Yala is a call for meditation
Yala is about wildlife. That’s the story. It is not incorrect. I first went to Yala in 1971. Family trip. I remember seeing peacock and jungle fowl, deer and wild buffalo. And of course elephants....
View ArticleIt rained upstream one morning…
Pic courtesy www.alltravels.comA student of the Arts Faculty, University of Peradeniyawho was also a member of the Student Council was found guilty of misconduct and suspended for three years. This was...
View ArticleWhat waters will take them where tomorrow?
Unprecedented rainfall has caused much hardship to people all over the island. Reservoirs are overflowing, rivers have broken their banks, roads have gone under water, and entire communities rendered...
View ArticleThe Bar lowers itself
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka often tries to claim moral high ground and political neutrality. This was particularly apparent during moves to oust the former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake....
View ArticleThe UNP’s abdication-fixation
The United National Party (UNP) has not won a Presidential Election since 1988. That’s 26 years. In a could which saw frequent baton-changes between the two major parties, i.e. the UNP and the Sri...
View ArticleUpul Jayasuriya un-knots himself
Upul Jayasuriya is the President of the Bar Association, champion of a thing called ‘independence of the judiciary,’ strident voice demanding ‘rule of law’ and unwavering defender of all kinds of...
View ArticleMahinda, Maithripala and their Money-Pestos
It’s Christmas time. This is when even the bulathvita (betel chew) comes with a discount tag or so it seems. This is when stores hand out leaflets, put up poster and advertise all kinds of deals....
View ArticleLet’s dissect the Sahodara Samaagama
This was first published in the Daily Mirror on December 15, 2009, just before the last Presidential Election. I flagged certain issues that I believed Mahinda Rajapaksa need to take note of. Today,...
View ArticleVictory is a curse with many dimensions
This was first published in 'The Daily Mirror' on April 22, 2010. I outlined some of the 'must-do' issues for Mahinda Rajapaksa. Almost four years later, the people will judge. They may focus on...
View ArticleMost Innovative Awareness Campaign of the Year 2015
Ceylon Today: Awareness-creation on vision impairment of the elderlyLong years ago, a Native American leader said, ‘you can dig as deep as you want but there’s one thing you will never find on the...
View ArticleWhen a nation is hung on a hook called ‘it is said’…
These are days of claim and counter-claim. Easy days of finger-pointing. Days when time is running short and where the basic requirement of claim-substantiation appears to have been retired. A time,...
View ArticleCitizen of the Year 2014
Bombarded. That’s the word. The voter is being drowned with propaganda material. If only it was just that! It’s much more than a few TV, radio and newspaper commercials. There’s invective that’s...
View ArticlePatriots in act and not label
Duty is a virtue that resides in the seed of a mango‘One day I saw an old man planting a tree. I asked him, “Grandfather, you will never taste the fruit of this tree”. He said “I live as though I...
View ArticlePack in ‘Humor’ when you collect rebellion-essentials
This is the fourteenth in a series of articles on rebels and rebellion written for the FREE section of 'The Nation'. Scroll to the end for other articles in this series. 'FREE' is dedicated to youth...
View ArticleJohn Traicos might have not tried Del but we certainly should
A few years before they were given full membership in the ICC, the Zimbabwean cricket team toured Sri Lanka. I remember going to see an unofficial test between the two countries, probably at the P....
View ArticleMaybe we should respect the dust we walk on
“If man be dust, that which sweeps across the desert, is it people?’ --Octavio PazThink of a neatly swept yard. Think of the elegant crisscrossing in countless front yards across the country, but...
View ArticleLet us vote for grace and humility
Pic courtesy www.paths2people.comA few days from now the country will go to the polls to elect a president. The 8thday of January in the year 2015 will arrive after several weeks of intense political...
View ArticleMahinda vs Maithree in an ideal election
Pic courtesy www.therepublicsquare.comA few days from now Sri Lankans will elect an all-powerful executive president. It will be the seventh presidential election since J R Jayewardena created the...
View ArticleHave a free lunch on Election Day!
There’s going to be an election, we hear. A presidential election. A few days from now, if I remember right. So the question is, what do we, as Kolombians, do on Election Day? Some ideas crossed my...
View ArticleMaithripala's Victory Speech (Draft)
Victory speeches are long. Statements from the defeated camp are also long. They usually consist of a lot of homilies, chest-beating and finger-pointing. It’s quite alright and even necessary to...
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