The Real Ceylon

About the Book:-The narrator reveals that this book contains observation about various aspects of the island of Ceylon, made by him during his stay in the island in the 1930’s. This little book merely suggests certain lines of thought, enquiry, and action that many may find profitable and even amusing. This book is not, primarily, a commercial venture; but he felt that possibly a few advertisements might be helpful to newcomers of means and taste. It is believed that every practical or artistic want can be supplied by the firms and establishments represented. He excludes from the list, of course, the attractions of local law and medicine; as these learned professions do not advertise. The real Ceylon, as he sees it, is found in the pale-green paddy-field with its threshing-floor upraised, while the thatched huts of the peasantry cluster under the coconut-trees on the high ground: in the white-robed worshippers on poya night bearing offerings to some little village temple; in the wastes of The Wanni; or on the sea-shore when the fishing-nets are hauled in, alive with struggling silvery fishes. Perhaps the most typical picture of all is the fragile watch-hut in a small Chena, where by day and night man defends against the birds of the air and the beasts of the field his meagre crop of Kurakkan, upon which he and his skinny family are dependent, if something more than bare existence is to be enjoyed. There are many sketches and photographs that accompany the narrative to make it more interesting. This book is a reprint of the 1938 edition.