Adrija

“And even though the photos are black and white, they gleam
incandescent like all the colours of a royal flush. This island is a beautiful
place, despite being filled with fools and savages. And if these photos of
yours are the only ones that outlive you, maybe that’s an ace that you can
keep.”
― Shehan Karunatilaka, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

“All stories are recycled and all stories are unfair. Many get luck, and
many get misery. Many are born to homes with books, many grow up in
the swamps of war. In the end, all becomes dust. All stories conclude
with a fade to black.”
― Shehan Karunatilaka, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

“They burned everything. Everything I did. Everything I saw. All
gone.’
‘It takes more than photos to stop this train, putha. Leave your pity
party, brother. Think of why you were Down There. What was your
purpose? Was it just gambling and taking photos and squeezing cock?’
‘I was there to witness. That is all. All those sunrises and all those
massacres existed because I filmed them. Now, they are as dead as me.’
‘You can whine. Or you can work.”
― Shehan Karunatilaka, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

“We are educated Colombo Tamils. We must be careful and not attract
attention. You understand, no?’
You think of the lottery of birth and how everything else is
mythology, stories the ego tells itself to justify fortune or explain away
injustice. You wonder if you should hold your tongue.
‘Uncle, this country was inherited by arrack-swillers who sent their
children to British schools. Mostly Sinhala – but not all. What they all
were was Colombians. And being an English-speaking Colombian
exempts us from the rest of this country’s sufferings.’
‘I didn’t know there were Marxists left in this country,’ says Stanley,
giving you the fakest of smiles as he rises to leave.”
― Shehan Karunatilaka, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida