The Rebellious History of Heavy Music Originally published in JOURNO.LK by the Sri Lanka Press Institute on 19th March 2021 ————————————————- “Ever since I was 12 years old I had to defend my love for heavy metal against those who say it’s a less valid form of music. My answer now is that you either feel it or you don’t. If metal ...
Originally published in JOURNO.LK by the Sri Lanka Press Institute on 20th May 2021 ————————————————- I spent the longest time, thinking I wasn’t a feminist. This is not a conclusion that I came into on my own – it was a reactive statement because I saw feminists as alienating; using language I didn’t care about, nor understand. No one had ...
In conversation with Anita Khemka for PhotoArtSouthAsia who are currently producing a series of interviews with lens-based practitioners in India, Sri Lanka and elsewhere in South Asia. Read the 3-page spread including the preview shown below and further pages presenting my interview and portfolio.
An op-ed, originally published by the Sri Lanka Press Institute on 16th February 2021 We use the term ‘single mother’ loosely here, but it means different things to those who use it and moreover to those who carry the mantle. Single mother can refer to a mother who is divorced and has primary custody of the child or children – ...
A reflective series of photos taken on Easter Sunday 2019 in Dambulla, shortly after the attacks around Sri Lanka were announced. Published on JOURNO.LK by the Sri Lanka Press Institute on Sunday, April 4th 2021.
THE INVISIBLE CITY is a photo essay documenting life in Colombo’s low income neighbourhoods where many have been forced into dwell in as a result of the city beautification process. Forced to live in substandard and unsanitary conditions and waiting on promised and more permanent living quarters for years, these communities continue to dwell, unseen by others in an invisible ...
Remembering the Racial Riots of 2018 A photo essay in video format, remembering the continued impacts of the anti-Muslim riots in the Digana and Theldeniya areas of Kandy (Sri Lanka) in early 2018. Published on JOURNO.LK by the Sri Lanka Press Institute on March 31st 2021.
An op-ed on the consequences of omitting a dedicated cabinet ministry for women in Sri Lanka’s 2020 government. Originally published by the Sri Lanka Press Institute on 15th December 2020, where I also work as editor for their various publications. —————————— When Sri Lanka’s 2020 parliament was announced shortly after the general elections this year, several feminist activists and women’s ...
In response to my article and photographs on Breast Cancer, published in The CARAVAN Magazine on 1st January 2021, I was interviewed by Daily FT Deputy Editor, Marianne David to further explore the experience of battling this illness alongside a gendered and apathetic healthcare system, and archaic social attitudes surrounding women’s bodies in South Asia. VIEW THE FULL INTERVIEW ...
Is a woman still a woman without her breasts? I’ve been battling stage 4 metastatic breast cancer since early last year. On the very first day of the year, I shared what that journey was like and I was honoured to have a publication like The Caravan Magazine publish it in their very first issue for 2021. A magazine that ...
A Brief History of Women in Sri Lankan Politics, published by PULSE on 18th November 2020 Everyone knows Mrs. B – the first woman to become Prime Minister anywhere in the world. Sirimavo Bandaranayke served three terms as PM, including in 1990 under her daughter Chandrika Bandaranayke Kumaratunga, Sri Lanka’s first woman president. It was also the first time the ...
A Critique on Sri Lanka’s Public Health System published by the Sri Lanka Press Institute on 19th November. It is a mistaken idea to assume that Sri Lanka offers a free public healthcare system. While people who are in need of such services don’t have to make immediate payments for surgeries, clinic visits, hospital stays and medication at state-run facilities, ...
Originally published on PULSE Here is a meditation; a salutation to the Northern sun. A story from the upper quarter of the island, rising again. Years of conflict ripped apart the land and now, a decade later, shell-shocked houses remain scattered across the outskirts of towns. They sit there like reminders of dark days that seemed to never end. Thousands ...
In conversation with Tina Edward Gunawardhana for LifeOnline today about my battle with metastatic breast cancer, my experiences with public healthcare and how I perceive my new body after surgery. Features my own photography as I document my journey. LINK TO ORIGINAL ARTICLE Resilient is one word I would use to describe Natalie Soysa when she talks about her journey ...
In Conversation with Savithri Rodrigo on what it means to battle stage 4 metastatic breast cancer on her show Kaleidoscope which did a special for Breast Cancer Awareness Month which falls on October 2020. My interview starts at 12:45
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON PULSE.LK I hate sunsets. It might have something to do with being born and raised in a city on the west coast where sunsets are a daily dance in the sky. So, sometime in the early 2000’s, I drove all night to get to watch the sun come up in Trincomalee and things have never been ...
I don’t own an umbrella.I fell in love with the rain a long time ago and have no desire to shield myself from it. And now, after weeks of maddening heat and humidity, it’s raining again. Pouring down and washing the city clean of its grit and dirt. A baptism, perhaps. We went through some dark days this year, but ...
Having a child is a terrifying thing. They make you believe in dragons again. Children are conjurers, they create worlds where none existed and breathe life into the fairy tales we seem to have long forgotten in favour of grown up stuff. We worry about the country, our children’s futures, our next raise and how we will make the next ...
Could COVID-19 be doing more than taking lives? My late father taught me that you can know a lot about someone by their handshake. Ever since, I offer firm grips to people, irrespective of how limp the return. It’s become hard to start a meeting without this necessary opening. On Friday, the 13th of March, I walked into a meeting, ...
