Tristan Rutherford & Rebecca Marshall in AramcoWorld in March/April 2018 ………………………………………….. https://www.aramcoworld.com/Articles/March-2018/Marseille-s-Migrant-Cuisine
Category Archives: art & allure bewitching
When Squirrels Menace Religious Orders ……….
Coping with a Squirrel Menace
The Presbyterian Church called a meeting to decide what to do about their squirrel infestation. After much prayer and consideration, they concluded that the squirrels were predestined to be there, and they should not interfere with God’s divine will.
Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, authoritarian regimes, cultural transmission, disparagement, heritage, Kandyan kingdom, law of armed conflict, life stories, meditations, performance, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, tolerance
Remembering Ian Goonetileke: A Doyen of The Arts & Sri Lankan Publications
Gamini Seneviratne, in a set of profound reflections entitled “Ian Goonatileke, A Memory” and presented previously …. but now subject to a change of title and highlights imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
Browsing through various writings that had to do with Ian, I came upon the following paragraphs that seem to merit a fresh airing in the light of the literary awards recently made under the Gratiaen Trust. Regardless of his spell of scepticism (as mentioned below) that made him turn away from his commitment to advancing his friend Michael Ondaatje’s hopes and intent in funding that Trust it came to establish another award in Ian’s name, one for translation.
Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, British imperialism, cultural transmission, education, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, meditations, nationalism, patriotism, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, unusual people, world affairs
Tamil X’mas Parade in New York Conveys Devotional Fare, 2023
Sent to Thuppahi by Ranjit Sirimanne …. revealing and arousing warmth in wintry conditions through song and traditional X’mas figures and vehicles
JLK Van Dort’s Vibrant 19th Century Sketches of British Ceylon
Ismeth Raheem, in the Sunday Times, 24 December 2023, where the title reads “A Christmas sketch among the many 19th century social events captured by J.L.K. Van Dort” . … An Item conveyed to me by David Sansoni of Sydney and now sibject to my=highlighting emphasis (Editor, Thuppahi)
J.L.K. Van Dort who flourished in the latter half of the 19th century in Sri Lanka could well be described as the ‘Hogarth of Ceylon’. He was undoubtedly the best-known painter and illustrator working in the country at the time. From 1850 up till to his death in 1896, he recorded almost every social event of importance with his deft quick sketches, including religious festivals like Christmas.
Filed under art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, citizen journalism, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, patriotism, performance, photography & its history, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, taking the piss, theatre world, unusual people, working class conditions, world affairs
The Bambalapitiya Flats of Colombo in the 1950s & 60s
Asiff Hussein, in Elanka, 23 December 2023, …. with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
Bambalapitiya Flats was the place to be back then, as any good ole’ Bamba boy or girl will tell you.
Built in the 1950s, the 16 blocks of buildings between Galle Road and the Indian Ocean comprised of two to four storeys built in such a way that the balconies gave a splendid view of the sea to the west. The blocks back then were colour coded for easy identification, with gelati colours like yellow, orange, pink, sky blue, lime green, and sandstone brown giving life to the scheme, especially in the evening when the golden orange orb of the sun set in the sea and bathed the flats with a beautiful sundown glow.
Filed under art & allure bewitching, Colombo and Its Spaces, cultural transmission, demography, economic processes, education, ethnicity, female empowerment, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, modernity & modernization, patriotism, performance, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, tolerance
People Inbetween: Ethnic & Class Prejudices in British Ceylon
Michael Roberts …. presenting a talk which he delivered at the National Trust in Colombo in June 2018 following a brief to the effect that he should present motifs from the book People Inbetween. The Burghers and the Middle Class in the Transformations within Sri Lanka, 1790-1960s, (Ratmalana, Sarvodaya Book Publishing Services, 1989) and more specifically its first chapter viz. “Pejorative Phrases: The Anti-colonial Response and Sinhala Perceptions of the Self through Images of the Burghers.”
Many think People Inbetween is a history of the Burghers. Not so. It is multi-faceted. It describes (a) the rise of the middle class in British times, an influential force within which the Burghers were a critical element and a vanguard in the questioning of British rule; (b) the initial strands in the development of Ceylonese nationalism and (c) the development of Colombo into a metropolitan hub that became the island’s hegemonic centre.
Filed under anti-racism, art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, citizen journalism, communal relations, cultural transmission, disparagement, economic processes, education, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, language policies, life stories, literary achievements, modernity & modernization, nationalism, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, press freedom, racism, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, unusual people, world events & processes
