It is very good of Lionel de Silva(The Island 17-07-09)  to have pointed out the silly things our bureaucrats do in the name eradicating the mosquito menace. It looks like they will eradicate rampe long before the mosquitoes.

However, I want to point out a mistake. Rampe is known to many nationalities in the world, especially in the Asian region. It is now most commonly known as ‘pandan’ leaves in the culinary world due to Asian influences.

According  to Wikipedia only the Sinhalese and Hindi use the word rampe. In English it is more pandan than rampe.

 Bay leaves (laurus nobilis), though used in enhancing flavour in cooking, are totally different from rampe. They look like our more common curry leaves (karapincha) but should not be mistaken for them. Bay leaves are slightly bigger than karapincha and thicker in texture.