Oh those 'pissu-weda' (crazy things) options!
Life is made of so many factors and living is a matter of picking or being persuaded to pick one out of many possible pathways into tomorrows that are either blurry or if clear could even turn out to...
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Central Bank Blues (greens?)
When son-in-law makes a killing on moves made by papa-in-law, it's fishy. Arjuna Mahendran is on the spot and he cannot pass judgment on himself or his son-in-law.Financial irregularity was one of the...
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Politicizing the military and militarizing the political
There's a term that's making the rounds these days. 'De-militarization'. It is talked of as a non-negotiable in 'moving forward'. Politically. Of course direction of movement is very subjective and...
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Anais, Vije and Jerams
Who needs bylines when you make the headline?Vije, Jerams and AnaisYears ago Arjuna Parakrama explained a decision to dedicate a masters’ thesis to his teachers thus: ‘We tend to think that we do...
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Spare us the bad news, okay?
Whose side is MTV on, the Kolombians or the Yakkos?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...
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On making the ‘First XI’ and relevant political lessons
Only 11 can play, yes. This is about some who didn't make it but not because they lacked talent or had not performed.Perhaps it is the fact that Sri Lanka is not playing any international cricket...
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Noticed the countless butterflies around you?
This is the twenty third 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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Know your comrades
This is the twenty fourth 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...
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Ranil puts good governance on hold
Should it be re-named the Wheeler-Dealer Headquarters of Sri Lanka?Deputy Minister of Policy Planning and Economic Affairs, referring to the controversy surrounding the Central Bank bond issue of...
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Get off our backs, Ranil!
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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Portrait of an evergreen Red
I once saw the following caption beneath a portrait of Ernesto Che Guavara: "Some people struggle for a day, and that is good; some for a year, and that is better. Then there are those who fight all...
View ArticleGood to meditate on impermanence
This is the twenty fourth 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...
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It’s great to chase rainbows
This is the twenty fourth 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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Engendering representation
Women are clearly under-represented in Parliament. Are farmers adequately represented? Fishermen? And who is 'over-represented'? Lawyers, racketeers, thugs, idiots?This was first published five years...
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Framing the child in art
A film with children is not necessarily a 'Children's Film'Some years ago, when I was working in a Sunday newspaper, I was asked to do a story about children’s literature. I as asked to interview some...
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Asoka Handagama’s Vidu: an invitation to unwrap ‘hero’ and ‘heroism’
Vidu, the child-hero of Asoka Handagama’s film by the same name, is tagged by the film-maker as an ‘our kind of hero’. The Sinhala equivalent is more meaning-laden. ‘Ape jaathiye weerayek’ confers on...
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Bambara Walalla: a life-dance common to us all
Athula Liyanage is a persistent young man. I, on the other hand, am hard to catch. My friend and part time boss, Irvin Weerackody says I am like a firefly, that I disappear. I’ve corrected him on...
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National Security is not a football
There were two key decisions made by the new Government with respect to long standing complaints raised by elected representatives from areas populated by a majority of Tamils. The first was to...
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Affirming Sri Lankan identity in anthem(s)
Why should a country have more than a single version of its national anthem? This is the question that many are asking following President Maithripala Sirisena sanctioning the use of the Tamil version...
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Pasan Kodikara left behind the softest footprints
Pic by Nilantha GamageThere was a time when those who graduated from universities in the former Soviet Union couldn’t find jobs in Sri Lanka. Doctors were routinely stumped by the infamous ACT16...
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