Dear GOD. It’s me The Dog
Dear God: Is it on purpose that Our Names are spelled the same, only in reverse? Continue reading
Dog Beseeches God
When Radio Ceylon swayed India
Anand Sethi, whose original title is “The Dial of Serendipity,” ….
Anand Sethi takes a stroll down memory lane while tracking down the building which once housed Sri Lanka’s iconic Radio Ceylon
Image courtesy: Anand Sethi
Bauddhaloka Mawatha is a wide, tree-lined avenue in Colombo in Sri Lanka. It runs from Galle Road in the west towards Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, the administrative capital of Sri Lanka, in the east. The avenue runs past a few university playgrounds and several colonial-era buildings, now occupied by embassies and ministries in a leafy part of Colombo 7, as the locals call it.
Filed under British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, education, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian traditions, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, world events & processes
Aussies celebrate a Victorious Cavalry Charge: The Light Horse at Beersheba in 1917
Peter Craven, in The Australian, 31 October 2017, where the title is “The Light Horse at Beersheba was poetry in motion”
The Light Horse and the Battle of Beersheba. It’s a strange story, though an old one, of how we turn the slaughter of war into the stuff of legend. But there’s a truth, as well as a myth, in the idea that this country came of age with Gallipoli; and that World War I’s official historian, CEW Bean, was on to something, not just propaganda and making the best of a bad lot, when he said the courage of the Anzacs was a defining moment.
Filed under Australian culture, australian media, authoritarian regimes, British imperialism, cultural transmission, elephant tales, heritage, historical interpretation, human rights, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, life stories, military strategy, nationalism, patriotism, politIcal discourse, slanted reportage, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world events & processes
Jorge Lewinski’s “The Camera at War” and Other Achievements
Jerzy Lewinski (Jorge Lewinski), photographer: born Lwów, Poland 25 March 1921; Senior Lecturer in Photography, London College of Printing 1968-82; twice married (two sons, one stepdaughter); died London 31 January 2008.
Mike von Joel: “Jorge Lewinski: Portrait photographer who captured a generation of British artists on film,” 8 February 2008, The Independent Obituary
Jorge Lewinski’s career was filled with opportune moments – quirks of fate which diverted his life in new directions and opened up fresh possibilities. Indeed, his portfolio of 20th-century artists’ portraits came about fortuitously – he had intended to record writers but had doubts about how visually interesting they might be – when his fellow Pole Feliks Topolski suggested the idea of painters. It was the start of a decades-long obsession that resulted in a photographic documentation of a whole generation of British artists.
Sri Lanka’s Economic Prospects reviewed by the Governor of Central Bank
Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Governor, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, presenting the Gamani Corea Memorial Lecture on Monday, 6th November, 2017 at 5.00 p.m. at the BMICH , entitled“Towards a vibrant economy and prosperous country”
I -Introduction: The theme of my remarks this evening is going to be Towards a Vibrant Economy and Prosperous Country. I intend to begin by trying to make the case that this is probably the most favourable set of circumstances Sri Lanka has enjoyed for over five or six decades. I then propose to talk about key paradigm shifts which have changed the landscape for policy-making; the frameworks that have been put in place for macroeconomic policy making; the growth model; the policies to strengthen the growth framework; and some of the Government’s major development programmes. These are embedded in the Government’s Vision 2025 document.
Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, energy resources, export issues, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, sri lankan society, transport and communications, welfare & philanthophy
About the Portuguese Burghers and Kaffirs
Nan, in Island, 4 November 2017 where the title reads as “The Portuguese Burghers and Kaffirs”
Ethnic groups are disappearing and thus the research interest on these endangered human groups, their language and culture. One such research that is on-going is on the Portuguese Burghers by the Universidade de Lisboa with funding from the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme of SOAS, University of London. The International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES) which is collaborating with the research, facilitated a discussion on the Sri Lankan Portuguese Burghers and their heritage with those on the research project: Hugo Cordosa, Patricia Costa, Rui Pereira, Mahesha Radakrishna – all of the University of Lisbon; Dinali Fernando of the University of Kelaniya and Earle Barthelot, representative of the Portuguese Burgher Community and former secretary of the Burgher Union of Batticaloa.. This was on Tuesday 31 October.
Filed under art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, caste issues, cultural transmission, discrimination, disparagement, economic processes, ethnicity, female empowerment, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, politIcal discourse, Portuguese in Indian Ocean, power politics, racist thinking, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, tolerance, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, working class conditions, world events & processes
Most Heavily Guarded Places on THIS Our Earth
- Vatican Secret Archives
Despite the church’s attempt at openness, critics say the contents aren’t accessible enough since only qualified clergy and academics are allowed inside the facility, and even those granted entry cannot view items without advanced approval. Thus, the skeptics remain, with theories ranging from the cavern hiding gospels that contradict the Bible, to housing the earliest known collection of pornography, and holding plans to control the world.
The LTTE Debacle at Aanandapuram, April 2009
Michael Roberts
When I interviewed General Shavendra Silva on 19th August 2017,[1] he identified three temporal turning points during the last year of the war (mid-2008 to May 2009). These were
- The SL Army’s capture of Pooneryn on 15th November 2008 which finalized the control of the western coastline (Hull 2015)
- The SLA’s capture of Paranthan on 31st December 2008.
- The SLA’s encirclement and decimation of a body of elite LTTE forces at Aanandapuram in the period 31st March- to 5th April 2009 as the Tigers were assembling for counter-attack.
Some footsoldiers at the heart of the battle and General Silva Continue reading
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Of Bonds and Boundaries via Biographical Moments
Wilfred Jayasuriya
Fortunately the priest was walking by the ward. He wore a black hat like a gentleman of my father’s vintage, when they wore such hats as a style when the British ruled us. He was also quite dark skinned like my father and had well chisselled features, a round chin, a proportionate nose and mouth—what my mother said about my father in spite of him being quite dark skinned that he was a handsome man. And this priest was well dressed in his white cassock and black waist band and he had a cross with Christ tucked in it. “Father,” I asked, “are you a Catholic priest? Can you come and see my friend? He is very ill. In this ward.” I pointed to the interior where the 12 o’ clock crowd had already filled the spaces between the beds.
Dr. John Scudder and the American Medical Mission in Jaffna
D.C. Ambalavanar, courtesy of Tamilsangam, where the original title is “From New Jersey to Pandatherippu. Dr. John Scudder and the First Western Medical Centre in South Asia”
On October 18th [2017] a public function was held by the Church of the American Ceylon Mission in the village of Pandatherippu in Northern Sri Lanka. This was the final event of several held over the past year to celebrate and commemorate the arrival of the first American missionaries to Jaffna in October 1816. During this function which was attended by public officials, members of the medical profession and church members, a postage stamp and first day cover honouring Dr. John Scudder was officially released by the Sri Lankan Postal Department.
