I am British Sri Lankan…or am I a Sri-Lankan Brit? My answer always changes when people ask me where I am from. Lately the spiel goes that I was born in the UK but my parents are from Sri Lanka. It’s a tiresomely long-winded explanation but such is my story; someone born on one island to parents from another. For me it’s been a particularly troublesome pairing. One island a former mighty colonial power that conquered and subjugated the other- my native homeland. This is me, my heritage, the dichotomy of my cultural identity. Both nations are central to who I am. But tell me to pick a side and I can’t pick a side because I don’t feel completely at home on either island. Here is my tumultuous tale of two islands.
