The making of ‘The Brothers Shaikh’
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…
Remember the Riots
The perpetual conflict: Part 3
Photo via blackjuly.info The Politics of Identity It seems all too obvious that the regular cycles of violence that have emerged in our recent history since 1915 are distinctly communal in character….
The perpetual conflict: Part 2
Photo via blackjuly.info Fault-lines Perhaps it is a tragic coincidence of our time; or maybe it was inevitable given the passage of generations, that we are marking the thirty year anniversary of…
The perpetual conflict: Part 1
Photo via blackjuly.info The dark clouds of history When I look back, I do not see the black smoke rising, or the cries of hapless countrymen, women and innocent children – victims…
First, the colours
Photo courtesy Tamil Guardian First, the colours. My memories of July are full of dark colours, foreboding and angry. Grey dominates. Grey, the colour of the smoke that is everywhere, even in…
A card
Click here for a larger version. ### Editors note: The creator of this card is part of a project, curated by , that brings together leading documentary filmmakers, photographers, activists, theorists and designers, in Sri…
Silk sarees
As I recall “Black July” 1983 on 23rd July 2013, 30 years have quickly passed by, but my memories of “Black July” remain fresh and intact in my heart. On a Saturday…
The lucky ones
These memories still haunt me—even 30 years later. Pain clutches me, along with fear and trepidation. Now I look back and remember with tears of profound sadness at so many things that…
The absolute silence at home: July, 1983
The most vivid memory of violent conflict for me has been from July 23, 1983. I was 7 years old then, the same age as my twins today. Each time a word,…
I Wasn’t Around in ‘83
Meemure village, Sri Lanka, June 2013. Aamina Nizar for The Picture Press. “No one came to the house”, he said, “but I did get threatening phone calls in the middle of the…
Thirty years ago, today
Thirty years ago today, my parents were heroes. Until yesterday, I didn’t even know this. My mother who worked in Fort back then, saw buildings going up in smoke, tyres burning and…
Much left to untangle yet
I took this photo 4 years ago, on the 18th of May 2009. On a day when I was out of words and could just about manage to write on my blog, much…
Home
This is the view from my home. 30 years ago, I was not even alive but if I had stood in this same place, looking in this same direction, I would have…
On Black July, I was 3 years old
Thirty years ago today, on Black July, I was 3 years old. I doubt I even knew what the difference between Sinhalese or Tamil or Muslim meant at the time. I am…
School closed early today…
Image from School closed early today. Amma was looking very jumpy when she came to pick me up, but she wouldn’t tell me why. When we went to get Loku and Chuti,…
