‘Where Serfdom Thrives’

Dear Sir,

We are gradually republishing out-of print books about Tamils in Sri Lanka using print-on-demand.

The latest one is titled “Where Serfdom Thrives – The Plantation Tamils of Sri Lanka” by Mayan Vije and published in 1987 by the Tamil Information Centre (TIC). [Madras, India : Published by Tamil Information & Research Unit on behalf of Tamil Information Centre, London, United Kingdom, 1987.]

There is a description of the book below. This is widely available from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, book depositary, Abe books and other on-line retailers for under £10 including shipping.

All proceeds go to support the work of the TIC.

Best  Regards,
Seggy T Segaran

This book is dedicated to the plantation Tamils of Sri Lanka whose suffering continues endlessly.

The term ‘plantation Tamils’ is used to describe ‘persons of Indian origin’ who were bought to Ceylon in the 19th century by British plantation owners to work in the coffee and tea plantations.

While the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils has received world-wide attention the tribulations of the plantation Tamils remain unexposed. This publication is an attempt to focus attention at least on some of the problems of the plantation Tamils.

In Ceylon’s Tea Garden

Here is no hamlet…
Nor deserted village
Where manhood grew…
Where history made
The sword of fire

Here is but a row
Of tin-roofed lines…
The very warehouse
Where serfdom thrives.
Within a scanty space
Of ten by twelve
There is the hearth home
Drenched in soot and smoke

To eat and sleep
To incubate and breed
To meet master’s greed
To meet master’s greed

CV Velupillai