March 17, 2022 · 6:25 pm

A Tamil Tiger Migrant who Dares to Differ

Sabaratnam Sundaramoorthy

The book, Dare to Differ, is a short account of the long struggle of the Tamils to establish a separate state. It is written from the point of view of a Tamil expatriate living in Australia. The author is well equipped to write this account as he was an active member of the pro-LTTE Tamil diaspora which was the second front opened by the Tamil separatists. The Australian branch of the Tamil diaspora was a leading contributor to the cause. As a political activist and sympathiser of his people, he had close access to leading members of the LTTE. This has enabled him to give an insider’s view of some of the events that shaped the movement. His interactions with the Tamil leaders are revealing. His narrative runs smoothly. It is a MUST read for anyone interested in understanding the role played by the Tamil diaspora in the LTTE struggle.

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March 11, 2022 · 11:36 pm

Dissecting Sri Lankan History & Politics through Book Reviews

Sophie Roel in conversation with Razeen Sally on “The best books on Sri Lanka recommended by Razeen Sally”

Many visitors to Sri Lanka have been beguiled by its charms, from its hill towns to its beaches, its ancient temples to its friendly people. And yet, for a quarter of a century until 2009, it was torn apart by a brutal civil war. Here, Sri Lanka-born political economist Razeen Sally, author of Return to Sri Lanka: Travels in a Paradoxical Land, recommends the best books to get a better understanding of Sri Lanka and the complexities that make the country so fascinating to visit and read about.

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March 11, 2022 · 8:05 pm

The “Endurance” discovered in Antarctica by Underwater Robots

Tom Metcalfe, in Scientific American, 9 March 2022, …. 

The wreck of the steam-yacht Endurance, which famously sank in 1915 during an Antarctic expedition by the polar explorer Ernest Shackleton, has been rediscovered by searchers using autonomous underwater vehicles.

 The discovery of the wreck is “a milestone in polar history,” says the director of the search for it

 

 

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March 11, 2022 · 7:12 pm

Sri Lanka as A Paradise blighted by Extraordinary Political Violence

Razeen Sally, in an article presented in November 2020 at NIKKEI ASIA, with the title “Rediscovering Sri Lanka through a travel memoir”  …. & with highlighting superimposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

The Island paradise mixes beguiling charm with an astonishing record of violence.  Foreign visitors have for centuries rhapsodized about Sri Lanka, or Ceylon as it was called until 1972: its seashores and landscapes, its governing religion, Buddhism, and its majority ethnicity, the Sinhalese.

Colombo’s Mount Lavinia Hotel in the 1960s. One of Asia’s legendary colonial hotels, it was managed by the author’s father through the political upheaval of the 1970s. “It was a turbulent time, much of which my father spent in remand and jail.” ……  Photo courtesy of Razeen Sally Continue reading →

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March 11, 2022 · 6:20 pm

Nishan De Mel fronts up for SKAL

Item in Daily Ft, 2 March 2022, where the title is “Skal International Colombo holds 68th AGM

The 68th Annual General meeting of Skal International was held recently at the Ramada in Colombo and Travel Talk Asia Managing Director Sk. Dinushka Chandrasena, was re-elected President for the year 2022.  World Link Travels Managing Director Sk. Ahintha Amarasinghe continues as the Vice President.

De Mel is seen here betweenVice President Ahintha Amarasinghe and Vice President Dinushka Chandrasena,

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March 11, 2022 · 2:01 pm

Galle Fort Renovations Completed ….. Volaare! Cantaare!

Item in The Daily Financial Times, 19 March 2022, bearing this title “UDA completes Rs. 210 m beautification of Galle Fort area”

The Ministry of Urban Development and Housing has carried out renovations in Galle Fort on the instruction of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa who is the minister in charge of the subject. The Urban Development Authority which carried out the renovations has done so in a manner that would preserve the antiquities and heritage of Galle Fort. This was done with the assistance of the Department of Archaeology and the Galle Heritage Foundation.

 

 

 

 

 

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March 9, 2022 · 9:05 pm

Fashioning History in Sri Lanka: Controversies

Michael Roberts

Computer generated 3D illustration with a Portuguese Caravel of the Fifteenth Century

Abstract of the article below: Two arrival stories in the long span of the island’s history will provide the foundations for reflections on history-making in the modern era. Episode One will pursue my own intellectual trail in the 1980s in fashioning an interpretation of the story of the arrival of the Portuguese and my subsequent confrontations in print with KM de Silva on this issue in the 1990s. Episode Two essays an interpretation of the advent of Vijaya retailed in the Pali & Sinhala chronicles as a genesis story of the same order as the tale of Adam and Eve: contending that it is not a tale with any factual basis, but one that conveys a mythic truth for its authors and ‘faithful’ listeners. It is, thus, a morality-tale about the magical implantation of civilised culture and state-forms within the island. This interpretation, however, has shortcomings and will benefit from the correctives imposed by Godfrey Gunatilleke’s exposition of the multi-faceted symbolism associated with this myth.

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March 9, 2022 · 3:03 pm

Sri Lanka’s Jungles: Many Attractions & Curiousities

Jayantha Jayewardene, in The Island, 20 February 2022, where the ttile runs thus  “The lure and the lore of our jungles” **

Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, and even before that as Serendib and Taprobane, has different types of jungle that are of great interest to naturalists. The island has montane cloud forests, wet and dry zone forests – some of which are secondary forests – and savannahs. The coastal areas have a variety of mangroves. The extent of forest-land in the country has of late reduced to a large extent, mainly due to the demands for land from a rapidly increasing population. With three climatic zones in the island, the jungles have different types of vegetation.

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March 9, 2022 · 1:09 am

Booklet on Sri Lanka’s Cricket History reviewed by Jon Gemmell

Jon Gemmell reviewing in 2019 a booklet from Michael Roberts  pubd in 2006 

Sri Lankan academic Michael Roberts has issued a booklet charting the key events in the island’s cricketing history. Forces and Strands in Sri Lanka’s Cricket History starts by telling us that cricket is the one game in Sri Lanka that has penetrated the world stage in a consistent fashion. As the national pastime for a large section of the population its purpose is beyond the mere aesthetics of leather on willow.

 

 

 

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March 8, 2022 · 10:02 pm

Evaluating Shane Warne: A Maestro as Vivid as Complex

Mark Nicholas, in a review entitled “Shane Warne gave us so much and he had so much more to give” …. He was cricket and he was rock ‘n roll too; he was the best of sport and he was the stuff dreams are made of.

 

 

 

 

I lay my penny down on the rails

As the summer wind sings its last song
One minute you’re here
Next minute you’re gone

Footsteps cracklin’ on a gravel road
Stars vanish in a sky as black as stone
One minute you’re here
Next minute you’re gone

– Bruce Springsteen, “One Minute You’re Here”, from Letter to You

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