On the day Sri Lankan Tamil high jumper Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam won the gold medal at the Asian Games in 1958, communal riots broke out in Colombo, and he was left feeling torn: "I felt I am not there, and here I am putting Sri Lanka in the sports headlines." Ethirveerasingam is a former high jumper who represented Ceylon at two summer Olympic games in Helsinki in 1952 and again in Melbourne in 1956. He won the gold medal at the 1958 Tokyo Asian Games, the first gold medal of any kind for Sri Lanka (Ceylon). He talks about his career in international athletics, and how he became a go-between during the ceasefire between the Bandaranaike/Wickremesinghe government of the day and the Tamil Tigers.

The poet and writer, Dominic Jeeva, talks about growing up with caste, and why, despite its many flaws, he’s still proud to be a Jaffna man. 

Esan has been driving passengers around Jaffna in his trusty Morris Oxford for nearly twenty years. He remembers the times of scarcity following government embargoes on fuel and the need to adapt to survive. 

Sri Nagulesawara Kurrukkal, the chief priest at the Nagulesawaran temple at Keeramalai, talks about the impact of the war on the temple and the changes brought about since the end of hostilities.

The 105-year-old Veerakathy is very likely the oldest man in Jaffna. The tobacco farmer from Velanai has already outlived six of his sons. He talks about a Jaffna way of life that has helped him live a very long life.

T. Arasanayagam, poet and English teacher, talks about his childhood in Jaffna and his discovery of “the other”. He also reflects on his experiences of violence up close in Kandy. 

Dr Sivarajah is an expert in community medicine and a lecturer at the University of Jaffna. He reflects on the last thirty years of living in Jaffna and how the challenges keep him on the peninsula.

Sister Pushpam Gnanapragasam reflects on the Jaffna identity. And when the first French missionaries arrived in Jaffna and the role the nuns played during the last months of the war.

Poet and teacher, Somasundramoillai Pathmanathan, or “Sopa”, remembers the days when the baker in Jaffna was Sinhalese and the tailor was Muslim. He reflects on the hardships people of Jaffna faced over decades or war.

Bala Tampoe has been the head of the Ceylon Mercantile Industrial and General Workers Union for over fifty years. He talks about the psychology behind a successful strike and his identity as a workers’ leader. (Interview recorded in Colombo.)

Mohammed Yassin was expelled along with over five thousand other Muslim families from the Jaffna peninsula. He talks about the day that changed his life and his return to his hometown.

Jaffna’s Bishop, Rt. Rev. Dr. Thomas Saundaranayagam, reflects on Jaffna’s earlier relationship with the south, the ruptures that threatened it, and the potential for reconciliation.

Mrs Subramanium is the personal assistant to the head of one of Jaffna’s most popular newspapers. She reflects on her approach to life and death and why, despite the constant pleas from her diasporan family, she refuses to leave Jaffna.