Blast from the past
Many of us have forgotten a time when bomb blasts and suicide attacks were part of our lives in Sri Lanka. Today, it’s 20 years since one such attack, the Dehiwela double bomb blasts ripped apart a train and families. Kumudini Hettiarachchi talks to some of those who lost their loved ones and survivors, who [...]
Letters to the Editor
Colombo Port City- some critical issues that need to be addressed Colombo Port City (CPC) is a planned offshore city which is to be built on reclaimed land adjacent to the Galle Face Green. The total extent of the CPC is around 250 hectares. Two articles on the Port City Project (PCP) appeared in the [...]
Much more than just tea for two
Lankan-born chef Peter Kuruvita talks to Smriti Daniel of his mission to infuse tea into gourmet cuisine Peter Kuruvita still remembers the day he received a box of 32 teas from Dilmah. It had been a few years since he had met Merrill J. Fernando, and there were still a few to go before Dilmah [...]
A cuppa of experience, not only a beverage
Ceylon tea’s ambassador in North America David De Candia talks to Kaveesha Fernando David De Candia won’t tell you that Ceylon tea is the best tea in the world. For this Tea Ambassador, who conducted a Masterclass and was one of the judges of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf World Barista Competition held here [...]
“Oh no she doesn’t work, she’s just a Housewife
”Phrases of this nature are so commonplace and we hear variations of it so often, that even though it sounds terribly gauche, people are unaware of the misleading connotations of the statement and often people (usually who do not fall into this category) rarely object to it. Ironically, I even hear derivatives of it being [...]
In a world of new horrors Anne’s latest book reminds us not to forget
By Adilah Ismail “Four things I need / to live complete: / Friends to share / The fragile mood; / A passionate love. / Knowledge pursued / And the luxury / of solitude” reads the title poem which adorns the cover of Anne Ranasinghe’s latest collection of poetry. The book brings together a selection of [...]
Giving soul to the 90s sounds
By Joshua Surendraraj Music for a cause, the melody has always been about adding joy to someone’s life and for Soul Sounds, the renowned Sri Lankan female choir that has gained so much in the industry, it’s all about giving back. Coming back to the stage after their previous show in March this year, Soul Sounds [...]
If music is a tool for social change, bring it on
A festival of panel discussions and performances on July 29 By Kaveesha Fernando Can music bring about social change? On July 29, artists, academics and activists from different parts of the country, will gather to discuss how music has been used in Sri Lanka to comment on, question and challenge accepted beliefs. Music has always [...]
Indian classical guitarist to perform here
Shahnawaz Ahmed Khan will present a classical guitar concert on July 27 at 6 p.m. at the Indian Cultural Centre auditorium at 16/2 Gregory’s Road, Colombo 7. Shahnawaz Ahmed Khan hails from the musical lineage of the renowned Delhi Gharana, where his cradle was literally surrounded by the stalwarts of Indian classical music. He took [...]
EWC competition winners
The English Writers’ Cooperative of Sri Lanka (EWC) last week announced the winners of their 2016 creative writing competition.They are : Short Story 1st prize – ‘Decisions’ by Nelani Gunwardena, 197/22, Pattiyawatte Road, Kothalawala, Kaduwela 2nd prize – ‘Ravana Ella’ by Lara Wijesuriya, 21/4, Epitamulla Road, Pitakotte. 3rd Prize – ‘The Kiss’ by Rohini Gamage, [...]
A young girl’s hopes and frustrations in a feuding world
In our new series,”Her Courage”, about women who faced extermination, written as a tribute to poet Anne Ranasinghe, Gérard Robuchon this week writes on Anne Frank “Dear Kitty, I’m known as a bundle of contradictions. As I’ve told you several times, my soul is split in two. On one side, my exuberant cheerfulness, my mocking [...]
A focus on faithfulness and love
Part 11 of Shedding light on the Buddha’s views on marriage By Bhante Dhammika in Australia There does not seem to be a word for divorce in the Tipitaka, other than perhaps vikirana meaning “to break” or “to separate” which is sometimes used in reference to conjugal relations. When a couple fell out of love [...]
Machu Picchu –Icon of the Inca Empire
By Sanjiva Wijesinha It is the icon of South America’s ancient Inca Empire – and the best known tourist attraction in Peru. Located high in Peru’s Andes mountains, more than 2400 metres above sea level, the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu has been granted recognition by UNESCO as a World Heritage site not only [...]
Cinnamon Grand ventures into interactive art
Cinnamon Grand Colombo’s focus on sustainability now goes beyond products and service to art. The hotel’s new sustainable contemporary art collection ‘Symbiosis’ sees artists from the Collective of Contemporary Artists (CoCA) headed by Chinthaka and Poornima Thenuwara working in partnership to create the concepts for some interactive works of art. The hotel’s own engineering and [...]
Haputale: Relax amidst warm hospitality in cool climes
By Royston Ellis Haputale has always been popular with discerning visitors since Thomas Lipton started his empire of tea plantations there in the 19th century. The town, perched at the edge of a chasm with a view over a patchwork of hills and valleys that seems to go on to the south coast, remains small [...]
Appreciations
A life of loving and giving The 80th Death Anniversary of Mallika Hewavitarne falls on July 27 It is with a feeling of profound gratitude and affection that we pay tribute to Mallika Hewavitarne Lamathani on her 80th Death Anniversary which falls on July 27. A review of her life will no doubt be an inspiration [...]
“Great to be Unique”: SLGGA to hold camp in Jaffna
The Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association’s (SLGGA) Branch for the Differently Abled will hold an All Island Girl Guides Camp in Jaffna under the banner “Great to be Unique”. Around 250 differently abled and other guides will be camping at the Nuffield School for the Deaf and Blind in Kaithady, Jaffna. The camp will be [...]
Going the distance
“Trail” 2016 will take walkers from North to the South in aid of the Karapitiya Hospital By Purnima Pliapitiya In 2011 Sarinda Unamboowe and Nathan Sivagananthan organised a walk from the South to the North of the country to raise money for cancer. “We started off as a few friends,” explained Sarinda, who was initially [...]
RASSL lecture: Two millennia of coins
The monthly Royal Asiatic Society lecture on “Two millennia of coins in Sri Lanka” will be delivered by Siri Munasinghe, Numismatic Society on Monday, July 25 at the Mahaveli Auditorium, Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha, Colombo 7. All are welcome. The presentation is based on descriptions on coins found in the old manuscripts and rock inscriptions of [...]
Urgent appeal for donations
A mother of two, U.L.G. Dinusha from Hokandara, is suffering from end-stage kidney failure and is due to undergo an urgent kidney transplant at the Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital. Her long illness has sent her family into financial crisis, as 39-year-old Dinusha is on regular twice weekly haemodialysis while transport and other costs have added [...]
SLMA holds public workshop on ‘Healthy Living’
The Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) will hold its post-congress Workshop on ‘Healthy Living’ which is open to the public next Saturday (July 30) from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at its auditorium at 6, Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 7. The eminent speakers at the workshop on the theme ‘Moving from Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable [...]