The Language Barrier
Sitting on Editor Selvaraja Rajasegar’s desk is a thick envelope containing details of elephant deaths on the railway track. The information took him over a month to receive, because he made the…
Language
A Continuing Conversation on National Reconciliation Policy
Laksiri Fernando’s prompt response of 6th June to mine reveals that he has not read my article carefully. It is precisely to avoid needless finger pointing that I suggested that the Sinhalese should…
Lost in Translation: Shortfalls in the implementation of Sri Lanka’s official languages policy
The Official Language Act of 1956 replaced English as the official language of then-Ceylon with Sinhala, failing to give recognition to the Tamil language. It was only three decades later, in the…
My Uchipattam
My mother parts my hair in the middle, Places the Uchipattam at the center. It rests on my forehead. It feels cold. She tells me that I look like my grandmother; Not…
The Duality of Language : Marking International Mother Language Day
Language can simultaneously connect and divide, as Sri Lanka has learned to bitter effect in the past. The divisiveness could be said to have begun with the Official Language Act of 1956, which…
Aiyo! lamented Aiya to the Adigar
Picture courtesy Thuppahi Work on the third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has been underway since the turn of the century, but will not be finished for another decade or…
The ‘coolest’ publisher of English books in Sri Lanka: In conversation with Sam Perera
Sam Perera, along with Ameena Hussein (see interview here) began the Perera Hussein Publishing House, a niche publisher based in Sri Lanka known to publish some of the most compelling contemporary writing…