Find a career on a blue bus to the north
Hop on the blue bus and find the pathway not only to a career but also on how to acquire the skills that are needed to make that a reality. The tale of the blue bus which is going round and round in Sri Lanka and more recently in the north is as much intertwined [...]
Breathing life to ancient art
Lacquerwork is an art that commands attention. Whether it is the intricately painted wooden boxes and ornaments that adorn our homes or the boldly striped windows and railings of the Temple of the Tooth, the art form reflects the island’s history and heritage. Lacquerwork or ‘laaksha’ is the art of painted woodwork. But the intricate [...]
‘Landscape architecture is about people’
Shiranee Balasuriya’s love for the environment blossomed at home as she watched her mother meticulously put together flower arrangements. Years later Prof. Balasuriya would initiate the course in Landscape Architecture at the Moratuwa University and it is her passion for this somewhat unrecognised field that earned her a Zonta Woman of Achievement Award last month. [...]
Down with these dangerous ideas
Amid the clamour of chauvinists practising arson and the clangour of empty vessels making the most noise, you may have missed a very important point. That while sticks and stones may break your bones, some words could surely kill you. This is because entirely the wrong type of people have come round to the thinking [...]
Banking on a tree house look
A frequent traveller on the A1 Kandy-Colombo road will know the distinctive Nittambuwa branch of the Hatton National Bank which today holds the distinction of being Sri Lanka’s first ‘green’ bank building; a mean, green machine that saves 30% more electricity and 70% more water than its counterparts, with 90% of its construction waste directed [...]
Feel the warm homeliness of a walauwe on a hill
A left turn from the road to Katugastota and a few rugged winding roads later, the adventurous traveller is greeted by a white walauwe type house perched on a hill. “The Kandyan Manor” as it is called is one of the many home stays that have sprung up in and around Kandy. Reflecting its literal [...]
Letters
People’s Forum column is back In response to numerous requests, the Sunday Times is restarting the People’s Forum column. If you have any issues, delays or problems concerning NICs, pensions, driving licences or other such matters dealing with public service departments, we shall be happy to assist you by taking it up with the relevant [...]
Reliving the splendour and legends surrounding Alhambra
The finest example of Islamic art is the Alhambra (Red Castle), the main attraction of Granada set against the Sierra Nevada hills. The previous night we had driven past the complex to the Sacromonte caves for a performance of flamenco dancing by the gypsies.The Spanish gypsies are believed to have come from Africa in medieval [...]
Books/Arts
Getting to know more writers; this time post Independence Dr. C.G. Uragoda has written a large number of books on quite a few subjects. His 12 books, so far, are on health and medicine, jungles and wildlife, and traditions and customs of Sri Lanka. He then, in 2011, wrote the profiles of those who have [...]
Not afraid to push boundaries
Dhanushika Welagedara, an undergraduate at the University of Moratuwa carried away the title of the Up and Coming Designer of the Year 2014 at the Mount Lavinia Hotel last Sunday. The 23-year-old also won the award for Best Men’s wear and the Anationz award, completing a triumphant triple sweep of awards. Sri Lanka’s Up and [...]
Seeing colours and patterns in her mind
When the bomb went off, it was on her side of the road. Then a teller at HSBC, Nayana Ascharya Peiris remembers that they took the usual route home after a long day of work. Her fiancé was at the wheel when the suicide bomber discharged her lethal burden. Nayana took the brunt of the [...]
Appreciations
Ashley Francis Tisseverasinghe Large of heart and blessed with large volumes of love and caring For when the one great scorer comes to write against your name He writes not that you won or lost, but how you played the game On a rainy, stormy night in the middle of May, my brother Ashley departed [...]
People and events
‘Laughing Waters’: Humour and fellowship for ladies By Dhananjani Silva A burst of laughter marks the beginning of the June gathering of ‘Laughing Waters.’ Laughing Waters- a project that brings together housewives, retired and working women of different age groups, different nationalities and those from different walks of life, for fellowship, as its name suggests, [...]
