Author Archives: thuppahi

About thuppahi

Sri Lankan and Australian nationality; student of Sri Lankan society and politics; sociology of cricket;

Rukmani Devi: A Shining Star From Ceylon’s Plantations

Sukumar Shan in CEYLON Then …. & Now

Rukmani Devi an enchanted life of a Star ! On her 103rd Birthday . Rukmani Devi was born as Daisy Rasammah Daniels in Ramboda, Nuwara Eliya to a lower middle class family on the 15th of January 1923. She was the second child in a family of six which included an elder sister Mabel, and a brother named Fredrick (Freddy) and three younger sisters, namely Florence, Helen and Sarojini. She loved singing from a very young age and would always stand by the grammar phone and used to sing the songs played on it.

It is no doubt that she showed the signs of becoming a great singer from a very early age. She sang her first ever song “Siri Buddha gaya vihare” with Rupasinghe Master when she was only 13 years old. This was the stepping stone of a very prosperous singing career. A career which paved the way for her to become, the first Sri Lankan actress to grace the silver screen and also ultimately become an overnight star.

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Merton College, Oxford, in 2025

Postmaster and the Merton Record 2025

FROM THE WARDEN

The last twelve months have brought many global challenges, political, environmental and technological. Much of the time College feels like a haven and the year I’ll describe below has the rhythm and quality that (Covid years apart) will feel very familiar. Global issues inevitably have an impact, but our priority is to respond in ways that protect our community and uphold the excellence at the heart of everything we do.

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A Vintage Occasion in 2022 at the Law Faculty, Colombo University

Senaka Weeraratne

“A picture speaks a thousand words and within this picture are a thousand stories that we will forever celebrate,” said the Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo, at the unveiling of the batch photograph of the batch of 1972.

 

Vintage Photograph of the Colombo Law Faculty (1972) unveiled

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“Galba” …. A Parliamentary Secretary-General Unforgetable

Nandasiri  Jasentuliyana

Today, we pause to reflect and express our deepest appreciation for the remarkable life and legacy of Nihal Seneviratne, former Secretary-General of Parliament, whose passing marks the end of an era in Sri Lanka’s parliamentary history.

Nihal Seneviratne, fondly known as “Galba”, was born in 1934 in Elpitiya and received his early education at Royal College, Colombo. He pursued higher studies at the University of Peradeniya, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree in 1959. He then entered Law College in 1960, where I first met him. The following year, he completed the Advocate Final Examination and took oaths as an Advocate.

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At the Dalada Maligawa in 1972

Senaka Weeraratne

Photo Wilfred Perera, Senaka Weeraratna and Harold Wijesena in front of the Octagon Pavilion(Paththirippuwa) at the Dalada Maligawa (1972)
This photo was taken on the occasion of the excursion to Peradeniya Gardens and Kandy sponsored by the Law Faculty Students’ Union (LFSU) to welcome the freshers of that year to the Faculty in the year 1972.  Senaka Weeraratna was the President of the Law Faculty Students Union of that year (1972).

 

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The Selective Deployment of “Freedoms” !!

Observer Beyond Greenland

Trump says he cannot have Russian and Chinese warships near Greenland. What happened to that infamous “freedom of navigation” idea the West, Australian military generals, prime ministers,  ASPI, and the Western media, keep talking about?

The West cannot claim freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait, and off the coast of China, and then claim that wonderful “freedom of navigation” doesn’t apply to Greenland. It either applies everywhere or not at all.

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The NPP’s Education Reform: Stirring the Hornet’s Nest

Niyanthani Kadirgamar

Education occupies a special place in the minds of the general public in Sri Lanka. Thanks to the visionary education reforms put forward by the Report of the Special Committee on Education in 1943 and the consequent Free Education Act of 1945, people from all walks of life have benefited from public education. Thus, no other singular reform agenda evokes such animated interest and vociferous debate as the subject of education.

Estate primary school in disused century-old tea plantation factory building

Given such a context, to propose drastic changes to the public education system without extensive consultation and substantial consensus from interested parties is akin to stirring the hornet’s nest. No government should know this truth better than the present National People’s Power (NPP) government, with its parliamentary group consisting of a significant number of former student leaders, educationists, and academics. Yet, the surprise announcement of the ‘Transforming Education’ reforms by Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, who also holds the education ministerial portfolio, has caused quite the stir.

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A Hitler spreading His Wings Across the World !!

Observer in a Black Sea Resort

On his social media platform. DONALD TRUMP posted an image of himself, declaring he was now ‘”Acting President of Venezuela”.

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Dasun leads Run Chase to Secure Victory at Dambulla

Dirk Tissera in Facebook , ? January 2026, where the title reads thus TIME FOR DASSA TO SHOW HIS PASSA TO HIS CRITICS”

I’ve always had a secret grudging admiration for Dasun Shanaka. Some critics may laugh at this. He’s gotten on my nerves at most times … but in the third T20I against Pakistan, his nine-ball 34 runs with five sixers at Dumbulla helped Sri Lanka to a huge 160 off just 12 overs and ensured the Islanders drew the series 1-1.

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Hot Press: Histrionic Claims …. A Normal Phenomenon

Observer in a Black Sea Town  … with highlighting imposed by The Editor Thuppahi

News just in:
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he will be President of Cuba within two months.
UK Defence Minister the Rt Hon. John Healey says he has a plan to kidnap Vladimir Putin.
Denmark declares it will defend Greenland from a US take-over using bows and arrows from the armoury of Danish King Sweyn I Forkbeard who conquered all of England in 1014.

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