the Cadillac that conveyed Her Majesty Queen elizabeth
Category Archives: travelogue
Thoughts on Planter Lifeways in Ceylon evoked by the Braine Biography
Joe Paiva[1]
Camellia sinensis is a species of evergreen shrubs or small trees in the flowering plant family Theaceae. Its leaves and leaf buds are used to produce tea. Common names include tea plant, tea shrub, and tea tree. Wikipedia. If allowed to grow freely can reach up to 6 ft or more. For commercial agronomic purposes they are maintained as a compact shrub at approximately 4 ft, to increase productivity. And to suit the stature of female tea pickers.
Tea plants grow at the tea plantation in Trabzon, Turkey on June 27, 2022. (Photo by Resul Kaboglu/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Ratnapura, Sri Lanka – April 23: R. Chitrakumari (left) and K. A. Punchimeneke pick tea leaves in a tea garden on April 23, 2022 in Eheliyagoda, Sri Lanka. 2022
BOP = Broken Orange Pekoe, the very best grade of marketed tea. Flavour. Aroma, Colour. A very refreshing brew.
Charles S. Braine: A Rajah of a Planter in British Ceylon
One of the Braine Progeny presenting an Item in the History of Ceylon Tea website, entitled “Charles Stanley Braine (1874-1944) – The Rajah of Mawatte”…. https://www.historyofceylontea.com/ceylon-publications/feature-
Charles Stanley was born in Ceylon on 25 December 1874. He was the eldest son of Charles Frederick Braine and Adeline Mary Becher, who had married in London earlier that year.
Charles Stanley Braine: rajah-of-mawatte.html
Filed under anti-racism, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, ethnicity, gender norms, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, patriotism, plantations, plural society, religiosity, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, tolerance, transport and communications, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes
Queen Elizabeth: A Bradman Among the Royals
Greg Sheridan, in The Australian, 20 September 2022, where the title runs thus “Queen was the Bradman among the Royals
I once stood up Prince Charles, as he then was, for a social occasion. I may be the only Australian ever guilty of such a solecism. Forty-odd years ago I was working for the now defunct Bulletin magazine. A friend in the state government sent me an invitation to a morning tea with the visiting prince. I was a republican, but not remotely hostile to the prince. Nor did I have any interest in him. He seemed a bit lame and daffy – listening to his plants and all that – but really he just had no claim on my mind.
I didn’t boycott the event, I just forgot to attend.
Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, australian media, centre-periphery relations, Empire loyalism, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, nationalism, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes
AHOY! …. Pelicans Ahoy: Brighton, The Beira and the Danube Delta
A Fearless and Greedy Pelican at Brighton Pier …. snapped by amateur cameraman Michael the Roberts… August 2022
Amputation Surgery from 24,000 Years Back !!!
ONE: Sara Hussein: “Missing foot kicks surgery back thousands of years,” in The Australian, 7 September 2022
A skeleton with a missing foot discovered in a remote corner of Borneo rewrites the history of ancient medicine and proves amputation surgery was successfully carried out about 31,000 years ago. Previously, the earliest known amputation involved a 7000-year-old skeleton found in France, and experts believed such operations only emerged in settled agricultural societies.
Scientists excavating remains dating back some 31,000 years in the Liang Tebo cave in East Kalimantan. Picture: AFP
Exposing Sachi Sri Kantha: A Tangential Tamil Sniper
Michael Roberts
In presenting an article on Duncan White’s achievement at the World Olympic Games held in London in August 1948, I limited my focus to the 1940s. Sachi Sri Kantha in Japan has often entered comments on Thuppahi items and on this occasion ventured a point-scoring set of remarks on this item. At times these comments have proceeded tangentially to topics straddling the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Filed under accountability, Australian culture, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, demography, disparagement, economic processes, education, Empire loyalism, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, immigration, island economy, landscape wondrous, language policies, life stories, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, taking the piss, the imaginary and the real, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes
Denmark’s Imperialism in the Past: Its Colonies
Thuppahi Editorial Note:
“Amidst the prominent history of imperial expansion by Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Britain and France, the imperial intrusions (and outrages) by such European nations as Italy and Denmark during the early modern period can be passed over….that is, missed. Senaka Weeraratne in Colombo reminded me of this dimension of the past by sending me the tales of Denmark’s ‘work’ in this arena…. a world arena…. captured in Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_overseas_colonies
………… and especially the Maps of Danish colonies/or settlements acroos the world.
Filed under accountability, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, demography, economic processes, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, life stories, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, transport and communications, travelogue, world events & processes
Queen Elizabeth in Ceylon in 1954 in Pictures
The Queen and Prince Philip visited the island of Ceylon in 1954 and participated in striking ceremonies in Colombo, Kandy and Peradeniya University. The Senate Building at Peradeniya University was formally ‘consecrated’; and the Queen also visited the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens. The Queen also visited the famous Trinity College with the Mayor of Kandy (EL Senanayake) as Aide of Honour. Here she honoured and was honoured by the Trinity cadet corps …. a set of actions that reminds us of the “Empire loyalism” that had prompted a number of Westernised Sri Lankans to enlist in the British armed forces during World War I as well as World War II (a topic recently documented** in the new illustrated book edited by Kumar Kirinde et al — entitled Volunteers from Ceylon ………………………………………….. (https://thuppahis.com/2022/09/02/fighting-dying-for-britain-during-the-two-world-wars/) and also referred to earlier in a book where I was the chief hand, namely, People Inbetween (Ratmalana, Sarvodaya Publishers, 1989, pp. 114-119 & 121ff ) …………. MICHAEL ROBERTS
The Mayor of Kandy, Mr. E.L. Senanayake escorting the Queen through the College premises (College car park at present)
Filed under art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, education, Empire loyalism, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, landscape wondrous, life stories, patriotism, performance, photography, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes
A Tamil Saivite Temple in Australia: Sustaining Community Amidst Linguistic Diversity
A Notice re a NEW BOOK on the negotiation of language and identity in a Tamil Saivite Temple in Australia by NILRUKSHI PERERA
Diversity is a buzzword of our times and yet the extent of religious diversity in Western societies is generally misconceived. This ground-breaking research draws attention to the journey of one migrant religious institution in an era of religious superdiversity.
Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, cultural transmission, economic processes, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian religions, landscape wondrous, life stories, meditations, modernity & modernization, performance, refugees, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, tolerance, travelogue, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy
