All that’s spicy and historical of cinnamon under one roof
The island’s first cinnamon museum (filling a major lacuna, as Sri Lanka alone gives the world the best and truest of this burnished spice) was opened at Mirissa Hills in Mirissa earlier this month. After traversing the rainforest-like property (dark and mist-shrouded), the cheery yellow-ochre-orange building beams in the early morning light, custom built to [...]
Signal honour for her long struggle
Dressed in checked shirt and shorts, Rosanna Flamer-Caldera exudes that breezy confidence that makes her a role model not only for lesbian women but also gays, transgender people, the bisexual, the questioning, the intersexual and the asexual. In her house in Borella, things are pretty spartan as we sit down to talk about her being [...]
APPRECIATIONS
The booming voice and laughter are no more but I know you are watching over us Nihal Jayasooriya I am not sure if I have ever come across anyone who loved S. Thomas’ Gurutalawa as much as Nihal Jayasooriya. Hailing from the proud South – the vibrant town of Ambalangoda, Uncle Nihal was the youngest [...]
Comprehensive, reader-friendly book on surgery
Precise, to the point and different to the norm was this book launch – sending forth an ‘incisive’ message, like the clean cut performed by a competent and skilled surgeon to heal a patient. Held in the auditorium of the College of Surgeons of Sri Lanka, Colombo 7, ensconced within the former home of revered [...]
The Silk Road of the Sea
Last week I was privileged to deliver the annual Victor Melder Lecture – honouring an old friend now living in Melbourne who has done so much for Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan migrants in his adopted home Australia. I spoke on the subject ‘Sri Lanka and the Silk Road of the Sea’ – tracing the [...]
Much-needed chairs bring smiles to mothers at SJH children’s ward
The aluth avuruddu dawned for Ward 1, the Paediatric Ward of the Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital, Kotte, with auspicious tidings this week. While there was no fanfare, only the avurudu table organized by the staff of Ward 1 headed by Consultant Paediatrician Dr. Mihira Manamperi and a beautiful bouquet of flowers, the appreciation of everyone [...]
Joy of train rides and solitude on one platform
Pathum Gamage is a railway aficionado and his life is woven around the rail track. In his debut exhibition now at the Paradise Road Galleries, the canvases depict old colonial railway stations — those ornate arches, black benches and pale ochre brick and stone buildings from the 1800s. Pathum, now 36, came to Colombo in [...]
The story of glass bottles from our sea-bed
Dr. Malik Fernando will speak on “Ancient Glass Bottle Finds from Sri Lanka’s Sea-bed” in this month’s lecture of the National Trust on Thursday, April 25 at 6 p.m. at the Auditorium of the College of Surgeons of Sri Lanka, No. 6, Independence Avenue, Colombo 7. For those who join online: https://www.youtube.com/@ntsl9627 A significant number [...]
Layard’s Wharf, a melting pot of global cuisine
Nestled within the expansive Havelock City Mall is Layard’s Wharf, born out of a vision to create a market-style food court that celebrates diverse flavours, all set within a context deeply rooted in the history of its location. The mall is situated on the grounds of the former Wellawatte Spinning and Weaving Mills adjacent to [...]