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Devánjali: A window unto the permanence within impermanence
Devánjali. A word, a poem, description of a way of being, a dance performance. This is the latest production put together by the Chitrasena Vajira Dance Foundation, especially choreographed for the...
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Udaya Gammanpila and the Principal Principle
උදය ගම්මන්පිල ගේ මම වෙනුවෙන් මම මොහොත?[Udaya's 'All About Myself' moment?]Udaya Gammanpila’s historic ‘double-cross’ topped all crossover stories last week. Just days after lambasting the President and...
View ArticleMahinda, Maithripala or Delusion?
‘We are not in the business of issuing character certificates to those who cross,’ JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said. The past few weeks have seen a lot of politicians crossing party lines....
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The Soma Hamuduruwo who remains eleven years later
A little over ten years ago, there was a General Election. This was in April 2004. It was an election that was won by the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) but was one that was marked by the...
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Mahinda, Maithree and the floating voter
In all elections people talk of the floating vote. The undecided. Those who may be swayed one way or another. In some elections the floating vote can decide an election. Naturally, come election...
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Reflections on a ‘radical’ of our times
Champika Ranawaka has emerged as a key spokesperson in Maithripala Sirisena's presidential campaign. Some of his former critics have now become admirers. Even his foes grudgingly acknowledge that he...
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Shortcuts to becoming a Kolombian
This was taken by Indy Samarajeewa in January 2012People are asking me about Kolombians. Not Kolombians – they generally approve and appreciate. Kolombians thank me for getting the word out, in...
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Ready for time travel?
At some point in your life you would have heard of traveling through time. When you read about a faraway place, enchanted lands, fascinating characters, there’s a part of you that wants to visit,...
View ArticleOn living with and without the state
The role of the state in the amorphous and varied activity, process and objective called ‘development’ has been the subject of many a doctoral dissertation. The literature on the subject would fill...
View ArticleSome games don’t get thrown, Sidath taught me
In June 1981 I threw a game. That’s in chess. This was long before match-fixing and spot-fixing entered sports vocabulary. In chess circles it was called ‘cooking’, i.e. predetermining the outcome of...
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Got to be ready for those setbacks
Pic by Rukshan AbeywanshaYou might have come across this famous quote which, like all quotes, is often used out of context: the revolution is not a tea party. That’s Mao Zedong. Whether you’ve heard...
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Mahinda, Maithripala and the Forgotten Voter
Pic courtesy www.paths2people.comElection Day is less than three weeks away. Campaigns are gathering intensity. Candidates and their supporters are falling over each other promising the sun, moon,...
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Maithripala and Chandrika discuss campaign strategy
Pic courtesy www.nation.lkIf it is rumored that former president Chandrika Kumaratunga was instrumental in getting Maithripal Sirisena to take on Mahinda Rajapaksa, the lady’s thinly disguised...
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One day we will acquire class conciseness!
I’ve been talking to my fellow Kolombians. It’s almost as if they have been silent for almost five years. Some of them, not all, talk as though they’ve taken out words they had put in some back...
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The many Christmases of a tropical island
Christmas, in this island where Christians are a small minority tending towards an even smaller slice in the population pie, is celebrated as though it is the religion of the majority. Well, at least...
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Noble Creatures
Pic by Amarajeewa, Delft IslandThey were born on Delft Island, they live on Delft Island and will die on Delft Island. They can jum if they want to but they won't indulge in 'island-hopping'. No way!...
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Numbers are beautiful
There was a young boy who loved to stare at the sky. Well, not all the time. He didn’t enjoy sky-gazing at midday on cloudless days of course, but at other times he found it to be an interesting...
View ArticleShould Mahinda's and Maithripala's backers require an antidote to political...
The Island of December 30, 2009 reported that the Ministry of Health has decided to ‘crackdown on quacks’. Apparently the Ministry has received over 6000 complaints about quack doctors operating in...
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Tsunami: Field notes from the East Coast
Pic courtesy www.alisonwright.comIt is ten years since the coastal areas of Sri Lanka were hit by the tsunami. In the ten years that have passed, there has been much re-building and much...
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The R, L and H of rebellion
In 1971 a determined set of young people sought to overthrow the then Government, secure the commanding heights of the state and establish a revolutionary social order led by workers and peasants, a...
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