Category Archives: life stories

December 27, 2017 · 3:10 am

A Fateful Day: 26th December Thirteen Years Back

with these images below from Daily News, 27 December 2017, … http://www.dailynews.lk/2017/12/27/local/138327/remebering-their-loved-ones

A ceremony to remember thousands of people who lost their lives to the deadly tsunami that hit the island 13 years ago was held at Pereliya, Galle – the location of the largest single rail disaster in world history. On December 26, 2004, over 1,500 people onboard the Matara bound train were swept away by the deadly tsunami waves at Peraliya — Picture by Wimal Karunatilake 

Two boys light incense sticks beside a photograph of their loved ones at a memorial held yesterday to remember those who were killed in the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami.  Memorial events to mark 13 years since the Tsunami were held at Thiruchchenthoor,  Dutch Bar, Kallady Mukathuwaram and Navalady in Batticaloa with religious leaders, parents, relations and friends of the departed gathering to pay respects to their loved ones — Picture by  Sivam Packiyanathan, Batticaloa Special Correspondent

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December 26, 2017 · 5:52 pm

About Choosing a School. Royalist Sons of Thomian Fathers

Rajakeeya

The perennial debate that sparks off  when old Royalists  and old Thomians meet  often centres around the claim over which  of the two schools had a better record in producing successful men. There is no doubt that both schools have produced men of eminence whether it be national leaders, academics, professionals, sportsmen, businessmen or those immersed in the fine arts. One unfailing test of the claim of superiority is to ascertain what eminent old boys themselves  look for when choosing an educational institution for their own sons.

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December 21, 2017 · 5:15 am

Jewish-Muslim Amity in Essaouira and Morocco

Item in The Economist Nov 2nd 2017, where the title is Morocco’s little idyll of Jewish-Muslim coexistence: A moment of religious harmony””

ONCE a year the little seaside town of Essaouira, in Morocco, reclaims its lost Jewish community. Sephardic trills echo from its whitewashed synagogues. The medieval souks fill with Jewish skullcaps. Rabbis and cantors wish Muslims “Shabbat Shalom” and regale them with Hebrew incantations. “It’s our culture,” says a merchant from Marrakech, who travelled 200km (124 miles) to hear them this year.

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December 16, 2017 · 1:27 pm

The Beira Lake in Colonial Times

Shannine Daniel, courtesy of The Roar, 14 December 2017  where the title runs “The Beira Lake and its colonial history”

The man-made lakes—or tanks—constructed in Sri Lanka were built with one purpose in mind: to hold the rainwater which would help with agricultural activities throughout the year. There are several stories related to the history of such tanks, many of which were made by the kings. The Beira Lake, however, located in the city of Colombo, was built for a completely different reason—and not by one of our ancient kings either.

Thr Lake today

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December 13, 2017 · 2:59 pm

A Historical Exhibition in Mumbai that Challenges the Hindutva

   Vaishnavi Chandrashekhar, courtesy of  Christian Science Monitor, 17 November 2017, where the title runs “Mumbai museum challenges Indians’ self image

In a dimly lit gallery at Mumbai’s premier museum, visitors admire a 17th-century cloth painting depicting characters from a Muslim court in south-central India. An Ottoman trader feeds a bird; a Central Asian merchant holds a Chinese vase; and in one corner, a yogi sitting cross-legged on a deer-skin contemplates a wondrous new object: a pineapple brought to India from the New World by the Portuguese. Such intriguing juxtapositions, unexpected stories, and global connections form the essence of an ambitious new exhibition that recounts India’s history and its engagement with the world through 200 objects. In doing so, it offers a counterpoint to rising intolerance and nationalism in India and elsewhere.

 see https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2017/1117/Mumbai-museum-challenges-Indians-self-image

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December 13, 2017 · 12:55 am

Germany goes “Batty”: A Plan to Deter Migrants

Stefan Frank, courtesy of Gatestone, 12 December 2017, where the title is “Germany’s Batty Plan to Deter Migrants

  • Every German knows that hardly any asylum seekers whose applications are rejected are forced to leave Germany. But if their application is rejected and they do decide to return to their home country, they are rewarded with an allowance of between €1000 ($1,200) and €3000 ($3,600).
  • This information campaign, however, must have been carefully hidden from the German public — no major newspaper reported it at the time.
  • “The only authentic and honest thing about this movie were the closing credits….” — Henryk Broder, columnist, Die Welt.

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December 8, 2017 · 1:59 pm

The Guard Stones Of Ancient Sri Lanka

Shannine Daniel, courtesy of Roar Media, 6 December 2017, where the title is  “When Architecture and Buddhism Came Together. The Guard Stones Of Ancient Sri Lanka”

The ruins of Sri Lanka’s ancient kingdoms are a testament to the architectural skill of our ancestors. They have several unique architectural features including intricately carved stairs, the moonstones that lie at the foot of the stairs, and the guard stones that are placed on either side of the stairs at the entrances to these historic and religious sites. Among these, the guard stones, known as muragal in Sinhalese, are particularly fascinating. These features of Sinhalese architecture have both practical and decorative purposes.

 Some academics believe that the concept of guard stones found its way to Sri Lanka from India

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December 7, 2017 · 8:29 am

Hussain Miya’s Archival Donation to Brunei

Bacha Husmiya aka HussainMiyam of Peradeniya and Sri Lanka

Yesterday in a small ceremony at the UBD main library organized by the chancellory and in the presence of some Deans and press officials graced by the Asst. V.C. (Academic) Dr Ayub, I handed over my entire collections of Historical primary source documents to be preserved by UBD Bruneiana collections for the use of all scholars.

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December 3, 2017 · 12:57 am

Nath-thal in Ceylon in My Youthful Years

Alex Van Arkadie

Long before the legendary seafarer ‘Sinbad’ chanced to harbor in waters lapping the little isle of  ‘Serendip’, or European colonizers discovered Ptolemy’s ‘Ceylan’, pilgrims from the distant Orient have been visiting here. During the reign of the Indian Emperor Asoka (2nd Century BC), the island’s North Central Province was home to Sinhala Kings under whose patronage Buddhism spread. Following India’s gift of a sapling from the Bodhi Tree under which Sidharta Gautama Buddha attained ‘nirvana’, the ancient city of Anuradhapura draws pilgrims and curious visitors from everywhere. The tree is regarded as the oldest in the world (2,200 years). Similarly, a painting in the office of Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Rome, depicts  “Emissaries of the Sinhala Royal Court presenting Credentials to Emperor Claudius” (according to Roman Historian Gaius Plinius Secundas, AD 23-79, pix. below).

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December 1, 2017 · 1:20 pm

The Huseins and Their Historic Mansions in the Fort, Galle

Juliet Coombe, in Daily News, 1 December 2017,where the title runs “Fragments of the past”

“New things you can replace. Old things are irreplaceable.” Such is the mentality that has underpinned the empire that is now the Historical Mansion, right through from the inventor of the museum, Hussain senior, who has passed the museum onto his eldest son Kamal who now runs it, along with the arcade, gem making workshop in the central courtyard and the fabulous antiques gallery with filigree jewellery that is hundreds of years old. Newness is not important to Kamal, he simply wants to preserve what his father collected so that future generations can understand and appreciate the lives that were lived without electricity hence the notches in the walls for candles and if you wanted water you had to draw it from the central courtyard well.

 

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