Medley of memories and melodies
The scene is tender………as the lilting and sometimes haunting strains of ‘oldies’ such as ‘Red River Valley’, ‘Silver Threads Among the Gold’ and ‘You Are My Sunshine’ fill the air, framed in the doorway of an apartment in Mount Lavinia are a mother and a daughter. The roles seem reversed though. For instead of the [...]
It all started with a pre-school
Mahavilachchiya, some 40 km from Anuradhapura looks tranquil in the early light- sun dappled fields where peacocks roam, but not so long ago, this border village faced the brunt of long years of war. Emerging from those decades of conflict has not been easy for this farming community. It is a long way from home [...]
Engaging with his family’s history through his own work
Journalists almost always ask Colm Tóibín – pronounced COL-um toe-BEAN – about his mother. In a piece in The Guardian, he reflected on their relationship. “It mattered to her that she could have, or might have, been a writer, and perhaps it mattered to me more than I fully understood,” he wrote. Tóibín says she [...]
Don’t label us, look beyond; says this book
Shalini Wickremesooriya is a counselling psychologist, speech and language therapist and psychotherapist who has worked with toddlers as young as 1 ½ to adults aged 92. Currently based in Canada and Sri Lanka, she has gained much experience working with individuals with disabilities, all across the globe. Her book titled ‘Invincible’ is a compilation of [...]
Our age-old rituals
We are now in the age of digitalization. Four to five decades ago in the absence of high-tech equipment, people had to rely much on traditions and practices of their ancestors. Let me begin with one of my own experiences. Brought up in an environment on the banks of Gin-ganga, the river spilled over twice [...]
She was more than just a principal, she was a gentle lady
Once the British stabilised their positon in Ceylon, missionaries were invited to come over and set up schools alongside churches and propagate Christianity while educating the children. Among the first to reach Ceylon were the Wesleyan Methodist Missionaries who set up the first school on July12, 1814 in Galle. The school then known as ‘The [...]
Running against the silence
Claire McFarlane has taken on a very tall order for the next three years. Over that duration she will move to a new country every seven days, covering 184 countries and 3000 kilometres of beach. Claire, 37, has resolved to run 16 km of beach in each of these countries in support of survivors of [...]
Serenity and silence in a charming colonial relic
I am seated on the cement garden seat in the corner of the well maintained lawn, peacefully gazing at the magnificent grey-stone building that looks majestically down on me. Beyond the low parapet wall are the Haputale hills, now shrouded in mist but waiting patiently to be bathed in the morning sunshine. This is Adisham, [...]
All the Presidents’ House
For the past year most of us have watched events in the US concluding in the recent election. In January, Donald Trump will move into the most famous address in the world – 1600, Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC the White House. I had the privilege recently of visiting the stately mansion, the oldest public building [...]
Colombo Art Biennale goes to Slave Island
Since its inception in 2009, the Colombo Art Biennale has now grown in size and cemented its place in the local contemporary art calendar. This year’s Colombo Art Biennale will be held from December 2 – 20 and brings together 73 artists from 21 countries in 10 venues. This edition of the Art Biennale revolves [...]
Art as a Place – Of disappearing pasts
It is just after the 1983 riots in Sri Lanka. In a windswept bungalow in the Urugala tea plantations, near Kandy, a motley cast of unlikely, madcap characters assemble. Three Eurasian grandmothers, two Tamil sisters and an unhinged drunk uncle with a shotgun, play out dramatic encounters fuelled by the urgent political situation. Into this [...]
Ravidini’s Arangetram
Ravidini Arunodhini Senananda will present her arangetram on Saturday, December 3 at 6 p.m. at the Tower Hall, Maradana. She is a student of Srimathi Padmini Manel Dahanayake Ariyadasa.
Lots of goodies at DBU Christmas sale
Once again the DBU has organised its Christmas Sale for Sunday, December 4 from 8.30 a.m. onwards. There will be a whole new range of items, including Christmas décor, linen, pottery, jewellery, garments and plenty of food, including the famous Burgher delicacies such as Bolo-Fiado, Fougetti, lamprais, milk wine, home-made Ginger Beer, Beef Smore, Black [...]
Japanese violinist returns for seasonal concert
The Chamber Music Society rings in the season with its annual Holiday Season concert on December 4 at the Lionel Wendt Theatre at 7.30 p.m. The concert sponsored by Fairway Holdings will be festive and celebratory, and the CMSC is delighted to welcome back the Japanese violinist Mika Nishimura. Ms. Nishimura gave a well received [...]
Come to the BSC Christmas Carnival!
Eye-catching decorations, gifts, reminders and plans, this Christmas season is a busy one for the Parent Teachers’ Association (PTA) of the British School Colombo (BSC) as they make the final preparations for their much awaited annual Christmas extravaganza, the Christmas Carnival. The Christmas Carnival that will be held at the British School premises on Saturday [...]
She made a mark of her own
Living to be a hundred is a blessing, and so it is with Aunty Rowena Ahlip who has reached this magical mark. Born the eldest progeny of that Malay statesman, educationist and Cabinet Minister in the first post-Independent government of Ceylon, the late Dr. T. B. Jayah on November 27, 1916, she had her schooling [...]
Feminism, being a feminist and what it all means
For the longest time, whether it be across the world or the dinner table, the word ‘Feminism’ seems to have conjured up a whole host of negative and not so female friendly images and has somehow – unjustly – earned the unfair perception of being an….unsavoury word. In its most simplistic sense, it is the [...]
Letters
Nicety of language was the hallmark of Parliamentary debates then From about the time I was an eighth former at St. Joseph’s College in the late 1940s when Sir Francis Molamure was the Speaker I have been a keen follower of the proceedings of the country’s legislature. My respect for this august assembly came to [...]
Appreciations
Lasantha P. Fernando His name will always be inscribed in our hearts and minds My dear friend Lasantha Fernando, fondly called as “Lassie”, passed away on November 10, after a brief illness. He was an individual with exceptional qualities. His unexpected demise was an irremediable loss to his family, relatives, dear friends and the planting [...]