Michael Roberts
Gerald H. Peiris and I go back a long way. When I entered Peradeniya University in 1957 …. [://thuppahis.com/2023/08/10/study-fellowship-sport-at-peradeniya-campus-1956-60/], Gerry was in the same hall, namely Ramanathan Hall; and we happened to be seated at the same dining room-table to which I was assigned as a Fresher …. With Mano Ranjan, Mohan G and as sharp-witted and lively bunch of seniors as one could dream of.
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ASIFF HUSSEIN’s Pathbreaking Investigation … entitled “Zeylanica. A Study of the Peoples and Languages of Sri Lanka” ….. A comprehensive study of the origins of the peoples and languages of Sri Lanka.
The ethnic groups covered in this survey include both the major communities as well as minor groups who have made Sri Lanka their home over the centuries including the Veddahs, Sinhalese, Tamils, Moors, Malays, Memons, Portuguese and Dutch Burghers, Kaffirs and Ahikuntaka.
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Thalif Deen, in ,…, whose preferred title is “The lighter side of life at the Peradeniya campus”
The university campus at Peradeniya has long been a community of closed living. Going back to the 1950s and 60s, the university had its own social life, its own sense of values, its own medium of conversation, and most importantly, its own anecdotes and legendary stories—both on and off-campus.
When we graduated after a three- or four-year stint, some of us left behind a trail of sweet memories, broken hearts—and unpaid canteen bills.
The university entrance exam was one of the toughest. If you were in the field of liberal arts, the four most popular subjects were European History, Ceylon History, Government and English.
Sketch generated by Microsoft Copilot (AI), 2025.
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Matt Roller, in ESPNcricinfo, 26 September 2026, where the title runs thus “Surrey batter drafted as stand-by as Cox prepares to keep wicket in third ODI”
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….. MurThis is largely AI generated with some human intervention)
Sri Lankan people write their names in English in multiple different ways primarily because there is no single standardized system for converting Sinhala and Tamil sounds into the English alphabet. Variations stem from linguistic phonetics, centuries of colonial rule, and legal document traditions.
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Jordsn Knight Anderson, in ???? where the title reads “if Conservatives Lose on Australian Immigration?
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In a striking turn in Brazil, Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of Jair Bolsonaro, the former President now serving his 27-year prison sentence under house arrest for plotting a coup after his 2022 election defeat, has narrowly pulled ahead of incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – known universally as Lula. As is common in the largest country in Latin America, chaos surrounds the election: Flávio is under investigation over alleged corruption and money laundering, while the Supreme Court has postponed a decision on whether a Justice should himself be investigated. The fate of the country swings in the balance. I cannot help but think of Australia.
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Radhika Coomaraswamy in DailyFT, 23 September 2026, where the title runs thus: “Tribute to Nihal Rodrigo and family: A friendship beyond boundaries”
In many ways my friendship with Nihal went against the current. I was quite a loud-mouthed human rights activist in my youth and I would mumble, grumble and express outrage at Sri Lanka’s human rights violations. When I got carried away Nihal’s humour and innate tolerance would always bring me back to base.
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Jane Russell whose essay is entitled “A Response to Roberts and Dharmawardena re “Facing Polarized Extremes in 1973 Simpleton Mode”
I remember the 1973 Ceylon Studies Seminar. It was held in Colombo in a grand conference centre with more academics present than you could find even by throwing a stone in the environs of Peradeniya and/or Kandy’s riverine or hilltop suburbs.
I remember the very cool lawyer Mark Coorey who chaired several sessions. I recall seeing Kumari Jayawardene move gravely to the lectern. She wore a simple sari and had long unkempt hair, held back in a straggly ponytail. Her contribution was delivered with serious demeanour. Months later, Minette de Silva, the architect, part of whose bungalow in Kandy I was renting, asked me if I knew Kumari. I said I didn’t – but I’d seen her at this conference and admired her sincerity. I described her as being unusually lacking in physical vanity. Minette sighed. “Yes, Kumari has let herself go!” On the contrary, I told her I thought Kumari had set a wonderful example of activist feminism.
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Michael Roberts
I cried today and I will be presenting a personal Tribute to GERRY in an essay telling the world about my continuous and profitable interaction with Gerald H Peiris from the year 1957 (?) when I was a fresher at Ramanathan Hall where Gerry was a second-year senior to me and we happened to sit at the same dining table.
Presented here are the titles of the many articles from GERRY presented in my website THUPPAHI –– articles that reached beyond his discipline in Geography and embraced Politics, History, Demography. These articles were invariably incisive and showed the world how skills in geographical discernment could ….. and should…. deepen our social science investigations.
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Dash de Soysa. … with highlighting being impositions by The Editor, Thuppahi
Vero Pieris (1909–2001), also known by the names Veronica and Varuni, was a Sri Lankan artist from Kandy who came to London in 1933 to study at The Slade School of Art.
https://gainsborough.zetcom.net/en/collection/item/2576/
Varuni Hunt (née Pieris) was born in Kandy, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1909 and was first educated in Paris. In 1933, Hunt immigrated to London, England to further her art education, subsequently establishing herself as a painter and and as stained glass artist with a particular interest in religious subjects.
Born: 1909 Kandy, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) …. Died: 2001 London, England ……Year of Migration to the UK: 1933 ….
Other name/s: Vero Pieris, Veronica Hunt, Veronica Pieris , Varuni Pieris
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thuppahi
