A-Z of Sri Lankan English: C is for cousin brother
The terms cousin brother and cousin sister are not used in standard British English. Nowadays they are used in Sri Lanka to refer to any male cousin or female cousin respectively, but…
Year: 2010
Sri Lankan Minister continues farce
The leader of the National Fiefdom Front (NFF) Mrs Wimala Weerahansa continued her farce unto death in front of the Unverified Notions (UN) office near Bulls Road in Colombo yesterday – only…
CELEBRATING PRIDE IN SRI LANKA
11th June 2010 – 11th July 2010 marks PRIDE month in Sri Lanka. Historically stemming from the watershed Stonewall riots in 1969, which broke out when police raided a gay bar in…
Photos from Day 3 of NFF protest against UN in Colombo
Original photo here. More on the ground updates and photos from the Twitter feed of Day 3 of Protest outside UN office. Wimal Weerawansa begins hunger strike. http://yfrog.com/117akrj Day 3 of protest.…
The protest by Wimal Weerawansa against the UN in Sri Lanka: Condoned by government?
On 30 June, senior Government Minister Wimal Weerawansa urged the public to surround the UN office in Colombo and hold its staff hostage until moves by the UN to appoint a panel…
Celebrating a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and questioning Sri Lanka
Rosanna Flamer-Caldera is the Executive Director of Equal Ground. This interview was held soon after the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka said he was open to dialogue with the gay community, but…
Photos and video from the UN headquarters in Colombo today
Photos courtesy Vikalpa, and more will be added anon. Others taken by blogger Indi Samarajiva can be seen here. Google has the latest updates from all web media, including tweets and blogs. Our…
my teacher talks of a sri lankan english-poem ii
my teacher talks of a sri lankan english-poem ii (a responsive thing) by sumathy ooo, how sad that thing called a sri lankan-thing who thinging this thing of of englees or inglisss…
Inheritance
There is no rule written in an enormous ledger by an acolyte angel that says a poet will write every day until death. The uncivil war will end according to absence of…
Letter to the Editor of Sunday Observer: Racism and editorial incompetence
This letter was published in the . Dear Sir, I am writing in response to Malinda Seneviratne’s article “Language standards: whose version of our reality should we inhabit?” (, 20 June 2010).…
The Taxi Driver’s Story: In the Name of a Father
My name is Polgahawela Aarachchige Junius Soloman Hickmana Thanthiriya Bandarawela, and I am a taxi driver in Colombo — you can call me Hick, for short. I am about to tell you…
Freedom to create, censorship and the future of Sri Lankan cinema: an anecdote
NB: The following is a brief (and therefore rather incomplete) note on the censorship and state-control imposed on present-day Sri Lankan cinema, where filmmakers are forced to be conscious of the prevalent…
Eelam War and the Long Arm of the Indian Rearguard Across the Palk Straits
Indo- Sri Lanka relations made a dramatic and unprecedented change with the beginning of the Eelam war. This change  contributed to bringing about  far reaching military and political consequences within Sri Lanka…
Compilation of special edition on the end of war in Sri Lanka
Download the 162 page compilation of content as a PDF in high quality (25.4Mb), or low quality (3.7Mb). The low quality version is good enough to read, but the photos will look and…
The Wedding: An imagined portrait of an unusual day
He was a filmstar, they said. But she had never much cared for films. She had heard of schoolgirls hoarding dog-eared posters; giggling over provocative poses; singing the songs the stars sang;…
