ShyamSelvadurai’s has debuted with this novel at the age of 30. It’s a compelling story of a child’s story, his point of view and his struggles through life.

The protagonist of Funny Boy is Arjie(Arjun) Chelvaratnam, who is the youngest son of a prosperous businessman in Colombo. The Sinhala-Tamil hostilities in the 80’s shade his adolescence when Arjie and his family are forced to run from their home which is burnt down and his grandparents are murdered. They arrive in Canada as refugees.

Funny Boy is perceptive, touching and speaks from the heart. It explores the theme of homosexuality in the early childhood.

From his early days, Arjie is shown to be the odd one in his extended upper middle class family. As a child, he likes to play “bride-bride” with girls rather than playing cricket with boys. His passions include watching his mother dress before going out for dinner.

Arjie’s growing up is difficult due to his awareness of his sexuality. As he progresses to high school, he gets into his first love affair.

At the final conclusion of the book, we see the riots that took place in July-August 1983 due to politically organized violence against Tamils in Colombo.

Urvi Dani