Thuppahi's Blog

Nandasiri Jasentuliyana in USA, 27 July 2026, in a Comment on a TPS Item on  Cricket which  I  Consider Worthy of  Frontal Notice ++

For  Richmond college to provide six on the squad and captains of the team in all three formats for Sri Lanka  is no mean task for an outstation school It should be some sort of a record, may even be worth an entry in the Wisden, as it probably never happened in any cricket playing country school.
The list is as follows:

Dhananjaya de Silva … Sri Lanka test captain
Charith Asalanka .………….. Sri Lanka ODI & T20I Captain
Wanindu Hasaranga ……. Former Sri Lanka ODI Captain
Kamindu Mendis …… Formerly, Sri Lanka Under-19s Captain.

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Senaka Weeraratna

Sobers bowled Yatawara = 58

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Earlson Forbes

Regarding your recent Thuppahi article titled:“Post Second World War Sri Lankan Migration to Australia…..1946’: I found your article very interesting. However, I could not compare figures in one of my articles with figures supplied in your article as the formatting of tables was user unfriendly.

The first point I wish to make is that due recognition has not been attributed to The Colombo Plan as an instrument that contributed to a change of attitude in Australian Migration Policy.  The Colombo Plan was established in 1951 to enable post war recovery in the British Commonwealth of Nations, (somewhat like a mini Marshal Plan).  The Colombo Plan sought not only to foster infrastructure development, but to focus on education at both the institutional and individual levels.  Australian bureaucrats and policy makers who came into direct contact with their counterparts in India, (including present day Pakistan and Bangladesh), Ceylon and Malaysia realised that there was a sizeable body of highly qualified personnel capable of satisfying Australia’s future developmental needs.[1]

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Sandy Austin

Primrose Marie Swan wrote many books while she was living in Kenya, including ‘Dim Venue’; ‘Tides Of Zhimoni’;  ‘So Low The Stars’; ‘Wake Of A Moonbeam’; ‘No Day But This’; Secret Splendour’; ‘Joyous Bondage’; ‘Dear Enchantment’ and ‘Dangerous Delight’. All written under the nom de plume Valerie Rift (after the Rift Valley of Africa) and published by Wright & Brown Ltd, London.  She worked as a journalist for the Nairobi Times and later as editor of the women’s section of the newspaper.
She also wrote an autobiographical account of her life in Kenya under her own name Marie  Bartlett titled ‘The Rhino Stayed For Breakfast’. It is of life set in colonial Kenya, the difficulties faced by Europeans in an increasingly hostile environment of Mau Mau revolution. Fearing for the safety of her two children, born in Kenya, Marie and her husband Bill returned to Britain where she continued her writing.

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Priyan in The ISLAND, 25 July 2026, where the title reads thus: “Gunaratne 123, Samarawickrama 100* ace 274 chase for 1-1′

Sri Lanka aced their third highest chase in women’s ODIs in emphatic fashion with centuries from Vishmi Gunarathne and Harshitha Samarawickrema to level the three-match series 1-1. For Pakistan, Sidra Amin’s  unbeaten 100 in the first innings went in vain as Pakistan could take only two wickets while trying to defend their score of 273.

Harshitha Samarawickrama and Vishmi Gunaratne put on a massive partnership[SLC]……… [Cricinfo]

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Tissa Jayatilaka and Jayantha Dhanapala, …. their OCR Text of the INTRODUCTION to in a FELICITATION OF Professor ASHLEY HALPE IN November 2008 

Introduction

Ashley Halpé, Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Ceylon (now Peradeniya), celebrated his 75th birthday on the 19th of November, 2008. This birth anniversary also marked 50 years of his service as a teacher both at home and overseas. He has also enriched us by his research, poetry, paintings, translations and labours as a chorister, actor and director of plays and as an administrator. In addition, he has been a guide, philosopher and friend to generations of students and colleagues, many of whom have distinguished themselves in diverse fields of activity. He is, however, not a pedant or an abstruse intellectual. He is a down to earth human being and a congenial fellow-traveller known to let his hair down with glass in hand on an evening of civilised fooling over a round or two of contract bridge! Whilst giving of himself to the world around him in his characteristically understated style, Prof. Halpé has been, and remains, the exemplary family man, a devoted husband and caring parent. In fact, it is virtually impossible to speak of or write about Ashley Halpé without in the same breath mentioning Bridget, Mantha (Guy), Haasinee and Aparna, the rest of the Halpé gang!

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Item circulated by Lorenz Pereira of Royal College, Cambridge University & Melbourne ……. 

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Richard A. Koenigsberg

Richard A. Koenigsberg argues that nationalism, in its most extreme forms, is a form of self-destruction—a psychodynamic process in which the nation-state becomes a sacred, immortal “body politic” that demands the sacrifice of individuals to prove its reality.

German dead

Gallipoli dead–Aus-War Memorial Foto  Continue reading →

Nimal Dias Jayasinha … in Facebook and …. etosnpSdor7l2a1m05g6gh7fg07h60hc65ltui0t19h093g2fu7t68m81341 ·…. with highlights imposed by the Editor Thuppahi

” In 1942, a drunk German officer sat at dinner and bragged about a Jewish woman he had selected from a brothel the Nazis had opened in town. He said her name out loud. The Tunisian Arab sitting across from him stayed calm, smiled, poured more wine, and finished the meal. Then he drove the officer home, sped through the dark streets, and knocked on a door close to midnight. That night, he hid 25 people for four months. He never spoke about it again.

His name was Khaled Abdul-Wahab. He was 31 years old, a wealthy Muslim Tunisian who had studied art and architecture in New York and spoke fluent German. Nazi officers trusted him and invited him to their dinners.

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Lorenz Pereira:  “Lamine Yamal’s INCREDIBLE speech about Lionel Messi after Spain’s FIFA World Cup victory over Argentina…*

Yamal: “Tonight I lifted the World Cup for Spain, but at the same time, I experienced something that will one day inspire my children. The man who held me in his arms when I was a baby was on the opposing side of the field, fighting for the same dream. Football has this magnificent way of turning stories into a full circle.”

“When I looked at Messi after the final whistle blew, I didn’t just see an opponent. I saw the player who made millions of children, including me, believe that football could be an art. I saw that man from the videos I watched endlessly, trying to copy the things no one else could do.”

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