Brats do become ‘elders’ by and by
These are times of 'experts'. These are times of name-dropping and name-calling. These are times when pretty sick people are hailed as benefactors of humankind. These are times when principles of...
View ArticleThis Karu is a hero of our times
Similar sounding names and long names at that make it difficult to abbreviate. Take ‘Karu’ for example. There are all kinds of Karus. Karunaratne, Karunamuni, Karunasuriya, Karunasekera, Karunasena,...
View ArticleThis country belongs to Pinchi Appuhamy
The terraced paddy fields of the tract that runs through Walgama are in various stages of preparation. They appear as a patchwork quilt made of differently textured cloth in a various shades of brown...
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Lasith Malinga and the politics of ‘lionhood’
No cricketer on this planet looks like a lion and pounces on prey like one too the way Lasith Malinga does. No one knows if there’s any lion-thinking behind his preferred hairstyles. But there’s...
View ArticleWinners, losers and also-rans in the South and West
Speak to any leader or spokesperson of any political party that contests and election after all the results are out and it would be surprising if you can find even one person who does not come up with...
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Chandimal is my World Cup hero
There can’t be any Sri Lankan in Dhaka without a smile. There can’t be any Sri Lankan anywhere in the world following the World T-20 final who is not smiling at this moment, just a few minutes after...
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GL's Formula and other tidbits
GL's Formula Prof G.L. Peiris knows enough to know the old story about lies, damned lies and statistics. He turned the Geneva 'loss' into a victory. A moral victory only of course, but any victory is...
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Bandula Nanayakkarawasam’s ‘Sekera Moment’
Perhaps it is because of a discernible suppression of Mahagama Sekera in the larger discourse of 20th Century Sinhala literature that people sometimes express the wish that the great man be elevated to...
View ArticleThe Army teaches a lesson
As is now par for the course come Season Geneva the usual suspects in the Hang-Sri-Lanka bandwagon came up with self-labeled ‘damning’ evidence of atrocities committed by Sri Lankan security forces....
View Article‘Abstain Now’ speaks out
[In a parallel universe of course...]We’ve had enough of people claiming to speak on our behalf. We’ve been named and in that naming we’ve been shamed. Words never uttered have been attributed to us....
View ArticleThe UNHRC Resolution and the question of the Social Contract
Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe came up with a strange, important and revealing statement in the run up to the Southern and Western Provincial Council Elections. He said that if he is...
View ArticleRe-visit and re-learn are as important as reduce, re-use and recycle
One of the most interesting things about staying with my grandparents in Kurunegala during school holidays was the opportunity to read back issues of the Reader’s Digest. The late nineteen seventies...
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How about celebrating the ’78 Revolution?
Ask those interested in Sri Lankan history what the year 1978 signifies and 9 out of 10 will say something about the 2ndRepublican Constitution, that pernicious document authored by JRJ that is largely...
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Ranil can win too and other tidbits
Ranil can win too The Sri Lankan cricketers secured a world title after losing 4 finals (2 in the 50-over format and 2 in the T-20 version). A string of defeats does not mean endless defeats. Victory...
View ArticleWhat next, a ban on laughter?
President Mahinda Rajapaksa knows how to smile. Everyone knows this, even those who erroneously think that his biggest strength is his affable nature and the ease with which can interact with people...
View ArticleThe sun smiles to itself
I am a ‘can’t do without and wish it was not so’ kind of entity to most, especially to those living in a tiny island called Sri Lanka. These days. I am right ‘above’. I have, for a few days at...
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He walks with his words in unmapped territories
My father is a voracious reader, but I don’t recall him reading bedtime stories to us. I remember two occasions, though, when he sat us down and read. The first was when I was about five years old. He...
View ArticleOne heck of a nation
Eraj Ravindra Fernando is one heck of a politician. Following the incident in Hambantota where a set of UNP parliamentarians were attacked by a mob, Fernando, captured on camera with pistol in hand...
View ArticleWisdom drops from Narammala
About four kilometers from Narammala when traveling towards Giriulla, there’s a promising cement road that quickly slips into nondescript dirt track. Less than a kilometer on this road, there’s a...
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Elizabeth writes to Stephen Harper*
Dear Stephen,It is not often that I write to my subjects, especially those who live a considerable distance from our fair shores. I make this exception today because I wish to express my undying...
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