The Land of Our Parents

THE LAND OF OUR PARENTS
KULANTHAI M.
SHANMUGALINGAM
KULANTHAI M. SHANMUGALINGAM
 Sri Lankan Tamil playwright, and

director of Tamil plays.
 Born in 1931 in Jaffna, Sri Lanka.
 3 Important plays- 1.man swmantha meniyar, 2.Velvithee, 3.Enthayum
Thayum- published in June 2008, staged in 1992( The Land of our Parents)
 He is regarded as Sri Lanka’s oldest living playwright and dramatist at the
age of 92 as of 2023.
 Three of Kuzhanthai’s plays had been translated into English by a well
known Tamil poet, S. Pathmanathan.
Sri Lanka
COLONIAL HISTORY OF SRI LANKA
• It is the Island country of South Asia. Formerly the land was known as
Ceylon and gained its present name in 1972.
• The colonizers of the land are Portuguese, Dutch and British.
• Colonial history begins in 3rd century, based on the Pali chronicles.
• Buddhism was introduced in the third century by Arhath Mahinda.
• The Island was divided into numerous kingdoms.
• Between 1597 and 1658 a substantial part of the Island was under
Portuguese rule.
• Dutch intervention took place.
Following the kandyan wars, the Island was united under British rule
in 1815.
Armed uprising in1818 , uva rebellion and 1848 Matale Rebellion

eventually resulted their way of independence in 1948 but, remained a
domain of the British empire until 1972.
1972 the land became an independent nation and adopted its current
name(Sri Lanka) and a constitution was introduced in 1978.
Sri Lankan Civil war began in 1983 and ended in 2009.
SRI LANKAN CIVIL WAR
 Two groups of people:
1. SINHALESE (75%) 2.TAMILS(12%)
 British colonial rule- supported Tamil minority
 Independence in 1948- Democratic Rule
 Majority ruled and started discrimination against Tamils.
 Sinhala Only Act(1956 bill), Standardization
 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) – followed violence
 The events leading up to the LTTE’s collapse in 2009 were described as a
“bloodbath” by international and UN observers. The P resident of Sri Lanka
announced the death of LTTE commander Velupillai Prabhakaran and that the
government troops had won the war on May 19.
 Sri Lankan Civil War (1983-2009)- legacy of British imperialism
THE LAND OF OUR PARENTS - CHARACTERS
 FIRST FAMILY
 Sangarapillai (Periaiyah) – 75 year retired Shroff, widower and father of 11 children. Living alone, all of his
children have migrated to foreign countries.
 SECOND FAMILY
 Selvaratnam- 65 year old retired government servant. Father of three children who are settled in the west.
 Maheswary- Selvaratnam’s wife. 60 year old retired school teacher.
 THIRD FAMILY
 Aiyathurai- 50 year old farmer, widower, father of two children; Vasanthi (25)and Kannan(20)
The play sketches the miserable life of Sri Lankan Tamil community in the midst of Sri Lankan Civil war
The play shows the life of three neighboring families in Jaffna (northern part of Sri Lanka). The play depicts the
life of a group of parents who left behind in Jaffna by their children who have migrated to the west.
 The parents eagerly wait for their children’s arrival, but they never come back.
SUMMARY
 The action takes place on an unspecified day in march 1992
 Three neighbors introduced in the beginning.
 Sangarapillai is lying in the bed, physically and mentally feeble.
 The living room of the house on the right side contains exquisite furniture, where Maheswary and Selvaratnam are
sitting.
 Left side- poor family of farmer Aiyathurai.
 Song repeats two times(beginning and end) in the play..
 In the play we see he is very much concerning about his children. He said to Aiyathurai to go to the temple for
conducting pooja in the name of the birth star of one of his sons on his birthday.
 In the second family, Selvaratnam and his wife Maheswary are also concerning about their three children who also
have migrated.
 They find solace from their children’s past letters.
 If the parents who want to phone their children they must go to Colombo. Colombo is situated in the west part of Sri
Lanka, so things were not that much difficult there.
 Jaffna is the northern part of Sri Lanka and the organization (LTTE) was concentrated there, because it was a Tamil
populated area.
In the play Selvaratnam and Maheswary talk about the story of some parents who have died during their
journey to Colombo to phone their children.
Travelling expenses are very huge during the time and also the old parents may die due to some health issues
as a result of the long ship journey.
 In the play, these characters witness the signs of war and its effects when they hear the sound of helicopter.
 The third family is comparatively leading a normal way of living because Aiyathurai never sends his
children abroad and they are together in their house.
 Kannan, son of Aiyyathurai passes comments sarcastically about the parents who are intentionally send
their children abroad for a better way of living.
 He says that Sangarapillai is the general manager of a multinational companies and when he dies eleven
flags of eleven countries will flawn in his house. Because he sent his eleven children to eleven countries.
 When the play ends we see Sangarapillai dies and the neighbors waited for his children for a week but they
never come and his funeral is conducted by his neighbor.
 The present chaotic situation of Jaffna is completely depicted in the
 conversation between the characters
Mahes: The other day a woman who had gone to Colombo to phone her children came back
and in just half an hour collapsed and died. Would you believe it?
Selva: Three months ago, a friend of mine who went to Colombo to phone his son died there.
While he was speaking to his son he had a heart attack. Receiver in hand, he collapsed.
Mahes: What a pity.
Selva: Since he died in Colombo, they had a grand funeral for him. His children flew to
Colombo from England and Canada, of course they left after the funeral.
Mahes: Suppose he had died in Jaffna? The children could not have come.
Selva: Quite true it will be ideal to spend your last days in Colombo. Convenient for your
children too.
Mahes: You don’t even get a decent coffins in Jaffna, these days.
1.THEMES
Love and grief
Waiting
Migration
2. POSTCOLONIAL ASPECT
 Background music – glorifies the land, nation love

Chaotic atmosphere and their survival
Influence of colonialism
THANK YOU

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THE LAND OF OUR PARENTS

 Sri Lankan Tamil playwright, and

Armed uprising in1818 , uva rebellion and 1848 Matale Rebellion

 Background music – glorifies the land, nation love

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