Sri Lanka’s not so crowning moment!
It was the trending topic on Twitter for the Asian region, making headlines on Yahoo, BBC, CNN, Reuters, Al-Jazeera, the Guardian, E News, Daily Mail and other major news sites worldwide, even generating its own Wikipedia page. This week, there was no escaping the fact that the Mrs World Sri Lanka pageant had catapulted Sri [...]
Vanishing Avurudu board games
K. K. Gunatilleke from Bentota recalls a time when Avurudu was never complete without a wooden game board or two on the isthoppu (verandah) or the meda midula (inner courtyard)- strewn with coconut shells, cowries and pretty olinda seeds. It was all part of the festive air- alongside the petti full of kevun, kokis, weli [...]
Kovil rituals that see in the Hindu New Year
Puthandu or Pathuvarusham, the Tamil New Year is celebrated on April 14, according to the solar system as the first day of the Hindu calendar. It is the first day of the Tamil month named Chittirai. Seeing a ceremonial tray prepared at home with fruits, flowers,betel leaves, money and other religious objects early morning on [...]
Letters to the Editor
PC polls: Why incur such expenditure to activate the giant white elephant? The PC election issue which was on the backburner for almost five years or so, has now come into the limelight. It is beyond the comprehension of most citizens, as to how a sensible government could possibly think of having whatever election, taking [...]
Appreciations
Remembering Sri Lanka’s first foreign minister A.C.S.Hameed A.C.S.Hameed was born on April 10, 1929. He represented Harispattuwa in Parliament without a break from 1960-1999. Appointed as the country’s first Foreign Minister in 1977, he successfully held this post for 12 years till 1989. Meeting Heads Of States and Foreign Ministers, it was his duty to [...]
Andewatta is no more, but memories of Avurudu come flooding back
At Sinhala and Tamil New Year, nostalgic memories flood the mind. Being an only child of mixed parentage, I had the good fortune to be exposed to both worlds, and New Year took precedence in our household. The first purchase would be a new little clay pot, for the boiling of milk at the appointed [...]
Preparing ‘Aluth Avurudu nekath’ for the Dalada Maligawe
With the transition of the sun from the Meena Rashiya (the house of Pisces) to the Mesha Rashiya (the house of Aries), Sri Lanka celebrates the dawn of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year which is a solar festival. While the main Buddhist religious festivals are Vesak and Poson which fall on Poya (full moon) [...]
Amidst virtual literary chatter and banter two debutantes and three veterans are shortlisted
The shortlist announcement for the Gratiaen Prize for 2020 was made online this year, another concession to the restrictions posed by the pandemic. But with many fresh faces and lots of literary chatter and banter, the virtual event was a long way from the staid and little-trumpeted evenings of the early 1990s when our silver [...]
Flavours that bring back that old familiar feeling
Down Pepiliyana Mawatha in Nugegoda, a familiar name known across generations and synonymous with quality food stands out to passers-by with its eye-catching electric pink and blue logo – Rodrigo’s. With 25 years of experience in the food industry, proprietor Chanaka Rodrigo continues family tradition by striving to deliver delicious sweets and savouries to patrons [...]
A grand dame of the hills steeped in colonial history
Tucked away in a magnificent colonial building over a century old is a treasure trove of British history. The oak snooker tables with bulbous legs were transported by elephants from the Colombo Port through dust laden tracks traversed by bullock carts. They still bear the names of the British companies though one is not sure [...]
Ishara all set for her Arangetram
Ishara Uwini Wickremanayake, a year 11 student of St. Bridget’s Convent, Colombo 7 will present her Bharathanatyam Arangetram on April 18 at the Elphinstone Theatre, Colombo 10, at 5 p.m. Ishara is a student of well known Bharatha natyam teacher, Nirmala John, founder of Nirmayanjali Academy of Dance. Ishara, has been learning this graceful dance [...]
Await the return of a virtual Big Bad Wolf
The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale is set to make another virtual return to Sri Lanka for the second consecutive year in its fifth entrance to the country. The Online Book Sale is scheduled to go live from May 5 -12, offering books at amazingly low prices! The decision to stick with a virtual sale [...]