Chandra Schaffter at Hockey: For School, University & Ceylon

Chandra Schaffter, responding to a request from The Editor, Thuppahi** …. with the highlighting being the latter’s imposition

For obvious reasons, my association with  hockey was not so important although I was possibly a better hockey played at national level, than I was at cricket.  I started playing hockey at the age of 8 or 9, on the road with my father’s walking stick.  We could not afford buy a hockey stick at that time.  However, when I got a bit older, in school we had access to hockey sticks; but then war intervened and for 5-6 years from ’41 until ’46, I had no hockey at all, never touching a hockey stick.

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under art & allure bewitching, Colombo and Its Spaces, economic processes, education, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, S. Thomas College, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society

The Origins of Burgher & Malay Surnames in Colonial Ceylon

Author Unknown … sent to Thuppahi by Kodi Kodituwakku of Chandos St, Fort, Galle

The Ceylon Burgher Community is the finest exponent of this European onoma-tology in Sri Lanka, as the members of the community carry some of the world’s rarest surnames which at present verge on extinction. The ancestors of the Dutch Burghers were not necessaril.y Dutch by ethnic origin as the Dutch East India Company [recruited] hundreds of mercenaries from all parts of Europe who later reached the shores of Lanka to strengthen the Dutch garrisons on the Island. These Europeans later espoused local women and paved the way for the Lankan Eurasian Community, which later came to be known as ‘Dutch Burghers’ meaning ‘Town Dwellers’.

Continue reading

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, commoditification, cultural transmission, Dutch colonialism, economic processes, education, ethnicity, governance, heritage, Indian Ocean politics, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, politIcal discourse, Portuguese in Indian Ocean, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, travelogue, unusual people, VOC, working class conditions, world events & processes

A Cricketing Saga Extraordinary

Chandra Schaffter ... responding to an earnest request from Michael Roberts**

I started playing cricket from the age of five.  My father who was also a good cricketer in his time, gave me great encouragement.  Unfortunately, he died in 1941 when I was 11 years old.  Thereafter I had nobody ever interested in my cricketing career.

 

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, communal relations, cricket selections, cultural transmission, discrimination, economic processes, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, life stories, nationalism, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, S. Thomas College, self-reflexivity, Sri Lankan cricket, sri lankan society, teaching profession, trauma, travelogue, unusual people, vengeance

Guns Blazing! Obama on the American Warpath

X

Obama has been in Sydney and Melbourne this week wearing his dark cool shades, dazzling his many female followers, and giving speeches which earned him a couple of million dollars just enough to pay for breakfast at Tiffany’s. He was in Melbourne yesterday, picking up another million, while dazzling his audience with his analysis of the world. Yep, you got it. It was one of those “China is the bad boy – the US is the good boy” speeches.
 A NOTE from Thuppahi:
The highlightonh emphasis is my ntervntion …nad let me note that “X” resides in the ANZAC world of Australia-New Zealand and therefore has to secure (hopefully) his security.

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, american imperialism, Australian culture, australian media, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, disparagement, economic processes, foreign policy, fundamentalism, governance, historical interpretation, life stories, military strategy, nationalism, Pacific Ocean politics, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, press freedom, security, self-reflexivity, slanted reportage, taking the piss, the imaginary and the real, transport and communications, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world events & processes

Sri Lanka Crunched within Cold War Manouevres?

TPI Media, “The Hidden Hand of US Influence in Sri Lanka: Cold War Strategies Revisited | CIA,” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPUuMZiDSXg

Continue reading

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, american imperialism, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, debt restructuring, economic processes, historical interpretation, IMF, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, legal issues, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, the imaginary and the real, transport and communications, truth as casualty of war, world events & processes

Imminent Threat Looms OVER Sri Lanka! Nuland Looms …

8 Comments

Filed under accountability, american imperialism, centre-periphery relations, Colombo and Its Spaces, debt restructuring, disparagement, economic processes, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, meditations, military strategy, parliamentary elections, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, vengeance, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry

Ceylonese Volunteers in the Midst of Trench Warfare Carnage – World War One

Suren Ratwatte, whose chosen title reads as Battle of the Somme and the Trinitians at the frontlines” …. while his text has had Highlights imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

Suren Ratwatte writes about the bloodiest chapter in the history of the British Army in WW II, where his grandfather Sir Richard Aluwihare and three other schoolmates faced the brunt of enemy fire.

What remains today: The trenches in France where the 29th Division (among whom were the young soldiers from Ceylon), fought in 1916. Pix by Suren Ratwatte

Continue reading

9 Comments

Filed under accountability, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, education, Empire loyalism, ethnicity, European history, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, life stories, martyrdom, meditations, military strategy, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, trauma, travelogue, unusual people, war reportage, world events & processes, World War One

Cricket Crazy Cricket! Abbott and Costello Capers from the Sri Lankans at Eden Gardens

Michael Roberts

I happened to watch most of the Sri Lankan innings against New Zealand at Eden Gardens today the 23rd March 2023. I had no great expectations as I anticipate losses in all their matches in the seamer friendly conditions over there.

Henry Shipley’s maiden five-for came in just his fourth ODI  •  AFP/Getty Images

However, ….. however, ……. the performances at Eden Gardens had touches of craziness jumbled together with idiocy. If the batting revealed measures of clumsiness, the running between the wickets suggested touches of Abbott and Costello at their most comic.

Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, cricket for amity, cricket selections, life stories, performance, self-reflexivity, Sri Lankan cricket

Serving Sri Lanka: Skandakumar on Mevan Pieris

Somachandra Skandakumar’s Address at the Launch of Mevan Pieris’s THE COMMUNITY,21 March 2023 … with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

Chief Guest Professor G.L Pieris, Guest of Honour, the  Reverend Warden Marc Billimoria, distinguished Guests, Ayubowan ,Vanakkam, Assalam Aleykum, Good evening,

It was three years ago that an equally eminent Thomian Anura  Tennekoon invited me to speak at the launch of his book. Today I am privileged again by one of similar standing and must thank Mevan for the opportunity. Such moments merely reinforce the values of our two great Institutions, where the fierceness of competition on the playing fields have led to the strongest of bonds off it .

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, Colombo and Its Spaces, communal relations, cricket for amity, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, patriotism, politIcal discourse, Royal College, S. Thomas College, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society

Sri Lanka’s Woes: “Truthseeker’s” Insights in April 2022

An EMAIL NOTE from Gus Mathews in UK, 25 March 2023 **

This a fascinating read that throws some light into the present-day financial woes of the current predicament in Sri Lanka. It was published some time ago, but it is as illuminating as ever.

REFERRING TO https://thuppahis.com/2022/04/27/the-yahapaalana-legacy-and-three-major-international-events-processes-driving-sri-lanka-to-bankruptcy/#more-61140

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, american imperialism, centre-periphery relations, citizen journalism, debt restructuring, economic processes, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, IMF, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, security, self-reflexivity, social justice, sri lankan society, unusual people, world affairs