Lakshman Kadirgamar
“Ladies and Gentlemen, let me see whether politics and cricket have anything in common. Both are games. Politicians and cricketers are superficially similar, and yet very different. Both groups are wooed by the cruel public who embrace them today and reject them tomorrow.
Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, conspiracies, cultural transmission, education, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, unusual people, vengeance, war crimes, world events & processes
Michael Roberts
A recent article by Dishan Joseph (see below) has marked the role of a commando outfit known as the SBS, or Special Boat Service, that was developed within the Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) during the Eelam Wars. The story is complex and demands an elaborate ‘companion piece’ that is attentive to time, combat locations, initiatives and the lessons derived from a remarkable and formidable enemy, namely, the Sea Tigers. In war one becomes like one’s opponent in order to survive. The innovativeness of the LTTE was monumental and its sea-faring capacities were one reason why it outdid-and-outbid the other Tamil militant organisations in the fight to lead the claim for independence for Thamililam during the 1980s/1990s.
Filed under education, Eelam, ethnicity, female empowerment, historical interpretation, insurrections, island economy, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, life stories, LTTE, martyrdom, military strategy, modernity & modernization, nationalism, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, security, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, Tamil Tiger fighters, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, transport and communications, unusual people, war reportage, women in ethnic conflcits, working class conditions, world events & processes
Photo courtesy of my old student pal Piyasiri Wickramasekara ….more details below
Filed under accountability, architects & architecture, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, chauvinism, cultural transmission, education, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, meditations, modernity & modernization, patriotism, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
“White Storks in Southern Portugal” ….. What a Wonderful Picture! …. An Elegant Couple in a Striking Setting
“Did you know? Legend has it that in the old days in Portugal, it was considered very bad luck to kill a stork. The punishment, so the story goes, is that an offender had his hand chopped off. Now that really is bad luck. Ancient Thessaly, a region found in modern Greece, originally implemented the death penalty for anybody killing a stork; even worse luck.
For many years the stork has been a protected species worldwide. In Portugal they are almost revered. Unfortunately, these beautiful creatures migrate from southern Europe to the Near East and Africa where, despite still being protected under law, many countries do not enforce the law, or they implement very light penalties, that do little to deter hunters. Much illegal killing of storks and other protected species still takes place when these birds migrate” — https://meravista.com/en/algarve/information/fun-stuff/storks-in-the-algarve
KD Paranavitana, “Then they came in search of the finest island,” in http://www.lankanisle.lk/then-they-came-in-search-of-the-finest-island/ …. with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
Sri Lanka has long been the dream island of many travelers from the West who engaged in intrepid voyages looking for treasures in the East. Good many of them were lured by the aroma of spices, particularly found in the island. Tales of the Arabians are fraught with the wonders of ‘Serendib’ and the mariners of the Persian Gulf have left a record of their delight in reaching the calm haven, the island of Sri Lanka.
Filed under accountability, arab regimes
Filed under accountability, ancient civilisations, architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, authoritarian regimes, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, military strategy, paintings, power politics, sri lankan society, transport and communications, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes
Gananath Obeyesekere: Historical Revaluations: the Boundary Books of the Matale district[1], being Chapter 19 in Professor KD Paranavitana Felicitation Volume, edited by Vinie Vitharana & Prasad Fonseka, Colombo, Godage & Bros (pvt ltd) …. ISBN 978-955-30-9035-5
Professor K. D. Paranavitana has not only written an important work on the edition by Vinnie Vitharane Dutch Period in Sri Lanka that has influenced my own writing, but he also has been also associated with the National Archives. These archives, as well as those in Europe, such as the British Library, are replete with popular Sinhala texts that constitute an enormous resource for understanding the pasts of our nation. The term vitti pot or “books of events” is a useful term to broadly characterize this genre of literature. Among these vitti pot are various boundary books (kaḍaim pot), some dealing with the boundaries of the nation, some with specific regions and some on family genealogies (banḍāravaliya).
The Jaffna Divisional Secretary informed the public, well in advance, that St. Anthony’s Feast in the Kachchativu island had been cancelled this year due to the Covid- 19 pandemic. The decision was well understood by devotees of both Sri Lanka and India.
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thuppahi
