Why a Booktrail?
1950s: An eleven year old boy boards a ship from Colombo to England and has the adventure of a life time.
The Cat’s Table
What you need to know before your trail
A journey from Colombo to England in 1950s will take around three weeks and seems no place for a child. The boy has never seen such a grand ship before and is amazed that this floating castle is going to be his home for almost the next month. He meets other young boys on board and they soon make friends and have one adventure after another. They have one adventure to another, and discover things that no one, least of all a young boy should ever see.
Travel Guide
The vast Indian ocean is like a playground to a small boy of only 11 years of age. Before boarding the ship, he admits that he’s never seen anything bigger than a fishing boat until he gets on board the castle size vessel in Colombo.
Life at Sea
Life at sea is quite the adventure – he sits at the furthest end of the dining room at the so-called ‘cat’s table’ – which is as far from the Captain’s table as can be. There are other lowly passengers with him and its the two boys -Cassius and Ramadhin – who share his life at sea with him.
As the ship sails across the ocean, the ship becomes the only world they know. They explore and find everything around him fascinating. Even the sense of time seems endless – as long as three weeks would feel like to a child. They spy on passengers and mix with the crew – something that someone in steerage would be able to do. They are segregated from those in first class and life here is harsh and survival of the fittest. Survival in the middle of the Indian ocean no less.
As well as the stunning scenery, they become transfixed with a prisoner who sis betin transported. At night, when he is allowed to walk on deck in shackles, They watch him carefully and find that the adult world on this boat is full of criminals, schemers and adulterers amongst others.
And whop they meet and what they learn on board! There’s a pianist, a botanist, a teacher and many more people who provide the stories, the adventures and the whole world for these boys as the coast of England approaches ever near.
Where Next?
