{"id":100488,"date":"2022-09-27T04:33:18","date_gmt":"2022-09-27T04:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?p=100488"},"modified":"2022-09-27T04:33:56","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T04:33:56","slug":"why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Thuppahi \u2013 BY Michael Roberts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why Thuppahi\u00a0\u2013 BY\u00a0Michael Roberts<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/u><\/u><\/h2>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

Because I am quintessentially\u00a0thuppahi,\u00a0<\/em>that is, of mixed ethnic-stock, thus low, inferior, mongrel, pariah in the Asian scheme of things. Moreover, by stressing this dimension of my bloodlines as well as my socio-political background I can confront, challenge and undermine the thinking of those who are attached to notions of caste distinction and\/or \u201cracial\u201d superiority.\u00a0 As I have shown in\u00a0People Inbetween<\/em>\u00a0(1989, Sarvodaya), in British Ceylon imported racial theories of a supposedly scientific kind fused with locally prevalent caste theories against admixture to set up exclusivist lines of differentiation.<\/span><\/p>\n

In adopting this label here I am inspired by American example: remember that Black Americans started undermining the disparaging vocabulary of the Whites when they began to refer to themselves as \u201cNiggers\u201d [while yet confronting those Others who directed the term pejoratively at them].<\/span><\/p>\n

I have never been called a\u00a0k\u0101beri\u00a0<\/em>to my face; nor ever been called a\u00a0tuppahiy\u0101\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0k\u00e4rapott\u0101\u00a0<\/em>by those who mistakenly assumed me to be Burgher because of my surname. Perhaps this may have been due to the fact that I never had a fight during my school days.<\/span><\/p>\n

My exposure to this terminology began with the researches that led to\u00a0People Inbetween<\/em>.\u00a0The Burghers and the Middle Class in the Transformations within Sri Lanka, 1790s-1960s\u00a0<\/em>(Ratmalana: Sarvodaya Book Publishing Services, 1989)\u00a0<\/em>Many people assume that this book is a history of the Burghers. Wrong. It is a social history of the emergence of the middle class in the British period of Lanka\u2019s history and an exposition of the hegemony secured by the primate city of Colombo in the island\u2019s socio-political dispensation. Since the Burghers were the vanguard of the Ceylonese middle class in the nineteenth century and made up seven per cent of the city\u2019s population as late as 1921 they figure in the story in a central manner. After all, they were among the earliest Ceylonese nationalists and also dominated the sporting nationalist challenges to White supremacy on the cricket field from the 1880s.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, in the twentieth century the Burghers were also subject to disparagement on occasions as\u00a0k\u00e4rapotu lansi<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0para lansi<\/em>\u00a0and, even, though perhaps more rarely, as\u00a0tuppahi<\/em>. How come? My first chapter, entitled \u201cPejorative Phrases: The Anti-Colonial Response and Sinhala Perceptions of the Self through Images of the Burghers,\u201d addresses this issue. This chapter is deliberately placed before the \u201cIntroduction\u201d which is Chapter Two because, in that way, I signal the fact that the principle themes that I have outlined above feature in the rest of the book. In contrast the chapter on \u201cPejorative Phrases\u201d serves as a backdrop that conveys implications for contemporary times, while revealing deep patterns of sentiment that span several centuries. In brief, my argument therein is that long-standing [in the sense \u201ccontinuously reproduced\u201d] caste values opposed to mixture coalesced in British times with new Western intellectual currents of racist thought that also looked down upon mixtures of \u201crace.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of the material in the chapter, \u201dPejorative Phrases,\u201d was derived from anecdotal data collected in the post-1948 era and from my investigations in the 1980s. So I was casting the net backwards from such material, while merging the implications of these findings with information from both the British period and the pre-British periods.<\/span><\/p>\n

That was how \u201ctuppahi<\/em>\u201d and its associations were filled out and developed into the argument that caste and racial prejudices became fused in the context of anti-colonial nationalist emotions. But wait: you will still be puzzled and want to know \u201cwhat does\u00a0tuppahi\u00a0<\/em>mean?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, as employed in the nineteenth century, it meant (a) the Burghers, and particularly the Portuguese Burghers; (b) the outcastes and\/or specific outcastes such as the Rodi; and (3) the interpreters, for example those with the genitive\u00a0vamsa\u00a0<\/em>name\u00a0tuppahig\u0113<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was not a pure Sinhala word in origin. There are a numerous, interesting theories as to its etymological roots. As far as I could work out, it entered the Sinhala language through the impact of the Portuguese empire. There, in the sea lanes of the Indian Ocean in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the terms\u00a0Topaz<\/em>, or its variants\u00a0Tupasses\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Tupaz<\/em>\u00a0(all plural forms), emerged as a label for (1) Asian converts to Christianity; and\/or (2) those descended from liaisons between Asians or Africans and Portuguese \u2013 that is for those also who were also called\u00a0Mestizos<\/em>\u00a0and \u201chalf-castes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Having stepped backwards in time from the nineteenth century, let me now reverse gear and jump forward into the mid-twentieth century. There, in the heat of political ferment associated with the surge of a Sinhala linguistic nationalism that effected a political transformation in 1956, such demagogues as Philip Gunawardena and WS Karunaratne wielded the epithet\u00a0tuppahi<\/em>\u00a0powerfully to damn the Westernised English-speaking elites. It became a synonym for brown sahibs implicated as collaborators with the Western imperial order and its major sword, namely, good English. This gave the term a socialist edge. It was a tool in the attack on class privilege by those underprivileged or those elites stirring populist support.<\/span><\/p>\n

But my point remains.\u00a0Tuppahi\u00a0<\/em>has hues of caste and racist thinking that also brought it into line with indigenist fervour. This is where my material from the currents of Sinhalese nationalism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is revealing \u2026 starkly revelatory in fact.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thus on one occasion in 1892 the ardent nationalist, Anagarika Dharmapala, railed against the \u201chybrids\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0bastards\u00a0<\/em>of Sinhalese, who have become traitors to the country [and were] honoured with Christian names, given ranks and made leaders of society [during Dutch times].\u201d[1]<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0Dharmapala\u2019s thinking captivated one Pedrick de Silva, a Govigama from a coastal village between Colombo and Galle. He became Dharmapala\u2019s protege, changed his name to Piyadasa Sirisena and took to a career of journalist, author, poet and public orator (1875-1946). Sirisena, I emphasise here, was also an activist on the platforms of the temperance movement, the Ceylon National Congress and the Lanka Maha Jana Sabha in the first three decades of the twentieth century.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPejorative Phrases\u201d is partly based on the analysis of Sirisena\u2019s first three novels. Three nationalist themes can be said to permeate his works: a critique of the Sinhala people who had become Christians, a critique of the Westernised Sinhalese, and an emphasis on the greatness and purity of the Sinhala civilisation in the past.[2]<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0It is through his novels that I came to the theory that caste and racist ideologies opposed to the mixing of blood was one facet of Sinhalese political thought in this period.<\/span><\/p>\n

This emphasis was bolstered by the influence of Buddhist philosophical leanings in favour of Stability and Order. Thus I argue that Sirisena\u2019s pet dislikes add up to the following equation: mixed bloods = unclean = unstable and fickle = disordered.\u00a0 In contrast, to be Arya Sinhala was to be pure\u00a0(pirisidu)\u00a0<\/em>and to be the epitome of Virtue, Stability and Order. As set out in vertical columns, the picture is thus:<\/span><\/p>\n

Mixed bloods (sankara<\/em>)[3]<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>Arya Sinhala<\/span><\/p>\n

unclean (a-pirisidu)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 pure (pirisidu<\/em>)<\/span><\/p>\n

unstable (capala<\/em>)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 stable<\/span><\/p>\n

bad\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 virtuous<\/span><\/p>\n

disordered\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ordered<\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, in many of the plots in Sirisena\u2019s novels it is these virtues of the Sinhala people that were endangered. The spread of foreign power (parad\u0113sing\u0113 balaya<\/em>)\u00a0<\/em>was the source of this danger, a danger so enormous that the total disappearance of the Sinhala\u00a0j\u0101tiya\u00a0<\/em>could not be ruled out.[4]<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>In this perception, the Burghers were at the vanguard of this threat: themselves mixed and therefore low on the one hand and, on the other hand, a corrupting force drawing Sinhala youth into their degenerate lifeways.<\/span><\/p>\n

That, then, is the reason why I wear\u00a0tuppahi<\/em>\u00a0on shirt and forehead as shield and counter-weapon. Burgher I am not; but a person of great mix on both paternal and maternal sides,\u00a0k\u0101beri<\/em>\u00a0with liquorice-all-sorts and god-knows-what in my pedigree, I am. Yes,\u00a0sankara\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0tuppahi\u00a0<\/em>I definitely am.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

[1] Dharmapala,\u00a0Return to Righteousness<\/em>, ed. by A. Guruge, Colombo: Ministry of Cultural Affairs, 1965, p 524.<\/span><\/p>\n

[2] This summary is based on a reading of his first thee novels, two of his subsequent novels and a conversation with BKA Wickramasinghe of the Sinhala department, Colombo University. Wicktramasinghe has one chapter on Sirisena in his\u00a0Samskrtika Sangattana: Sinhala Navakat\u0101v\u0113 Mukya T\u0113m\u0101va<\/em>\u00a0, Kelaniya: Ph.d dissertation, 1976 [Cultural struggles: The Major Theme in the Modern Sinhala Novel].<\/span><\/p>\n

[3] This term can also be transliterated as isamkara [I have senn it so transcribed in Indian literature]..<\/span><\/p>\n

[4] Sirisena,\u00a0Taruniiyakag\u0113 Pr\u0113maya<\/em>, 3rd\u00a0edn., Colombo: Gunasena & Company, 1984, p. 12.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why Thuppahi\u00a0\u2013 BY\u00a0Michael Roberts Because I am quintessentially\u00a0thuppahi,\u00a0that is, of mixed ethnic-stock, thus low, inferior, mongrel, pariah in the Asian scheme of things. Moreover, by stressing this dimension of my bloodlines as well as my socio-political background I can confront, challenge and undermine the thinking of those who are attached to notions of caste distinction […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":88737,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,42710],"tags":[48064,29441,687],"class_list":{"0":"post-100488","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-aside","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-articles","8":"category-michael-roberts","9":"tag-british-ceylon","10":"tag-michael-roberts","11":"tag-sri-lanka","12":"post_format-post-format-aside"},"yoast_head":"\nWhy Thuppahi \u2013 BY Michael Roberts - eLanka<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Because I am quintessentially thuppahi, that is, of mixed ethnic-stock, thus low, inferior, mongrel, pariah in the Asian scheme of things.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Thuppahi \u2013 BY Michael Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Because I am quintessentially thuppahi, that is, of mixed ethnic-stock, thus low, inferior, mongrel, pariah in the Asian scheme of things.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"eLanka\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eLanka.com.au\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-09-27T04:33:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-09-27T04:33:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Michael-Roberts-eLanka.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"160\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"184\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"eLanka admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"eLanka admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"eLanka admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/f6e635b74ab35ef88a68a9973cacc5bd\"},\"headline\":\"Why Thuppahi \u2013 BY Michael Roberts\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-09-27T04:33:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-27T04:33:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/\"},\"wordCount\":1425,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Michael-Roberts-eLanka.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"British Ceylon\",\"Michael Roberts\",\"Sri Lanka\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Articles\",\"Michael Roberts\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/\",\"name\":\"Why Thuppahi \u2013 BY Michael Roberts - eLanka\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Michael-Roberts-eLanka.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-09-27T04:33:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-27T04:33:56+00:00\",\"description\":\"Because I am quintessentially thuppahi, that is, of mixed ethnic-stock, thus low, inferior, mongrel, pariah in the Asian scheme of things.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Michael-Roberts-eLanka.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Michael-Roberts-eLanka.jpg\",\"width\":160,\"height\":184,\"caption\":\"Michael Roberts\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Articles\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/category\/articles\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Why Thuppahi \u2013 BY Michael Roberts\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/\",\"name\":\"eLanka\",\"description\":\"eLanka - Sri lanka events in Australia\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization\",\"name\":\"eLanka\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/elanka-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/elanka-logo.jpg\",\"width\":192,\"height\":82,\"caption\":\"eLanka\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eLanka.com.au\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/elanka\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SriLankanDownUnder\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/f6e635b74ab35ef88a68a9973cacc5bd\",\"name\":\"eLanka admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e0d346a7f97b80e861cdeafe7b7de523b59f5060666f1a5da8369457bf9b6c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e0d346a7f97b80e861cdeafe7b7de523b59f5060666f1a5da8369457bf9b6c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"eLanka admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/author\/elanka\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Thuppahi \u2013 BY Michael Roberts - eLanka","description":"Because I am quintessentially thuppahi, that is, of mixed ethnic-stock, thus low, inferior, mongrel, pariah in the Asian scheme of things.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Thuppahi \u2013 BY Michael Roberts","og_description":"Because I am quintessentially thuppahi, that is, of mixed ethnic-stock, thus low, inferior, mongrel, pariah in the Asian scheme of things.","og_url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/","og_site_name":"eLanka","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eLanka.com.au\/","article_published_time":"2022-09-27T04:33:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-09-27T04:33:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":160,"height":184,"url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Michael-Roberts-eLanka.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"eLanka admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"eLanka admin","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/"},"author":{"name":"eLanka admin","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/f6e635b74ab35ef88a68a9973cacc5bd"},"headline":"Why Thuppahi \u2013 BY Michael Roberts","datePublished":"2022-09-27T04:33:18+00:00","dateModified":"2022-09-27T04:33:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/"},"wordCount":1425,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Michael-Roberts-eLanka.jpg","keywords":["British Ceylon","Michael Roberts","Sri Lanka"],"articleSection":["Articles","Michael Roberts"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/","url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/","name":"Why Thuppahi \u2013 BY Michael Roberts - eLanka","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Michael-Roberts-eLanka.jpg","datePublished":"2022-09-27T04:33:18+00:00","dateModified":"2022-09-27T04:33:56+00:00","description":"Because I am quintessentially thuppahi, that is, of mixed ethnic-stock, thus low, inferior, mongrel, pariah in the Asian scheme of things.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Michael-Roberts-eLanka.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Michael-Roberts-eLanka.jpg","width":160,"height":184,"caption":"Michael Roberts"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-thuppahi-by-michael-roberts-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Articles","item":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/category\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Why Thuppahi \u2013 BY Michael Roberts"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#website","url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/","name":"eLanka","description":"eLanka - Sri lanka events in Australia","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization","name":"eLanka","url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/elanka-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/elanka-logo.jpg","width":192,"height":82,"caption":"eLanka"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eLanka.com.au\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/elanka\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SriLankanDownUnder"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/f6e635b74ab35ef88a68a9973cacc5bd","name":"eLanka admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e0d346a7f97b80e861cdeafe7b7de523b59f5060666f1a5da8369457bf9b6c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e0d346a7f97b80e861cdeafe7b7de523b59f5060666f1a5da8369457bf9b6c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"eLanka admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew"],"url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/author\/elanka\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100488"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100489,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100488\/revisions\/100489"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}