Romesh is sent to receive a traditional blessing in Kegalle, only to discover after having his head rubbed with a chicken that it might actually have more in common with black magic than the traditional Hindu ceremony he thinks his mother had in mind.
Romesh is sent to Batticloa to meet his Uncle Ragu who has been given a mandate from Romesh's mum. Keen for him to explore the spiritual side of his background, she's given Ragu a long list of things she wants Romesh to do. They visit the village where his Mum grew up and Romesh is slightly taken aback to discover that not only is everyone living there related to him, they're related to each other too.
Mum Shanti uses Romesh's trip to try to settle a long standing bugbear, trying to get him to lose weight. She has entrusted this task to his Uncle Rubaharan who introduces him to the ancient Sri Lankan martial art known as angapora, which sees Romesh being put through his paces by a 14-year-old martial arts expert.
Shanthi wants Romesh to explore what his life could have been if he'd grown up in Sri Lanka. To complicate matters, Romesh must also look after his 12-year-old cousin Krishna, who is actually the more grown-up of the two.
Shanthi asks Romesh to fulfil a dream of hers and see him perform in a Sri Lankan Tamil drama. Despite a lukewarm reception on set, Romesh decides he could do a better job. He ignore the requests of his mum to take cooking lessons and climb Mount Sigirya, and spends the week trying to create his own Sri Lankan movie. A movie that ends up involving a cast of snake charmers, dancers, his Uncle Ragu and a dwarf internet sensation.
Shanthi heads out to Sri Lanka to join Romesh and find out what he's learnt. Romesh does his best to bluff his way through as a tour guide before the pair of them try and join the family business of arranged marriage brokers.
Romesh Ranganathan
Self
Host
Benjamin Green
Creator