I first met Father Harry Miller in 2013. We sat and talked in his office on the top floor of St. Michael’s College, Batticaloa. Noisy crows had gathered outside his window, threatening…
JAFFNA. “Even though the war is over and the guns are silent…it doesn’t change a thing. We still face threats. We are still feeling the fear,” said 35 year old Thevanayagam Premananth,…
When the British administrator J.S. Furnivall coined the term “plural society” he was talking about colonial Burma to describe the extraordinary diversity of nationalities, ethnicities, races and religions that inhabited its cities.…
[Editors note: Also read the related post ] Kannan Arunasalam is a documentary filmmaker and narrative journalist. He was born in Jaffna, grew up in London, and returned to Sri Lanka in…
When the journalist Peter Savodnik asked me to collaborate with him on making , I said no. I was scared. This was my home. I knew that if I crossed some invisible…
Inayet Akbarally tells the remarkable story of his great grandfather Careemjee Jafferjee and how he became the first member of the Dawoodi Bohra community to set foot in Ceylon believed to be around 1830. A…
During my recent visits to Batticaloa I met many elders for my I Am narratives project. Many of them, like Father Harry Miller S.J., talked about the difficult period for Batticaloans during…
Dr. Panagamuwa’s workshop was tucked away down a corridor of the Mannar Hospital in the north west of Sri Lanka. When I arrived, the doctor, dressed in his distinctive green theatre overalls,…
The throng of devotees and tourists visiting the Nallur festival had receded and life slowly returned to normal in Jaffna. I stayed behind to see if I could persuade others visiting from…
The Nallur festival was in full flow. Kavadi drummers played for the crowds of devotees that swelled around Jaffna’s famous temple. Dotted around me were visitors from abroad. It was wonderful to…
Editors note: . Over the coming week we’ll progressively upload Kannan’s short videos, so check back often. Finally, if you have a good broadband connection, we highly recommend that in the trailer…
How does a taxi driver take the sick to the hospital when there’s no fuel around? How does a newspaper publish news of bombs and deaths without newsprint? And how does a…
How does a taxi driver take the sick to the hospital when there’s no fuel around? How does a newspaper publish news of bombs and deaths without newsprint? And how does a…
How does a taxi driver take the sick to the hospital when there’s no fuel around? How does a newspaper publish news of bombs and deaths without newsprint? And how does a…
“I am speaking from the sacred Keeramalai Naguleswaram temple, home of Lord Naguleswarar and goddess Nagulumpika. I thank you for asking me to talk about the temple. Earlier, Mahinda Balasuriya, he was…
