If one ventures out to sea from Colombo, it is still not uncommon to catch a glimpse of a Kerala schooner making its way south. They are still loaded down with the same goods that they have ferried for centuries – jute products, for instance, to be traded in Colombo's Pettah market for Sri Lankan spices. While trade between the two regions remains, today it is eclipsed by the huge volumes that move between Colombo and Bombay. Kerala and Sri Lanka rarely meet in the modern world anymore, except perhaps in development writings, which marvel at the high social indicators that continue to be shared by both the state and island country.
At the narrowest point of the Palk Strait, Sri Lanka is separated from Tamil Nadu by a mere 35 km of surf. It is the ethnic link between Tamil Nadu, the Indian state, and the rebellion-minded Tamil-speaking northeast of Sri Lanka that strikes the observer whenever reference is made to the two countries' littoral regions. Kerala is rarely mentioned, even though it is just 'around the bend' towards the west from the tip of the Indian peninsula.
The cultural connection between Sri Lanka and 'god's own country' – Kerala – was once vibrant, but now is rather thin. There used to be extensive commerce through the ports of Cochin, Calicut and Kozhikode, which also enabled regular flows of migrants to the island. While their proximity and similar geography has led to long, intertwined common histories, this traditional relationship has now been largely overshadowed by the economic and political realities of Sri Lanka's engagement with Tamil Nadu and India's larger commercial centres.
Kerala has a wide stretch of lowland, extending from the Malabar Coast to the Western Ghats, which has long seen coconut cultivation. In meeting the Subcontinent's coconut demand, Kerala developed the manpower available for employment in copra, desiccated coconut and coir manufacturing, as well as toddy-based industries. Sri Lanka has a wide seaside belt running the island's perimeter, and utilised toddy-tapping knowledge originating on the mainland. In the early 20th century, Keralites began immigrating to Sri Lanka in order both to teach and engage in the practice.