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EYE
open your eye We want to
express our gratitude to 'Channel EYE' for their superb coverage
of the World Cup. The inauguration and the opening match were immaculately
covered. Even the interviews
with the players, and the whole award presentation to the last second
was telecast to our viewers without any interruption. We wonder
whether this was so because the Lankan expert commentators were
too sleepy to give their opinions at 2.00 am? The telecast
of the second game between Sri Lanka and New Zealand on 10/02/2003,
did not keep up with me high standards of the first game. The biggest
hindrance was the 'chat-show' carried out by the 'local experts'.
It seemed that they were more interested in putting their own expert
views across to us than letting us watch the pictures directly from
South Africa. Meaningless questions were asked and lukewarm answers
given, repeating the same thing over and over again. Top priority
was given to this 'private chat' between the duo, over the proceedings
going on in Blomfontein. We were forced so listen to this garbage,
even though we were bored to tears, because we did not want to miss
the award presentation. We wanted to hear from Stephen Fleming 'what
went wrong with New Zealand' rather from our local experts. (Another
brilliant question popped up by the expert who does not understand
the difference between the radio and TV, to the confused young man
who looked tired of answering all these dumb questions). But this was
not to be. We only caught a glimpse of Sanath Jayasuriya. This followed
the other matches and I think we have to watch this nonsense in
future matches too. How necessary
are these discussions? It is our view that cricket, like Music or
Mathematics is understood universally. Language is no barrier to
understand the game. And can't the authorities arrange it in a way
that does not disturb or distort the live coverage directly from
South Africa? I hope I have made myself clear. I am writing this on behalf of many people, many cricket lovers in Sri Lanka.
We must thank Media Minister and the Chairman of SLBC for naming studio No. 4 of SLBC as Karunaratne Abeysekera Studio on his 72 birth anniversary. We also appreciate the telecasting of proceedings over channel 2 of SLRC. Karu Ayia's
20th death anniversary will be on 20th April 2003. On behalf of
thousands of Karunaratne Abeysekera fans scattered all over the
island I appeal to the Minister and the Chairman of SLBC to instruct
the relevant authorities to commemorate the event in a grand scale. I also take this opportunity to invite the following intellectuals, as we know, who were friends of Karu Ayia, to bequeath his biography to the nation, M/s Sunil Sarath Perera, Prof. Sunanda Mahendra, Dr. Buddhadasa Bodinayake, Prof Sunil Ariyaratne and A.T. Ariyaratne.
This is his
fifteenth solo exhibition and Punarjeeva will reveal the depth and
philosophy of that mental attire. Buddhist painting
is the national tradition of painting in Sri Lanka, the history
of which can be traced back to a period of more than two thousand
years. This rich tradition has undergone numerous changes at different
periods of time reflecting the creative accomplishments of the masters
of the past. Painter monk
Ven Katuwana Piyananda Thero is a contemporary exponent of the teachings
of the Buddha. In the Buddhist paintings of the past the illustrative
element was dominant. Ven. Piyananda's passion is to create visual
equipments of the philosophical teachings of the Buddha. Although
his art is radically different from the Buddhist artistic creations
of the past, it contains dynamic messages of the past, it contains
dynamic messages in spiritual, inspirational and social terms. Most
of his compositions are successful integration of the subject matter
and the compositional elements like line, colour, shapes, etc. The composition
'Vasetta' is non figurative. Here two dimensional abstract shapes
around an oval are used in symbolical manner to express the correct
definition of the "Brahmin" as expounded in he Vasettha
Sutta 'Manalol suwada samepe' is an interpretation of 'samasara',
the cycle of existence. Here the man and woman, the central motif,
commence the weaving of the complex fabric of life. The use of blue stripes is a bold attempt to relieve the monotony of Brownish Treatment. 'Eka Putta Manurakke' suggests the humanitarian ideal of a Buddhist monk confronted with the reality surrounding him. 'Visakhians
in Concert'
'Visakhians
in Concert' will come alive on Saturday, March 1 at 6.30 pm at the
school's Jeremias Dias Hall. Dancers Upeka
and Anjalika famous cellist Savitri, the drummer girl of 'Pearl',
Priya, Menaka of popular 'Menaka Singers,' popular Bharatha and
Indian Dancers Aloka and Anuradha, Priyadarshini, Sandhya and traditional
Sri Lankan dancer and Visha Manohari will feature at this concert.
This concert
brings together some of the old Visakhians, who have made a name
for themselves in their respective fields in the performing arts.
The line up includes performances in music, song and dance with the entire show being produced, compered and stage-managed by old Visakhians. Upeka comes
from a tradition that goes back to the dramatist, Shakespearean
actor, producer and director Seebert Dias - her grandfather. Her
father Chitrasena, was responsible for adapting the traditional
dance forms of Sri Lanka to the theatrical idiom. Her Mother Vajira,
is a student of Chitrasena, evolved into the prima ballerina of
Sri Lanka in addition to being a choreographer of repute. The highlights of her career include the ballets 'Kinkini Kolama' and 'Shiva Ranga' especially conceived and choreographed by her parents. More recently were the tours that she led to the Middle East, Geneva, Australia and the USA. Savitria was the principal cellist (1973-1996) of the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka. She has represented Sri Lanka as a cellist at the World Philharmonic Orchestra in 1986 in Rio de Janeiro conducted by Louis Maazel. In 1988 she participated in the World Cello Congress and Concert in Washington DC conducted by M. Rostropovich. In 1990 she was invited for the World Cello Congress and Concert in Anzoma - playing with 300 other cellists. Savitri has been inspired by the all-cello concerts, and to share this experience with her students, she has formed a Cello Orchestra which will perform at the concert. Priya was the
leader and drummer of the famed Visakhian all-girl group 'The Planets'
(1970-1975). The only girl band to reach professional status with
a host of fund raising events for the school and other charities.
Now performing as frontline singer of the popular dance band 'Pearl'
featured weekly at the Colombo Hilton and many weddings and gala
nights. Menaka began
her music studies in piano and singing with Irene Hunter and continued
to study the piano with Mary Billimoria and singing with Christine
Perera. She also studied the violin with Eileen Prins. Menaka holds
a Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music and a Fellow of the Trinity
College London in both piano and singing. She was the
winner of the Sawasangeetha Scholarship for Western Music presented
by the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute in 1987-88 and first runner
up in the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition organised by the Soviet
Cultural House in 1986. Menaka directs
her choir 'Menaka Singers' and teaches piano and singing, and completes
19 years as a teacher. Anjalika tall
statuesque and a style and technique uniquely her own, this younger
daughter of Chitrasena and Vajira came into prominence at the age
of 15 with her brilliant character portrayal of the Old Woman in
Vajira's ballet 'Gini Hora'. As a lead dancer
in the Chitrasena Dance Ensemble she has travelled widely performing
in almost every part of the world. In August 1999, she had the unique
distinction of performing at the Julia Morgan Theatre in USA in
'Nruth-anjali' a programme of dance choreographed and produced by
her together with daughter Heshma. Visha Manohari de Silva, an exponent of traditional Sri Lankan dance forms, had her initial education in the visual arts at the Institute of Aesthetic Studies of the University of Kelaniya from where she graduated in 1981. Her early training came from Chitrasena and Vajira under whom she studied from the age of 12. A member of
their acclaimed dance troupe she has performed in several of their
ballets including "Karadiya", "Nala Damayanthi",
"Shira Ranga", "Kinkini Kolama" and "Chandalika".
In 1978, with the revival of the Tower Hall Theatre Foundation,
she got the opportunity of acting in plays like "Siri Sangabo",
"Sri Wickrama", "Samudra Devi". Sandhya began
dancing at the age of seven years under the legendary Kamala Jayatilleke
of Visakha Vidyalaya. Her Arrangetram
at the age of 11 years was highly acclaimed by critics as dancing
exceptionally well with effortless flexibility, which struck a perfect
balance between 'nritta' and 'nritiya'. Twin sisters Aloka and Anuradha are pupils of the legendary Kamala Jayatilleke and in 1980 were the first Sinhalese twin sisters to have their Arrangetram. Anuradha won
first place for the dance item 'Eswara Nurthi' presented by the
Siyane College of Education at the College's Cultural Festival. At the age of 12 years, Aloka represented Sri Lanka in dancing at the 'International Year of the Child' celebrations held in Tokyo, Japan in 1979. The sisters
have numerous television performances to their credit. They have
been featured on Rupavahini's 'Nandana Vidana", and 'Miyasi
Visithura'. They performed the opening dance item to mark ITN's
official opening of its Yatiyantota transmission in 1984. Priyadharshini started dancing at a very early age under Kamala Jayatilleke leading upto her Arrangetram at the BMICH in 1978. She has the distinction of being the first dancer ever to hold an Arrangetram at the BMICH. She worked as
an assistant teacher under Kamala Jayatilleke until 1992, and teaches
Bharatha Natyam on a honourary basis at Visakha Vidyalaya. |
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