Lording over a little bit of Lord’s
A slice of cricketing “heaven” is up for grabs on earth! Pay £500 (about Rs. 106,000) and you can own a little bit of the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground, considered the traditional home of cricket, at St. John’s Wood in London, England, where “dreams are made” and probably shattered too. It is now out in [...]
Letters to the Editor
Bhante Dhammika has little knowledge of the history of the Theosophical Society REPLY TO BLIND FAITH IN THE THIRD EYE I was furious – no, outraged - would be a better word to describe what I felt when reading Bhante Dhammika’s (BD) article on the best-selling book written over 60 years ago , titled ‘ [...]
Appreciations
We have lost the heart and soul of our family Prof. Chandra L. Jayasuriya “The ones that love us never really leave us. They can always be found in our hearts” A fact of life we often tend to forget when growing up, is that people we love are also growing older. The sad reality [...]
A clear blue sea: Doing all he can to bring it back
In the over 40 years that he has been diving, Jehan Pieris has seen how the waters around Sri Lanka have changed– from a sea that was crystal clear to a murky pollution-filled one. Taking people diving off Mount Lavinia, once a wonderful experience, now only saddens him because of the sight of garbage lodged [...]
Ruk Raks day on Kinross beach
Ruk Rakaganno together with Global Towers Hotel recently held a beach clean up at the Kinross beach in Wellawatte. After hearing a presentation by Vimukthi Weeratunga, wildlife biologist of Nature Trails, the CEO of Global Towers lent a hand with the hotel supplying gloves and garbage bags for collection- and giving the very tired volunteers [...]
Ambushed by time, behind the Blue Door
It was bound to happen at a family get-together of septuagenarians,” thus begins Ransiri Menike Silva’s collection of stories The Blue Door and More, setting the scene for fictionalised (and de-fictionalised!) play of symbols, motifs, allusions, and time-space dimensions. A careful reader could not ignore the taste and fragrance of family-driven events in these stories; [...]
A wake up call to you the people
All authentic prophets, modern or ancient, were voices in the wilderness yet never wavering from their stand, never compromising with power, prestige or pelf, always consistent, comprehensive and compassionate. Dr Mervyn D. De Silva is one such rare prophet from Sri Lanka in our times. I had, now and then, read some of his articles [...]
Educating oneself on all that’s essential in education
The title of this book itself is thought provoking. One could argue that principles are static and hence whether there could be modern principles. As the author states in the foreword “yesterday’s education is not suitable for today, it is certainly not suitable for tomorrow”. In that context educational principles also should change in line [...]
Monastery turns salon in an act of giving
Straight and wavy, black and grey, permed and coloured, long and short…..all would go for one cause. The hair donation campaign, a welfare project for cancer patients has grown rapidly since its inception a year ago, bringing hope to hundreds of women and girls battling cancer. The locks donated go to make wigs for patients [...]
In the presence of a great chronicler
The audience stirred with a collective sense of pride when Jean Arasanayagam was announced the winner of the Gratiaen 2017 last Saturday at the BMICH. It had been a long wait for the country’s most cherished living poet in English. She was one of the early judges for the award in 1994, and then was [...]
A whole week of Italian fare
It’s Italian Week in Colombo from June 4-8, showcasing the richness of Italian culture in its many forms from design to cinema, to fashion and music. Italian Week is presented by the Italian Embassy in Sri Lanka and artists from Italy are being flown down to share their talents with audiences here, celebrating the long [...]
Menaka Singers with Barbara Segal present an evening of opera
Colombo audiences can look forward to another in the series of ‘’ After All It’s Opera” presented by the Menaka Singers Opera Ensemble (MSOE), in collaboration with Barbara Segal Opera at the Russian Cultural Centre on Saturday, June 9 at 7 p.m. The evening will feature spectacular opera arias and ensembles by Mozart, Donizetti, Gounod, [...]
Art teacher who loves to bring out the creativity in young ones
Every inch of the Shyamala School of Art has been decked with art. On display from May 19 to June 30, the ‘Creative Mind’ exhibition presents the work of Shyamala Pinto Jayawardena’s students at her art school at No. 3 Siripa Road, Colombo 5 from 10.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. so that everyone can walk [...]
Vesak Day at the London Buddhist Vihara
The London Buddhist Vihara celebrated this year’s Vesak Day on May 27,Sunday, closest day to the full moon day of the month of May, with a full day’s religious programmes. A separate programme for Rahula Dhamma School children was held on Saturday, 26th. The Vesak programme commenced with the hoisting of the Buddhist flag by [...]
Harvesters Assist Inc., Sydney donates equipment to Apeksha Hospital
Harvesters Assist Inc., Sydney, recently donated a ValleyLab LS10 Vessel Sealing Generator costing Rs 1.5 million and a SonoSurg-G2 Ultrasonic Generator costing Rs.1.910 million to Apeksha Cancer Hospital, Maharagama. Rajan and Visithra Rajeswaran, founders of Harvesters Assist, handed over the equipment to Dr Panduka Jayasekara, Consultant Oncologist and Dr Minoli Joseph, Senior Registrar in Cancer [...]
Bakthi Gee by BMICH staff
The staff members of BMICH came together to present an evening of “Bakthi Gee” on Vesak Poya day for the second consecutive year. The performance was held at the entrance to the BMICH premises where the “Bakthi Gee” singing was enjoyed by the large crowds visiting the Bauddhaloka Vesak Kalapaya – 2018.
Walk to mark 50 years of critical care
Celebrity cricketers Aravinda de Silva and Roshan Mahanama will be among those who will “take to the streets” to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Critical Care in Sri Lanka. They will join staff of Intensive Care Units (ICUs) including doctors and nurses and Health Ministry officials in a major walk on June 10 (next Sunday) [...]
Yoga, Indian classical music & dance, together on stage
As a curtain raiser to the 4th International Day of Yoga 2018, Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre (Indian Cultural Centre), High Commission of India, Colombo will be presenting “Euphonic Yoga” an artistic arena of performing Arts led by Shruti Chathurlal Sharma and group from India on June 8, at 6.30 p.m. at the ICC auditorium, 16/2 [...]