one of the problems is that there is no homogenous Sri Lankan Tamil experience as described or perceived by both Sinhala and outsiders. on the one hand historically because of Chola invasions, Tamils were always viewed as marauding conquerors on the north-east coast. on the other side are the hill Tamils of plantation country who came as labourers. then there are the Muslims who speak Tamil as a first language and Christians who speak Tamil as a first language. There is no telling where allegiances lie - a Christian or a Muslim might prefer to speak Tamil first but have greater allegiance by religious community or not. The Sinhala press tends to lump all Tamils as one but really the histories are not the same.
As to Tamils in Colombo for example in Wellawatte I was told that 40 years ago, Tamils were all over Colombo but now are somewhat ghettoized into pockets like Wellawatte. According to some accounts I read in the newspapers in 2005, there was a time when the word Sinhala even stood for both Tamil and Sinhala! Personally I experienced that Sinhalese immediately assumed that as I was south indian i was Tamil and that Tamil politics are the centerpiece of Indian politics. Even when i explained that I was an Andhraite whose hometown Vizag had historic antecedents in the Kalinga kingdom destroyed by Ashoka (a familiar reference for most Buddhists), i was dubbed as an AndhraTamil -yes, Tamil is their reference symbol for everything Indian (the only other equal is Bollywood). It was a fascinating situation for me - as an Andhraite I resented being dubbed Tamil while trying not to reveal regional biases or be overly parochial over in Sri Lanka!!! At the same time, I could percieve the resentment at continuous subjugation of identity. There were also ridiculous instances of discrimination. For example, the government banned television programs from chennai but apparently Kyunki saas bhi bahu thi in it's dubbed Sinhala version is acceptable because the, er, programming was from Mumbai!!!
