October 19, 2024 · 8:32 pm

Myths About the Indian Middle Class Today

Bastian Steuwer in FRONTLINE, 14 August 2024 where the title reads ”Two myths about the Indian middle class” .… segment of article here because the buggers in FRONTLINE want a subscription …. My response here is a form of THUPPAHI protest 

They [i. e. the middle class] sustain a politics which does not disturb the position of the privileged few and deflects the focus from larger issues of economic justice.

 

 The first myth is in invoking the “middle class” as synonymous with income taxpayers, investment gains, and so on. Promoting policies for the middle class, the ordinary Indian, or the common man naturally enjoy broad support….. Photo Credit: Rajanish Kakade

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, democratic measures, disparagement, economic processes, governance, Indian General Elections, life stories, parliamentary elections, politIcal discourse, press freedom, self-reflexivity, world events & processes

October 18, 2024 · 11:12 am

Sri Lankan Cricketers fashion a Solid Win in Third ODI at Dambulla

Andrew Fidel Fernando in ESPNcricinfo, …. with highlighting imposed by The Editor Thuppahi

Sri Lanka 166 for 1 (Kusal Mendis 68*, Kusal Perera 55*) beat West Indies 162 for 8 (Powell 37, Motie 32, Theekshana 2-19) by nine wickets

Pathum Nissanka came out of the blocks firing•Getty

 

 

Pathum Nissanka sent Sri Lanka’s chase screaming out of the blocks, before Kusal Mendis and Kusal Perera put on a clinical and unbeaten 106-run stand for the second wicket. For a team that had never before beaten West Indies in a T20I series, this chase was almost too effortless to believe. Each of the top three produced sparkling innings, as the hosts galloped to the target of 163 with 12 balls remaining, in front of a packed Poya-day crowd in Dambulla.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under cricket selections, landscape wondrous, life stories, patriotism, performance, Sri Lankan cricket

October 18, 2024 · 12:32 am

A “City of Dreams” in the Centre of Colombo

A = Item in Booking.com

Set in Colombo, 700 metres from Galle Face Beach, Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams offers accommodation with a restaurant, free private parking and a bar. The property is around 2.5 km from Bambalapitiya Beach, 2.3 km from Khan Clock Tower and 4.7 km from Bambalapitiya Railway Station. The accommodation provides a 24-hour front desk, airport transfers, room service and free WiFi throughout the property. All guest rooms at the hotel feature air conditioning and a safety deposit box. A buffet, continental or Italian breakfast is available every morning at the property. Popular points of interest near Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams include Kollupitiya Beach, One Galle Face and Colombo City Centre Shopping Mall.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under architects & architecture, architectural innovation, centre-periphery relations, colonisation schemes, commoditification, economic processes, governance, growth pole, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, patriotism, performance, propaganda, sri lankan society, tourism, travelogue

October 17, 2024 · 6:58 pm

Kiwis ‘massacre’ Indian Batsmen at Bengalaru

Michael Roberts 

The Indians chose to bat in the Test match at Bengalaru today. THEN …  succumbed to the pace bowlers O’Rourke and Henry. “O’Rourke” …. “Who is he?” some will ask.

O’Rourke — all of 6ft 4 inches

ALL OUT  ….. for a paltry 46 runs in 15.2 overs. … AND ….. AND … the Kiwi warriors have already passed that score without losing a wicket. It is likely that this event in the heartland of India will end with a hearty fearsome Maori haka!

 

 

 

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, cricket for amity, cricket selections, life stories, performance, photography, terrorism, unusual people, world events & processes

October 16, 2024 · 10:20 pm

Sigiriya: A Stupendous Citadel …..

Mahil Wijesinghe in the Sunday Observer, 13 October 2024 where the title runs “The Stupendous Citadel of Sigiriya”

After visiting the Dambulla rock cave temple, our next destination was Sigiriya, the 5th Century rock citadel, containing ruins of palace complex built by King Kasyapa (4774-4795 CE), has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The sight is stupendous even today: a massive monolith of red stone rises 600 feet from the green scrub jungle to accentuate the lucid blue of the sky. How overpowering, then, this rock fortress of Sigiriya must have been. When it was crowned as a palace 15 centuries ago!

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under ancient civilisations, architects & architecture, architectural innovation, art & allure bewitching, commoditification, cultural transmission, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, photography, sri lankan society, travelogue

October 16, 2024 · 9:16 pm

Undermined! Waylaid! Wellalage leads Demolition of the Windies at Dambulla

ESPNcricinfo Review, October 2024

Sri Lanka 162 for 5 (Nissanka 54, Kusal Mendis 26, Shepherd 2-23) beat West Indies 89 (Powell 20, Wellalage 3-9, Asalanka 2-6, Theekshana 2-7) by 73 runs

Dunith Wellalage is congratulated by his team-mates for dismissing Roston Chase  •  Associated Press

Sri Lanka’s spinners ripped through the West Indies batters on a turning Dambulla surface to level the series at one apiece, as they won the second ODI by 73 runs.
Debutant Dunith Wellalage – belatedly making his T20I bow – was the pick of the bowlers, ending with figures of 3 for 9, while Maheesh Theekshana, Wanindu Hasaranga and Charith Asalanka grabbed two each. Matheesha Pathirana was the sole seamer to pick up a wicket in the innings.W

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, cricket selections, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, Sri Lankan cricket

October 16, 2024 · 1:23 am

Ranjan Madugalle: For Cricket. In Cricket

ITEM in ???

Played 21 Tests and 63 ODI games for Sri Lanka. Became an ICC Match Referee in December 1993. Officiated the ICC CWC final in 1999 and 2003. He was one of the five match-referees at ICC CWC 2011.

 

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under cricket for amity, cricket selections, heritage, life stories, patriotism, performance, Sri Lankan cricket, sri lankan society

October 16, 2024 · 12:40 am

Tekwani’s Review of the Sri Lankan Political Situation in Mid-2020

Shyam Tekwani, an Item presented as a “Sri Lanka Brief” in June 2020, AT https://eastasiaforum.org/2020/06/19/sri-lankas-return-to-ethnic-majoritarianism/ entitled “Sri Lanka’s return to ethnic majoritarianism” … with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

The voyage from Serendib to Sri Lanka through Ceylon continues to be an uninterrupted tale of opportunities lost, scorned and spurned. The brutal end to the quarter-century war with the Tamil Tiger separatists in 2009 brought an unprecedented opportunity for the government to heal the Sinhala–Tamil ethnic divide. But now a new front is opening, one against Sri Lanka’s Muslim minority. Events since the Easter attacks of 2019 are reinforcing the belief that tolerance and inclusive governance are a chimeric dream.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, atrocities, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, counter-insurgency, demography, Eelam, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, law of armed conflict, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, Rajapaksa regime, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry

October 14, 2024 · 7:38 pm

Justice: Another Opportunity Lost

A DailyFT item, 14 October 2024, entitled “Another Lost Opportunity”

The new administration of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake lost yet another opportunity in the international stage to rectify past wrongs and charter a new course. This time at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), keeping with the policies of the Rajapaksa-Wickremesinghe administrations, the Government rejected international efforts to deliver justice for the tens of thousands of victims of State atrocities. 

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, communal relations, conspiracies, democratic measures, discrimination, doctoring evidence, ethnicity, historical interpretation, human rights, insurrections, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, Muslims in Lanka, news fabrication, politIcal discourse, power politics, rehabilitation, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, social justice, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, war crimes, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry

October 14, 2024 · 3:18 pm

From Brook to Bradman ….. Errol in AWE

Errol Fernando in Melbourne in Email Letters to Pals

ONE: Errol the Fernando to Gavin, 10 October 2024

It is quite unbelievable, Gavin, that a side makes 556 in under 2 days and then spends the next 3 days trying desperately not to LOSE the match!  A side scoring 556 would usually be trying to win by an innings. However, in the Test match at Multan, Pakistan batted first and made 556 and since then they are trying desperately not to LOSE the match!! 

England ended day 3 nearly 500 for 3 with Joe Root 175 not out.  Pakistan will spend the next 2 days trying desperately not to lose!

Yes, cricket is indeed a funny game and impossible to predict.

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under art & allure bewitching, centre-periphery relations, cricket for amity, cricket selections, cultural transmission, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, Uncategorized, unusual people, world events & processes