Saga of those who came from India to Lanka
By Aaysha Cader
‘The Indo-Lankans -Their 200-year saga’ is an enthralling insight into the aspirations, strivings and achievements of Sri Lankans of Indian origin, who settled and have contributed to the Sri Lankan lifestyle since 1796.
Presented by the Indian Heritage Foundation, the book is by Subbiah Muttiah, a well-known heritage writer of Indian origin. A resident of Sri Lanka for 40 years and now settled in India, he was a journalist affiliated to the Times of Ceylon and now has 16 books of historical background especially on India, to his credit.
At a ceremony preceding the official book launch, Mr. Muttiah said, "Both in India and Sri Lanka, my interest has always been in heritage." Not surprisingly, then, the result has been fascinating: with 100,000 words and 850 photos, the book is an indelible record of people from different parts of India who came to Ceylon during the past two centuries and contributed to the island's progress and prosperity in many ways. It is a deeply researched story of a people whose descendants now amount to a million of the Lankan population.
The book begins by recalling The Early Settlers of the distant past, and goes on to describe those whom Muttiah terms 'The Toilers': those who opened up plantations, built roads, railways and harbours and helped create villages. He moves on to 'The Early Traders’, then 'The Professionals', and writes of 'The Players' and their contribution to the revival of arts and numerous sports teams in Sri Lanka. The record continues with 'The Entrepreneurs' who helped build the economy, and 'The Faithful', whose faith has now been inculcated in the island. Muttiah also explores the input of Indo-Lankans as leaders of the labour movement and business associations. The cover of the book appropriately depicts Southern India and Sri Lanka, with parts of Adam's Bridge visible. Says Muttiah, "We have always had a bridge joining our two countries. We are two peoples, but are very much the same in terms of background and culture."
The photographs cover as many aspects of Indian contribution as possible from 1796 to date. Their sources are varied: old pictures dating back 120 years obtained from libraries in the U.K. and some others acquired from families in Sri Lanka and India. The most recent photos are by Dominic Sansoni.
Due to the large number of photos as well as the large-size format of the book, The Indo-Lankans: Their 200-year saga is priced at Rs. 7500.00.
According to Mano Selvanathan of the Indian Heritage Foundation, all proceeds from its sale will be chanelled to the welfare of people of Indian origin in Sri Lanka.
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