Author Archives: thuppahi

About thuppahi

Sri Lankan and Australian nationality; student of Sri Lankan society and politics; sociology of cricket;
January 29, 2021 · 7:53 am

St. Joseph’s in Colombo: Service till the Mountains Disappear

 Chryshane Mendis, reviewing Till the Mountains Disappear: The Story of St. Joseph’s College’ authored by Avishka Mario Senewiratne and late Fr. Dr. Stanley Abeysekera

 

It was well known back in the day that Fr. Stanley Abeysekera was writing a book on College history and through my Grade 09 exhibition project of 2008, I got to know the great man very closely. From then on till I left school in 2013 I constantly dropped by his room and viewed the rare Blue and White magazines  with him and earnestly listened to his stories of College. I was sad that his progress on the manuscript had slowed down due to his failing eyesight and when he was finally called to rest in 2015, I thought the book had died with him.

Continue reading →

7 Comments

Filed under art & allure bewitching, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, historical interpretation, Indian religions, landscape wondrous, life stories, modernity & modernization, patriotism, performance, religiosity, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes

January 28, 2021 · 10:03 am

Covid ‘Scores’: Comparative Statistics Worldwide

Stephen Dziedzic ….  the foreign affairs reporter ABC  with this title “New Zealand tops Lowy Institute list as country with best response to coronavirus, Australia sits eighth”

New analysis has found that New Zealand has handled the coronavirus pandemic more effectively than any other country in the world.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, coronavirus, governance, life stories, performance, population, self-reflexivity, the imaginary and the real, tolerance, world events & processes

January 28, 2021 · 7:27 am

Muslim-Sinhala Relations in Kandy: An Ethnographic Note

Gerald Peiris in Kandy, in Email Note dated 25th January 2021:**

“Yes, Michael, ……………… I agree. There is a lot of overlap between what I have been trying to convey [in public and/or govt forums] and what young Shukra is supposed to have said (though I didn’t see her perform).

You are probably aware that downtown Kandy has a fairly large Muslim presence. I got to know some of them in the course of my fieldwork for ‘Planning for the Future of Kandy’ (2019). They were very cordial and cooperative, and fluent in Sinhala. A few of them are grandchildren (now in middle age) of my contemporaries at Kingswood in the ‘50s. Their clientele consists almost entirely of Sinhalese.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, atrocities, centre-periphery relations, citizen journalism, communal relations, discrimination, economic processes, ethnicity, fundamentalism, historical interpretation, Islamic fundamentalism, island economy, life stories, Muslims in Lanka, politIcal discourse, power politics, racist thinking, religiosity, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, working class conditions, world events & processes

January 28, 2021 · 3:35 am

Landscapes around Diyatalawa

Krishani Peiris, with photo-work by Menaka Aravinda, …. a repeat from a presentation in 2013 with a different title

Located approximately 1,331 metres above sea level, Diyatalawa in the Haputale District is well known as a Garrison Town. Though it is not clear as to when the place became a prominent threshold for armed forces, historical records show that in 1885, the British had stationed a garrison in the area. And from that point onwards, Diyatalawa has being able to carve its own niche in the history of Sri Lanka.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, cultural transmission, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, military expenditure, photography, population, sri lankan society, transport and communications, travelogue, world events & processes

January 28, 2021 · 12:52 am

Lessons from Shukra Munawwar

Sarath Gamani De Silva

Our whole nation has been enchanted by the mesmerizing performance of a young girl from Galle hitting the jackpot at the Sirasa Lakshapathi quiz programme. No doubt Shukra is a very gifted and intelligent girl with a superb photographic memory, who has made the best use of the very limited resources available to her. Her all-encompassing knowledge of Sri Lankan history, literature and Buddhism as well as in international affairs, world history and matters of science was really amazing. She has been reading books of every kind and could remember many facts in those books. What impressed me most was her determination, keeping her cool at times of much stress while answering difficult questions, characteristics rarely seen in a 17-year old schoolgirl.

…. shades of Malal Yousafsai

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, communal relations, cultural transmission, education, ethnicity, female empowerment, heritage, historical interpretation, human rights, landscape wondrous, language policies, life stories, literary achievements, modernity & modernization, Muslims in Lanka, patriotism, performance, religiosity, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, tolerance, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes

January 27, 2021 · 1:42 pm

The British in Ceylon: The Camera as Power

In 2011 Godfrey and Amar Gunatilleke sponsored the presentation of a pictorial history entitled Potency. Power & People in Groups, (Colombo, Marga Institute, 2011, ISBN 978-955-582 129-2.

Kotahena Riots 1883

This work was, albeit partially, the presentation of items gathered by Ismeth Raheem and myself for inclusion in the coffee-table book that appeared in the year 200o as Images of British Ceylon (Singapore, Times Edition) — items within segments that were excluded because of financial constraints. Such constraints also meant that the pictures in this booklet were not produced in coffee-table quality. The emphasis was on the interpretations attached to the photographs read in context.  While the booklet is still available at relatively low cost, the opportunity is taken here to widen the readership via the reproduction of sections — itself a project inspired by Anura Hettiarachchi’s translation of the work into Sinhala.[a]

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, Buddhism, centre-periphery relations, commoditification, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, modernity & modernization, photography, pilgrimages, politIcal discourse, power politics, religiosity, self-reflexivity, slanted reportage, social justice, sri lankan society, teaching profession, the imaginary and the real, travelogue, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, working class conditions, world events & processes

January 26, 2021 · 2:12 pm

A Blaring of the 1956 Sinhala Chauvinist Trumpet ….. AGAIN!

“Way Forward” in Lanka Future and #FAKENEWS, 22 February 2018 where the title reads “The racist anti-Sinhala journalists — past and present”

Officially, Sri Lanka got its Independence in 1948.

However, it was not until 1956 that the masses were truly freed. In the years from 1948-1956, the “British Raj” style of government continued in Sri Lanka. The ruling politicians were all of the kalu-suddha variety. Minorities ruled the country because they were the ones with the education and training, and contacts, required to obtain all the plum positions.

Continue reading →

5 Comments

Filed under accountability, ancient civilisations, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, democratic measures, disparagement, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, language policies, legal issues, life stories, patriotism, politIcal discourse, Portuguese in Indian Ocean, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes, zealotry

January 25, 2021 · 2:11 pm

The 43 Group in Ceylon: Their Story

Rohan de Soysa,  copy of a PowerPoint Presentation made to the National Trust of Sri Lanka on September 29, 2016 by Rohan de Soysa transcribed into text format …. with coloured underlining [as distinct from that in black] being emphasis imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

The Origins: The `43 Group was the first modern art movement in Sri Lanka. It arose because a group of artists felt that the art being practiced and taught at the time was too academic and rigid; nor did it attempt to follow new developments in European art since the early 20th Century. They therefore decided to form a group more open to these new developments but with a distinct Ceylonese stamp and flavour.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, cultural transmission, democratic measures, economic processes, education, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian religions, Indian traditions, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, paintings, patriotism, performance, photography, politIcal discourse, religiosity, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, teaching profession, the imaginary and the real, unusual people, world events & processes

January 24, 2021 · 12:49 pm

Embuldeniya and Tirimanne Combo strike Five Times … thus far

England batting vs Sri Lanka at Galle in the Second Test, late January 2021

ZAK CRAWLEY = ct Tirimanne b Embuldeniya …… 05

7.1 edged and gone straightaway! No sighters to Crawley! An impeccable left-armer’s dismissal, round the wicket, angled in and dipping on an off-stump line, biting sharply to kiss the edge, and a simple snick to the lurking slip! Big problems at the top of the order for England. And big problems for the foreseeable in this innings! 5/2

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under cricket for amity, life stories, performance, sri lankan society, unusual people

January 24, 2021 · 10:23 am

Shukra Munawwar shows Lankans how to forge Charitable Togetherness

Nayomini Weerasooriya, AT https://nayominiweerasooriya.com/2021/01/18/one-young-girl-who-united-all-sri-lankans-and-she-wears-a-head-scarf/amp/?__twitter_impression=true) WITH THIS TITLE “One young girl who united all Sri Lankans.. and she wears a head scarf…

“When Shukra Munawwar excelled in the Sri Lankan version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ on a local TV channel, the 17 year old schoolgirl from the South of Sri Lanka, brought all Sri Lankans together in one joyous celebration.BIt was not just her sincerity, her candid and cheerful demeanor that captured the hearts across religious and ethnic divides. It was her story, her talent, her skill and her determination.

Continue reading →

3 Comments

Filed under accountability, charitable outreach, communal relations, cultural transmission, education, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, modernity & modernization, patriotism, politIcal discourse, reconciliation, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, tolerance, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes