Published in my column in The Nation on Sunday, 08 September 2013 and in Colombo Telegraph on the same date. By Darshanie Ratnawalli Cognitive problems and knowledge deficiencies of S. Pathmanathan, Professor Emeritus of History? Yes. First, a caveat. Although there is a school of thought that Sri Lanka shows a lack of discernment in the making of her professors emeritus (“X was made a
Published in my column in The Nation on Sunday, 26 May, 2013 and in Colombo Telegraph on the same date. By Darshanie Ratnawalli In Archaeology there is a novel concept called “Public Participatory Interactive multi cultural Museum and Site Presentation” applicable to sites with multiple heritages. This involves being inclusive of all available heritage components in presenting the
Published in my column in The Nation on Sunday, 02 June 2013 and in Colombo Telegraph on the same date. By Darshanie Ratnawalli I surmise that Dennis McGilvray came into the orbit of the Aboosally family through his researches into the matrilineality of the Tamil and Muslim communities of the east coast of Sri Lanka. M.L.M Aboosally’s wife came from the matrilineal east coast town of
Published in my column in The Nation on Sunday, 18 August 2013 and in Colombo Telegraph on the same date. By Darshanie Ratnawalli Professor S.K Sitrampalam is the former professor of history in the University of Jaffna, a vice president of ITAK (euphemistically known as the Federal Party) and a specialist in South Asian history and Archaeology. He can be relied on… To take your breath
Published in my column in The Nation on Sunday, 13 October 2013 and in Colombo Telegraph on the same date. By Darshanie Ratnawalli A Tank in the Wanni During the twilight of the Vanniyas, that is, the latter half of the 19th century, the last remaining representatives of that identity were found eking out a living in several villages of Nuvarakalaviya (North Central province) and
Published in my column in The Nation on Sunday, 04 August 2013 and in Colombo Telegraph on the same date. By Darshanie Ratnawalli “There are Brahmi inscriptions at Jailani dating to the second century BC, but they appear to assert territorial claims by local political chieftains. According to Aboosally (2002: 62-3) there is no evidence that the site was ever dedicated to the Buddhist
Published in my column in The Nation on Sunday, 21 July 2013 and in Colombo Telegraph on the same date. By Darshanie Ratnawalli Stupidity is no stranger to academia. It lurks behind reputed and respected scholarly facades and waits for the owner of the façade to lower his or her guard. Then it comes out, so brazenly and without apology that one is struck speechless. Recently I had occasion
This post is in reply to the following comment By Ruwan on EMBARRASSING BITS IN PROFESSOR NALIN DE SILVA’S PUBLIC PROCLAMATIONS on 7/19/11"Every time I read literature that deals with attempts to understand this island's past, the following question keeps coming up in my mind. If Tamil is one of the oldest languages in human civilization (Wikipedia) and Sinhalese civilization ...
BY DARSHANIE RATNAWALLIAlso published in Sri Lanka Guardian (only the first part) and LankaWeb (entirely)The unease I have long felt about Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka crystallized into distaste on Sunday 13 June 2010 when I came across his interview in that day’s Lakbima. It provided a startling glimpse into the dimension of reality Dr. DJ either inhabits for real or wants to sell to the unwashed
BY DARSHANIE RATNAWALLIThe unease I have long felt about Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka crystallized into distaste on Sunday 13 June 2010 when I came across his interview in that day’s Lakbima. It provided a startling glimpse into the dimension of reality Dr. DJ either inhabits for real or wants to sell to the unwashed masses. The way he tells it, there are lessons to be learnt from the whole Dutugemunu
Those chingalaz and these chingalaz.A cat may look at a king. Similarly, even someone like me, belonging firmly to the genus Toms- Dicks-Harries-and-Janes may, spot in the communications of one of Island’s regular columnists, I won’t say fatal flaws, but clear evidence of indifferent research methods, a clear preference as it were, for surface skimming, where in-depth diving is required. I
Ethnic Identity in Sri Lanka’s Pre-capitalist Past: Shanie, Darshanie and Roberts drew a comment (Go to comments in that site). This is in responseFutury instead of history! How progressive. But with this talk of banning and silencing aren’t we actually going backwards in time, to a less enlightened era, which saw knowledge as dangerous needing to be contained, restricted, and even suppressed?
In Stephen King’s Dead Zone a character says the following remarkable thing;"It’s been my experience that ninety-five percent of the people who walk the earth are simply inert, Johnny. One percent are saints, and one percent are assholes. The other three percent are the people who do what they say they can do…….I’ve got people in the mills that take ...
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