Category Archives: life stories

April 17, 2024 · 9:50 pm

Sri Lanka in Cavernous Economic Chasm

Ahilan Kadirgamar in Q and A with Hans Dembowski …. in Q and A at https://www.dandc.eu/en/contributors/ahilan-kadirgamar

 

Sri Lanka’s government defaulted in April 2022. How is the economy doing today?
The situation is dire. Sri Lanka’s GDP contracted by 7.8 % last year and is contracting this year as well. Some 500,000 formal-sector jobs have been lost. Another 1 million informal jobs were lost in the construction sector. Cost of living has risen by over 70 % with the crisis. According to the World Bank, the poverty rate doubled to 25 % last year, and the UNDP reckons that multidimensional poverty now affects over half of our people. Multidimensional poverty takes account of things like child mortality, nutrition, school attendance and consumption patterns.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, economic processes, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, legal issues, life stories, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, Sri Lankan scoiety, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes

April 17, 2024 · 12:46 am

An Intriguing Challenge: Deciphering a Photograph of Ceylonese Elites at Tennis

Mevan Pieris & Arun Dias Bandaranaike decipher and debate the identities and location of personnel within an intriguing high-society photograph of a tennis cluster in British Ceylon at some point in the 1920s/30s. The suggestion that JR Jayawardene is part of this cluster is challenged by Mevan : a claim presented within Thuppahi: see https://thuppahis.com/2016/10/29/when-jr-and-banda-batted-for-ceylon-together-in-1926-a-piece-of-social-history/

 

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under art & allure bewitching, cultural transmission, heritage, historical interpretation, life stories, photography, sri lankan society, travelogue

April 15, 2024 · 3:30 pm

Two Majestic ‘cameos’ in Cricket from Dhoni and Pathirana

Michael Roberts

Amidst the hot news in Australia relating to the knife-wielding nutcase and his killings at Bondi in Sydney, I watched snatches of the web-reportage on the match between the Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Superkings (CSK) in the IPL tournament.  The latter event was high-scoring, topsy-turvy, turbulent and fascinating. In point-form let me highlight some remarkable performances.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, cricket for amity, cricket selections, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, Sri Lankan cricket, world events & processes

April 14, 2024 · 5:50 pm

“Murali” … A Bowler Unique, An Exemplary Sri Lankan

Nitin Jain, in 2010 at “Freshinspirations” …. on 22 July …. where the title reads  “Muralitharan scaled unprecedented & inspirational heights!” …. reproduced here with highlighting imposed and some more Pix and some references

Prodigious spin propelled by an abnormally strong wrist and an iron resolve forged in bitter acrimony over his unique action took Muttiah Muralitharan to unprecedented heights in world cricket. Muralitharan, 38, took his 800th test wicket with his final ball in 133 tests on Thursday. With Twenty20 cricket cutting increasingly into the test programme it is a mark that is unlikely ever to be exceeded.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, centre-periphery relations, cricket for amity, cricket selections, education, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, patriotism, performance, photography, politIcal discourse, reconciliation, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, Sri Lankan cricket, sri lankan society, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world events & processes

April 14, 2024 · 2:30 am

Rupert Ferdinands: A Stellar Career …. & A Thomian Tall

Ravi Rudra, whose chosen title for this illustrated essay was “Rupert Ferdinands: A Blazing Tennis Star and Much More”  … while the plethora of photographs rendered this item a difficult piece to insert — so that some illustrations will be missing; a or will be inserted over time. The Editor has also inserted highlighting emphasis along the way.

Rupert W. Ferdinands, born April 1936, was an outstanding product of S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia. He is also a former Head Prefect of the School, a B.Sc. (Hons) graduate, Sri Lanka Davis Cup player and Australian qualified tennis coach (Level 3). Rupert excelled in Tennis for his College and Country, having made his national debut as a young schoolboy.

Teen Rupert in Ceylon Tennis Team at the Hague in 1953 ….L-R:  Percy Ernst, Douglas Fonseka, Lionel Fonseka (Manager), Douglas Scharenguivel and 17-year-old Rupert Ferdinands (extreme right).

Trophies Galore! ….  36-year old Rupert Ferdinands with around 150 trophies at his Colombo Residence, just prior to migrating to Australia.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, cultural transmission, education, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, patriotism, performance, S. Thomas College, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, unusual people, world events & processes

April 13, 2024 · 8:23 pm

Imagine there’s no countries, nothing to kill or die for

Rohini Hensman …. An article composed at the end of the year 2003 for a conference in January 2004; and eventually published in 2012 (see below: fn 1) …. with the title being borrowed from ‘Imagine,’ by John Lennon …. and the highlighting emphasis imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

I would like to look at the issue of community and nationalism and its continued relevance at the present, and in particular to analyse its association with authoritarianism, militarisation, nuclearisation, terrorism, and questions of war and peace in South Asia. Within this region, there is a very close parallel between the current situation in Sri Lanka [2003-04] and developments which have taken place much earlier in India, Pakistan, and later Bangladesh. In both cases, we see the development of strong authoritarian tendencies, linked up to either religion or ethnicity.

 

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, american imperialism, arab regimes, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, democratic measures, discrimination, Eelam, ethnicity, Fascism, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, insurrections, Islamic fundamentalism, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, Middle Eastern Politics, nationalism, Palestine, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, racism, racist thinking, religious nationalism, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, terrorism, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, world events & processes, zealotry

April 12, 2024 · 6:45 pm

“Colonization and Ethnic Conflict in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka” – Article in 1990

Patrick Peebles in a refereed article in The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 49, No. 1 (Feb., 1990), pp. 30-55 …. which John De Silva in Melbourne, my Aloysian sporting mate, has worked on to make it feasible for me to present it in the Thuppahi format-style. The supporting Maps & Diagrams are presented via web-references, while the web-reference to the article as a whole is placed herein in pdf format.

Sri LANKA’S INABILITY to contain ethnic violence as it escalated from sporadic terrorism to mob violence to civil war in recent years has disheartened observers who had looked to the nation as a success story of social and political development. In retrospect, Sri Lanka lacked effective local institutions to integrate the society, and the Sinhalese elite relied on welfare and preferential policies for the Sinhalese majority to maintain power. These alienated the minorities and resulted in Tamil demands for a separate state. 1

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under authoritarian regimes, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, chauvinism, colonisation schemes, cultural transmission, demography, economic processes, ethnicity, governance, heritage, island economy, land policies, landscape wondrous, language policies, Left politics, life stories, plural society, politIcal discourse, power politics, racism, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, transport and communications, working class conditions, world events & processes

April 12, 2024 · 1:41 pm

Gross Misrepresentation in Bolt’s Analysis of Penny Wong’s Position on Palestine

Adrian Bishop

Let me deconstruct Bolt’s disinformation about Penny Wong, Hamas and Israel in his item in the Herald Sun 11/4/2024. …. A little analysis of Bolt’s disinformation about Penny Wong, Hamas and Israel. It was published in the Herald Sun 11/4/2024. [THE ITEM had this headline: “Wong’s Palestine plan a win for Hamas” …]

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, anti-racism, arab regimes, atrocities, australian media, authoritarian regimes, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, disparagement, economic processes, ethnicity, European history, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, Islamic fundamentalism, Jews in Asia, jihadists, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, life stories, martyrdom, military expenditure, military strategy, nationalism, Palestine, politIcal discourse, power politics, power sharing, racist thinking, religiosity, religious nationalism, self-reflexivity, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry

April 11, 2024 · 7:29 pm

Galle: So Bewitching …. with Aid from the Work of Norah Roberts

R. Simmington, whose article bears another title

Sri Lanka has a special place in my heart because I lived here for a few
years in the early 1980’s and returned in 1986, armed with a camera.
Although the photographic phase of my life was short and sweet, I still have
all my negatives, which I can now convert into digital images. I hope this
piece, together with the photographs that accompany it,*** bring back some
happy memories for the members of this group. I realise that there will be
many who know this story, but there will be some that don’t, in any event, I
think it is worth sharing.

Amangalla exterior & front verandah

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under architects & architecture, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, ethnicity, female empowerment, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, Muslims in Lanka, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, tolerance, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

April 11, 2024 · 12:54 pm

From Karaithivu, Jaffna to Buckingham Palace

Premila Thurairatnam

Mr. Sabapathipillai Rajanayagam O.B.E was a wise man who lived till he was 104 years old (1908–2012). He was alert to the end when most of his contemporaries had passed on.

His achievements are exemplary: coming from humble beginnings – his London diaries (attached) state how he grew up in a mud hut in a remote island called Karaithivu1 off Jaffna, Ceylon. From there his career culminated in being invited to Buckingham Palace! He studied hard and was awarded the University Telegraph Engineering scholarship to Imperial College, London in 1930. His article written for the Imperial College centenary when he too hit a century, can be found here: ………………………………………………………………… https://www.imperial.ac.uk/centenary/memories/Rajanayagam.shtml

Continue reading →

3 Comments

Filed under art & allure bewitching, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, life stories, literary achievements, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes, World War II and Ceylon