Farhana Rejwan, from east London, has been chewing tobacco wrapped in betel leaf for over 50 years and has struggled to give it up.

BBC: Poor labelling of chewing tobacco hides risks

Mr Ondaatje has filled the house with the collection of Sri Lankan antiquities he had begun as a schoolboy old maps and prints of Colombo, talipot palm-leaf manuscripts, bird paintings from the Calcutta school, pre-colonial furniture, betel-nut cutters, swords, knives and firearms.

ECONOMIST: Museum sponsorship