Reaching the top with nature as his teacher
Not for him were the simple privileges of textbooks, the routine of the classroom or even visits to a well-stocked library. For him, there were only the jungle-clad mountains and life in the wild amidst nature, “running around”. His ‘teacher’ took on different forms. The changing of the seasons, pollination, the full bloom of flowers and [...]
Look, who’s taking a stroll in the city!
Late last Sunday morning, driving along High Level Road, I noticed elephant dung on the side of the road and surmised that there was a tame elephant walking ahead. From the quantity of dung, I guessed that this should be a large mature elephant. A few minutes later I spotted a crowd by the side of [...]
They will give ear with courage, compassion and commitment
At a time when Sri Lanka’s suicide rate remains a concern, just handing someone that 1333 number could make a difference in a life lost or saved. 1333, the CCC Foundation’s Hotline currently receives around 1200 calls every month. Waiting by the receiver is a team of volunteer counsellors. They speak Tamil, Sinhala and English [...]
Their super hits: Away from the beaten tracks
As the opening night of Jesus Christ Superstar draws closer, we asked Surein De S. Wijeyratne, Assistant Director (Music) to take us through his favourite tracks from the rock opera. He’s the first to admit his picks might seem counter-intuitive – the list makes no mention of the most popular tunes the show has produced. [...]
Baroque torrents at the Lionel Wendt
The Chamber Music Society of Colombo (CMSC) relentlessly strives to offer discerning audiences quality music mostly comprising unfamiliar repertoire. Invariably such music is seriously classical and inherently elitist; it’s also arduously exacting to comment upon. CMSC’s recent concert at the Lionel Wendt Theatre on August 30, was titled “The Baroque Tenor”. It staged music of [...]
Letters to the editor
Letters to state institutions draw no response I am a retired public servant. Though retired, most people like me have dealings with state institutions where they worked, but when we write to local authorities and state institutions they simply do not reply. During the past three years, I must have sent more than 300 letters, [...]
Appreciations
Who can forget a doctor and family friend like her Indrani Jayewardene I first set eyes on Indrani on May 17, 1944, as the radiant bride of one of my favourite cousins, Leicester Jayewardene. It was a Medical College romance. Indrani Williams had captured Leicester’s heart and it certainly proved to be a match made [...]
The role of women and Buddhist teachings
Well known journalist Sanjeewika Samaratunga’s trilogy on Buddhism together with her novel was launched recently. The first, “Sitha Nivana Bhavana”, is based on a series of discussions on Buddhist meditation with Ven. Inguruwatte Piyananda Maha Thera of the Kanduboda Siyane International Vipassana Meditation Centre. It is a Heladiva publication. “Budun Dutu Yuwathiyo” is a novel that [...]
Events
New-look Range Rover line British High Commissioner John Rankin and Sri Lanka cricketer Kumar Sangakkara were were among the high profile guests at the launch of the all new Range Rover by SML Frontier Automotive (Pvt) Ltd at Tintagel last week . Managing Director, SML Frontier Automotive Sheran Fernando said the fourth generation of the [...]
Taking a shot at the Lankan wilds with his BeetleCam
The lions of the Maasai Mara sense an intruder amongst them. Rustling the dry blades of grass of the Savannah, a small buggy-like contraption fitted with a DSLR camera crawls up to them. A curious group of lion cubs are the first to investigate as they cautiously paw at it. Fifty metres away in the [...]
Giving shape to a man’s world
Sammani Pathiranagama is a little bored by shapes that she’s all too familiar with. Whereas most designers would go for the allure and mystery-and also the workable charm-of the female figure this designer feels like she needs something a little more challenging when it comes to her work. This is why when she presents her [...]
Adding more flavour to a popular cookery book
A Revised Second Edition of Shanthi Casie Chetty’s popular cookery book ‘Anita Dickman’s Cookery Course’, which she compiled as a tribute to her mother, a renowned cookery teacher has just been released. The book has been a bestseller over the past 25 years. In the course of her travels, accompanying her spouse on foreign assignments, [...]
Back to those carefree happy days
Twenty years ago I stayed at High Cliffe, by the railway line close to Haputale station. Then it had recently been transformed from a den for backpacking young hippies to a modest guesthouse. Its reputation as a hang out for hippies began with its conversion from a granite-walled bungalow to a warren of rooms packed with [...]
Another of Knox’s discoveries
Recently, there has been a reference by a reader to a daily newspaper that Robert Knox was instrumental in providing samples of ganga (cannabis) to his friend Robert Hooke, the scientist, philosopher, architect and polymath. While these samples were not gathered from Ceylon, this was a relevant area of research for my glossary Knox’s Words [...]
Encouraging confidence and independence through holistic education
Pushpa Aluthgamage’s Montessori is unlike the conventional classroom. The large open space has no desks and chairs as one might expect; just colourful blocks and woolly rugs in a corner. This unconventional setting reflects Mrs. Aluthgamage’s philosophy of teaching. “Children should be able to move about freely” as restricting them to being seated at desks [...]
People and events
Chamber Music Society of Colombo to perform Mozart’s piano quartet Soundarie David Rodrigo (piano), Lakshman Joseph de Saram (violin), Othman Hassan Majid (violin), Avanti Perera (viola) and Peter O’Reilly (cello) will be the principal performers when the Chamber Music Society of Colombo and the Goethe Institute present Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s piano quartet in G minor [...]
There’s a truth inside you trying to get out
I can be anything I want to be. If not for the little niggling worry of a fundamental flaw in my mental and emotional make-up. The last time I checked, yours truly had all the right boxes ticked off as regards being wealthy, healthy, and wise beyond measure. And while not quite pure as the [...]
