Category Archives: art & allure bewitching
A ‘Refreshing’ Mountain in Portugal: Pico del Areeiro
Appreciating Ravindra Randeniya’s Multi-Faceted Career
Uditha Devapriya in SAPNnews, August 2025, where the title runs thus: “Ravindra Randeniya: Sri Lankan Actor, South Asian Artist”
Ravindra (left) & Dilip Kumar (right) in New Delhi…Courtesy Ravindra Randeniya
In South Asia, cinema is more than an art: it is a way of life. Sri Lanka is no exception. Despite its size, the small island-state boasts of a film industry that has won renown abroad, even if it is facing a downturn today. At its peak in the 1960s and 1970s, Sri Lankan films travelled to New Delhi, Tehran, Tashkent, even Cannes and New York.
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Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, Colombo and Its Spaces, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, heritage, landscape wondrous, life stories, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, theatre world, travelogue, unusual people
Bulawayo!@#! … One Feast. Two Massacres!
Firdose Moonda, in ESPNcricinfo, August 2025 where the headline reads “New Zealand script their biggest win after Foulkes and Co flatten Zimbabwe”
After New Zealand declared overnight, with a lead of 476, Zimbabwe were bowled out in 28.1 overs in an extended first session ………….. New Zealand 601 for 3 decl (Ravindra 165*, Conway 153, Nicholls 150*) beat Zimbabwe 125 (Taylor 44, Henry 5-40, Foulkes 4-38) and 117 (Welch 47*, Foulkes 5-37) by an innings and 359 runs
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In Memoriam: Vijaya Kumaratunga
DBS Jeyaraj in 2022 at https://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/?p=67620 where the title reads “Vijaya Kumaratunga: Charismatic Actor-Politician May Have Changed Nation’s Destiny” …… Posted by Administrator on 21 February 2022, 1:11 am
The political landscape of Sri Lanka seems gloomy and desolate. Most of the actors who strut about the political stage posing as visionaries and leaders are in actuality empty vessels devoid of substance. Proverbial wisdom tells us that empty vessels make most sound. This is most apparent in the cacophony of voices currently prevalent in the polity. In the words of William Butler Yeats “ The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.” The positive dream of Sri Lanka evolving into an inclusive, plural nation is slowly turning into a numerical majoritarian hegemonic nightmare.
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Filed under accountability, anti-racism, art & allure bewitching, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, chauvinism, communal relations, Eelam, ethnicity, historical interpretation, insurrections, JVP, language policies, Left politics, life stories, nationalism, patriotism, performance, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, unusual people, vengeance, zealotry
A Tennis Love Match Beyond Imagination
A Web Item sent by one Ramsay and one Eric
They met on the courts, forged in fire and fame. Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf were more than tennis royalty — they were survivors of pressure-packed childhoods, two athletes who’d once been treated more like machines than children. So when they became parents, something shifted. Not just in their lives, but in their hearts. There was a quiet vow between them — a promise not to repeat the past, not to push, not to mold. They wouldn’t raise champions. They’d raise *children.*
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Hara Kiri at Lords Test Match. Or, Was England ‘Shirajed’?
Michael Roberts
It was a thrilling privilege to watch the exciting Test Match at Lord’s unfold into a nail-biting finish with India winning by just 00 runs. India’s hero of the day was the unlovable Mohammed Shiraj.** But he was aided by some foolish batting from some of England’s men. Both Bethell the evening before and Jamie Smith on the 5th morning dismissed themselves with nervy, ridiculous shots.
THAT, of course, is a judgement of an armchair critic. IT is easy to slash a sportsman from the ease of a couch. … Ouch! Continue reading →
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The Ten Most Attractive Islands in This Our World
Item conveyed to TPS by Charles Schokman & Victor Melder & bearing this title “Sri Lanka ranked the Most Beautiful Island in the World”
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An Accidental Cameraman: My Striking Shots … Over the Years
In Appreciation of James T. Rutnam
Sachi Sri Kantha, whose preferred title is “James T Rutnam (1905-1988): Noted Bibliophile and a Valued Mentor” … with the highlighting in colour being impositions from The Editor Thuppahi
Introduction
My destiny to meet and interact with James T Rutnam came in the aftermath of the August 1977 anti-Tamil riots. Previously, I had written a little about the anti-Tamil riots that engulfed the island then, and my initial attempts to make a grade as a writer in English. [Please check this link. https://sangam.org/s-p-amarasingam-1977-anti-tamil-pogrom/].
I wrote to Mr. S.P. Amarasingam, the editor of the Tribune (Colombo). At that time, I was unaware that James Rutnam was an influential contributor to the Tribune, since its inception in 1954.
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Filed under accountability, anti-racism, art & allure bewitching, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, citizen journalism, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, electoral structures, ethnicity, historical interpretation, language policies, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, nationalism, politIcal discourse, power politics, racism, riots and pogroms, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, social justice, sri lankan society, tamil refugees, trauma, travelogue, unusual people
Featuring Andrekos Varnava’s Swathe of Political Studies
Andrekos Varnava is a Greek Cypriot and it has been the privilege of Flinders University in Adelaide and Australia-at-large to have him researching and teaching in their various reaches. CYPRUS is in a strategic location in the Eastern Meditteranian and has beenat the centre of many invasions and tussles.
Books by Andrekos Varnava
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