In July 1983, as Colombo burned during anti-Tamil riots, Sri Lankan grandmother Linga dismantled her family home and shipped it to Sydney. The house, built by her father four decades earlier, had hosted people of different religions and ethnicities. The family fled the civil war and arrived in Australia in 1985.
After the house arrived, Linga's husband died and the family's wealth was stolen by a trusted manager. Over the next decade, she saved cash to rebuild the home as a 'double-bricked Sri Lankan McMansion' in Homebush. The house was completed in 1996, but Linga died shortly after moving in.
The house is now occupied by her grandson, playwright S Shakthidharan, known as Shakthi. He lives there with his mother, wife and children. Shakthi tells the story in his new memoir, Gather Up Your World In One Long Breath, exploring how the house became a symbol, sanctuary and trap.
Shakthi previously dramatised his family's history in the award-winning 2019 play Counting and Cracking. Returning to the house in his late 20s to help his mother with debt was a turning point. He describes it as 'the best and the worst thing at the same time'.
