The capital and largest city of Sri Lanka, located on the island’s southwestern coast, where Arjie and his family live throughout Funny Boy. Colombo is very ethnically diverse, with only slightly more Sinhalese than Tamil inhabitants, although it is surrounded by a primarily Sinhalese region of the country.
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Colombo Term Timeline in Funny Boy
The timeline below shows where the term Colombo appears in Funny Boy. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
1. Pigs Can’t Fly
...in their room about the danger of him turning “funny” and becoming “the laughingstock of Colombo.” Appa is furious at Amma for letting their son dress up in her clothing.
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2. Radha Aunty
...“hurt and everything” because of the trouble. They worry that the violence will spread to Colombo. When they learn that Anil gave Arjie a ride, Ammachi and the aunts are horrified,...
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...lunch, everyone is silent and only listens to the radio, which reports a curfew in Colombo. During the meal, Radha Aunty arrives and reveals that, under her scarf, “the right half...
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Over the next week, riots spread and stop, but Colombo remains safe. At play rehearsal on Saturday, Anil asks Radha Aunty about her wounds and...
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3. See No Evil, Hear No Evil
...happier than ever because of Daryl’s presence—but, shortly before they are set to return to Colombo, Daryl and Amma get into a huge argument because of his plans to visit Jaffna,...
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...not there, but appears to be lying, and yells that they (as “rich folk from Colombo”) do not care about her son. Amma insists that they just want Somaratne to help...
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4. Small Choices
...praise Arjie’s family—the government has done the same thing, illegally putting up posters, all around Colombo. But Appa tells Jegan he “shouldn’t have done that” because “these days it is necessary...
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...for the next inspection. The hotel is in a small, poor town three hours from Colombo. After their inspection, Jegan and Appa invite Arjie to sit with them for their evening...
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...news about the violence in the rest of the country, but feeling relatively safe in Colombo. But the riots were sudden, and more could happen at any time.
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Arjie and Jegan grow closer; after they return to Colombo, they start going jogging every evening. (Diggy is jealous, which Arjie savors.) One day, Jegan...
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...sleep alone, so Arjie joins her, and they hope they will make it back to Colombo unscathed the next afternoon.
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Back in Colombo, Jegan avoids the family and then moves out the next day. Arjie asks Amma if...
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6. Riot Journal: An Epilogue
...early hours of the morning and Appa informed the family that “there was trouble in Colombo. All the Tamil houses near the Kanaththa Cemetery had been burnt.” The family is dumbstruck...
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...Arjie writes that the rioters have returned, yelling that the Tamil Tigers are now in Colombo—a story that the radio denies. Ammachi and Appachi left for Kanthi’s house, but did not...
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