March 6, 2022 · 11:52 pm

Raw Ceylonese Students on a Learning Curve to New Zealand in the 1960s

Ranjith de Silva, writing from Canada … with PIX ‘imported’ by Thuppahi

I need to get this off my chest. It was on March 6th 1961 (yes 60 years ago) that 11 young more or less school leavers took off from Katunayake airport, as I recall this is how it was then, the facility adjoining the Ceylon Air Force base camp. It was a trip to New Zealand, few of us had heard of the landmass, but hardly knew much more than the name. In fact, a few relatives/friends felt we were going to Switzerland!! Yes, both landmasses had …. “land” …. at the end!! There were 11 of us, and as fate dictated 3 were to get to Palmerston North to be at Massey, 2 to Wellington to join Victoria Uni and 6 to Christchurch to join Uni of Canterbury.

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March 6, 2022 · 8:08 pm

Vale: Professor ND Samarawickreme moves to Samsara

Piyasiri Wickremasekera & Chandrasena Maliyadde with substantive inputs from Sachithra Samarawickreme 

The sudden departure of Professor Navaratna Dissanayake Samarawickreme – our Peradeniya batchmate and close friend popularly known as ‘Samare’ – has caused us great shock and profound grief. He was hale and hearty, and it is still difficult for us to reconcile his sudden demise on 13 January 2022 without giving us the opportunity to bid goodbye.

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March 6, 2022 · 7:44 pm

The Ceylon Cricket Teams in 1947 and 1948: Two Iconic Photographs

The CEYLON TEAM in 1947 

I require aid in identifying all those presented here but begin by naming FC de Saram and M. Sathasivam as the two seated with their pads on.

 

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March 6, 2022 · 5:08 pm

Shane Warne’s Magnanimity

Quintus de Zylva

Shane Warne reached the magical figure of 700 wickets before he retired from cricket. Murali went past him and then retired. Shane always acknowledged the fact that Murali took more wickets . They were close friends.

 

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March 4, 2022 · 11:01 pm

Whale of a Time

Sent to THUPPAHI by Christopher Duff-Tytler of  Sri Lanka and Adelaide 

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March 4, 2022 · 12:55 pm

Ukraine Crisis: Some Fundamental Issues

Noel Carl:  “A Sceptical Take on the Ukraine Crisis,” 2 Mactrh 2022

n a recent post for the Daily Sceptic, Toby claims the received wisdom on the Ukraine crisis is basically right, noting that he’s “experienced the unusual sensation of feeling more in step with the mainstream media than I have with my sceptical friends”. While he makes some good points, I don’t think he really steelmans the sceptical position.

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March 4, 2022 · 11:04 am

Aiyyo! Aiyyo! Lanka in Dire Economic Straits

Harsha De Silva …. an UNP MP**

The country is in complete disarray today. Fuel is rationed at pumps, daily power cuts across the island, shortage of dollars to import essentials including medicine, food is to be rationed next. Collapse is imminent if we continue to go this way, it is almost similar to a broken car rumbling before it completely comes to a halt.

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March 3, 2022 · 8:37 pm

Germany Transformed: Steps Out as an European Powerhouse

Ed Turner,  using this title “Germany’s €100-billion army fund: a remarkable change in post-war policy in response to the Ukraine crisis” 2 March 2022, …………………………………………………….. ……….. https://theconversation.com/germanys-100-billion-army-fund-a-remarkable-change-in-post-war-policy-in-response-to-the-ukraine-crisis-178202?

If you’d asked experts just a fortnight ago what the key features of Germany’s approach to foreign and defence policy were, there would have been several strands. Alignment with the west, and of course membership of the EU and Nato would have been a feature. Striving for strong transatlantic links would be another, not least because the country was bruised by its regular, public and bellicose criticism from former president Donald Trump.

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March 3, 2022 · 12:13 am

Putin’s Aggressive Adventurism dents Jayatilleka’s Readings of the Ukraine Maelstrom

Padraig Colman, … at https://pcolman.wordpress.com/2022/03/02/ukraine-part-one/

Apparently the invasion of Ukraine is a defensive measure. It beggars belief to even contemplate Ukraine as a genocidal terrorist state and Russia as a liberal human rights defender.

Little Victims

Many years ago, I set out to write a short poem about my father on the Normandy beaches on D-Day. It developed into a longer meditation on the malignant forces of ideologies and systems of terror that crush common people and sweep them away. The great tides of history, of isms and empires, buffet little people, maim them, kill them, uproot them and inflict damage that lasts for years or generations. I noted that all over the globe vicious wars, disintegrating nations and dying empires still today produce a flotsam of refugees. Great men discount little people. On the TV, I see ordinary Ukrainians in drab winter clothes calmly queuing at the supermarket. Most are masked against Covid but they wave at the camera. What are these people being punished for?

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March 2, 2022 · 11:07 pm

Jihadist Terror in Lahore: Some Thuppahi References … & BBC Revelations from Bayliss & Farbrace

A = “When Terrorism assailed Cricket at Lahore,” 3 March 2009………….. https://thuppahis.com › 2017/10/30 › when-terrorism-a………………………. 30 Oct 2017 — This analysis is available as “Cricket under Siege: The Lahore Attack, … Filed under accountability, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, …

B = The Lahore Assault on the Cricket Entourage in March 2009 …………………… https://thuppahis.com › 2019/10/02 › bewildering-facts… 2 Oct 2019 — Roberts, Michael 2009a “The Lahore atrocity: our cricketing ambassadors,” Island, 14 March 2009. Roberts, Michael 2009b “Cricket and Lahore: 

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