Category Archives: performance

High-Profile Burghers & Other Exotic Personnel in Olde Ceylon

Rodney Vandergert, whose title reads thus: “Random Musings of A Senile Mind,”. an article which appeared on web on 4th March 2006 at https://kermeey.blogspot.com/2006/03/random-musings-of-senile-mind.html …… reproduced with selective highlights in this version … & brought to my attention by Charles Schokman of Australia

“Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, but to be young was very heaven” Wordsworth: Preludes

In the Nineteen Forties and early Fifties, Bambalawatte was the centre of the universe. It was where all the meaningful action took place and where the principal actors were mainly Burghers and a group of expatriates drawn from half a dozen nationalities.

This was brought most forcibly to my mind after reading the recent obituaries which appeared in the local press – one to Zoe Jayatilleke by Tita Nathanielsz; the other to David Gladwin Loos , C.C.S.. by Bradman Weerakoon.                                                             

Rodney Jonklaas, Mike wilson  & Arthur c. Clarke at seaside in Ceylon 1950s

 

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DIG Jingle Dissanayake’s Report on the JVP in Lanka, 4th November 1974

A NOTE from Michael Roberts, 27 November 2023

This file is among the documentary material under my name in the Special Collections, Barr Smith Library, Adelaide University and Samantha Farnsworth, its chief, sent me a pdf copy  I cannot recall how the original Mss came into my hands. Its pdf format has been converted to Word File by my friend KKS Perera in Lanka. The spacing is erratic and difficult to change. I have resisted the temptation to highlight important details because I do not have adequate background knowledge of the situation in 1972 to 1974 (even though I conducted one or two lectures to JVPers held in the prison camp at Katugastota …… including Gamini Keerawella …… one of my previous History Honours students).

The photographs are my insertions …. and perhaps hit ‘n miss in character .

Wijeweera in rousing flow on platform … & on way to court with his lawyer

 

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Virginia Hall: Spy & Resistance Fighter Extraordinary in France during World War Two

Quintus Andradi as Compiler, whose preferred title is “Stories from the National Archives, UK:  The Incredible True Story of Virginia Hall”.with highlights added by The Editor, Thyppahi

Virginia Hall was born in 1906 into a well-to-do Baltimore family. Her ambition in life was to work abroad for the American diplomatic service, but this ambition was shattered when she accidentally injured herself in the foot while bird-shooting, and her leg was amputated.

 

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Just DESSERTS for India at Cricket World Cup …. & Modi’s Curtness

Tunku Varadarajan, in The Wire, 20 November 2023  where the title reads thus: “Cricket Mata Ki Jai: Jingoism Lost in Ahmedabad on Sunday” ... while highlights in blue have been imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

 

That India lost in the final was karmic payback for the BCCI’s sins against the game, and also for the Ahmedabad crowd’s unwillingness to be sporting and civilised.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi walking away from Pat Cummins after handing him the trophy. Photo: Screengrab from video Tunku Varadarajan

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Al-Jazeera Hand Dissects India’s World-Cup Defeat

Kevin Hand, in Al-Jazeera,  19 November 2023, where the where the title runs thus “ICC Cricket World Cu p 2023 final: Five things that went wrong for India”

India were favourites to win a home Cricket World Cup – so how did it all go wrong for them in the all-important final?

 

Hosts India won all 10 games leading up to the final and were heavy favourites to claim the trophy, but fell at the last hurdle. Al Jazeera takes a look at five things that went wrong on the day for India as their winning streak ended at the worst possible time.

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Equanimity in Crunch Situations: Glenn Maxwell and His Lady

A Striking Photo sent to Thuppahi by Keith Bennett of Australia 

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Fantastic Predictions: WORLD CUP FORECASTS from Lankan Cricketing Fanatics

A FORECAST by Errol FERNANDO, …. A Piano Player from the Heavens, 19 November 2023

After a long tournament, we reach the final that we all predicted many weeks ago, Lorenz   –   India vs Australia   –   with the obvious prediction that India will win. Millions will back India,of course.

Let me take a different path by predicting a win for the Aussies, especially if they bat first. Head, Marsh and Maxwell are dangerous players who can take the game away from India.

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Cricket Levelling Cricket! The Glenn Maxwell Song** …

Michael Roberts, deploying a twist on the West Indian calypso song presented by Lord Superior to sketch the twists and turns in the game exposd by Glenn Maxwell in te couse of two back-to-back matches

Playing against Afghanistan at Wankhede Stadium on the 14th November 2023, Glenn Maxwell produced an extraordinary innings of 201 runs off 138 deliveries that eventually secured an unlikely victory in dire circumstances—one that hauled the Aussies from 7 wkts for 91 runs in the 18th over to 293 for 7 wkts in the 47th over. He amassed amassed an unprecedented double century …. 201 runs in 138 balls at a strike/rate of 157.03.

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Sri Lanka’s Cricket in Decline? World Cup 2023

Sanjeewa Jayaweera, in The Island, 12 November 2023, where th title runs thus: “Is our cricket going the same way as West Indies cricket?

Until 1977, when Kerry Packer set up the World Series Cricket (WSC) tournament, Australia and England took turns to hold the mantle of being the world’s top test-playing team; during this period, the West Indies did, on occasions, challenge the order of supremacy but were never able to be consistently good. The Indians and Pakistanis were competitive when playing at home but could not defeat the Australians in Australia. All that changed in 1979 when the Australian and English Boards and the ICC made peace with Kerry Packer.

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Mahela to Aravinda Aiyya: An Open Letter of Admiration

Item in the Daily Mirror, 13 November 2023 …. with highlighting added by The Editor, Thuppahi

Former Sri Lankan cricketer Mahela Jayawardena pays a heartfelt tribute to newly inducted ICC Hall of Famer Aravinda de Silva. Mahela expresses deep admiration for de Silva’s impact on Sri Lankan cricket, citing iconic moments and hailing him as the nation’s best batter. From World Cup heroics to dressing room memories, Mahela underscores the invaluable mentorship received from the cricketing legend.

 Aravinda De Silva of Sri Lanka in action during the VB series One Day International match played between England and Sri Lanka held at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney, Australia on January 13, 2002….. Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images

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