Denzil's Stories

Dear Mudiyansegewatta Road The residents of Mudiyansegewatta were captivating companions, marked by their zen-like attitude, kindness, humour, occasional poignancy, adventurous spirit, and inquisitive nature. Despite being a mere ten kilometres from the heart of Colombo, the village appeared tranquil and slow-paced through the eyes of the narrator, Denzil, who spent his formative years there. The narrative unfolds in the sleepy, backwater setting of Mudiyansegewatta during the 1960s and early 1970s. Within these pages, the author unveils the streetscape and introduces many characters, each with names with distinctly European flavour. As the story progresses, readers are granted a glimpse into the tight-knit, predominantly Catholic community that shaped Denzil’s upbringing. It   takes a village to raise a child. This is the story about the street where I grew up. Stoked with adrenaline after passing the Dalugama church compound, I left Kohalwila Road and entered Mudiyansegewatta Roa...

Dear Dalugama church and the surrounds Denzil Jayasinghe 12 min read · Jun 17, 2021 2 1 It takes a village to raise a child. This is my catchphrase for this writing. This story is about the harmony and camaraderie of my home village. My experiences as an adolescent and a teenager leading to my very early twenties in a community I am proud of. The period is in the nostalgic seventies. A very different era. It is about the mementos I have carried with me from my early life in Dalugama, my home village. It is located just ten kilometres from the central business district in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. I left my home village in 1977, leaving Sri Lanka for good. I did not live to see the gradual change in the intervening forty-five years. My beloved home village is neither a suburban city nor a home village. It is virtually unrecognisable to me. The memories I am about to describe are locked in my head in a frozen time bubble. What is the best way to express my experience of the home...