Venerable Walatara Sobhita Nayaka Thero serves as chief monk of the Galwadugoda temple, known for its dark stone architecture and long institutional history. He speaks of monastic discipline and meditation practice as daily forms of continuity. In his office, beside palm-leaf manuscripts and administrative files, stands an ageing record player. Since his youth, he has kept a collection of vinyl recordings, including Buddhist devotional songs performed by Muslim artists.

Upasena Thenuwara moved from Galle to Colombo in 1965 to work at Car Mart before establishing his own small garage on Lauries Road. Over time he became known among Volkswagen Beetle owners as one of the few mechanics in the city who truly understood these cars.

Retired schoolteacher D. S. Amarasekara reflects on the history of his village, Baddegama. Drawing on stories passed down by elders, temple traditions and fragments from the Mahavamsa, he traces how the village’s name and identity evolved over centuries — from the rice-producing lands of Sahalgamuwa to a tax-paying settlement under Dutch rule.

Mrs Haniah Sultanbawa became the first Muslim woman from Sri Lanka’s Southern Province to graduate from a university when she completed her degree at the University of Ceylon in 1960. She recalls the expectations placed on young Muslim women at the time, the encouragement she received from her father and a missionary teacher, and the challenges she faced as the only Muslim girl studying at Methodist College in Colombo.

Parakrama Dahanayake reflects on growing up in the political shadow of his uncle, former Prime Minister Wijeyananda Dahanayake. Having served for years as his uncle’s private secretary, he recalls a life shaped by politics and explains why he eventually decided to enter public life himself.

Mohammed Hussein Ismail, known to everyone in Galle Fort as “Major Hussein”, is believed to be the oldest man living in Galle Fort. He recalls the years he spent working in Trincomalee after the Second World War and the British soldiers who became his customers.

Mr Reuben, a former teacher from Pedlar Street in Galle Fort, is remembered by many of his former students, including doctors, lawyers and police officers who still show him quiet respect. He inherited a small lending library in 1958, once a meeting place for readers and political discussions.