I once mailed a link to RD on Ceylon, which he posted and which drew many enquiries and comments. So when the Last Queen sent me these, I thought it would be a good thing to share them with those of us who are interested in Ceylon and those times gone by – circa 1931 and 1932. Actually, one of them may well be the same one sent RD on that occasion.
This will take you to the site, but you will have to click on ‘Sri Lanka’ in the ‘Countries’ search gizmo to get you there.
Makes us wonder if folks in this country were happier then than they are now – not that it matters all that much!
Or does it??
Ephemeral Ruminations 
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July 30, 2008 at 11:26 pm
N
Just a comment about romanticizing the past….u know how everybody goes on about how the murder rate in SL is crazy ‘nowadays’?
Well I was reading one of Clarke’s diving books from the ’60s (I think, I don’t have it in front of me but it was pretty old)..and it had a line in there that said something to the effect of the Ceylonese are lovely, friendly people but seem to enjoy knocking each other off at a rate….just some food for thought!
July 31, 2008 at 12:18 am
javajones
N – Yeah, I seem to remember my mum telling me that Ceylon replaced the USA as having the highest murder rate somewhere in the 50s.
Like a last line from a poem on Ceylon that went something like “…a resplendent isle, where everything is beautiful and only man is vile”
Not much has changed, has it?!!
July 31, 2008 at 11:47 am
RD
I have a treasured book of spectacular but often painful images of Sri Lanka by a guy called Stephen Champion (I think). It’s called “Only Man is Vile” and that must be where he got the title.
July 31, 2008 at 11:35 pm
javajones
RD – Stephen’s a good mate and yes, you’re right.
August 1, 2008 at 3:22 am
kalusudda
Hi Jones, what a day and what a movie(s). The Yakasha dance brought my life back (It is -1C and sleet and snow). Not very far back in the past I went to Jamaica with my parents. (You don’t have to smoke in there to get high, just walk on the streets) and really feel two guys danced just like that.
But I did not see the movies mention any thing about Tamil people! Thanks a lot for the links. May be my Dad will buy them, if he does not have them already.
August 1, 2008 at 5:05 am
javajones
Hey Kalu – it’s 24C up here in the hills after an overnight low of 17C, so eat your little heart out! Never been to the West Indies, but Java has done that astral traveling bit he’s so good at, so I get the happenings second-hand!
Don’t know too much about the films and producers, so no idea about the Tamil element that was lacking. But then again, the Muslims and Burghers weren’t mentioned either, so….!
Glad you enjoyed the substance!!
August 1, 2008 at 6:01 am
Observing Ones Self and Trying Not to Shiver. « Kalusudda Comments
[…] in Uncategorized Through snow, sleet and fog I saw Java Jones’ gift, Two old travel movies about Ceylon. There was a dance called Yakasha dance and man I laughed my […]