Category Archives: charitable outreach

December 19, 2023 · 12:02 am

A Revolutionary Architect: Minnette De Silva

Randima Attygalle, in DailyFT, 30 November 2023, where the title runs thus: “Celebrating A Revolitonary Housing Feat” ..… with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

Endorsed by the World Monuments Fund, a first for Sri Lanka, ‘88 Acres’, the latest exhibition by the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Sri Lanka (MMCA) resurrects the Watapuluwa Housing Scheme in Kandy, a forgotten watershed in the contemporary history of Sri Lanka that heralded a new form of social housing here at home. ‘88 Acres’ explores how this sprawling hillside development completed in 1958, was ahead of its time in providing affordable accommodation for a diverse ethno-religious community of public servants in Sri Lanka. The exercise is also a celebration of its unsung designer Minnette de Silva, Sri Lanka’s first woman architect, the first Asian woman to be elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and one of the two women in the world at that time to have an architecture practice in her own name.

 

From left: MMCA Sri Lanka Assistant Curator Thinal Sajeewa, Chief Curator Sharmini Pereira, and Assistant Curator Ritchell Marcelline

 

 

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December 9, 2023 · 12:08 am

Hilda Muriel Kularatne, Theosophist & Educationist in Ceylon

Rehan Kularatne, presenting an original essay which has received its title and had highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

My grandmother Hilda Muriel Westbrook was born in Dulwich on 28 November 1895. She was the daughter of Walter Francis Westbrook, later Chief Registrar of the Colonial Office, and Jessie Duncan, a Scottish poet and scholar, the sister of noted (and absolutely dreadful) Celtic Revival painter John Duncan RSA. Jessie Duncan Westbrook was to publish a number of verse renditions of Persian, Sufi and Hindu poetry in the 1910s. She and my great-grandfather, being Theosophists, were both extremely interested in ‘Eastern’ religions.

Hilda was educated at the progressive James Allen’s Girls’ School (JAGS) in Dulwich. Having excelled in modern languages (French and German) as well as in team sports like hockey (in addition to having Gustav Holst as her music master), she went on to Newnham in Cambridge to do a degree in Modern Languages in 1914, just after WWI broke out. (Though she completed the degree in 1917, she had to wait 30 years to be actually awarded her MA, as Cambridge was the last university in England to accept female graduates.)

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December 7, 2023 · 11:08 am

“Success” ….. The Buddhist Path

“SUCCESS” derives from the PROCESS not the results of Endeavour

An Erudite Buddhist Priest clarifies what the Path of Success is.

  • “The goal of life is trying your best” = among the sayings on Karma Yoga in the Bhagavat Gita  …………. An impressive address in concise speech from a Sri Lankan monk

NB : this item was circulated to friends on 7 December 2023 by Lorenz Pereira  of Royal College, the city of Colombo and that of Melbourne; and I can confidently state that Professor EOE Pereira, an epitome of wisdom, will be mighty pleased by this act of wise dissemination.

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December 4, 2023 · 1:06 am

The Gift of Healing and Teaching: Dr Ariyananda’s Lifework

Dr Sarath Gamani De Silva, reviewing Healing and Teaching. Gift of a Lifetime, by Pilane Liyanage Ariyananda, Colombo, A Vijitha Yapa Publication, 2023, .…..  224 pp …  LKR 2,000/2,000/=

Galle, one of the largest cities in Sri Lanka, had been labeled a sleepy old town by many.  However, there has been a remarkable awakening in the past few decades due to several reasons. The Dutch Fort has been recognised by the UNESCO as a world heritage site. This has resulted in a total overhaul of the Fort area making it one of the main attractions for local and foreign tourists. The International Cricket Stadium is praised by cricket commentators and fans worldwide as one of the most picturesque in the world. The devastation caused by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami brought the attention of the international community to the city of Galle.

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November 26, 2023 · 8:37 pm

Outreach: Solar Lights Dstribted in Lankan by ANDUREN ELIYATA

ITEM courtesy of Chandra Fernando &  Leslie De Silva of Anduren Eliyata …. Visit their Web site  www.andureneliyata.com.au  for more details

This particular example displays Chief Priest Rev Kovida from Katoomba Bhavana Vihara, donating lights to people of his village in the Udugama area of Galle Districtgalle district.

 

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November 25, 2023 · 6:09 pm

Reaching Out: VANNI HOPE’s Aid to A Peasant Family in Lanka

Dear Friends, Relatives, and Well-Wishers,  ……“The Reason Someone Smiles Today”

As part of our continued mission to serve the communities in need within Sri Lanka, Vanni Hope is embarking on an ambitious project that seeks to bring economic stability and enhance the livelihoods of our people, especially those who have suffered due to the current economic hardships the island faces.

➢ There are doing agriculture. They have coconut, banana grove. They cultivate nut plants.

➢ Nagusami is the head of the family. He lost a hand due to an accident.

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November 23, 2023 · 9:57 am

The Humanitarian Social Commitment of Lakshman Wickremesinghe

Professor Rajiva Wijesinha, item taken from Daily News, 24 October 2023, ….. with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

 Bishop Lakshman Wickremesinghe died on October 23 forty years ago. He was my uncle, and I had a special affinity with him with regard to both intellect and emotions. When I came back from Oxford, where he had studied a couple of decades before me, he was the family member who was most supportive of my resignation on the issue of the deprivation of Mrs. Bandaranaike’s Civic Rights, for unlike most members of the elite he understood early on what that meant for the future of democracy, a blight that has never left us since it was followed by a premature Presidential election, the ghastly referendum, and then the attacks first on Supreme Court Judges and then on Tamils.

one moment during Black July 1983

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November 15, 2023 · 12:30 am

How Collective Belief Heals War’s Hidden wounds

Daya Somasundram, Alvin Kuowei Tay & Rajitha Wickremasinghe, in Cambridge Core Blog, 2 November 2023 ... with the highlights being imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

The mental and emotional aftermath, particularly from modern warfare that targets civilians, is profound. Civilians suffer alongside combatants, facing deaths, injuries, chronic disability, torture, disappearances, multiple displacements with uprooting of whole communities, loss of homes, destruction of essential services, infrastructure and environment. These traumatic experiences lead to a wide range of mental health issues, from depression, anxiety, PTSD, and substance abuse to family and collective trauma impeding personal and community recovery.

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November 14, 2023 · 8:11 pm

“Karlsruhe Bungalow” …. Today … Yesterday

Avishka Mario Senewiratne

The Karlsruhe Bungalow was the final abode of Sri Lanka’s greatest Burgher, C. A. Lorenz. The origins of Karlsruhe are not clear. Lorenz purchased it from Drs. Vam Beck and Dickman in 1870, but lived there only for a few months till his untimely death in 1871. Lorenz bestowed this valuable property opposite the Welikada prison to his loyal housekeeper. Later, in the early 1900s the Methodist Church brought this property to site Wesley College.

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November 13, 2023 · 8:03 pm

Obeisance in Asia and the West: The Contexts of Practice … & Thereby Its ‘Weight’

Lorenz Pereira in Email Debate with  A Handful of Pals, November 2023 ……… An Exchange that the Editor of Thuppahi deems worthy of public presentation for wider reflection …. & comment

Most enlightening comments from all of you and I am lost for words that my off the cuff, tongue in cheek somewhat flippant comment on the Maxwell/ Tendulkar incident was given such worldwide publicity by Michael Roberts.  Nevertheless, thanks heaps Michael. As they say any publicity is a bonus.

Glenn Maxwell’s puja to Sachin –the gesture which led to the THUPPAHI Item that sparked a debate among Lornez and pals …. https://thuppahis.com/2023/11/11/glenn-maxwells-puja-in-sachins-presence/#more-77036

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