Yakada Yakā: The Continuing Saga of Sonnaby Von Bloss and the Burgher RailwaymenYakada Yaka is the second part of the Burgher trilogy that began with The Jam Fruit Tree When the conquering British roll out the first railway steam-driven locomotive in Sri Lanka, it causes quite a stir. The smoke-spewing, banshee-wailing, fearsome black thing hisses like a thousand cobras... and the villagers declare that this Thing is an Iron Demon-a yakada yaka. The Burghers who drive these Iron Demons have a penchant for challenging authority and courting trouble, sometimes just to liven things up in the railway outposts... and so it is that Sonnaboy and Meerwald chase a large group of villagers all across Anuradhapura, mother-naked but not much bothered by it, Ben Godlieb conjures up a corpse in his cowcatcher, Dickie Byrd single-handedly demolishes a Pentecostal Mission and is hailed as the messiah of the Railway fraternity, and Basil Van der Smaght filches a human heart and feeds it to the Nawalapitiya railway staff ...and to cap it all, Sonnaboy takes French Leave to act in The Bridge on the River Kwai! '(Muller) tells his tale with a gentle humour often bordering on tenderness, but couched in the vigorous rugged localese. Almost immediately we find ourselves empathizing with Muller's roistering band that sins and prays with equal zest.' -Business Standard '... The Burghers ...believed in living life to the hilt. Every situation occasioned wild revels, and there was nothing that could not be solved through a brawl.' -India Today. |
From inside the book
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Page 14
... Wellawatte to take home and chop . ' Ian , on learning of this , snivelled his objections . He was in perpetual terror of this uncle with arms as thick as the trunks of tamarind trees . Elsie wrathfully declared that nothing would ...
... Wellawatte to take home and chop . ' Ian , on learning of this , snivelled his objections . He was in perpetual terror of this uncle with arms as thick as the trunks of tamarind trees . Elsie wrathfully declared that nothing would ...
Page 74
... Wellawatte and Dehiwela . The British had built a black , imposing bridge at Wellawatte . There were the usual notices , of course : ' Trespassers on the railway will be prosecuted ' , but nobody paid any heed . For hundreds of ...
... Wellawatte and Dehiwela . The British had built a black , imposing bridge at Wellawatte . There were the usual notices , of course : ' Trespassers on the railway will be prosecuted ' , but nobody paid any heed . For hundreds of ...
Page 140
... Wellawatte , Kinno Mottau also surrendered to the inevitable . With Beryl gone he turned his attentions on Olga Martinus of Dehiwela who constantly moaned about the way her husband neglected her . Let us then turn the spotlight away ...
... Wellawatte , Kinno Mottau also surrendered to the inevitable . With Beryl gone he turned his attentions on Olga Martinus of Dehiwela who constantly moaned about the way her husband neglected her . Let us then turn the spotlight away ...
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Common terms and phrases
accepted Anuradhapura arrack asked baby began Beryl better bloody Bloss Board boys brake bridge bring British brother brought bugger bungalow Burgher called Carloboy Ceylon Colombo coming decided door drink driver elephant engine everything eyes face fellow fireman Gampola garden gave girls give guard hands happened head heart hell husband John keep Kinno Kirby knew later light lived look Meerwald mind morning mother moved needed never night Peebles Railway raised road scream seemed shouting side signal Sinhalese sleepers Sonnaboy Sonnaboy's sort station stationmaster stop sure talk Tamil tell thing thought told took track train tree turn wait waves whistle whole wife woman