"My dear Pachoris," the email started in an overly familiar tone which I did not like in the least. But then who cares about the tone, it is the content that matters.

"I want to congratulate you and The Sunday Leader for your comments today about SriLankan Airlines and the previous week’s article by Sonali Samarasinghe that you had referred to," it continued.

"As one who has been in the hospitality industry in various ways for nearly three decades I have been worried about the roller-coaster ride that our national carrier has been taken through by successive governments and those who have often tried to put it to private use or profit out of it."

"Now that the bad guys, Emirates, who are accused of making the best out of its tie-up with SriLankan and for running down our national carrier are not in control, is it not time to find out who were the officers pushed around by the Emirates management and who in SriLankan Airlines benefited from cosying-up to the Dubai big wigs? Is it not what we should be doing instead of trying to reward them?" the email went on.

"Sonali’s article says that two chaps at SriLankan are competing for one of the top jobs. One is Jayaseelan, a former head of commercial. He disagreed with Emirates and fought a battle when the Dubai management tried to reduce some of the European destinations to which Sri Lankan was flying. For his trouble he was banished to Tokyo as station manager and later transferred to Beijing.

Well, if Emirates are seen as the bad guys, then Jayaseelan should be the good guy right?

"Now ask yourself who supported the Emirates plan to reduce the destinations and who could have benefited from Jayaseelan’s exile?"

I, Pachoris, know little of what has been going on at SriLankan Airlines. I hardly fly it anyway since trying to travel abroad is a very expensive business which we poor fellows can ill afford.

But I knew some who knew something about the airline business and the manoeuverings that have been going on inside the national carrier. So when I went to Paradise Club, our favourite watering hole, one day last week I took the long email from ‘One Who Knows’ along with me.

The email did the rounds as some of the regulars read it and passed it on.

Kosala "The Fixer" Kasalagoda, the man who knew the people who should be known in Colombo circles, was reading it while sipping his usual whisky on the rocks when he suddenly looked up.

"Listen to this you chaps. This man or woman or whoever sent this talks about a travel agent in London who is said to be a fund raiser for the Tigers. This person says that two or three years ago all sorts of kela paththara websites were full of this self-confessed LTTE supporter in the travel business."

"That’s right, I remember now," added Hamid "Fast Cash" Mansoor. "I remember this because there was talk that he had business interests in Colombo too and there was some hullabaloo about an office being located in a sensitive area, security-wise." Mansoor not only collects plenty of money each day from his several casinos but also a lot of information from patrons whose tongues have been loosened by the obvious potency of Johnny Walker.

"Hey, hold on a minute. I remember that story now because there was much talk in security and official circles. There used to be many emails and letters flying around from Canada to Australia with anxious Sri Lankans asking what SriLankan Airlines is doing fraternising with such dubious characters," broke in Kelly Kankendiri of a Californian think tank once more in Colombo to do some serious thinking. "In fact a friend of mine in Washington had emailed me a copy of a letter protesting about this connection. I think the letter had been sent to the management."

"Well seems you guys might be right. This email asks Sonali Samarasinghe who wrote an investigative piece last month to inquire more deeply into any connection between this LTTE travel man and anybody at SriLankan Airlines. The writer says he received in Colombo copies of the protest letters sent to the airline management. Ask whether the allegations were inquired into by SriLankan officials and if not where did it stop and did anybody stop it."

"Well if anything unsavoury is exposed by the media SriLankan Airlines will not be smiling though they have just launched their SmiLes frequent flyer scheme," added Felix Katepittu, our veteran diplomat.

"Maybe some Tiger fellow will even get a big job at the airline, aney, and then there won’t be any smiles anywhere," chipped in Wendy Van Rinderpest, our one time beauty cutie.

"Aah," said poet Puli Pachchathanni, "one can smile and smile and yet be a villain, as Shakespeare said."