WHERE GOD BEGAN

Where God Began

Where God Began is a powerful and moving account of exile, displacement and survival set against the backdrop of the Sri Lankan Civil War. Through the journey of a young man searching for safety and belonging, this novel explores the struggles of refugees, the loss of home and the uncertain paths taken in pursuit of a better future.

📖 About the Book

Suspecting that their son Nishant is becoming involved with the Tamil Tigers’ liberation movement during the height of Sri Lanka’s civil war, his parents make a painful decision. They sell their land to fund his illegal journey across the world towards the promised safety of Canada.

What follows is a harrowing journey through uncertainty, as Nishant is passed from one immigration agent to another, smuggled across borders, detained and repeatedly forced to start again. Along the way, he encounters countless refugees from South Asia and Africa, each carrying their own stories of loss, survival and displacement.

While refugee experiences are often told through the lens of life before leaving home or after reaching a new country, Where God Began focuses on the difficult journey in between. Blending sharp humour with deep compassion, the novel reveals the emotional and human realities of migration, identity and the search for belonging.

A striking work from one of Sri Lanka’s most celebrated writers, this book is a powerful reflection on exile, memory and what it means to lose one’s home while searching for a place to begin again.

✨ Key Highlights

• A gripping story of exile and survival during the Sri Lankan Civil War.
• Explores the struggles of refugees navigating uncertain journeys across borders.
• Combines humour, empathy and powerful storytelling.
• Highlights themes of identity, displacement, memory and belonging.
• A deeply human portrayal of migration and the refugee experience.
• Written by one of Sri Lanka’s most acclaimed Tamil authors.

✍️ About the Author

Appadurai Muttulingam is a renowned Sri Lankan Tamil author and essayist. His short stories in Tamil have received widespread critical acclaim and have won several awards in India and Sri Lanka.

His first collection of short stories, Akka, was published in 1964. After leaving Sri Lanka in 1972, he spent twenty-eight years working across Africa and Asia, including assignments with the World Bank and the United Nations.

He returned to writing in 1995 and went on to publish more than twenty-five collections of stories, essays, interviews and a novel. His work has continued to receive international recognition, including being a finalist for the Armory Square Prize for his story ‘Somewhere it’s Three O’clock Right Now’.

🌐 About the Translator

Kavitha Muralidharan is a bilingual journalist and translator working in Tamil and English. She has more than twenty-five years of experience in journalism and has extensively covered the Sri Lankan Civil War.

She has translated important works between Tamil and English, including Amma by Perumal Murugan along with Nandini Murali in 2019. Her work focuses on bringing significant Tamil literature and stories to a wider readership.

📚 Why Read This Book?

Where God Began is a deeply affecting novel about the cost of displacement and the resilience of those forced to leave everything behind. With its blend of compassion, realism and dark humour, it offers a rare insight into the refugee journey and the universal search for safety, dignity and home.