Plus

27th January 2002

INDEX | FRONT PAGE | EDITORIAL | NEWS/COMMENT | EDITORIAL/OPINION | PLUS | BUSINESS | SPORTS | MIRROR MAGAZINE | TV TIMES | HOME | ARCHIVES | TEAM | SEARCH | DOWNLOAD GZIP
The Sunday Times on the Web
INDEX

FRONT PAGE

EDITORIAL

NEWS/COMMENT

EDITORIAL/OPINION

PLUS

BUSINESS

SPORTS

MIRROR MAGAZINE

TV TIMES


HOME

ARCHIVES

TEAM

SEARCH

DOWNLOAD GZIP


Dream and reality

An exhibition of oil pastels by Chamindika Wanduragala opens at the Barefoot Gallery on February 7.

A young, Sri Lankan born, artist now living in the US, Chamindika obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Minnesota, USA and recently received a grant to travel to Sri Lanka for her exhibition of oil pastel drawings at the Barefoot Gallery. 

Her art deals with the psychological dimension of the interactions between people. These tensions are highlighted by bright, contrasting colours, unique facial expressions, and attention to detail. Each drawing is a journey where experiences and relationships are transformed into mythical tales. Many of the pieces deal with the discovery or giving of wisdom/enlightenment. The people in the drawings inhabit a space between dream, reality, and myth. 

Chamindika has developed her own style neither realistic nor abstract during the past eight years of working with oil pastels. Her characters strike a raw balance between dream and reality. 


Colombo Chetties: Who's who and who did what

Do you want to know who the Gratiaen Award Ondaatjes are? From where did they come, who married whom, and who are their children? Our mothers' generation would have revelled in a book such as this and would have spent many delicious hours discussing what ATS Paul has written in this marvellous Who's Who about the Chetties. For us today, this book is a wonderful font of knowledge about a very vibrant community of our nation.

Names we have all heard - the Muttukrishnas, Aserappas, Casie Chitties, Pauls, Fernandopulles, Candappas to recall a few, are all here in a scintillating run of their dazzlingly brilliant achievements along the generations. The first Ceylonese Medical Officer of Health; Founder President of the Association of Surgeons of Ceylon, who achieved the rare distinction of obtaining both the Membership of the Royal College of Physicians and the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. The first Ceylonese Director of a British Company (Lewis Brown) rising to be its Managing Director; the first Ceylonese to be a member of the High Court of Justice of the Netherlands; first to act as Crown Counsel; first to import an automobile and an air conditioner; first to introduce neon advertisement (Berec ad. on top of the Savoy Cinema). Then there was the Chetty who was admitted into the Colombo Club for Europeans only. Then there is Lady Corea. Do you know who her father was? And who was Mabel, the patron of Bishop's College? And who, the lovely Vanaruha?

ATS Paul, the surgeon, writes with the precision of his surgical skill. Neat, tidy, precise. He tells that Chetty merchants were visiting Ceylon in their own sailing vessels carrying diamonds from Golconda, emeralds from Rajasthan, rubies from Burma and so on from various states of India from pre- Buddhist times. Their arrival here is documented in our history during the time of King Rajasinghe 11 and the governorship of the Dutch. Once they settled in Ceylon, these traders and money lenders dropped out of the money-lending livelihood as it was considered repugnant and switched to the learned professions where they rose to great heights of fame.

We learn that the Chitty legal luminary, who owned one of the first imported automobiles, used a rickshaw to go from his home Stafford House to the Supreme Court. That his son drove the family American carriage drawn by an Australian horse to Royal College at about the age of ten. ATS has not explained why their neighbours objected to this. All his children were educated at home and the boys went straight into Form 1 at Royal College and walked away with may prizes.

The book takes you on a romp through Colombo when fields and forests lay beyond Pettah and the Fort, from where a wild elephant might emerge. Do we know Pettah was originally Janpeta and why? And that it was just a village street owned by the Colombo Chetties. And why 'Colombo' Chetty? How did that name come into being?

I must admit I never knew half these interesting facets about a clan of people who have made great contribution to our nation and belong with pride to Sri Lanka. This easy to read compilation is a MUST for our public and private libraries.

-Manel Ratnatunga


Learning words with click of the mouse

By Esther Williams
The CD-ROM version of the Oxford Advanced Learners' Dictionary was launched at a programme organized jointly by the British Council and the Oxford University Press, India on January 18. The software programme when installed can be used while using Word, Netscape, Explorer and e-mail. The click of a mouse when required would activate a window, which is called the 'Genie'. Like the genie in Aladdin's Lamp which comes in when the lamp is rubbed, this genie comes in when a student requires help and helps in an almost magical way. 

Ms. Moira Runcie, Editorial Director, ELT (English Language Teaching) Dictionaries, Oxford, who was in Colombo for the launch says that the Advanced Learners' Dictionary CD-ROM is for more than meanings and spellings. With visually pleasing and user friendly page lay-out, the CD-ROM offers the most comprehensive coverage of current English through easy access to A-Z entries with both British and American pronunciation. 

It shows how to use particular words, giving examples that show grammar and various syntactic structures. In addition, it contains vocabulary from different specialized areas that is explained in a simple straightforward way. "Difficult words are made easy," through the software programme, she explains. 

In addition, it has short cuts and pointers to get the exact meaning quickly. During a presentation on 'Oxford Dictionaries for Learners of English as a second language' made to English language educators in Colombo, Ms. Runcie stressed the importance of dictionary skills in the learning process. "With dictionary skills," she says, "you equip learners for life, making them fully independent when a teacher is no longer with them. Eventually, they become proficient users of English." 

The presentation took the participants through some basic exercises to show how dictionaries can be used to a full extent.

Before joining the Oxford University Press, Ms. Runcie was an English teacher for about 11 years in Malawi, Central Africa, also a country with English as a second language. During her tenure there, in the mid-70s she was called upon to teach English to the government staff of Malawi. What she felt they needed most was 'dictionary skills' which she promptly introduced. With her vast experience in teaching English, she has had the privilege of helping shape this Advanced Learners' Dictionary CD-ROM. She is aware of the problems of students and has included in the dictionary, aspects her students would like to see. The best dictionaries she says are the ones written by ex-teachers.

Manzar Khan, Managing Director of the Oxford University Press, India was present for the occasion. "I've seen it and it is quite amazing. It will be of great utility for the South Asian region where English is the business technical language. Learning it will be made easier with the CD ROM,' adding that the Oxford University Press, India, which sponsored the programme has always provided their material at inexpensive prices to Sri Lanka.

Vice President of SLELTA (Sri Lankan English Language Teachers' Association) Nirmali Hettiarachchi who helped organize the programme commented that the CD ROM culture has now reached rural areas and is increasingly used in all fields. "Having lost a couple of generations to English, there is a vital need for tools such as these to learn English," she said.



More Plus
Return to Plus Contents
Plus Archives

INDEX | FRONT PAGE | EDITORIAL | NEWS/COMMENT | EDITORIAL/OPINION | PLUS | BUSINESS | SPORTS | MIRROR MAGAZINE | TV TIMES | HOME | ARCHIVES | TEAM | SEARCH | DOWNLOAD GZIP


 
Please send your comments and suggestions on this web site to
The Sunday Times or to Information Laboratories (Pvt.) Ltd.