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When a war-like people got a war they liked
This was first published in the Daily News exactly 5 years ago (March 23, 2011). It was 'Libya' back then. Now it is 'Syria'. Tomorrow? Who can tell. It's an oft-performed drama and as such it is...
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සිරිසේන-චන්ද්රිකා ද්වන්ධ සටනක
"කැකිරිලන්තයේ මීළඟ පුවත්"ශීර්ෂය යටතේ මූණු පොතේ විටින් විට පළ කරන ලද 'ප්රවෘති'එකතුවකි ශ්රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයේ වත්මන් නායක සහ ශ්රී ලංකාවේ ජනාධිපති වන "මෛත්රිපාල"සිරිසේන සහ එම පක්ෂයේ හිටපු නායක සහ...
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A story of brotherhood and manhood
The United States of America is not bombing Libya right now. Bombs are falling nevertheless. But exactly five years ago, the USA was bombing Libya, as I was writing the article that follows (first...
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Inhumanity and animal-cruelty through a Brusselsian lens
Brussels -- a TRAGEDY!The word in the local streets is ‘heat’, and it comes with ‘blackouts’, ‘unannounced power cuts’, ‘sabotage-claims’ and ‘incompetence’. The word in the global streets is actually...
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Did Sarath Fonseka say "Move over Sir Gary Sobers!"?
Sarath Fonseka has come a long way. He was hero once, and no one, not even his most vociferous critics can dismiss as irrelevant or peripheral the role he played in defeating the LTTE. He was treated...
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Looking for the best school-going poet...
Well known lyricist and presenter Bandula Nanayakkarawasam during the re-launch of his popular radio show ‘Rae Ira Pana’ which he turned into a tribute for Mahagama Sekera issued a pithy, hopeful and...
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'Work-to-rule' is a rule that can work
Sometime in October 2009, unions attached to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPA) launched a work-to-rule campaign, demanding a salary hike. I made passing reference to the union action around that...
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English: as enemy and friend
There are two stories that I tell young people about learning English. The first is about Ananda Thilak Bandara, a batchmate of mine at Peradeniya University.Thilak was from Madadombe, Galgamuwa. When...
View ArticleBlessed are those who do not look the other way
Things don't change easily, do they? This was published on November 9, 2009. Then, as before, and as now, the tendency is to point finger and if a 'comrade' is wrong, to go silent, to look the other...
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When Balavarnam Sivakumar gave a lesson on 'mental illness' we dare not forget
On the 9th of November, 2009, a man was attacked. People watched. People took pictures. There were videos too. They witnessed a murder taking place in broad daylight. They did nothing to stop it....
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The ‘Ikka Affair’ and the troubled UNP-SLFP marriage
The proposed Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement between Sri Lanka and India has earned an amusing but appropriate tag in Sinhala, based on the acronym ETCA and how it is pronounced (‘Ikka...
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The real ‘Chavakachcheri bomb’ is in Colombo
There’s nothing funny about explosives and explosions. Nothing to salivate about. And yet, we are hearing guffaws and seeing people licking their lips. All this because some explosives were found...
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Prasad Gunawardena left behind some memorable lines
There were many personalities resident in the man known as Prasad Gunawardena. There were times when he was at war with someone and it appeared as though he had declared war on the entire world. But...
View ArticleHistory is ‘news’, did you know?
Six years ago, Sri Lanka was about to elect a new Parliament. The campaign threw up its regular quota of howlers. I did mention a couple of them in this article published in the Daily News on April...
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The lifelong friend we rarely acknowledge
"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." - PlatoWhere does the wind start, where does the wind end? A little girl asked me and herself...
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Looking for Sekera and finding ourselves
A few weeks ago, HarithGunawardena sent me a link to a song by the late Clarence Wijewardena. According to K.G. Jinasena, an ardent collector of anything written about or by Mahagama Sekera, the...
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Being snug, dumb and numb in a Kakistocracy
The Headquarters of Sri Lanka's Kakistocracy: Nice from far, but far from niceWhen Mahinda Rajapaksa defeated Sarath Fonseka in 2010, a senior member of the United National Party, responding to claims...
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Love and demonology
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Nobel laureate for literature, is one author who knows love. His "Love in the time of cholera" is a timeless novel simply because he seems to have captured an incredibly...
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Prison stories
Cinnamon Gardens Police StationA schoolboy prank landed me in a cell once (read the full story,'There will always be a bell to save you'). It happened in the year 1984. I had offered my opponent, Ishan...
View ArticleWhen Chootikka Aiya’s "school" kept the lamp of tenderness alive
It is around 4.30 pm on a Thursday afternoon. The place is "Sinhapura", a shanty town in Kolonnawa. Nimal Dayaratne and I are there because Chootikka Aiya is going to be there. We are there because...
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