Shelf Life

The end of the year holidays is a time for tidying. Winter cleaning if you will. So once a year, I rifle through my books- sorting, shelving, re-organising to make more shelf space, for the inevitable book buys of the next year.

Books and I, we have a long history. All 25 years of my existence. Mostly because, 1. I am unable to resist buying books. 2. I can never give away any of my books- not even those childhood ladybird books that I will likely never look at again 3. I kinda really love books.

Maybe one day, I will get around to retrieving a hoard from unreliable borrowers, printing bookplates and cataloging them. But for now, some photographic documentation will have to do.

What’s on your bookshelf?

ps-

For those of you who like looking at bookshelves, here’s a tiny treat of the eyecandy variety:

Bookshelves, bookshelves and more bookshelves!

Discovering Richmond Castle

I discovered its existence in the pages of an airline magazine which you can see here: Richmond Castle- A Tale of Grandeur and Romance  One that saves me from having to offer a historical overview of the mansion nestled away by the Kalu Ganga, not too distant from the Kalutara town.

I am intrigued by old buildings. Especially those with winding histories and tragic stories and Richmond Castle worked its magic on me on a plane from London to Colombo years ago. The opportunity never presented itself until Zissous and I decided that Kalutara was worth an exploration. The town has always been a blip on travels to the South, marked by the pause of pious driver who leaves coins at the bodhi. The town is unexceptional (the townsfolk oddly confused by an inquiry into where the Perera and Sons was) and there’s nowhere anyone could recommend to have a nice lunch outside the hotel stretch. We ended up having sandwiches at a bleak little seaside place that overcharged for dry bread and lime soda. A couple of people mentioned a place called Panorama which looked shady at best and booked out for a wedding. There were also no panoramic views to speak of.

Kalu Ganga

After having wandered around the temple, we left in search of the intriguing Richmond Castle, its waning magic still drawing in a smattering of visitors.

Richmond Castle: A First Glimpse

The Castle was home to Nanayakkara Rajawasala Appuhamilage Don Arthur De Silva Wijeysinghe Siriwardena, the Mudaliyar of Kalutara District during the early 1900s and an lavish life did he live. I couldn’t help but imagine it as a setting for Michelle de Krester’s protagonist Sam Obeysekere’s (The Hamilton Case)  family home gilded with glittering paraphernalia from the Empire and flamboyant colonial personalities with dark secrets hosting grandiose garden parties. The story reads that Arthur was inspired by the extravagant home of a school chum, who happened to be a Maharajah (story magic!). Young Arthur moved to his fabulous mansion upon marrying Clarice Matilda Maude Suriyabandara, living in a whirlwind of luxurious banquets and visiting dignitaries.

However, the couple’s life was coloured with the sadness of childlessness. The property is scattered with marble cherubs which the couple were believed to gaze upon longingly, their marriage deteriorating into separation.

Clarice lived in a nunnery til the age of 80, while Arthur lived in solitude in the Queens Hotel in Kandy until the age of 59, bequeathing his wealth to the Public Trustee’s Office and never returning to Richmond Castle.

The Castle is now in parts a school for underprivileged children in the area, its lavish rooms transformed into makeshift classrooms but the enchantment of its intriguing history lingers like the ghosts of long ago party guests wandering its gardens at dawn.

Salon

The Grand Ballroom

Stairway

Green

Remembrance

More Green

Blue

Spiral

Majestic

Marble Baby

So if you’re taking the long-route to get to the South for some beach time, well worth checking out on the way. A wonderful bit of local history.

Getting there: Easy access from Galle Road just past the Kalutara town. http://g.co/maps/2u8pb

A Year in Black, White and Colour II

Continued from here.

Cambridge’s May Week in June ended with a bang.

July was for wanderings

Good times with friends

And that little matter of graduation

Along with a final Cambridge sunset

Moved back home

Rediscovered Colombo

The old

But new in a city that had stayed closed up for so long

Time for travels had come (photo by my talented friend Tanya Lazar, you can find more of her photography here)

Some closer to home

Trincomalee

Richmond Castle, Kalutara

Some Far

Petronas Towers, Kuala Lampur

Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, Penang

Batu Caves, Gombak

Spent with good friends

and good food (Raju’s roti canai, Petaling Jaya)

All travels (and good things) must come to an end

With lazy days

And new beginnings

So concludes 2011.

It’s been a blast.

A Year in Black, White and Colour I

This year has been a long one. I’ve felt it pass by in leaps and long drawn out pockets of exhausting slowness, in the incomprehensible way that time does. Contacting and expanding with the matter of fact-ness of a science experiment.

One of my favourite things to do at the end of a year is to look back on it in pictures.

And, my goodness what a clichéd rollercoaster 2011 has been.

There were fireworks on new years eve.

There was so much reading.

Many, many days that resembled this, as I wrote essays looking out on Jesus Green.

February to May looked a lot like this.

Meanwhile,

Spring came to Cambridge.

Flowers bloomed

And bloomed

Adventures were few, but memorable,

Colourful

And always a good laugh.

June rowed into Cambridge hand in hand with a lovely British summer

For some serious relaxation times

And ended in the most exciting way possible – Glee live at the O2.

Which meant seeing Darren Criss live!

To be continued.