In conversation with Mandhira de Saram
Madhira de Saram‘s website describes her as follows, After completing her primary education in Sri Lanka, she was awarded a music scholarship to North London Collegiate School where she completed her secondary…
Youth
Programme to Develop Leadership Training and Positive Thinking: Perspective of a Participant
Having participated in the “Leadership Training and Positive Skills Development Programme” I feel the need to give an account of my experience and views on the programme as there was much debate…
Towards a Common Ground of Understanding: A response to “Aachcharya”
Photo credit Sri Lanka Guardian Whether it be fleshing out Sangakkara’s “modern, pluralist worldview of unity in diversity”, the intersection of identity and race relations, the identity crises facing young generations of mixed…
I AM… Identity crisis in Post-conflict Sri Lanka
Photo by Ishara S.KODIKARA/AFP/Getty Images “There are no more minorities” said the President after the defeat of the LTTE – a secessionist rebel group that waged a war against Sri Lanka in…
Pecha Kucha: Celebrating creativity in Colombo
was invited to the press conference official launch of Pecha Kucha Colombo. It’s an interesting concept, more details of which can be read on its website here. Post-war Sri Lanka affords a…
Exclusive: Syllabi and timetables from compulsory University ‘leadership’ training course
Image from Virakesari Online. [Since the time this article was first published, the service used to host the embedded PDFs requires registration and a fee to download the documents locally. All of…
‘BE YOUNG AND SHUT UP!’: A COURSE IN CIVIC DISENGAGEMENT
‘ . The idea that this form of indoctrination should be forced upon university students, and its acceptance by many in the country, is a remarkable detraction from what we strive…
Perspectives and Commentary on the Leadership Training Programme for University Undergraduates
[Author’s note: As you are probably aware the leadership training for undergraduates is now well under way in 28 military installations around the country. Although the government has stated that this will be…
The limits of the Mahinda Chintanaya: FTZ workers and Buddhist monks rise up against government
Photo courtesy Vikalpa Protests in Katunayake Free Trade Zone: No police in sight has audio and video footage of the violent protests over the course of the week in the Katunayake Free…
Floating Spaces: Theatre and censorship in Sri Lanka
Some of the best conversations featured on this site have been with those involved in the arts in Sri Lanka. Noted theatre personalities featured on to date include Tracy Holsinger, Mohamed Adamaly…
Finding the Middle Ground
Just over a week ago, a couple of my colleagues and I appeared on a prominent Canadian talk show discussing our attempts, as both individuals and organizing members of the Young Canadians’ Peace…
Removing the Emperor’s Clothes
Original image from Lanka Polity Universities, academics and university students have been hogging the limelight in the last several weeks in unprecedented ways. The Rajapakse regime’s systematic destruction of the higher education…
Reflecting on the End of the Sri Lankan Civil War: The Need for a New Conversation in the Global Sri Lankan Community
Although military hostilities in Sri Lanka ended two years ago, the dynamics of the conversation in the global Sri Lankan community continues to be influenced by the nations’ past conflicts. Decades of…
Sinhala and Tamil New Year in Jaffna, Sri Lanka: Ground realities
Sinhala & Tamil New Year when I was growing up was always a much-awaited annual event in our neighbourhood. We’d have card tournaments and badminton tournaments leading up to the “Big Day,”…
‘Heal Lanka’ by Ras Ceylon
A retweet this morning from Ras Ceylon alerted us to the fact that he was following our feed. We first read about Ras Ceylon on Sepia Mutiny, interviewed by the inimitable Tanzila…