Category Archives: landscape wondrous

Irangani Serasinghe: A Beacon for Her Times …. Versatility Unconfined

Madapatha Uditha, in The Island, 17/18 June 2020, with this title “Searching for Irangani” …. while highlighting is an imposition from The Editor, Thuppahi

Irangani Serasinghe turned 93 on Tuesday, June 9

If the reputations of actors can be compared to shares in a company, there’s no doubt that Irangani Serasinghe’s has always been oversubscribed: public interest in her career in not just the cinema and television, but also the theatre, has never been matched by an adequate level of quality in coverage by the media. There’s never been a shortage of articles, of course, and Kumar de Silva’s sketchy yet comprehensive portrait of her does establish the links between several aspects of her life and family and the career she eventually chose.

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An Underwater Museum at Galle initiated by the SL Navy

Darshana Sanjeeva Balasuriya, Daily Mirror, 17 June 2020, with this title

Following the opening of the Sri Lanka’s first underwater museum in Galle, the Navy is also planning to build two more underwater museums in Trincomalee and Tangalle.

Navy Commander Piyal de Silva declared open the first underwater museum in Sri Lanka in Galle on April 5.

Following the opening of the Sri Lanka’s first underwater museum in Galle, the Navy is also planning to build two more underwater museums in Trincomalee and Tangalle.

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A Statue Obliterated in Bristol: Radicals for Floyd in Righteousness against the Slave Trade

Gurminder K. Bhambra, in New York Times, 12 June 2020, with this title “A statue was toppled. Can we talk about the British Empire? “

The statue of the slave trader Edward Colston falling into the water on Sunday after protesters in Bristol, England, pulled it down.Credit…Keir Gravil, via Reuters

BRIGHTON, England — Tens of thousands of people protested in British cities in solidarity with those rising up against police brutality against black Americans in the past week. They highlighted similar injustices in Britain. Protesters in the city of Bristol drew connections between a white police officer’s killing of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis, and the histories of colonialism and the slave trade. On Sunday, they toppled the statue of Edward Colston, a 17th-century slave trader, trampled over it and rolled it into Bristol Harbor.

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Remembering Neville Jayaweera, Administrator Extraordinary

Ananda Wijesuriya, in Island, 12 June 2020, carrying this title “An administrator of skill, competence and understanding”

I had the occasion to read a full middle page article published in the Sunday Observer, I think in the late 60s, about the transport of a high-powered antenna brought to enhance the broadcasting capacity of SLBC. I was fascinated by the attention to details, explaining how the antenna, shipped as fabricated, transported from Colombo harbour all the way to Pidurutalagala mountain. I cannot remember whether the author was a journalist but it did identify who was the brains behind the meticulous planning, the then Chairman of newly incorporated SLBC – Neville Jayaweera. Later I again read about his exploits, with the change of the Government in 1970. He was removed from SLBC and being a CCS officer was posted to Anuradhapura, where during the 1971 JVP insurgency he rallied the police and a depleted army post and held the town against the attacks by the JVP.

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“Aiyyo” reaches the Heights of English Elegance

Aiyyoh reaches a peak …. as “AIYOH”

Aiyyo! Aiyyo! What is happening in the English-speaking World! Budu Ammoh!

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Remembering Rajiv Jayaweera: An Outstanding Analyst and A Sturdy Administrator

RRW in The Island, 15 June 2020 where the title runs “One with elegance in thought and letters”

But if the while I think on thee, dear friend, All losses are restored, and sorrows end. —- Shakespeare/Sonnet 30

Of course, Rajiv Jayaweera was not my friend. I never saw him in person, nor heard him; but I had once seen his picture in a web publication. However, I saw him well enough through his writings as a fellow contributor to The Island, and experienced a latent relationship with him as a person whose intellectual grasp of our country’s burning issues, and whose concerns and attitudes relating to them generally matched mine; I felt  as if I had known him closely as a friend for some time. I was impressed by the meticulous attention he paid to his language in expressing his ideas precisely (a characteristic in truth tellers).

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A Summary Overview of Sri Lanka’s Struggle to contain Covid

Lasanda Kurukulasuriya, in Island, 11 June 2020, with this title Covid19 in Sri Lanka: From lockdown to ‘new normal’.”

Sri Lanka’s handling of the Covid19 outbreak has, comparatively speaking, produced commendable results. Tracing the trajectory of the response, it may be seen that early moves to prepare for what lay ahead served well to mitigate the outcome. A Task Force drawing on expertise of all relevant sectors was appointed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on January 27th, the day the first Covid19 case was reported – that of a Chinese woman tourist.

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Extremisms. Feeling Good. John Cleese hit nail on the head

John Cleese got it right thirty years back: Virtue is built on the targeted “Other”

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The “Mayflower” to ‘surf’ into London on June 30th

Labour of Love – Mayflower – A Sea Change book launch on June 30th!

We’re very excited to announce that our book will be launching on Tuesday June 30th, 8pm at a special free webinar: Mayflower – A Sea Change. Do join us to find out more about this amazing book and its epic journey to publication. We will also hear about the exciting things that are going to happen for the Mayflower 400 year anniversary from its chair and visionary director of The Theatre Royal, Adrian Vinken.

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Pablo Neruda and Thangamma … His Work in Ceylon

Dr. Kumar Gunawardane. in Island, 13 June 2020, where the title runs “Neruda and his daughter”

“It’s night time ,
I’m alone and sad,
Thinking in the light of a flickering candle,
about joy and pain,
about tired old age,
and handsome arrogant youth”
Pablo Neruda

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