Post-war notes: Theraputtabhaya spoke to me this morning
Richard Bach says somewhere in his book ‘Illusions’ that the answer to any question that is in your mind, whether clearly formulated or resident as a vague, query mark without word or formulation, is...
View ArticleIf there's to be 'university' in the university
My batchmate and present editor of The Island, Prabath Sahabandu has a peculiar sense of humour. The year was 1990. He was in his final year at Peradeniya. I remember him accosting a fresher at the...
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Maithripala Sirisena's Identity Crisis
Color blind or color-less? The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) is suffering from an identity crisis. The signs are all over the place. The SLFP has more Members of Parliament than any other party and...
View ArticleRight to Info: Get it right first time
The new Government has hit the ground running when it comes to ‘show’. Allegations are a dime a dozen so to speak, these days. There’s a lot of ‘show’ but little to see, strangely. Sure, the law...
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The Mahanayakas, Maha Nayakas and the issue of custodianship
It is no secret now that Chief Prelate of the Malwatte Chapter, the Most Venerable Thibbatuwawe Sumangala Thero actively supported the presidential bid of Sarath Fonseka. After Fonseka lost and was...
View ArticleTruth and justice are un-deferrable
The news that the Human Rights Council has agreed to a request made by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to postpone publication of the report of a UN investigation into war crimes in Sri Lanka...
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They’ve kept the baby and the bathwater!
Kolombians are a distinct people from Colombo who know much -- so much that they are wont to think that others don't know and can't think. They have things to say. A lot of things to say. The entire...
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Are you ready to shut down your petrol shed?
This is the twenty second 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...
View ArticleManoharan’s effortless six over prejudice
‘Thangamale’ is how people working on the tea plantations, all Tamils, refer to Glenmore Estate, Haputale, located between the Haputale and Idalgasinna railway stations. It means ‘golden rain’. The...
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What kind of friend do you want to be?
This is the twenty second article in a series I am writing for the JEANS section of 'The Nation'. The series is for children. Adults consider yourselves warned...you might re-discover a child within...
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Memories of a memory-man
Newspapers have cultures and sub-cultures, traditions, customs and rituals. I remember one at the SundayIsland. Manik De Silva’s erstwhile Man Friday, ‘BNL’ was such a right-hand man that I would...
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I saw a Goddess of Small Things at the GLF
No, it was not Arundathi Roy, not in physical or metaphorical terms. I put down her book after reading about 20 pages out of sheer boredom. Perhaps I missed something by doing so, but hey, life...
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Reflections on the literary cosmopolite
It is common in organizations that carry the ‘South Asian’ tag to toss in something Sri Lankan, Pakistani or Bangladeshi to make things seem not-just-Indian. This is particular seen in South Asian...
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Ranil’s true colors
Mr Arrogance rides again? Ranil Wickramasinghe is the Prime Minister of this country. He is Prime Minister today because he helped Maithripala Sirisena become President of this country. If he enjoys...
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Yahapaalanaya as the new Aascharyaya
Old wine in new bottles or just empty vessels?Spokesperson for the Federation of University Teachers Associations (FUTA), staunch supporter of the Maithripala regime and shrill advocate of good...
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Lord Ranil and Serf Maithripla
The serf sweats, the lord reapsKolombians are a distinct people from Colombo who know much -- so much that they are wont to think that others don't know and can't think. They have things to say. A lot...
View ArticleThe Stockholm Syndrome and the dimensions of our slaveries
I learn so many things everyday. This morning I heard for the first time about something called ‘Stockholm Syndrome’. The name of the ailment was coined by criminologist and psychiatrist Nils Bejerot...
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The details, the details!
This is the twenty third 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 ArticleReflections on the Water-Haiku of Shree Padre
A reference to a Haiku poem in a recent article provoked my friend Errol Alphonso to unearth a fascinating and multi-layered gem from the vast storehouse that is his memory. He spoke of the Haiku...
View ArticleDevindu Senal Herath the next Sanath Jayasuriya?
This is World Cup time and being a cricket lover I can’t get enough of the action, at least outside the venues and the television. I am tension-averse so I wimp my way through matches courtesy...
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