September 28, 2014 · 3:23 pm

Ceylon Olympic Squad 1948 — A Rare Picture

With thanks to Keith Bennett and Victor Melder

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Left to right: Edward Gray, Albert Perera, Duncan White, John De Saram, Mr. Perera (Team manager), George Peiris, Leslie Handunge and Alex Obeysekere

Ceylon Olympic Team at the Olympic camp in Richmond Park, London ~ 13th June 1948

With thanks to Asoka Kuruppu = Link to a video of Duncan White of Ceylon winning Gold at the 1950 Empire Games. in Auckland, New Zealand…..   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iHJI0eoq9A

ALSO SEE Duncan White winning the 440 Hurdles at Empire Games in 1950 http://thuppahis.com/2014/10/29/duncan-white-wins-440-hurdles-in-record-time-at-empire-games-1950/

 

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September 26, 2014 · 2:35 pm

A Burkha Car and Viagra’s Hard-On HQ

Burkha car

VIAGRA GREEN… VIAGRA building in Canada

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September 26, 2014 · 2:28 pm

From the Tea Slopes to the Womb of Medicine

Kuppusamy Kanageswary and Balakrishnan Sathiyaraj talk to Kumudini Hettiarachchi of their arduous journey–as children of tea pluckers–to enter the Medical Faculty and fulfil their dreams

kanegeswary Kanegeswary   SATHIYARAJSathiyaraj

He hopes to become an Obstetrician & Gynaecologist and she a Paediatrician. Having achieved the ‘peak’ of securing the MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) against all odds, while their parents have toiled on the rough slopes, they see not a mist-shrouded journey, but a clear pathway ahead of them. Not forgetting humble beginnings: Dr. Kuppusamy Kanageswary and Dr. Balakrishnan Sathiyaraj will one day go back to their community, to serve the children and the mothers. Continue reading →

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September 26, 2014 · 9:00 am

Indian Cab Driver meets Fabulous Oz

Many of us in Aussieland have been exposed to the ubiquitous presence of Indian cab drivers in the capital cities and doubtless appreciated their contribution to the development of multi-cultural Australia. This little “EPISODE” in composition, with its Peter Sellars flavour, will certainly add to our sense of joy.

INDIAN CABBI IN OZ

* A drunken woman, stark naked, jumped into a taxi at Fortitude Valley in Brisbane.

* The Indian driver opened  his eyes wide and stared at the woman. He made  no attempt to start the Cab.

*  “What’s  wrong with you Luv, haven’t  you ever seen a naked woman  before?”

* “I’ll not be staring at you lady, I am telling you, that would not be  proper, where I am coming from…”

* “Well,  if you’re not bloody staring at me Luvie, what  are you doing then?”

* “Well, I am looking and looking, and I am thinking and thinking to  myself, where is this lady keeping the money to  be paying me?!” 

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September 26, 2014 · 5:41 am

Reading Between the Lines in April 2009: Tammita-Delgoda takes apart Marie Colvin’s jaundiced propaganda article in British newspaper

SinhaRaja Tammita-Delgoda, repeating original publication in jang.com.pk/thenews/apr2009-weekly/nos-05-04-2009/pol1.htm — where the full title runs as “Reading between the Lines: The International Media and the Conflict in Sri Lanka. The Curious Case of the Sunday Times” …..**

On Friday afternoon, Puthukkudiyirruppu, the last town under Tiger control, was still the centre of intense fighting. The air hums with the thud of shells and the crack of gunfire. Listen long enough and you can make out the different sounds, the crackle of heavy machine guns, the thump of mortars and the sharp retort of the T-56.

The odd one is a little close and I try not to jump, conscious that at least three soldiers are looking at me with curiousity. I could not help but notice the sidelong glances they gave the louder sounds became.  I stood spellbound at the entrance to the Puthukkudiyirruppu Hospital, fascinated by the sign outside. On the right hand side of the board was a large red cross, on the left hand side was a rifle, with two red marks through it. Beneath it were the words “Entering With Weapons Prohibited.” It reminded me of some of the signs I had seen in Peshawar. Continue reading →

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September 25, 2014 · 12:48 am

TRAVEL PULSE sees good future for Tourism in Lanka

James Ruggia, in The Daily News, 24 September 2014, where the title is “What’s Next for Sri Lanka’s Growing Tourism?”

Sri Lanka finally seems to have moved the conversation away from the past to the more appealing power of its tourism attractions including tea plantations, blue whale watching, highlands, wildlife viewing, beaches, lakes, rivers and jungles. In August the country had already welcomed its millionth visitor, a development that has tourism officials optimistic that they can reach their 2014 goal of 1.5 million visitors. Last year the country attracted about 1.2 million visitors and is targeting 2.5 million in 2015.

KITULGALA WGwhite water rafting White water rafting at Kitulgala

In the immediate aftermath of the war, it was difficult to attract tourists or investment. International hotel companies were among the first tourism concerns to enter the country with Marriott, Hyatt, Mövenpick and Shangri-La leading the charge and several tour operators are now also wading in the waters. Continue reading →

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September 25, 2014 · 12:16 am

Bradman Weerakoon questions Jayaweera’s Account of Language Policy in the 1960s

Bradman Weerakoon Jaffna_fort_entrance NEVILLE 11

 “The Making and Un-Making of History – Neville Jayaweera’s ‘Exorcising the Past and Holding the Vision’. … reviewed by Bradman Weerakoon, in The Sunday Island,  7 September 2014

Neville Jayaweera’s Memoir on his period of service as Government Agent Jaffna between August 1963 and 1966 is as Michael Roberts says in his Foreword a veritable feast of information to be mined. This was a defining phase of our history. It saw the Tamil resentment in the North on account of the ‘Sinhala Only’ Act (1956) grow into a full – blown civil disobedience movement. That spun into the 30 year war we were all caught up in until recently. Neville Jayaweera (NJ) in Jaffna was at the epi – centre of the storm as it developed.

NJ’s detailed recall of incidents of many years ago, assisted by the daily diary he kept, should help fill many of the gaps in the history of those times. Only a few of us are yet around to bear personal witness to what really happened and it makes such memoirs of history as it happened, invaluable. Continue reading →

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September 24, 2014 · 9:26 am

Reviewing Neville Jayaweera’s Account of a Critical Phase in the Sinhala Tamil Conflict

Jaffna- “Exorcising the Past and Holding the Vision” An autobiographical reflection by Neville Jayaweera

I> REVIEW ONE by R. M. B Senanayake, courtesy of The Island,  24th September 2014

We may ask the question what it is that Neville Jayaweera wants to convey to the public and to posterity through his autobiographical reflections? Direct or first-hand experiences of events impart a special depth as opposed to the third hand reports of the same events. Those of us who were Jayaweera’s contemporaries in the CCS in the 1960s, such as I, can confirm that his narration of those experiences in Reflections is generally a correct portrayal of the history of those times. One might not share all of his views, but his work is a sparkling revelation, full of spiritual substance, candour and intellectual depth.

What impressed me most in Neville Jayaweera’s (NJ hereafter) Reflections was his inherent sense of justice and fair play and, as Susil Sirivardena says in his Preface, his granite-hard commitment to conscience and humanistic values, He was influenced entirely by the Buddhist concepts of avijja (ignorance of things as they are) the yatharthaya and maya (illusions) and concludes that “within Buddha’s epistemology there is no room for ethnic divisions, for nationalisms or even for patriotism.” Continue reading →

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September 23, 2014 · 4:01 pm

Absorbing Informative Wild Life Ethnography

SEE https://www.youtube.com/embed/-X-XvNRShd0

Wildest Islands Sri Lanka

Coolshan10

Published on Oct 4, 2013

Preview YouTube video Wildest Islands Sri Lanka

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September 21, 2014 · 10:55 pm

Crossing the Lines: Tamil Escapees from the Last Redoubt meet the Army

SinhaRaja Tammita-Delgoda, an essay written in April 2009 while embedded with the SL Army … with an abbreviated version  published in The Independent in UK on 16th April 2009 under the heading “Casualties of War” … with images added by Editor, Thuppahi. .** 

PART I:

From Paranthan, the road to Vallipuram is rich and green. Great expanses of paddy stretch out before you, clumps of palmyrah dot the land and little streams of water trickle by. As we near the fighting paddy fields give way to broken buildings and blasted vehicles. Twisted trees and uprooted trunks line the way. Everything is covered with a layer of brown dust. An occasional boat lies stranded on either side of the road, reminders of a last desperate attempt by the Tamil Tigers to hold back the tide. Blasting a reservoir in the path of the advancing Sri Lanka army, Tiger cadres counterattacked in boats, riding upon a wall of water. The water however, has receded and the Tigers have retreated.

10-- 103a-out of NKL SRILANKA/  Continue reading →

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