Michael Roberts
In late 2003 or early 2004 I was privileged to receive an invitation from Nazreen Sansoni of Barefoot to participate in the Galle Literary festival where the central events took place within the precincts of the Galle Fort — a familiar spot replete with memories of my childhood and youthful experiences.
Dr Hilali Noordeen
As it happened one of the literary stars featuring in the manifold ‘events” of the GL Festival was Karen Roberts, whose background and literary work was known to me. She was, I stress, no relation, though she had been educated in a school in Wellawatte that was a stone’s throw away from my sister Estelle Fernando’s abode in Hampden Lane Wellawatte.
Though bearing the Anglicized name “Roberts”, Karen’s family was in fact of Navandanna Sinhala lineage deriving from a doctor who had married a Burgher lady and altered his surname (while one of her aunts was Carel Roberts, a journalist at Lake House).
Needless to say, I registered to participate in an informal luncheon gathering scheduled at Dr Professor Hilali Noordeen’s house at the southern end of Lleyn Baan Street near the Galle lighthouse and the mosque. But, in a further act of serendipity, I happened to sit in front of her at the large gathering at the Opening Ceremony [featuring Renton de Alwis and others on the podium]. … so, we got chatting then.
The items that were crafted for TPS in the years that followed includes this item …… https://thuppahis.com/2020/01/20/in-appreciative-memory-of-karen-roberts-1965-2018/
These amateur photos display (a) the ongoing discussions with Karen at Hilali’s house; and (b) the continuing engagements over a sumptious meal. ….. needess to say, an unforgettable occasion.
It was an experience soured by Karen’s unfortunate demise a few years later in her prime of life. The world — the British world in particular — must remain grateful that Hilali remains vigorous in pursuing his medical skills in support of the sick.
RIP ….. Karen Roberts, 2018
“She was resident in California at the time of her untimely passing over, in February 2018. Roberts’ three novels present revisitations of familiar Sri Lankan themes, and often draw on class, caste and ethnicity in search of creative purchase” … A Digital Web Note
ALSO NOTE
Kanapathipillai, Valli 1990 “July 1983: The Survivor’s Experience,” in Veena Das (ed.) Mirrors of Violence; Communities, Riots and Survivors in South Asia, Delhi, OUP, pp. 321-344.
Roberts, Michael … an article that appeared initially in a collection of my essays in 1994 under the title below in EXPLORING CONFRONTATION, Readng, Harwood Academic Publishers, 1994, pp. 317-27 and was subsequently reproduced in Nethra, vol. 6, 199-213 . and then placed on web in Groundviews (without its footnotes) ……….. .…https://ground views.org/2019/03/28/the-case-for-foreign-judges-in-a-judicial-mechanism-in-sri-lanka-countering-falsehoods/.
The Agony and Ecstasy of A Pogrom: Southern Lanka, July 1983