Ceylonese ancestors, British descendants – a post-Colonial phenomenon

Two Islands Called Home – A Memoir for my Grandchildren – by Dr. Ayesha Muthuveloe. Published by the Author. 377 pages. 

Reviewed by Leelananda de Silva.

After independence in 1948, Ceylon experienced significant societal changes in the next fifty years. The Burgher community which had an important place in the life of the country, diminished rapidly, most of them migrating to Australia. There was a highly significant middle and upper middle class Tamil community in Colombo, whose numbers have diminished through migration in the last 50 years. The decline of English as a medium of instruction and as a language of administration were the most important reasons for the migration abroad of these communities. There is today, a large number from these communities living in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA. Those who migrated were mostly in their middle years, and they are still around to reminisce on their life in Ceylon/Sri Lanka and of their new home countries. That generation which knew Sri Lanka and their new home will diminish rapidly, and a new generation which knows Sri Lanka as the home of their parents has emerged. They would not know the Sri Lanka their parents left. 

The memoir “Two Islands Called Home” is a delightful rendering of her experiences in Ceylon and England over the last 70 years. The first part of the book is largely about her ancestors in Sri Lanka. The other part of the book is about her own life, both in Ceylon and in England – her childhood in Colombo and in other suburban towns, her new home in England, and her experience there in the National Health Service (NHS) of England, and particularly in forensic psychiatry. The volume contains a large number of photographs of her maternal and paternal ancestors, and of her other family members of more recent years. The author is a great storyteller and the volume is a delight to read. 

The author comes from one of the great medical families in Ceylon in the 20th century. Her maternal great grandfather was Dr. S.C. Paul, the first Sri Lankan surgeon to obtain his FRCS qualification in England. Her maternal grand uncles were Dr. Milroy Paul and Dr. A.T.S. Paul, both eminent surgeons of their day. Her maternal grandfather was Dr. Gunaratnam Cooke, a leading physician of his time, and her uncle Raja Cooke was a well known cancer surgeon. Her father was Dr. A.C. Arulpragasam, a leading ENT surgeon. So medicine was ingrained in her life. When it comes to her siblings, her sister Indira Samarasekara (who has written the foreword to this volume), achieved renown in the field of mechanical engineering, and was President of the University of Alberta. As a footnote, I should add that two of her ancestors (two grand uncles on her maternal and paternal side, a Paul and a Cooke) joined the prestigious Indian Civil Service (ICS). 

Talking of her ancestors, the author offers interesting insights into their lives, particularly of marriages of that time. Marriages were mostly arranged and love as such was not one of the preconditions of a marital relationship. One factor that dominated arranged marriages of the time among her class of people was the potential contribution that a marriage could make to the advancement of a husband’s career. Horoscopes seem to have played only a minor role. Reading about the author’s ancestors and their marriages in particular are entertaining and certainly should be of much interest to her descendants. Rajan Muthuveloe, the author’s husband who is a doctor had an ancestral background which had strong Christian roots. It is no surprise that he was ordained as a Christian priest later in life, although continuing to practice medicine.

Ayesha Muthuveloe has many engaging stories to relate of her days in Sri Lanka. She went to schools in Colombo, Jaffna, Galle and Kandy. She talks extensively of her Ladies College days and her early love affairs, without of course mentioning names. Her family’s harrowing experience in Galle in the racial riots of the 1950s refers to one of the more shameful episodes in recent Sri Lankan history. One of the most poignant, and in the end a happy story is that of her friends in Jaffna which is worth quoting in full: “My best friends were Sumithra, Chitra, Indrani and Usha Rani. Indrani’s father was a latrine coolie, the most menial of jobs done by a person of the lowest caste in Jaffna. Her mother was a Burgher lady of Portuguese descent and spoke faultless English, unlike my other friend’s mothers who only talked in Tamil. Most high-caste Hindu’s would have frowned at the relationship that developed between Mum and Indrani’s mother as both would communicate in English and seemed happy in each other’s company. Once when trying to explain her life’s circumstances to Mum, she said ‘Unlike you, Mrs Arulpragasm, my fortunes have fallen down!’ Mum loved this turn of phrase and would fondly call Indrani’s mother my ‘fallen down friend.’ Almost three decades later at a wedding in Oxford, Mum met the younger sister of Indrani and was happy to learn that while the parents had died the two daughters had married and settled abroad benefiting from the good education they had received at Vembadi Girls High school in Jaffna.”

Some of the most interesting and instructive chapters in the volume are about the NHS and the psychiatric services within it, in the UK. The NHS offers a model for healthcare everywhere in the world. The NHS absorbs about 10 percent of the GDP of the United Kingdom. In contrast, Sri Lanka devotes only two or three percent of GDP for healthcare. In Sri Lanka, defence and security takes much more than health, in striking contrast to the UK. About two or three thousand Sri Lankans are employed in the NHS. Apart from this volume, no one else to my knowledge has written about their experiences.

The chapter on forensic psychiatry is most instructive. The author relates her experiences in this field and it is no surprise that she was one of the highly regarded forensic psychiatrists of her time in the UK. She relates her story of gradual improvements in the mental healthcare system in the UK and the great contribution made by the R.A. Butler Committee on mental health in the 1960s. The legal and judicial systems had largely ignored the mental health aspects of serious crime. With the new Mental Health Act of the 1950s, there was a dramatic change in the legal and judicial system towards mental health issues. Since that time, a humane and liberal attitude to crime has emerged, and also in the treatment of mental health conditions. The chapter on forensic psychiatry is valuable reading for those concerned with mental healthcare in Sri Lanka.

On a personal note, I wish to refer to the reference that author has made to the motor car accident that she, her husband and grandmother were involved in 1985, and which injured her severely. Her grandmother, Lolita Cooke had arrived at Gatwick airport in the UK that morning, and the Muthuveloes were there to meet her. I too was at Gatwick to meet Mrs. Cooke. When she came from the aircraft about lunch time that day, she had left her return air ticket on the plane. She asked me whether I can retrieve it. That was difficult and I told her that I should be able to get another ticket without any extra expense. Anyway, she did not need that return ticket, as she died in England a little later. A premonition of things to come.

(The book will be available at Bookshops in Colombo )