A miniature world within your bookshelf
Ever yearned to step into the world of your favourite books? Popularised on the internet, a book nook is a decorative miniature diorama or shelf insert that brings alive those magical worlds by recreating the settings and scenes from the pages of those well-loved tales. Ridmi Pitumpe has embraced this niche hobby with her arts [...]
Expert views on leopard conservation
Prof. Enoka Kudavidanage, Rukshan Jayewardene and Kithsiri Gunawardena moderated by Sriyan de Silva Wijeyeratne will focus on the topic of ‘Conservation of the Leopard’ in this month’s Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS) lecture on August 18 at 6 p.m. at the Jasmine Hall, BMICH. The lecture is open to all and will be on [...]
RASSL lecture on Sinhala scholar
“D.B. Jayatilaka’s Contribution to Sinhala Studies” is the topic of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka’s (RASSL) lecture this month. It will be delivered on Monday, August 15 at 7 p.m. by Prof. Sandagomi Coperahewa, Senior Professor and Head, Department of Sinhala, University of Colombo. The lecture in Sinhala is open to all. Zoom: [...]
Journey of the sacred casket after the pageant
The annual Sri Dalada Perahera was concluded with the Daval (day) perahera on August 12. Considered the most important pageant in Sri Lanka, the Perahera is conducted on the streets of Kandy for ten days. The last Randoli perahera was on the 11th night and the Sri Dalada Karanduwa (casket) was taken to the Asgiriya [...]
Changing lives of Palankudi community: Capturing their own stories
The coastal indigenous communities, called the Palankudi, are found along the eastern coast in Trincomalee and Batticaloa. ‘Palankudi’ which translates to ‘tribe’ or ‘indigenous’ in Tamil is the term adopted by the community instead of ‘Veddah’. The Palankudi separated from their original tribe and at some point formed their own culture and identity, with a [...]
Letters to the Editor
Why can’t we keep our locomotives clean? These pictures are of locomotives belonging to the Sri Lanka Government Railways. These are not steam engines which we call ‘Yakada Yakas’ that are usually black in colour. These locomotives have not been washed and cleaned for years (or after importing). There are many trains running on our [...]
APPRECIATIONS
A rare gem in the public service LESTER FONSEKA With the passing away of Lester Fonseka in June, the world lost a classics scholar, linguist, author, orator, toastmaster, counsellor and above all, a gentleman par excellence. Born to a distinguished family, he commenced his schooling at St Peter’s College and subsequently joined Royal College, Colombo. [...]
Lots to laugh about as Freddy returns
Freddy, the incorrigible and irrepressible, was back! This time with a blast seeing as Feroze Kamardeen, writer and director, was up to the neck with material given the alphabet soup of local politics in the past months. Three stand-up comedians did what Freddy has made a name for: delivering hard-hitting if hilarious truths about Sri [...]
Food for thought in bite-sized portions
This masterly, self-help booklet by Rev. Dr. Victor Silva, Director of the Subodhi Institute of Integral Education at Piliyandala comes at a most opportune time where there is a drastic deterioration of healthy attitudes and values in every aspect of human lives. I am reminded of a few lines in T.S. Eliot’s poem ‘The Waste [...]