I Am Kandy

The Guarantee Shroff

C.K. Sankarakumaran

C.K. Sankarakumaran stepped into the shoes of his father and grandfather as a guarantee shroff, a kind of banker. He reflects on his two homes of Kandy and Jaffna.

Interview language: English

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Our roots were there

They had their elders in Jaffna and they would have preferred to have the assistance of the elders at the time of delivery. So shortly before that time they would go there and live with them for a month or so, have the baby and come back a month later.

Every one of us, five of us in the family, were born in Jaffna in our ancestral house.

Every April holidays we went there for a month with the… entire family moved to Jaffna to enjoy the holidays there. We didn’t lose touch with Jaffna. Our roots were there and we were happy to… happy to learn about our roots and so on.

It was more of a village life than the town life. Of course we enjoyed the frequent trips to Keerimalai tank for our baths. My grandfather was very particular to teach us the traditional games that were played there.

What do you call that? In English, I’m not very sure… The game of thaatchi… I think two teams of people are made to stand at two ends. And they are supposed to break through… break through the barriers without being touched by one of the opposing team. Then you have made it to the end. It’s a game of dodging, of learning to dodge anybody on the opposing side being able to touch you. If you can make it to the finishing touch then you score the points.

That sort of very simple traditional games we were taught by my grandfather so that we didn’t forget the values of the old days you see.

(Laughs) I was the tiniest person in the team I think (laughs), so I must have been just running around behind somebody else (laughs).”

About this portrait

Photographer: Kannan Arunasalam, Menika van der Poorten

Interviewer: Kannan Arunasalam

Assistant: Menika van der Poorten

Editor: Kannan Arunasalam

Recorded: November 12, 2010

First published: August 3, 2023

Last edited: November 7, 2023

Comments

Kannan Arunasalam

November 13, 2010 at 12:48 pm

When we first met the Sankarakumarans, they were preparing for the Kandy Esala Perahera that was coming up later in the month. Every year, the Sankarakumarans hosted a private party from the veranda of their family home in Kandy town. It's one of the best spots to see the procession as it passes by. It was their way of giving back to the people that have helped out in their household. Mrs Sankarakumaran was busy getting her kitchen ready for the annual function. To add to her chores, their children and grandchildren, now living in America, England and Australia, also planned to visit. Whenever we visited Kandy on the project, we often dropped in on the Sankarakumarans. They ran an open house and despite these commitments, they were always generous with their time and hospitality. On the walls of their lovely home, hung portraits which took you on a journey that started in Jaffna and travelled across the hill country, and which spanned five generations. In true Jaffna style, our initial conversations explored my Jaffna connections; where I was from and whether they knew anyone in my family. Jaffna, and it seemed Kandy too, were small worlds. Not surprisingly, it turned out that both my uncles, who lived in Kandy for much of their lives, were friends of the Sankarakumarans. "How are Wicky's children doing these days?" he asked of my cousins, whose father I always knew simply as "Kandy Mama". Although the Sankarakumarans haven't visited Jaffna for a very long time, they remained connected to their hometown. It was all around us on the walls and even in the tastes of Jaffna that Mrs Sankarakumaran served us. Homemade sweets and savouries from Mrs Sankarakumaran's kitchen. With each visit we tasted a different delicacy. Laddus and mothahams and tasty vadais. Even though the memories have been well preserved in the sights and smells of Jaffna that lingered around the house, Mr and Mrs Sankarakumaran were also Kandyans at heart. It is not impossible to have two homes. Mr Sankarakumaran was a wonderful conversationalist. "Jaffna is sometimes called the Scotland of Ceylon. I suppose because both are equally tightfisted," Mr Sankarakumaran chortled. How could you not be tempted to listen on? I helped myself to another laddu, eased back into my chair and listened, as Mr Sankarakumaran took me on a journey back to another time and place.
Shan Nalliah, Gandhian, Norway

December 4, 2010 at 01:07 pm

Thank you for helping us meet our lost relatives from every corner of this wonderful land!
avtar

December 6, 2010 at 04:51 am

A very candid narrative of an interesting personality who combined the best of both cities during such a turbulent time in our country. The Sankarakumarans have mixed themselves well in to the multicultural and multiethnic fabric of Kandy with such ease. Very good work, I am Jaffna!!
(@iam_project) (@iam_project)

November 21, 2012 at 05:01 pm

I was saddened to hear of C.K. Sankarakumaran's passing earlier this year http://t.co/Ny7LQCwm disappearing #lka narratives
(@iam_project) (@iam_project)

November 21, 2012 at 05:53 pm

"Jaffna is sometimes called the Scotland of Ceylon, because both are equally tightfisted" Sankarakumaran 1926 - 2012 http://t.co/Ny7LQCwm
Kaushinie Panditaratne

March 6, 2017 at 01:43 am

Thank you so VERY VERY much for this glimpse of a man I admired and liked for ages. Uncle Sanka has been an institution in Kandy society from his time at the Hatton National Bank, and for many years after his retirement, he continued to foster, bond and deepen the relationships he first forged professionally simply by being his gentle unassuming and wonderful self. After my move to Europe I met him rarely but was oft and again a topic when I spoke to my own father when inquiring after friends left behind. But now I have his twinkling smile to look at again. He and the family are a wonderful testemant to how mutual harmony during the hardest of times can be preserved however hard it may be emotionally. You have chosen wisely to include him!