We Were One Until We Were Brutally Torn Apart
It was July 25, 1983 – that fateful day, which altered the trajectory of my life forever. Growing up in Colombo, we had come to accept the sad fact that ethnic conflicts…
Author: Anonymous
Gotta Go
It’s tumbling down, Man. You gotta know when you got to go, Gota. You don’t have the luxury of waiting for Mother India to take back her child from that…
On Sexual Harassment and the Portrayal of Women in Corporate Advertising
It certainly was a good Women’s Day this year, when I read on about two very brave women who related their experiences of sexual harassment, one in the public service sector here…
Thoughts on Bernie Sanders, Global Economic Crisis, the Crisis of the Earth, and Social Disintegration
Featured image courtesy Huffington Post During the past months the race between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton to be the Democratic Party (DP) nominee for US president has ignited interest around the…
The New Hope
I have learned humility, to respect my brother, to walk on the straight line when the man in blue requires compliance, but I am not drunk, and I am not free, yet…
On backing Maithripala Sirisena: Beyond critical support and resigned endorsement
Photograph via VOA News The irony of the present political moment in Sri Lanka is that it appears the message of both Mahinda and Maithripala is essentially the same: ‘there is no substitute’.…
Urban Warfare and the Sounds of Silence
Photo courtesy Maatram I was sitting at my desk in Colombo 08 yesterday and all of a sudden, a somewhat loud but also muffled ‘boom’ broke the usual afternoon sounds of traffic on…
A Guide to Colombo for CHOGM 2013
Image courtesy AP, via Potemkin City, with a difference: A Guide to Colombo for CHOGM 2013 Your Excellency, Distinguished Delegate, Dear Visitor, You may have heard of how General Potemkin primed Crimea…
The Political Economy of Prejudice: Islam, Muslims and Sinhala-Buddhist Nationalism in Sri Lanka Today: Some Reflections
From the Say No to Halaal Facebook group Sri Lanka’s Muslim minority is increasingly finding itself the target of Sinhala-Buddhist nationalists: a campaign against halal, attacks on mosques, boycott of their businesses,…
Ini Avan: Hauntingly beautiful but…
Ini Avan, Asoka Handagama’s latest film, in Tamil, has won international cinematic acclaim. And it is easy to see why. The film has interesting characters who within their confined destinies take some…