The Elephant Gates is a recollection of the simple pleasures of childhood caught up in an inevitable tide of change. With vivid and touching detail, it recalls Weeratunge’s life, home, and family in her native village of Depanama on the island of Sri Lanka. Weeratunge’s memories reveal a yearning for past times when traditions like celebrating the New Year or a Full Moon Day, still endured. Her poignant reminiscences evoke compassion for a misunderstood vagrant and a captive elephant, and curiosity for the appearance of the Pot-Bellied Merchant and Uncle Robert the Capitalist. She celebrates everyday heroes like the Coconut-Plucker, the Cook of Sweet Meats, and the Buffalo-Herdsman. With delicate diplomacy, cultural change is signaled by events such as the abandoning of the firewood hearth and the arrival of the television. 
 These intricately woven stories are told with an engaging voice and graceful prose. Time, as it often does, has softened the edges and imparted a gentle humor in each vignette, whether in describing a rice harvest or sharing a game of checkers on the veranda. Ultimately, The Elephant Gates reaffirms our innate affinity for home, family, and the need to belong.

The Elephant Gates: Vibrant Reflections of Life, Family, and Tradition in Sri Lanka

Biographies & Memoirs

Weeratunge, Chamalee

Memoirs

River Grove Books

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Books by Weeratunge, Chamalee

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Weeratunge, Chamalee. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Elephant Gates: Vibrant Reflections of Life, Family, and Tradition in Sri Lanka