Category Archives: welfare & philanthophy

December 13, 2023 · 12:58 pm

Another Time, Another World: Social Science in Postwar Sri Lanka

Uditha Devapriya & Uthpala Wijesuriya, … with highlights imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

Background:  In Sri Lanka, social science research witnessed an expansion in the 1950s. Various scholars, including Stanley Tambiah and Gananath Obeyesekere, found their calling in anthropology, and went on to introduce and popularise the subject in local universities. This period also witnessed an increasing interest in Sri Lankan and specifically Sinhala society from Western scholars, including Edmund Leach, James Brow, and Richard Gombrich. While many local scholars active in that period have commented on how social science research evolved at Sri Lankan universities, no proper study of this has been done yet.

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December 9, 2023 · 12:08 am

Hilda Muriel Kularatne, Theosophist & Educationist in Ceylon

Rehan Kularatne, presenting an original essay which has received its title and had highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

My grandmother Hilda Muriel Westbrook was born in Dulwich on 28 November 1895. She was the daughter of Walter Francis Westbrook, later Chief Registrar of the Colonial Office, and Jessie Duncan, a Scottish poet and scholar, the sister of noted (and absolutely dreadful) Celtic Revival painter John Duncan RSA. Jessie Duncan Westbrook was to publish a number of verse renditions of Persian, Sufi and Hindu poetry in the 1910s. She and my great-grandfather, being Theosophists, were both extremely interested in ‘Eastern’ religions.

Hilda was educated at the progressive James Allen’s Girls’ School (JAGS) in Dulwich. Having excelled in modern languages (French and German) as well as in team sports like hockey (in addition to having Gustav Holst as her music master), she went on to Newnham in Cambridge to do a degree in Modern Languages in 1914, just after WWI broke out. (Though she completed the degree in 1917, she had to wait 30 years to be actually awarded her MA, as Cambridge was the last university in England to accept female graduates.)

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November 26, 2023 · 8:37 pm

Outreach: Solar Lights Dstribted in Lankan by ANDUREN ELIYATA

ITEM courtesy of Chandra Fernando &  Leslie De Silva of Anduren Eliyata …. Visit their Web site  www.andureneliyata.com.au  for more details

This particular example displays Chief Priest Rev Kovida from Katoomba Bhavana Vihara, donating lights to people of his village in the Udugama area of Galle Districtgalle district.

 

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November 22, 2023 · 3:35 pm

Michael Roberts Papers at Adelaide University Library

Michael Roberts Papers, mainly on Sri Lanka ……MSS 0031 …. AT = University of Adelaide Library………………………………………………. https://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/special/mss/roberts/transcripts%20list

Philip Gunawardena

Edmund R Leach

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November 13, 2023 · 8:03 pm

Obeisance in Asia and the West: The Contexts of Practice … & Thereby Its ‘Weight’

Lorenz Pereira in Email Debate with  A Handful of Pals, November 2023 ……… An Exchange that the Editor of Thuppahi deems worthy of public presentation for wider reflection …. & comment

Most enlightening comments from all of you and I am lost for words that my off the cuff, tongue in cheek somewhat flippant comment on the Maxwell/ Tendulkar incident was given such worldwide publicity by Michael Roberts.  Nevertheless, thanks heaps Michael. As they say any publicity is a bonus.

Glenn Maxwell’s puja to Sachin –the gesture which led to the THUPPAHI Item that sparked a debate among Lornez and pals …. https://thuppahis.com/2023/11/11/glenn-maxwells-puja-in-sachins-presence/#more-77036

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November 7, 2023 · 8:28 pm

Ruvendrini Menikdiwela in Key UNHCR Role

News Item: “Secretary-General appoints Ms. Ruvendrini Menikdiwela of Sri Lanka as Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Ruvendrini Menikdiwela of Sri Lanka as Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).  Ms. Menikdiwela will succeed Gillian Triggs of Australia, to whom both the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Refugees are grateful for her dedicated service to the refugee cause.

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November 5, 2023 · 2:00 am

Debating the Concept of University in Sri Lankan Space: Uyangoda’s Initiative

Siri Gamage

A recent article published on Groundviews by Professor Jayadeva Uyangoda titled  “Re-inventing the idea of University: Some Reflections and Proposals”  deserves wider attention. Given the fact that the university education sector has not been the subject of critical reviews instituted by the government or universities themselves and there are wide ranging criticisms of the way universities are managed as well as about the university academic culture, the critical assessment of Sri Lanka’s universities and their directions is a timely contribution.

      courtesy of Sri Lanka Guardian

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October 23, 2023 · 7:54 pm

Talking about Oral History Work on Ceylon in the 1960s

Adilah Ismail in the Sunday Times,  7 June 2015,  where the title is “Colourful history of a historian” … with highlighting imposed by the Editor Thuppahi viz, Roberts himself

Looking back on his ‘going-down memory lane interviews’ with retired Britishers and Sri Lankans who served mainly in the Ceylon Civil Service, Michael Roberts who was in Sri Lanka recently, talks to Adilah Ismail about the beginnings of a passion.

In Colombo last week: Michael Roberts. Pic by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
It’s the late 1960s: On most Fridays, Michael Roberts would make his way towards Colombo from Peradeniya, [1]  recording equipment balanced at his feet and his bag filled with assorted clothes strapped to the back of his trusty scooter. Navigating the sharp curves and turns on his two wheeler, once in Colombo, he would spend his weekend sprinting from one interview to another.

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September 22, 2023 · 9:11 pm

Liyanage in Conversation & Correspondence with NM Perera

Sumanasiri Liyanage, in Colombo Telegraph, 21 January 2022…. with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

At my age an uninterrupted sleep is a luxury. My prostate wakes me up at least two to three time. Hence, it is hard to distinguish dreams from imaginations. It was almost 1 am, I just finished my first lap of deep sleep when I heard knocking at my front door. “Who the hell at this time of the hour” I came out of the bed grumbling. I opened the door and I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was Dr NM Perera. “Comrade, at this time of the day” Astonished I asked even not inviting him to come in.

“May I come in” he asked, “it’s a bit chilly outside”. “Please do comrade and take a sit”. “May I make a cup of tea for you.” Having felt guilty, I asked apologetically. “Yes, it would be nice to have a hot cup of tea in a chilly morning like this. But no sugar. We must leave sugar only for kids.” He said making his beautiful laugh. I prepared him a mug of tea with no sugar but with Highland fresh milk.

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September 15, 2023 · 12:05 am

Ronaldo’s Magnanimity in Morocco: His Huge Hotel to Service Survivors from Earthquake

The earthquake in the Marrakesh area of Morocco has wrought enormous damage and taken many lives … at least 0000  known cases thus far. The famous Portuguese socccr player, Christiano Ronaldo, happens to be the owner of  huge hotel complex in Marrakesh … ………….. and has immediately made this set of luxury premises available for the  treatment of survivors. Reports thus far indicate that at least 2900 people have died.

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