Sonia had left in early January for England to visit her son and Lady Boxton. She would be away for three months. The realization of what he had nearly lost helped Balendran in his endeavour. He tried hard to draw pleasure from the things around him. The estate gave him new delight. The reforms he had put into place over the years were now truly bearing fruit, the productivity of the estate soaring. It had become a showpiece and he was often solicited both by Europeans and Ceylonese for a tour so they could study his reforms. These excursion never amounted to anything, however, as the cornerstone of his success, labour reform, was unpalatable to his guests. Still, he felt vindicated that liberal measures could actually result in higher gains. Further, the price of rubber was at a peak, and the debit column of his ledger filled him with satisfaction. Balendran had also taken up a long-time dream of his, to write a book on Jaffna culture. He was soon absorbed in this task, and came to love the time he spent with the villagers of Jaffna, discussing their rituals, understanding, with surprise, the variance of custom and language from village to village; the radically different culture of the barren little islands that surrounded the Jaffna peninsula, the language of the inhabitants almost a medieval Tamil.
