Ever since joining the Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka [FOGSL] in 1996, attending the annual workshop at Sinharaja was a routine event for me. This was to continue for almost 10 years until occupational and family priorities overrode. However it was always an urge to be at Martin’s Lodge in Sinharaja whenever time permitted. The creek flowing by with ...
This happened in April 2011. In Denawaka; a village off Malwala on the Ratnapura Palabaddala Road to Adams Peak. I was assigned to the construction of a mini-hydro project across Denawaka Ganga the main tributary of Kalu Ganga. My living quarters were beside the road from Malwala to Balangoda via Rassagala.It had a small garden that the owners living in ...
The most prestigious boarding school in the country, S Thomas' College Gurutalawa is located in the pristine hill country beyond Haputale towards Welimada; a paradise that is both pleasing to the body and mind. Being a boarding school, the greatest task was to feed the children three meals a day. Starting during wartime when food was scarce it would not ...
Love and affection keep us united and attached to one another. Culture and society have dedicated days, norms, means and ways of communicating love and affection. The beginning of the Gregorian Calender is one such day. Twenty years ago our neighbours migrated to the UK, Sankalpa their daughter who was my daughter's play kid is now a lady of 25 ...
Heather Martin and Angela Savage both academics at the National University of Ireland, Galway were visiting Sri Lanka in July 1994 . They were, living with friends and were guests of my friend Prabath Senaratne. We were all in the Irrigation Department [ID] then, Prabath in Colombo and Wilson Kulasooriya and I were stationed at Hambantota. On Prabath's request we ...
This is a true story that took place way back in the year 1981. We were newly married with our baby son Naveen just a few months after his first birthday. Employed as a technocrat in the Irrigation Department took me into remote wilderness locations on duty. My narration of these wild locations enthused the in-laws that we make a ...
Spare the rod and spoil the child is a famous adage appearing in the Bible and made its way into practically every proverb collection. It initially alluded to beating and is cited often but does not necessarily mean for beating in today's usage.We who went to school before the 1980s were never spared for mischief and misconduct. Mischief and misconduct ...
Dalada Perahera at the Temple of the ToothThe Dalada-Perahera in Kandy Sri Lanka in the month of Esela or July as in the Gregorian calendar is when the animal welfare activists and elephant lovers are actively lobbying for the elephants in chains in the colorful nightly parades on the streets of Kandy. An annual Cultural and Religious festival that was ...
Harvesting tobacco in lowland MahiyanganeWith the new changes taking place with regard to our environment, it seems like the time has come to look back into our past and heed the lessons learnt 'once upon a time’.Even though Ceylon was granted a Dominion Status (semi-independent polities under the British Crown) in 1948, the economies of Tea, Rubber, and Coconut our ...
Mr. J de S Jayasinghe (1924-1991)S Thomas’ College Gurutalawa is unique in many ways. It came up in a remote location in the Uva Province under a contingency plan when the school at Mt Lavinia was taken over by the military during WWII. It was the only component that did not go back to Mt Lavinia after the war. There ...
Iconic image of GurutalawaThe origination of S Thomas College in Gurutalawa; has been discussed in most of my notes about college. However, this note on the buildings of Gurutalawa is in an Architectural Engineering [AE] aspect which is something that I did not comprehend as a student but today as a professional.Gurutalawa finally gets the green light to go ahead ...
HIGH PERFORMANCE: THE MAGIC YEARS A. C. M. Laffir wins Ceylon Schools Hockey Umpires Colors With WW II coming to an end in 1945, S Thomas’ College Mt Lavinia recommences with all the temporary units coming back to Mt Lavinia, but for the one at Gurutalawa.Dr. R. L. Hayman and Rev. Fr. A. J. Foster is permitted to run a ...
Train travel has always fascinated me from childhood and I was very fortunate in having had the opportunity to travel in luxury comfort on the California Zephyr; the Amtrak’s train from Chicago to San Francisco. A journey that takes 51 hours and 20 minutes. The California Zephyr is said to be one of the most scenic travels in North America ...
We who left St Thomas’ Preparatory School Bandarawela [STPSB] in 1966 having completed the Standard Five; the highest grade in the school then call ourselves the Class of 66. This year marks the 50th anniversary of our stay at STPSB. The Class of 66 are to reunite at the school from the 12th to the 14th of August in line ...
Martin Wijesinghe, for many Sri Lankans would only be another name…………but to those with a knack for the wilds, the environment, and the Sinharaja Forest…. the only one of its kind in Sri Lanka: Martin is a dear friend and a loving companion. Martin for that matter is now an authority on Sinharaja…….. It all began in a very humble ...
This was the year 1972 … we had finished schooling at Gurutalawa and enrolled on the Senior School at Mt Lavinia. The country was in a bad economic state after a failed insurgency. An insecure food situation in the country had steered a campaign to grow more food. All available state and private land went under the harrow. The pristine ...
Mahayana style Buddha / BuduruwagalaThe Buddha, or the "enlightened one," was born Siddhartha Gautama to Princess Mahamaya and King Sudhodhana in the 6th century B.C. in Lumbini, modern-day Nepal. Although born a prince, he realized that conditioned experiences could not provide lasting happiness or protection from suffering. After almost thirty years of spiritual search he went into deep meditation, where ...
Whale Watching is about the youngest Natural History Hobby that came into being around the early 50s in the USA. Bird Watching though is the earliest habit or pastime being the way of enjoying Natural History occurrences. Today these hobbies are linked with tourism and therefore countries are dependent on a new industry to support their economies. Sri Lanka today ...
Dr. T S U de Zylva…passed away at the ripe old age of 94 years, on 13th September 2020. He was ‘Upen’ to his dear companions and Dr. Upendra to his cliental of Kurunegala who looked to him for their ailments. He was a well-known medical practitioner in Kurunegala with a long-established history, running his own private practice after a ...
Greater Flamingo in Bundala Year 1986 Uditha Wijesena Sri Lanka is unique in its geographic location with regard to World Bird Migration. Breeding birds from the Northern hemisphere migrate to the equatorial ...
