A while ago I wrote an ineloquent rant about a British article that portrayed Sri Lankan cuisine and its people as curious objects of the tropics, the latter of which didn’t understand what a national treasure our hoppers/aappa/appam were and needed a white woman to ‘discover’ it for international/British consumption. A few weeks ago, while eating said aappa at home ...
Growing up in Australia, I had no idea what an Aboriginal person looked like. There was a boy in one of the parallel classes who was brown, but not with facial features similar to mine, and I remember thinking as a child, ‘is that an Aborigine’? Many years later, while on exchange in France, I introduced myself as an Australian ...
I miss home sometimes. But home means you your laughter and warmth a decade of memories places marked by echoes of us If I went home though I wouldn’t find any of you there Just echoes of a bygone age where young girls could hold home in their arms.
Here’s to those who choose to and do not choose to become mothers to those who are trying to or trying not to to those who can and those who can’t or who still wonder whether to to those who know they don’t want to to those who are but didn’t choose to be to those who are but didn’t ...
She runs down the cobblestone street, hand reaching blindly forward, the other clutching the copious tulle of her gown. Blackened tears streak her face, joining freckle-dots as they flow towards the corner of her reddened lips. Daisies and yellow dahlias line the streets, her hand grazing the stone wall and she runs. That is how you picture her when she ...
Justice for Talawakelle rape survivor after 14 years, comments on the justice for sexual abuse victims and Sri Lankan justice system in general. Source: Solidarity Actions and Struggles for Justice in Sri Lanka
I compiled this bibliography for The School of Oriental and African Studies where I was a Chevening Scholar completing my Masters in 2015-2016. My major was in the Politics of Culture and my research focused primarily on the nexus between arts, culture, and politics in 20th and 21st century Sri Lanka. Contents are as follows: Politics and History: Civil War, ...
Firstly, ‘past’ is a misnomer, no? The tactical use of Britain and not the ‘U.K.’ hides the fact that the empire still continues in Northern Ireland. Interestingly enough, to align with this historiography, there are no exhibits of any aspects of empire in Ireland in the exhibit. So does the exhibit do what it claims to? To ‘Face’ Britain’s colonial ...
(This article was originally carried by the Daily Financial Times as a guest column.) On the 16th of July, a clash happened between students at Jaffna University over the inclusion of Sinhalese cultural spectacles in the welcome event. Below is a brief of the events but a more in-depth report of the goings-on can be found on DBS Jeyaraj’s blog.[i] ...
It’s 1965 and Nancy Prasad is to be deported. So Charlie Perkins hides her, holds her hostage, demands the government pay the ransom of her safety It’s 2016 and Baby Asha’s turn has come. So 200 people hide her, hold her hostage, demand the government pay the ransom of her safety The girl-child sits, as strangers pass above her, debating the course of her life.
A friend of mine in the US mentioned that Trump standing for elections and being extremist is some tactical political manoeuvre for very different aims (than getting DT elected). Whatever the motive is, it is truly terrifying to see the US using the same shameful tactics used in Sri Lankan politics where majority prejudices are toyed with for political gain. ...
Part IV: Our Family – putting the fun in dysfunctional Our nuclear family consists of myself, Ema, Dukie and Eddie. Ema is a stereotypical dad. She doesn’t do any of the actual child-rearing like bathing, doctor’s visits, etc. Instead, she comes home from work with treats for Dukie and Eddie and wins their affection through her purchasing power. Dukie is ...
The town crier announces tallest Buddhas in the world and villages named after president-Kings landmarking an island drowning out quiet pleas for peace of mind at home, and a landscape whose pride we all might share in. http://www.dailymirror.lk/108556/Asia-s-tallest-Buddha-statue-declared-open-in-Mathugama http://www.dailymirror.lk/108461/Village-to-be-built-in-MR-s-name-Minister-Premadasa
Article published on YourCommonwealth.org To quote its preamble, the Act aims to ‘to foster a culture of transparency and accountability’ and to ‘thereby promote a society in which the people of Sri Lanka would be able to more fully participate in public life’. On going live, there was a frenzy of activity with some high profile cases. It is an ...
This article was published by Roar.lk. Full article here: http://roar.lk/features/of-dynasty-and-double-standards-women-leaders-in-south-asia/ While the U.S. has arguably shown the world that it would rather have a leader that grabs pussies than has one, in South Asia only the Maldives and Bhutan (which is a patrilineal monarchy in any case) have not had a female head of state. Political scientists have been fascinated by ...
The hurt of love is a warm shroud two inches from my skin A layer that holds me gently in ways loose cotton covers won’t. A hot hurtness-anger that hovers and cradles me to sleep Comforting, like the slowly heated water surrounding the oblivious frog.
