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I didn't invite him. The idea was all my father's, my seventy-four-year-old father who had never been outside America and who suddenly thought that Sri Lanka, where I was a Peace Corps volunteer, would be a jolly place to visit. When John Toner, a retired Cleveland judge, decided on a whim in April 1990 to spend a month with his son in war-torn Sri Lanka, he was as much a stranger to his seventh--and last--child as he was to the hardships of life in a Third World country. Serendib chronicles the journey that follows as a father and son who had never been alone together live in close quarters, in the poorest of conditions--and replace awkwardness and distance with understanding and love. Along the way are the stories of John learning to eat with his fingers, bathing in a river alongside cows, and trading his wool trousers for a traditional sarong. We witness his coming face-to-face with a Hindu priest in a loincloth and his first encounter with the everyday violence of a country at war with itself. John watches with awe as students learn without computers, books, or even paper; he bonds with Sri Lankan children and learns, once again, how to give and how to play. Each new experience pushes Toner's father to face his fears--and brings him closer to his youngest son. Serendib offers a colorful, humorous, and touching account of multiple discoveries--of an old man exploring deep within himself, of a father and son finding each other, and of two cultures coming together on uncommon ground and awakening to the joy and hope of the life they share.
I didn't invite him. The idea was all my father's, my seventy-four-year-old father who had never been outside America and who suddenly thought that Sri Lanka, where I was a Peace Corps volunteer, would be a jolly place to visit. When John Toner, a retired Cleveland judge, decided on a whim in April 1990 to spend a month with his son in war-torn Sri Lanka, he was as much a stranger to his seventh--and last--child as he was to the hardships of life in a Third World country. Serendib chronicles the journey that follows as a father and son who had never been alone together live in close quarters, in the poorest of conditions--and replace awkwardness and distance with understanding and love. Along the way are the stories of John learning to eat with his fingers, bathing in a river alongside cows, and trading his wool trousers for a traditional sarong. We witness his coming face-to-face with a Hindu priest in a loincloth and his first encounter with the everyday violence of a country at war with itself. John watches with awe as students learn without computers, books, or even paper; he bonds with Sri Lankan children and learns, once again, how to give and how to play. Each new experience pushes Toner's father to face his fears--and brings him closer to his youngest son. Serendib offers a colorful, humorous, and touching account of multiple discoveries--of an old man exploring deep within himself, of a father and son finding each other, and of two cultures coming together on uncommon ground and awakening to the joy and hope of the life they share.
Serendib: one of the many names for Sri Lanka, Ceylon, Taprobane -- an island nation south of India, rich in tea and spices, vegetables, fruit and fish, possessing a complex multicultural cuisine. A Taste of Serendib is a collection of unexpected, delightful, fortunate flavors, forty-five recipes to tantalize your tastebuds and satisfy your stomach.
DARK SHORES-Return to Serendib Familiar characters reappear on stage in this dramatic sequel to the popular novel 'Serendib-Isle of dreams' as Natalie and Mike prepare to celebrate three years of marital bliss with family and friends. Evil and vengeful as ever, Renuka is determined to possess Mike at any cost and joins forces with Natalie's sadistic ex-husband in his quest for revenge. Rashid, Renuka's mysterious new boyfriend embroils her in nefarious child smuggling activity in remote fishing villages. Renuka finally succeeds in entrapping Mike. Natalie's ex-husband abducts her but when they are ambushed on a lonely road, she is captured by terrorists roaming the steamy north eastern jungles of Sri Lanka and she finds herself in the thick of on-going civil war between Tamil Tigers and the army. Natalie's life hangs in the balance precariously, as she struggles to survive in the rebel camp. Will she escape the lustful advances of the rebel leader or be shot by his insanely jealous lover? Romance, laughter and drama in the everyday lives of diverse characters are delicately interwoven and interspersed with shafts of sunny humour to dispel dark shadows that threaten to destroy Natalie and Mike's love forever. Natalie's insecurity in Mike's love re-surfaces, as she once again believes he has betrayed her and is unable to forgive him. Scenes shift from exotic Sri Lanka, to Melbourne and Queensland, as Natalie and Mike take a trip in the hope of regaining their lost Paradise. This exciting and long-awaited sequel is a must read for anyone who enjoys the exotic, as the author's unique narrative style and colourful descriptions capture the very essence of the Island and its people. Her talent lies in the ability to bring a story to life with an artist's sensitivity, depicting light, shade and shadow, just like an exquisite landscape.
We come together with other Sri Lankans-homelander and diaspora, Sinhalese and Tamil, Buddhist and Hindu and Christian and Muslim-over delicious shared meals. Sri Lanka has been a multi-ethnic society for over two thousand years, with neighbors of different ethnicities, languages, religions, living side by side. We try to teach our children to be welcoming to all, to share our unique cultural traditions. That is part of what it means to be Sri Lankan, what it has always meant. Dark roasted curry powder, a fine attention to the balance of salty-sour-sweet, wholesome red rice and toasted curry leaves, plenty of coconut milk and chili heat. These are the flavors of Sri Lanka, a South Asian island at the crossroads of centuries of migration and trade. Can we choose the good parts of our culture to cherish, and leave the darker aspects behind? I hope so. I hope food can help provide a pathway there. Come together at our table, sharing milk rice and pol sambol, paruppu and crab curry. Linger over the chai-just one more cup. Eat, drink, and share joy. In A Feast of Serendib, novelist and post-colonial academic Mary Anne Mohanraj introduces her mother's cooking and her own American adaptations, providing an introduction to Sri Lankan American cooking that is straightforward enough for a beginner, yet nuanced enough to capture the unique flavors of Sri Lankan cooking.
Since antiquity Ceylon?--?long known as Serendib, now Sri Lanka?--?has been renowned for its beauty and its wealth. Shipwrecked on its shores, Sindbad the Sailor found it a land of "unrivalled splendor and magnificence," the air filled with the fragrance of spices and rare gems glittering in the streams of a lofty mountain. He returned home loaded with riches, as many were to do after him: Portuguese, Dutch, and finally, in the nineteenth century, the British. Serendib tells the stories in the voices and through the eyes of those who ultimately made and lost fortunes not in the cinnamon and pearls that first lured them but in coffee and tea; it tells the stories, too, of those who came to govern, to convert, to hunt, to unearth the island's antiquities, and simply to delight in its natural wonders.
"A wonderful collection of tales about villagers and talking animals and their day-to-day problems in a pastoral Sri Lanka. Many stories are similar to the ones heard in other South Asian lands, a testimony to the foreign influences that blew across the island over the centuries through interaction with invaders, adventurers and peaceful travellers. These folktales do not, however, offer moral lessons. They are hilarious, with characters who find themselves in awkward situations and end up exhibiting the many tragic and comic aspects of our transient lives."--