The woman behind the ‘Dying Christ’
Kandyan saree and all, each day she would clamber agilely up the high scaffolding in her sprawling garden off Boyd Place, Kollupitiya, to attend to every tiny detail herself, while her husband would stand below and shout out advice based on photographs in his hands. How many of those who still gaze in prayerful wonder [...]
A much needed trust
To announce that Sri Lanka has a rich cultural heritage is hardly breaking news. We’re repeatedly taught it during school and any Sri Lankan travel brochure you pick up (very rightly) touts its history and heritage along with adjective laden descriptions of the country’s beaches and mountains. But what happens when you fall into the [...]
Lakshan is off to India – thanks to the overwhelming response
Desperation has given way to overwhelming relief for P.K. Kulatunga and his family from Pallebage off Deraniyagala. This is the minor employee of the medicinal stores of the National Hospital in Colombo who pleaded for funds from generous people to take his 14-year-old son, Lakshan Udara, for a bone marrow transplant to Chennai’s Apollo Hospital [...]
Hooked on the hackery
Pulling out a black and white photograph from an album, K. Wilson aka “Poddaiya” shows a picture of himself riding a thirikkal (hackery), in the prime of youth. Then comes his twin brother K. Piyasena whom they call “Lokkaiya” carrying a few framed photographs of the thirikkal races his sibling took part in, back in the day. [...]
An evening of Broadway from the Workshop’s best shows
For over two decades they have sung to the Jellicle moon, leapt across the African savannah with gazelle like grace, trekked across the Alps, danced the Charleston at Herod’s Palace and more recently retold the story of a phantom composer and a young chorus girl. One of Sri Lanka’s largest and oldest theatre troupes, The [...]
Young soloists Sulara and Nilupul star for SOSL
Two promising young musicians Sulara Nanayakkara and Nilupul Silva, will take the stage to perform Vivaldi’s Double Violin concerto with the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka, at the Ladies’ College Hall next Sunday, July 5. The Young Soloists concert which will showcase the two young soloists’ impressive talent, will also include Beethoven’s delightful Eighth symphony, [...]
St. Benedict’s: How the ‘holy rebels’ started it all
The main event of the Sesquicentennial celebration will be on Friday, July 10, 2015, beginning with Concelebration of Holy Mass by Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith with Benedictine Bishops and priests at St Lucia’s Cathedral, Kotahena at 8 a.m. This will be followed by an Assembly under the Banyan tree presided over by President Maithripala Sirisena. On [...]
Letters
Catch the howlers In our day-to-day life, we come across bloomers which are being accepted without a murmur, in view of the low standard of education, particularly English. I quote here below some of the errors which caught my eye in the recent past. Firstly, I came across the sign board which read ‘Be caution’ [...]
Celebrating tea
In the 1700s, it was the afternoon meal of the working man complete with cakes, scones, toast and of course, a cup of tea. Almost 400 years later “High Tea” has travelled beyond the Englishman’s drawing room and found itself becoming an opportunity to dress up and gorge oneself to the point of being uncomfortably [...]
An adventurous life
1968- Rienzie Weereratne is being escorted around his new residence in Ghana. Suddenly a man jumps out from the thicket. He looks ferocious, brandishing a spear in African battle dress. Alarmed, Weereratne is about to make a run for it when his escort makes the genial introductions. “…and this is your night watchman, by the [...]
Gratiaen time
It was the annual gathering of the Colombo literati as the Gratiaen Prize award was announced at a ceremony hosted by the Gratiaen Trust and main sponsor the Standard Chartered Bank at the Park Street Mews on Friday, June 12. Young writer Vihanga Perera carried away the 2014 Gratiaen Prize for his collection of poems [...]
Lanka’s gracious gift to NZ
Auckland Zoo has a new arrival – Anjalee, the elephant from Sri Lanka who arrived last week. Auckland Zoo, New Zealand’s largest used to have two Asian elephants until Kashin died in 2009, leaving the zoo’s sole elephant, Burma, without a companion. It is well established that elephants like the companionship of other elephants and [...]
‘The most important thing is love’
Almost everyone on the Montessori staff at St. Bridget’s Convent knows who “Aunty” is. But not all know that her name is Surangani Jayatilaka and this year marks the 43rd year of her dedicated service of teaching. Surangani was already a dynamic personality on the staff when a good number of them were starting out [...]
Eat your heart out, Yulin
I thought about eating my dog, just the other weekend. Not that I like dog-meat, or love my canine friends less. But just to see what all the fuss was about. Only those who have been following the furore over that dog-meat festival in China will know what I’m muttering about, and how I feel. [...]
Most Outstanding Chairperson (Joint award)
Lion Farina Dole who was adjudged the Most Outstanding Chairperson (Joint Winner) in the Lions District Cabinet, receiving her award from District Governor Ganamini Sumanasena, at the 10th Annual District Convention of District 306 A1, held at the BMICH recently. Past International President Lion Mahendra Amarasuriya was the Chief Guest at the Convention.
Ven. Ajahn Brahmali at the BMICH Main Hall on Esala Poya day
Ven Ajahn Brahmali from the Bodhinyana Monastery, Perth, Australia will conduct a special programme at the BMICH Main Hall on Esala Poya day – Wednesday, July 1 from 7 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. This programme will commence with a Dhamma talk followed by guided meditation. There will be a Q &A session before the conclusion [...]
Appreciations
M.A.A. Fernando His capabilities were immense and his integrity unquestionable Mr. M.A.A. Fernando (Athula) joined the Health Department in October 1953. He won a Colombo Plan Scholarship to U.K. in 1954, and having qualified as a member of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (MCSP) returned to the Orthopaedic Clinic, General Hospital, Colombo as Senior Physiotherapist [...]
Yoga exhibition
A photographic exhibition on Yoga postures was opened by Indian High Commissioner Y.K. Sinha at the Indian Cultural Centre on Monday. Yoga institutes taking part in the first International Yoga Day were also felicitated at the event. A dance performance on ‘Yoga in Dance’ was presented by Moksha Samarasooriya and her group.
RASSL lecture: The fall of Sinhala in 1815
“A Closer Look at the Fall of Sinhala in 1815”, the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka’s monthly public lecture will be delivered by Gamini Gunawardane on Monday, June 29 at 5 p.m. at the Gamini Dissanayake auditorium, No. 96, Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha, Colombo 7. As this year marks 200 years after the termination of [...]
CALSDA moves to Colombo 5
The inauguration ceremony when the Colombo Academy of Language Skills and Dramatic Art (CALSDA) moved to its new and spacious premises at 77A Fife Road, Colombo 5 was held on June 12. With its motto of A posse ad esse (From possibility to reality), CALSDA has during the past 15 years established itself as a [...]
