Showering stanzas of blessings
I am a descendant of the Amunugama Werapitiya family in Kandy. From the time of the kings, our family has been rendering their duties to the dalada perahera. We have served in the traditional dance troupe of the Diyawadana Nilame of Kandy Dalada Perahera for generations now. So tradition, arts and culture were very much [...]
Swimwear: Blowing in the wind
Swim Week Colombo-billed as the first fashion week in Asia dedicated to swimwear-got off to a breezy start at the ETC Terminal of the Colombo Port on Friday, June 24. Several top Sri Lankan and international designers took to the ramp, against the stark backdrop of the port, showcasing swimwear collections that drew inspiration from [...]
Audience was right there waiting and Marx sang, spoke and joked
At 7.30 p.m. on Sunday, June 26, most guests at the Richard Marx Live in Sri Lanka show were still milling around the entrance. There was a collective moment of surprise when the multi-platinum record holder and Grammy winner strolled on to the stage at 7.30 p.m. on the dot. An international performer on time [...]
Party all night at one venue, on three levels and three themes
Three different genres of music under one roof! This is what – 3 Floors of Sound will offer party-goers on Saturday, July 9 from 8 p.m. onwards at Flamingo House, on Horton Place, Colombo 7. One venue, three levels, three themes- each offering an array of exotic beverages enticing tunes, and electrifying atmospheres; the perfect [...]
Puzzled about puzzles? Visit ‘Piece by piece –going on and on’
Jigsaw puzzles have fascinated people for centuries. How these tiny pieces fit together to form a wonderfully intricate mosaic picture intrigues and engages us. Jigsaws, and the fascination they exert have certainly engaged Nanda Wijesekara who is now ready to exhibit her puzzles for the third time. If you feel that a jigsaw puzzle exhibition [...]
Time to connect with one’s spirituality, family and friends
Every year unfailingly during Ramadan, I remember an incident which occurred a few years ago. It was my first Ramadan away from family and the comforts of home and the experience of a new country and fasting alone brought with it a heavy sense of solitude. Suhur, the meal eaten in the morning to fortify [...]
Heritage backdrop for inspiring literary event
In February, Shevanthie Goonesekera stood in the Maitland Room at the Mount Lavinia Hotel and revealed the first outline for “Words on the Mount”, a literary event organised for the hotel’s 210th anniversary. In less than a week, the hotel by the sea will play host to a gathering of acclaimed local and foreign writers [...]
Kudiramalai :Mystery of a buried city
R.L. Brohier’s book, Discovering Ceylon, first published in 1973, states that there had been an ancient settlement close to Kudiramalai, now buried under the sand. Brohier writes that the first to discover this habitation was surveyor H.G.A. de Silva in 1923 while doing a topographical survey for the Survey Department off the north western shores [...]
Are you the South Asian equivalent of a ‘Chinese’ Tiger Mother?
In 2011, American author and Yale Law Professor, Amy Chua published a book named “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother”. Excerpts from this book were published in an article under the headline “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior” in the Wall Street Journal on the 8th of January 2011, where she describes in some detail, the [...]
A book lover’s eternal enemy!
Chances are, you are sharing your home with a host of living fossils. Puzzled? You heard right. The silverfish (Lespisma saccharina) in your home belong to the world’s oldest family of insects. Their unchanged appearance goes back some 300 million years.The flightless soft and silvery half-inch insects who love to crunch on your books belong [...]
Lost in the jungles of Ahumullekanda
It was no ordinary day. Yes, we can say that now. Saturday, February 10, 2007. For us, the day started at 4 in the morning with the alarm virtually pushing us out of bed. Sandwiches had to be made; water bottles filled and my wife Jayanthi and our daughter Yasangie got ready in time. All [...]
Restoring our proud heritage of protecting animals responsibility of our Constitution makers
The Lal Wijenayake Committee appointed to receive public representations for Constitutional Reform has recommended that provision for animal protection be enshrined in the proposed Constitution. To quote the recommendation:“Several groups came before the Committee to advocate on behalf of the need to include animal rights as a Constitutional provision. These groups argued on the basis [...]
The forgotten people amidst development
The persistence of poverty, despite economic growth and development, has been a phenomenon the world over. For instance, the rapid economic growth in India and China in the last two decades reduced overall poverty significantly, though pockets of poverty remain in regions, among certain castes, in particular occupations, among the unemployed and unskilled labour and [...]
Vision Care holds Optometry Day
Vision Care’s Academy held its Optometry Day and 7th annual scientific sessions on June 12 at the Taj Samudra’s Crystal ballroom. The conference with the theme “Optometry for the entire nation’’brought together professionals from the region, and focused on the exchange of contemporary knowledge in the ever changing field of optometry. Principal- Vision Care Academy [...]
First Inter -University Debating Championship
The inaugural INVYAM – Inter-University Debating Championship 2016 will be held at the Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo on July 22 from 9 a.m. Both state and private universties will take part. The tournament aims to bring together the different universities to be involved in an academic conversation with a view to the ultimate [...]
Reaching out: Website ‘HandsUp’ to connect people
Anyone living in Sri Lanka during the recent floods can attest to the fact that this disaster touched the hearts of Sri Lankans. Many people did not expect the scale of generosity that was extended to the victims who suffered so much loss. However, along with this generosity came tales of wasted lunch packets and [...]
TEDxKandy 2016: Advancing local innovation
Drawing inspiration from TEDx events in Sri Lanka and around the world, former TEDxColombo speaker Anoka Abeyrathne together with Heshika Deegahawathura, Ashraf Deen, Chanaka Herath and Chrishain Jayalath, with the assistance of a dedicated group of volunteers created a TED-like experience in Kandy which was well supported by the international TEDx team. TEDx is a [...]
Appreciations
ASOKA WEERASINGHE A simple man whose life was in the service of others My most vivid memory of Asoka Weerasinghe is of him taking us on ‘nature walks’ during class periods when we were in Grade 7 and 8 at Trinity College Kandy. We spilled out of class and were ‘taking a loaf in the [...]
Letters
President fights kidney war, yet a 15% VAT on dialysis At a time when the President is waging an all-out war to eradicate the chronic kidney disease from this country, it is indeed sad that a VAT of 15% is levied from kidney patients who go for dialysis in private hospitals. Most of these patients [...]