Category Archives: patriotism

March 29, 2025 · 11:28 am

Launching the Book THOMIA … in Colombo

IN  PICTURES   

     the author speaking ….. and signing books

… with Suresh Navaratnam in this  picture

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, Colombo and Its Spaces, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, education policy, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, language policies, life stories, literary achievements, nationalism, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, S. Thomas College, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, teaching profession, unusual people, world events & processes

March 29, 2025 · 12:07 am

Nationalisms in Sri Lanka: A Bibliography Cast in 2014..

bull-mascot-team-logo-design-longhorn-133746227 Presented here at ……………………………………………………….. https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/nationalism-the-past-and-the-present-the-case-of-sri-lanka/…. & thus in need of updating.; while being dedicated to a Peradeniya University buddy -alas deceased– with whom I shared notes and thoughts during undergraduate days and thereafter in the 1970s & 1980s in Chicago: namely, Ananda Wickremeratne …

Amunugama, Sarath 1979 ‘Ideology and class interest in one of Piyadasa Siris­ena’s novels: the new image of the “Sinhala Buddhist” nationalist’ in M Roberts (ed.) Collective identities, nationalisms and protest in modern Sri Lanka, Colombo:: Marga Institute, pp 314-36

Anderson, Benedict 1983 Imagined communities. Reflections on the origin and spread of Nationalism.  London: Verso

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, British colonialism, Buddhism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, constitutional amendments, cultural transmission, demography, devolution, discrimination, Dutch colonialism, economic processes, education policy, Eelam, ethnicity, governance, hatan kavi, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, insurrections, island economy, Kandyan kingdom, language policies, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, martyrdom, modernity & modernization, Muslims in Lanka, nationalism, patriotism, power politics, racism, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, transport and communications, vengeance, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry

March 26, 2025 · 10:05 pm

An Epitaph for Gananath Obeyesekere

Chandra R. De Silva, … with highlighting emphasis added by The Editor, Thuppahi

I write to add a few words to the outpouring of appreciations of Gananath Obeyesekere, a scholar whose research in anthropology, religion, myth, and cultural practices  has won him accolades across the world. I will not comment on the advances in knowledge and the discussions he provoked by his many scholarly works of which among the best known are Land Tenure in Village Ceylon, The Cult of the Goddess Pattini, Buddhism Transformed (co-author), The Work of Culture, The Apotheosis of Captain Cook: European Mythmaking in the Pacific, and The Doomed King. There has been much written on this world renowned scholar, and there will undoubtedly be more comments by experts in the years to come.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, Buddhism, caste issues, centre-periphery relations, commoditification, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, electoral structures, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian religions, island economy, land policies, language policies, Left politics, life stories, modernity & modernization, nationalism, patriotism, performance, pilgrimages, plural society, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, social justice, sri lankan society, teaching profession, vengeance, working class conditions, world events & processes

March 26, 2025 · 1:34 pm

Deeply Lankika: John De Silva

Responding to a Request from An Aloysian Schoolmate and Friend named Roberts, John de Silva, aka “Johnny,” provided these fascinating genealogical details…… Michael Roberts

 UNIQUE FAMILY CONNECTIONS

I am not too sure if I had sent you details of where I came from! In other words, who were my parents and who were their parents. This is often a mundane Family Tree exercise and bears not much significance in the scheme of things. However, I feel that my family connections are unique when it comes to the Island of Sri Lanka.

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under commoditification, communal relations, cricket for amity, cultural transmission, Dutch colonialism, economic processes, education, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, immigration, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, life stories, nationalism, patriotism, plantations, politIcal discourse, Portuguese in Indian Ocean, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

March 23, 2025 · 11:54 pm

Sustaining Mahinda College in Galle: E. A. Wijesooriya

A Mahindian in Facebook … with Malware blocking the photo displayed from deployment here … but see below

The following is a write-up appeared in the book the “Century of Memories” edited by the Late Tiddy Wijeratne, Percy Samara-Wickrama and my friend Duleep Dantanarayana, which was published in 1993. The article I am uploading is written by the Late Professor Vinnie Vitharana and I hope it will be read by the present day Students of Mahinda College. Duleep, one of the Editors was very kind in giving me permission to upload this for the benefit of the Mahindians who have not read this.

Born on 23rd March 1905, Mr. E.A. Wijesooriya would have been 120 years today.
Edgar Albert Wijesooriya …….. On a wet morning in May over five decades ago a lad from southern village, characteristically awkward and unpolished, approached the gates of a school in Galle. And at the sight of the elephants in bas-relief on the stone posts, his rustic feet faltered. Within, a broad pathway fringed with slanting Araliya trees in bloom meandered up a hillock marked by imposing buildings and taller flowering vegetation. Halfway up on the right was flight of steps in stone clinging to an arbour ed slope that showed the way direct to the summit.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under cultural transmission, education, heritage, life stories, patriotism, performance, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, teaching profession, unusual people

March 23, 2025 · 12:06 pm

Simon’s THOMIA sways Sri Lanka

Rohan Pethiyagoda, reviewing the new book THOMIA written by Richard Simon, in The Island, 16 March 2025

As schools go, St Thomas’s College Mt Lavinia has, since its inception in 1851, had a disproportionate influence on the affairs of Sri Lanka. In ways both good and bad, it created the modern incarnation of this country. After all, four of our first five prime ministers were Thomians (‘Thomian’, by the way, is a Latin diminutive of Thomas, like Tom in English).

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, Colombo and Its Spaces, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, education policy, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, language policies, life stories, literary achievements, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, S. Thomas College, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, teaching profession, unusual people

March 22, 2025 · 12:43 am

Christina A. Bejan: Multi-Talented Authoress, Performative Artist, ….

A NOTE From the RHODES TRUST Secretariat, 24 March 2025

Cristina A. Bejan is a Romanian-American theatre artist, poet, and historian. A prolific playwright, Bejan has written nineteen plays, with productions in the United States, United Kingdom, Romania, and Vanuatu. Her hit play “Districtland” was bought for TV development, and Next Stage Press has released three of her scripts. She writes creatively in five languages and has published countless poems, plays, and poetry translations in literary journals and anthologies.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under anti-racism, art & allure bewitching, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, ethnicity, Fascism, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, legal issues, life stories, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, racism, self-reflexivity, social justice, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world events & processes

March 21, 2025 · 4:45 pm

The THOMIA is Flying ….

A Note from Richard Simon, 21 March 2025

It’s taken longer than I expected – just like everything about this project has – but I’m happy to say the first batch of overseas orders was posted via Expedited Mail Service yesterday. We have to do them in batches for reasons of practical logistics: (a) there’s just Lionel the Cat Herder and me to carry these 3.3kg bubble-wrapped and manila-swathed bricks about, and (b) only so much room on the post office parcels desk to accommodate them; not to mention (c) other customers in the place staring daggers at us and our time-consuming transactions. But we got them off anyway, after sacrificing one to the nice lady behind the counter who wanted it opened so that she could see what was inside. Obviously that one did not go off yesterday, so my apologies to Mr T.A. of Castle Hill, NSW, whose nude and blue-bushing copy we brought back home for rewrapping. It will go off in the next batch, sir, I promise.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under Colombo and Its Spaces, cultural transmission, education, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, patriotism, performance, S. Thomas College, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, teaching profession, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes

March 20, 2025 · 5:39 pm

Ravi Ratnayeke Visits SL Cricket Museum at SSC

A News Item in Web-Space: ……………..

2 Comments

Filed under cricket selections, cultural transmission, life stories, patriotism, performance, Sri Lankan cricket, sri lankan society

March 16, 2025 · 6:53 pm

THAT 624-Run Partnership That Remains A Record

A Note From S. SKANDAKUMAR in the hills of Uva, March 2025

Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene scored  624 runs in partnership for the third wicket for Sri Lanka vs South Africa at the SSC grounds in 2006. This remains a world record for any wicket. Harry Solomons in Sydney, being Harry, marked this great feat by sending a pictorial MOMENTO to a former ambassador in Australia who was also a cricketer and a cricket commentator, namely, Somachandra Skandakumar.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under cricket for amity, cricket selections, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, patriotism, performance, photography, Sri Lankan cricket, sri lankan society, unusual people