Irangani – the one and only
In the latter part of the 1950s when I was attached to the news desk of the Ceylon Observer (the paper was then printed every day and released in the afternoon), our daily routine was to give the material for the first edition and move to the Fort YMCA for breakfast. After breakfast Clarence Perera [...]
A Mother in need
Fathima Nilufah Malik has an extraordinary family of over 70 children. All except the three who are her own biological offspring and their spouses have special needs. They come from different homes, different communities in places near and far to Wellampitiya, where Ash-Shifaa, her school and home for orphans and the intellectually and physically disabled [...]
Letters to the Editor
Let not so called law-makers break all ‘new normal’ rules in the face of polls ‘COVID-19’ in its wake has already succeeded in injecting a sense of discipline, law and order to our lifestyles. Above all, our populace which is generally more inclined towards religious and cultural observances compared to other countries in the region, [...]
Appreciations
Together we lived and fought Wing Commander Eksith Peiris June 19, 1985, was perhaps yet another day for my brother Eksith, and he would have woken up to the plans he had for the day, at the detachment of the Sri Lankan Air Force in Batticaloa. The previous week he had faced the tragic loss [...]
New chapter for Gratiaen as it goes digital
The Gratiaen Prize for Sri Lankan creative writing in English, at 28 years, has left a rich trail. When the 2017 winner, the late legendary Jean Arasanayagam, trilled “This is our local Oscars!” she was paying tribute not to glamour but to the high quality the prize has throughout kept up- and the mid-year excitement [...]
The ones that got away
We’ve all been there – especially in the age of phone-photography. You see a brilliant moment start to unfold before your eyes and then, while you’re still struggling to get your ‘camera’ out of your pocket, the lights have changed, the smoke’s blown clear, the child has gone from gorgeous grin to total meltdown. And [...]
Giving a voice and face to a vital but little known segment of society
Lakmali Gunawardena’s most recent novel, Salt Rakers features a neglected but vital segment of society. In the first of three episodes making up the novel, ‘Palavi’, the salterns are part of the background landscape. In the second, Lunuketiya, the story centres on a family of skilled salt makers. In it are flashbacks, in addition to [...]