Thuppahi's Blog

Lakshman Gunasekera

If the “primary objective” was to have an alternative international scale runway and complementary aircraft facilities, either A’pura or Trinco or Jaffna or even Batti would have been far cheaper safety and passenger-serving options rather than building anew an abandoned British colonial makeshift runway which has absolutely no demographic-commercial hinterland but only the birds to disturb. All four airports mentioned above have been constantly in use (for military and/or civilian needs) ever since they were built unlike the “Mattala”.

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Nimal Dias Jayasinha in FACEBOOK

The tension in that Berlin Stadium was suffocating. Adolf Hitler sat watching, determined to use these games as proof of Aryan supremacy. Jesse Owens, already burdened by the weight of proving Black excellence to a hostile world, was crumbling under pressure.  Two fouls in the long jump preliminaries meant one more mistake would eliminate him before the finals even began.

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Avishka Mario Seneviratne, whoose chosen title when Fr Aloy passed away recently, reads thus: ….. “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑴𝒂𝒏 𝑰 𝑲𝒏𝒆𝒘: 𝑭𝒓. 𝑨𝒍𝒐𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒖𝒔 𝑷𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒔 𝑺𝑱 (𝟏𝟗𝟑𝟒-𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔)”

He was my spiritual father, mentor, teacher, and friend. Fr. Aloy welcomed me as a serious “scholar” when I was just a teenager. He taught me the scientific approach to scholarship, the discipline at the desk, and instilled in me values and morals. He showed me how to be a praying Christian and, above all, shaped my method of thinking. Without doubt, he made the greatest impact on my life.

                                                                 

𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡 𝐛𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐂𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐳 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒. 𝐆. 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐚 𝐋𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲.

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Anonymous in The Examiner, 20 March 2026, where the title runs thus: “Why an Anandian should read THOMIA” ……… A review of Richard Simon’s Thomia, subtitled ‘the entangled history of Lanka and her greatest public school’. A history of failed promise and a requiem to Anglophone Lanka, Thomia traces the mighty currents, momentous events, and complex men who forged the fate of independent Sri Lanka.

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Adrian West

SEE https://x.com/PalestineChron/status/2035407737761210811 ……In its 71st wave of missile strikes, Iran has successfully struck Dimona. The site is one of the most sensitive locations in the occupied Palestinian territories due to its proximity to the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center.

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A NOTE From Indrapala to Hussein Miyya

Hi FRIENDS, The subject of the August email is Carlos the lorikeet chick. I sent a photo of him and Jannik (his sibling) taken yesterday morning.

Well, about three weeks ago my lorikeet friends (a pair that visits me almost every day) surprised me by bringing a chick to introduce to me. This is the third season that a lorikeet chick has been brought by the parents (different pairs) but the earlier ones came in the spring. This pair had chicks in the winter. A week later a second chick was brought. While the first chick seemed to be fairly independent, the second one was weaker and needed help. He became attached to me and I named him Carlos and his sibling Jannik (after the tennis champs). He is a lovely fellow. Here are two photos (with his parents).

Hope I’m not boring you with these tales!

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Helga desilva Blow Perera…… in Facebook 

On March 27, 1977, Diana Hyland died in John Travolta’s arms at just 41 years old. That night, he held her close and whispered that he loved her, hoping she could still hear him. This moment marked the beginning of a long period of grief for Travolta, as he struggled to balance sudden professional success with a deep personal loss.

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Tony Donaldson

  Amitha Wedisinghe

The passing of Amitha Wedisinghe on 19 February 2025, at the age of 82, marked the end of an era for Sri Lankan music. A prominent veteran singer, a dedicated music teacher, and a ranked artist at the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC), Wedisinghe was a fierce guardian of the “Golden Era” of Sinhala song. Her life’s work was defined by a profound commitment to the artistic standards she believed were essential to the nation’s cultural identity.

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Michael Roberts

 Way back in the 1970s-1990s when I visited  Sri Lanka in pursuit of my research interests two of the personnel whom I interacted with regularly were Sunil Bastian and Kumari Jayawardena –both with radical leanings of a Leftist character.

SUNIL has produced a new book in 2025 and as a Preface to details on that work TPS aka THUPPAHI eagerly introduces its readers (old and new) to information on his range of work over the years.

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Rachael McDiarmid of RM Marketing Services, whose article is entitled “Brown. Female. Doctor.  The Journey of Dr Sarah Arachchi”

Dr Sarah Arachchi is a paediatrician who emigrated from Sri Lanka to Australia in 1990 as a four-year-old child. In Brown. Female. Doctor. A Memoir. Sarah reflects on her path to becoming a paediatrician, highlighting the challenges she faced from a young age and the intersectionality of her identity.

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