When I was working in Thiruvananthapuram, India, in the early 1990s, my company sent me on an assignment to Colombo, Sri Lanka. Two employees from our local agency in Colombo picked me up from the airport and dropped me off at a hotel. It was Sunday evening, and they left, assuring me to pick up on Monday at 8:00 a.m.
In the 1990s, Sri Lanka was going through a civil war crisis, and my assignment was amidst this crisis.
The sound of the waves splashing the shores enticed me to take a walk on the beach, which was a walkable distance from my hotel. So I took a quick shower, and as I stepped out of the bathroom, I heard a knock on my door. The knock on the door continued. I was busy dressing and couldn't open the door immediately.
The knock continued, and this time, the knock's intensity was vigorous. I smelled something fishy because this knock was not from any hotel staff. They wouldn't knock with such vigour. Within seconds, the knock changed to a verbal but polite one: "Please open the door."
After quickly putting on the clothes that came into my hands, I opened the door. My...