Comment: Razeen Sally's Return to Sri Lanka

A new edition of Razeen Sally's Return to Sri Lanka: travels in a paradoxical island is out this year. It was first published in2019 in India by Juggernaut Books but this edition is by globally renownedSimon and Schuster UK Ltd. The addition in the 431 paged multifaceted editionis the 28 paged Epilogue which updates the situation of the country from 2019to 2024 as seen by Razeen on his post Covid visits to the island.

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Iuse the general term 'book' because I cannot classify it as a travelogue or ahistorical narration. As noted above it is multi-faceted, combining within itspages travel writing, autobiographical snippets and memoir, history, currentaffairs and even tentative prognoses. It basically is a short history of theauthor and the country he was born in and returns to often. To quote a commentof the many included in the first pages of the book: “It’s an insightful readfor a first-time visitor or anyone interested in understanding this complexnation.”

Thecontents consist of two parts followed by Envoi and the newly added Epilogue. Part One is titled A Sri Lankan Childhood-which starts with Razeen’s parents’ Ceylon and presents glimpses of hischildhood in Ceylon: Sowing and Growingand SriLanka Absent: the War Years, long before which Razeen’s mother was settled in Wales and herthree sons in schools and universities in Britain. Part Two is titled Sri Lanka through Adult Eyes: a travelogue withfive chapters in it, starting with his observations from his first visit in2006 and many there-after.