A kabaragoya at Hampden Terrace Wellawatte … pix by Gina Fernando 
Category Archives: performance
Sacrificial Devotion in Comparative Perspective: A Workshop at Adelaide University in Late 2005
Daya ….. Rohan…. Shyam…. Riaz ….. what a South Asian spread! …………………. a dinkie-die curry’
I = Michael Roberts: An Explanatory Preamble Cast in May 2020
By 2004 I had retired from teaching in the Anthropology Department at Adelaide University and was proceeding with the pursuit of my research interests at my own pace within my limited resources. Sri Lanka and my connections therein was one such resource. When researching in Colombo in late November 2004 I flew to Jaffna on a wing and a prayer[1] with the intention of exploring the Tamil Tiger “cult of suicide.” Previous contacts with two Tamil Canadians and a visit to the University of Jaffna as soon as I landed assisted me no end: partly via the invaluable support provided by the Krishnaswamy family[2] and the readiness of their medical student son Chenthan to become my aide and guide during peregrinations within the Peninsula.[3]
Filed under atrocities, Australian culture, chauvinism, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, ethnicity, fundamentalism, heritage, Hinduism, historical interpretation, immolation, Indian religions, Indian traditions, Islamic fundamentalism, jihad, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, LTTE, martyrdom, nationalism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, religiosity, religious nationalism, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, Tamil Tiger fighters, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, war reportage, world events & processes
A Century of Cricket in Galle
EM Karunaratne,** an article abridged from Sport Down South … and made available by Oliver Guruge, another Gallilean and a keen member of the ‘Richmond Collective’ of today
Facing the Fort circa 1880s or 1890s before the Esplanade emerged –– Pix courtesy of the Australian National Gallery
At the very outset, it must be mentioned that the Galle Municipal Council, almost from its very beginning, willingly and enthusiastically rendered every possible help and assistance to sport, not only in Galle. but throughout the Southern Province. The co-operation. ex-tended by the Council and its stalwarts, was magnificent. The Council maintained, from the very beginning, the beautiful Esplanade, at great expense, and always kept it in excellent condition. This playground is the centre of all the sports activities of the Southern Capital. Cricket, Soccer, Hockey, Rugger and Volleyball are played here. Last, but by no means least, all Athletic Meets of importance, including those open to the whole Province, are held on the famous Galle Esplanade. In Tennis too, the support of the Council was equally conspicuous. The Galle Gymkhana Club was permitted, on nominal terms, to construct a fine Tennis Pavilion on grounds belonging to the Municipality. An Island-wide open Tennis Tournament for which the best players from Colombo and elsewhere enter, is annually a regular feature of the Race and Sports program of the Galle Gymkhana Club., from about the year 1920.
Filed under architects & architecture, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, cricket for amity, cultural transmission, education, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, Sri Lankan cricket, sri lankan society, world events & processes
The Covid’s Mutations: An Entry Point for Our Demolition Battle?
CBC News, May 15, 2020, where the article is entitled “The coronavirus is mutating — and that can help us track it”
Sequencing the coronavirus’s RNA is providing researchers with valuable information about the strains of the virus in Canada and how to stop its spread. The novel coronavirus has very simple personal goals. Its main purpose in life is to replicate, something it has done with alarming efficiency, causing havoc around the world.
And in this process of replicating itself, it is leaving behind tiny genetic markers of its spread that are being picked up by researchers hot on its trail.
Raina, A Lass From Lanka, at Sydney’s Pandemic Frontline
Helen Pitt, in Sydney Morning Herald, May 2020, where the title runs “Professor of Lankan descent now one of world’s top infectious disease specialists”
Professor Raina MacIntyre, one of the world’s leading emerging infectious diseases experts, has barely budged from the bedroom of her Wahroonga home since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Australia.
Raina MacIntyre as a medical student in 1984
Filed under accountability, australian media, communal relations, coronavirus, cultural transmission, disaster relief team, education, female empowerment, heritage, historical interpretation, life stories, modernity & modernization, performance, politIcal discourse, religiosity, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, Tamil migration, teaching profession, unusual people, world events & processes
Ivor Jennings and Peradeniya University in Two Excursions
ONE: ‘Varman’ = “Jennings and the Old Galaha Road”
In 1952 we lived on Old Galaha Road. That was the last year we lived there. The government of the day compulsorily acquired our house and the land for the campus of the new University of Ceylon at Peradeniya. Much against our wishes, we were on orders to quit our home. The order to vacate, after the property was compulsorily acquired by the government, came from the Vice Chancellor’s office, the new owner of what was our beloved property.
Filed under accountability, British colonialism, cultural transmission, education, education policy, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, modernity & modernization, performance, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, teaching profession, unusual people, world events & processes
Sweeping the Accounting World: These Jaffna People
I first heard of the BBK Partnership Sri Lanka in 2015. I first spoke with its co-founder Anandan Arnold in 2018, and finally met him in March 2020 at a hospital in Manipay Jaffna. He was dressed rather informally for a Partner of London’s BBK Partnership of Chartered Accountants. Anandan (pictured below on the right) greeted me wearing an aerodynamic lycra bicycling outfit, having put away his suit and tie for a couple of weeks. He was there with about 50 other cyclists including his brother Chris who had just finished their 435km four day Colombo-Jaffna bike ride. The trip was organized by Ride For Ceylon in aid of the Green Memorial Hospital in Manipay. Founded in 1848 by the American medical missionary Dr Samuel Fisk Green, the hospital was the first medical school in Ceylon. Now it is run as a charity, with patients paying what they can afford which is often nothing at all.
VE Day, 8 May 1945 …. as Nazi Germany Surrenders: In Pictures
The King and Queen of Britain with Winston Churchill in between and Princess Elizabeth nd Princess Margaret on the flanks
Churchill waves to the crowds below
Vale Walter Jayawardena, Fighter for Lanka
Hassina Leelarathna
The hardest thing about saying goodbye to a departed one is not being able to say goodbye, as with flowers and incense, a last long look, prayers for the journey ahead, or a final touch.
Yet, that’s how family and friends will bid farewell to Walter Jayawardena, journalist, lawyer, and well-known activist in the Sri Lankan community in the U.S., who passed away on Sunday May 3, 2020.
The funeral service will be conducted online via Zoom by the Sarathchandra Buddhist meditation center in North Hollywood on Saturday starting 5:00 p.m. The subdued farewell will be a contrast to the high energy and gusto that were hallmarks of Walter’s life.
Filed under accountability, communal relations, disparagement, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, language policies, life stories, LTTE, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, press freedom & censorship, Rajiv Gandhi, religiosity, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil Tiger fighters, travelogue, unusual people, war reportage, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes, zealotry
Covid Control in Sri Lanka: A Summary Overview from Three Key Personnel
Kalani Kumarasinghe, in Daily Mirror, 1 May 2020, … where the title is “The Debrief”
The leaders of Sri Lanka’s battle against Covid-19 came together for a panel discussion at Wijerama House, headquarters of Sri Lanka Medical Association to review Sri Lanka’s journey in containing the coronavirus outbreak. Head of the National Operation Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO), Army Commander Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, Director General Health Services Dr. Anil Jasinghe and Chief Physician at the National Infectious Diseases Institute Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama discussed Sri Lanka’s unique approach to tackling the disease and made important notes on challenges ahead. Moderated by Prof. Indika Karunathilake, President of the Sri Lanka Medical Association, the discussion was a part of the Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health international webinar on Covid-19.
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, biotechnology, centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, coronavirus, economic processes, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, transport and communications, unusual people, world events & processes
