At the Crossroads of Passing Lives

The narrative crafts a layered portrait of Colombo, capturing vivid vignettes from princes, writers, and performers.

- ARADHIKA SHARMA

Dear me, it is beautiful," wrote Mark Twain during his 1896 visit to Colombo, likening the island city to "an emerald set in gold." In a similar spirit, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle described the city as an "earthly paradise", captivated by its occult practices, and his encounters with a snake charmer's cobras, along with reflections on Buddhism, and Ceylon's philosophical undercurrents. In Ajay Kamalakaran's Colombo: Port of Call, such impressions of travellers craft a layered portrait of the city that has stood at the crossroads of maritime power, commerce and global movement.

With a focus on visitors from the late 19th to early 20th century, Kamalakaran avoids a linear chronicle in favour of vivid vignettes from princes, writers, philanthropists, and performers. Drawing on archives, correspondence, memoirs, and periodicals, he prefers perception and cultural exchange over chronology. Through 14 distinct voices, Colombo's religious spaces, social structures, and urban rhythms emerge with colour, texture and a sense of immediacy.