Navy doc on a picture-taking mission
Treating his passion for the wilds with the same discipline and commitment he displays as Medical Director of the Sri Lanka Navy, Rear Admiral Lalith Ekanayake talks to Kumudini Hettiarachchi on the eve of the launch of his latest book and exhibition on the wilds Seated across from Dr. Lalith Ekanayake in his office in [...]
Manhunt on Star Trek
The twelfth and the latest ‘Star Trek film ‘Star Trek into Darkness’ will be released at Superior, Majestic Cineplex, Colombo and Amity Lite Maharagama, simultaneous to world wide release on May 17. Imported by Liberty Cinemas Ltd, the film describes the discovery of an unstoppable force of terror from within the own organization of the [...]
Secret Life of Sherlock Holmes on the boards
‘Sherlock Holmes’ Secret Life’, theatrical presentation by Ed Lange and directed by Jehan Bastians will go on the boards on June 14, 15 and 16 at the Lionel Wendt theatre Colombo. Produced by Javin Thomas and Billam Poulier, ‘Sherlock Holmes Secret Life’ stars Shanka Amarasinghe, Viran Corea, Roshani Gunaratne, Anurudha Fernando, Andree Perera, Avishka de [...]
Writing to remember
Having lost everyone who was nearest and dearest to her in the tsunami of 2004, Sonali Deraniyagala tells Smriti Daniel that her book ‘Wave’ is a memorial as well as a learning process that love never dies Floating on her back, for a moment all Sonali Deraniyagala could see was a perfectly blue sky. Overhead, [...]
Letters to the editor
Tough punishment needed to prevent child abuse, violence against women It is a tragedy that in this country where people seem to be religious, we hear about rape and child sex abuse cases almost daily. It is said that incidents of rape have increased by 100% over some time. The gruesome killings at Kahawatte and [...]
Appreciations
It’s been 20 years since you left us | Cecil Marinus Perera Though my memory is almost nonexistent of the first few months (and unfortunately the only few months) of my life that I knew my grandfather ‘Seeyapappa’, the stories I have heard about him from Aachimami, my dad and my uncles and aunts makes [...]
Something to wave his hands about
Back from Mumbai with a pair of ‘myoelectric prosthetics’, Jeevantha is ready to get back his life. Kurukulasuriya Patabendige Viraj Jeevantha de Silva, 27, from Kuda Maskeliya cannot stop smiling. Sitting up in bed at the Police Hospital at Narahenpita, he is “showing off” his hands to a knot of nurses and minor staff, moving, [...]
Meeting the need
Opened in 1935, St Joseph’s School for the Deaf and Blind has grown to accommodate 200 students It was an O.M.I. priest Father Collerec who in 1929 came to this island with six volunteer Sisters from Belgium to care for patients with tuberculosis, then a killer disease, who laid the foundation for a school that [...]
Behold! The comics page!
This Sunday morning, as usual, I got up at the crack of dawn at 10. 30 hrs. and after the usual refreshing cup of tea I went straight into the Plus section of The Sunday Times and shock horror there were no cartoons! Did that register with you? No? I said that there were no [...]
Everyone has a story to tell, that’s where Lal steps in
Teacher, academic, writer and musician — the interests of Gratiaen Prize winner for 2012 Lal Medawattegedara are as diverse as his ability to ‘see the world through many different glasses’. Here Smriti Daniel catches up with the writer to discuss his award-winning manuscript ‘Playing Pillow Politics at MGK’. When Lal Medawattegedara asks me for a [...]
Recreating Russian flavours with love
With the opening of Nebesa, Colombo has a new Russian restaurant. The big white building on Duplication Road is memorable for more than just the food – it also has what are possibly the largest, most lavish armchairs in the city. They form a little cocoon, rising high above your head and affording you some [...]
Seasons, a place for all tastes
Opened recently, the restaurant that now serves Indian dishes and local rice and curry, will soon offer Chinese, Thai, Arabic and Western specialties as well For an all new, refreshingly diverse gastronomic experience head over to the Liberty Plaza shopping complex in Kollupitiya. Tucked away on the second floor of the building ‘Seasons’ is [...]
What’s in a pen name?
As the outcry at the 2012 Gratiaen Prize has proved, there is a lot riding on the name of a writer At the recently concluded Gratiaen Prize of 2012, one of the shortlisted candidates had submitted a work under a pen name. Apparently, this created a huge outcry, infuriated the Gratiaen Trust and shocked the [...]
Of books (and DVDs) and life
Fortune-cookie philosophy is a funny thing. It inspires the funniest people. Lin Yutang said, “Wise men must learn to read both books and life.” King Arthur – and before him, King Solomon – tried it; and it brought them nothing but joy at first, and then grief and sorrow. The poet Eliot was more humane, [...]
A multitude of miles and high fives
Sri Lankan Jean-Marc Flambert experiences the London Marathon I watched the Virgin London Marathon in 2012 and was inspired. If people could run the distance with a rhino suit on, or as an 80-year-old, surely I could. On the way home I turned to my Facebook friends. If I could get 200 ‘likes’ I would [...]
Three pillars of St.Anthony’s – Wright, Macky and Denlow
I would consider it gross ingratitude to forget the contribution made by these three gentlemen – Robert Wright, George Macky and George Denlow to St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota which they attended as students, and thereafter served for many years loyally as teachers. They not only taught their subjects assiduously and with great zeal and skill, [...]
Recalling landscape his way
Inspired by Abstract art Ruwan Prasanna’s latest exhibition Contemporary Landscapes is on at the Saskia Fernando Gallery, (61, Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo 07). “In a small painting there can be thousands of strokes. Abstraction indicates a departure from reality in its depiction of imagery in art. When we go sightseeing or may be visit a place, on your return [...]
Hits from a cross section of generations from Merry-An Singers
Come late May, local music aficionados are in for a treat as the Merry An Singers present The Masters and the Musicals, another instalment of the series ‘A Tribute to Legends of Music’. The show will be staged on May 30 and 31 and June 1 at the Lionel Wendt. ‘A Tribute to Legends of Music’ [...]
Old favourites from young ones
Are you in the mood to listen to those well-loved songs like Twist Again, Edelweiss, I Dreamed A Dream, or I Will Survive, just to name a few…? These will just be some of the songs you will be able to listen to on May 18 and 19 at the Bishop’s College Auditorium when the students of Fine and Performing Arts directed by Shyama Perera and Ishan De Lanerolle [...]
First of a tribute to masters of their craft
The National Trust- Sri Lanka recently launched the first publication in the series “Seven Artists of an Era at the end of the 20th Century”; The Sculpture of Tissa Ranasinghe written by Neville Weereratne with a preface by Prof. Albert Dharmasiri. Tissa Ranasinghe’s talents have taken him from the drawing board and easel to the [...]
From ayurvedic writings to short stories
‘Laika’, a short story collection by Sirisena Ukwattage priced at Rs. 150 is now available at the M.D. Gunasena and Sarasavi Bookshops. The stories have been translated by Edmund Ratnasekera. Mr. Ukwattage is also the author of several ayurvedic books and is a member of the Writers’ Association in Horana, Raigam Korala. He has also [...]
People and events
‘Tagore and Sri Lanka’: New volume commemorates Nobel laureate ‘Tagore and Sri Lanka’, a 150th birth anniversary volume commemorating the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore was launched by the Indian Cultural Centre this week. Senior Minister for International Monetary Co-operation Dr. Sarath Amunugama delivered the keynote address while External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L.Peiris and Indian High [...]
