Sanjiva Wijesinha
Category Archives: transport and communications
Sanjiva’s Silken “SILK ROAD” Launched Today
Sanjiva Wijesinha
Filed under art & allure bewitching, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, commoditification, cultural transmission, economic processes, growth pole, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, migrant experiences, modernity & modernization, Muslims in Lanka, pilgrimages, politIcal discourse, Portuguese in Indian Ocean, power politics, security, sri lankan society, transport and communications, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes
A Thoughtful Assessment of THE CEYLON JOURNAL
Dhanuka Bandara, in The Daily Mirror, 15 August 2025 … where the title reads “The Ceylon Journal III: A Review,” while the title here and the highlighting are the imprint of The Editor, Thuppahi
The third installation of the bi-annual periodical The Ceylon Journal certainly continues the success of the two previous issues. Edited by Avishka Mario Senewiratne, The Ceylon Journal was first launched in July 2024. This unique journal, which in turn draws inspiration from Young Ceylon, a 19th-century Sri Lankan journal published by Charles Lorenz Ambrose and his friends, continues to publish immensely readable, yet well-researched and informative articles on a wide range of topics.
Filed under ancient civilisations, art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, Buddhism, centre-periphery relations, commoditification, cultural transmission, Dutch colonialism, economic processes, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, Kandyan kingdom, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, life stories, literary achievements, modernity & modernization, nationalism, patriotism, photography, politIcal discourse, population, power politics, religiosity, security, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, transport and communications, unusual people, world events & processes
Protecting One’s Computer
Chandre Dharma-wardana in Canada**
Best system is to NOT use Windows operating system, and instead switch to Linux, and then use any commercial anti-virus and protection software.
More details:
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Linux is inherently more secure:
Linux distributions have a more robust security model than some other operating systems, with features like a strong permission system and less reliance on a central administrator.
Facing A Tsunami & A Civil War
Dennis M. McGilvray, in an article pubd in 2006 in the India Review, vol. 5, nos. 3–4, July/October, 2006, pp. 372–393 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC …. ISSN 1473-6489 print; 1557-3036 online DOI:10.1080/14736480600939132 … one bearing this title: “Tsunami and Civil War in Sri Lanka: An Anthropologist Confronts the Real World
Recent calls for a new “public anthropology” to promote greater visibility for ethnographic research in the eyes of the press and the general public, and to bolster the courage of anthropologists to address urgent issues of the day, are laudable although probably also too hopeful. Yet, while public anthropology could certainly be more salient in American life, it already exists in parts of the world such as Sri Lanka where social change, ethnic conflict, and natural catastrophe have unavoidably altered the local context of ethnographic fieldwork. Much of the anthropology of Sri Lanka in the last three decades would have to count as “public” scholarship, because it has been forced to address the contemporary realities of labor migration, religious politics, the global economy, and the rise of violent ethno-nationalist movements. As a long-term observer of the Tamil-speaking Hindu and Muslim communities in Sri Lanka’s eastern coastal region, I have always been attracted to the classic anthropological issues of caste, popular religion, and matrilineal kinship. However, in the wake of the civil wars for Tamil Eelam and the 2004 tsunami disaster, I have been forced to confront (somewhat uneasily) a fundamentally altered field- work situation. This gives my current work a stronger flavor of public anthropology, while providing an opportunity for me to trace older matrilocal family patterns and Hindu-Muslim religious traditions under radically changed conditions.
BEACHFRONT HOME DESTROYED BY TSUNAMI, MARUTHAMUNAI. AUGUST 2005
Filed under accountability, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, communal relations, counter-insurgency, demography, disaster relief team, economic processes, Eelam, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, insurrections, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, Muslims in Lanka, politIcal discourse, racist thinking, rehabilitation, religiosity, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, the imaginary and the real, the tsunami 2004, transport and communications, truth as casualty of war, voluntary workers, war crimes, war reportage, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills: German Settlers From 1839 On ….
Keith Conlon in a Genealogical Society of Queensland – GSQ’s post =deospnoStrg8 r42uti9lf3m8pgff0il26tl5f1tag2f57flti74h033aA5t · … entitled “From Prussa to Hahndorf in South Australia. Thanks to Keith Conlon”
The end of an epic pioneer voyage: it began in Silesia, Prussia, for the ‘Old Lutheran’ religious refugees who founded Hahndorf in South Australia in August 1839.
John Ford waterccolour
Monument Australia Continue reading
Filed under architects & architecture, Australian culture, centre-periphery relations, colonisation schemes, cultural transmission, economic processes, ethnicity, European history, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, migrant experiences, outmigration, refugees, religiosity, transport and communications, travelogue, world events & processes
Global Economics & Sri Lanka over the Recent Centuries
Sunil Bastian: “Sri Lankan state in a changing global context” … a 2025 article presented here with highlights imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi.**
This short article emphasises the need to analyse the Sri Lankan state by placing it in the global context. This means not confining our minds within the borders of the Sri Lankan state. To emphasise this point I would like to point out that the formation of the Sri Lankan state itself was a product of a global phenomenon – British colonialism (see Bastian Sunil (2025) State formation and Conflicts in Sri Lanka. London: Bloomsbury Academic for an analysis of Sri Lankan state formation).
Under British colonialism the entire geographic space of the island was covered by a single unit of territorial power. To administer the territory, the island was divided into spatial units using the directions of a compass. In this way cartography became an instrument of British colonialism. Other techniques of state formation were establishing an administrative structure, a judicial system, a system to collect taxes, regular census and the coercive power of the state to cover the entire island.
Filed under Americna imperialism, authoritarian regimes, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, commoditification, economic processes, ethnicity, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, land policies, life stories, modernity & modernization, nationalism, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, sri lankan society, transport and communications, world events & processes
A Pathway to History: Biographical ‘Hits’ in Thuppahi, 22 July 2025
Michael Roberts
Biographical tales and investigations serve as one pathway to historical enquiry. Because they resonate with readers interest in their own personal journeys this fascination seems to evoke continuous appeal. The WORD PRESS record of readers hits on items in THUPPAHI confirm this fact. Let me, therefore, provide TPS readers with a list of some of the items that drew at least one reader …. that is one HIT …. today/yesterday.
Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, charitable outreach, communal relations, cricket selections, cultural transmission, discrimination, disparagement, economic processes, education, ethnicity, female empowerment, foreign policy, fundamentalism, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, Left politics, life stories, literary achievements, LTTE, military strategy, modernity & modernization, patriotism, performance, photography, plural society, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, population, power politics, prabhakaran, press freedom, religiosity, Royal College, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, social justice, Sri Lankan cricket, sri lankan society, Tamil migration, Tamil Tiger fighters, teaching profession, terrorism, transport and communications, truth as casualty of war, unusual people
Professor Sinnappah Arasaratnam: Historian Outstanding
Michael Roberts
Sinnappah Arasaratnam was one of my inspirational teachers in History at Peradeniya University in the late 1950s. In chancing upon a printed copy of one of his articles — entitled “Sri Lanka’s Tamils under Colonial Rule,” (date ??), I have been inspired to remind new generations, as well as older ones. of his contributions to scholarship in Lanka, Malaysia/Singapore and Australia.
It was to my benefit that I was able to interact with him on occasions after he moved to Malaysia and Australia. Alas, the details of these exchanges have not taken root in my fading memory.
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, Britain's politics, British colonialism, caste issues, centre-periphery relations, commoditification, communal relations, cultural transmission, demography, Dutch colonialism, economic processes, ethnicity, European history, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, Indian traditions, island economy, land policies, language policies, Left politics, life stories, modernity & modernization, nationalism, parliamentary elections, patriotism, plural society, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, Portuguese in Indian Ocean, power politics, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, Sri Lankan scoiety, Tamil civilians, teaching profession, transport and communications, world events & processes
Introducing A Cutting Edge Journal: SOUTH ASIA
Michael Roberts
SOUTH ASIA has been a form of Australian exploration — in the plural form of manifold journeys and investigations — in South Asia for several decades. I was a small cog in this cluster of activities some 20 years back; but, alas, fell away. Some old partners in arms are still part of the Editorial Advisory Board; but its a fresh and bright team that is bringing the Indian subcontinent into the Aussie arena. Sri Lankan scholars and readers need to take note of this work and chip in with their own ‘commentary’ — whether in article form or as avid readers.
Check https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/csas20 …. AND/OR write to shameem.black@anu.edu.au ……….. OR ……………………….. priya.chacko@adelaide.edu.au
Filed under ancient civilisations, australian media, British imperialism, Buddhism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, electoral structures, ethnicity, European history, governance, heritage, Hinduism, historical interpretation, Indian General Elections, Indian Ocean politics, Indian religions, Indian traditions, land policies, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, migrant experiences, modernity & modernization, parliamentary elections, patriotism, pilgrimages, plural society, politIcal discourse, Portuguese imperialism, Portuguese in Indian Ocean, power politics, Presidential elections, press freedom & censorship, racism, Rajiv Gandhi, religiosity, riots and pogroms, security, self-reflexivity, terrorism, transport and communications, working class conditions, world events & processes, zealotry
India’s Looming Interventions in Sri Lanka
Dr. Asoka Bandarage, in The Island, 31 March 2025 ……. where the title runs as “Indian colonialism in Sri Lanka” with highlighting being interventions by the Editor, Thuppahi
Following independence from Britain, both India and Sri Lanka emerged as leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement, which sought to advance developing nations’ interests during the Cold War. Indeed, the term “non-alignment” was itself coined by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru during his 1954 speech in Colombo. The five principles of the Non-Aligned Movement are: “mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty; mutual non-aggression; mutual non-interference in domestic affairs; equality and mutual benefit; and peaceful co-existence.”
