It’s been almost six years since I created this blog. But over this half decade I’ve transformed and out grown the Messiah of Madness; or as one of my blogging friends teases, ‘MoM’. I started out as an anonymous blogger, sharing little bits of my life with other Sri Lankans and the rest of the world. I was fiercely protective of my identity, ...
pic credit- Colombo Gazette And now the Jaffna office has been burnt down. The Government has been quick state this was a malicious act conducted by Uthayan to frame the government. Sure, Uthayan Newspapers which has been around since 1985– and which has continued to publish their paper even though they’ve been attacked, and journalists and staff killed– would set ...
To my right a man is hauled off by the police. He tries to resist but it’s futile as four policemen load him into a police jeep and drive off. I’m snapping away as the jeep speeds off into the distance, when a voice behind me asks, ‘what just happened?’ I explain to the man in a brown t-shirt, that ...
To my right a man is hauled off by the police. He tries to resist but it’s futile as four policemen load him into a police jeep and drive off. I’m snapping away as the jeep speeds off into the distance, when a voice behind me asks, ‘what just happened?’ I explain to the man in a brown t-shirt, that ...
Dear Bodu Bala Sena, Over the past few months I’ve come to notice that you seem to dislike Halal meat. Perhaps you dined at a Halal restaurant and found the meat gamey. I can assure you though, that Halal meat is not too different from any other meat. What makes meat Halal is merely in the way the animal ...
…like this- Though it seems there are a few who believe the global One Billion Rising (OBR) campaign undermines the work of grassroot level organisation working on GBV (such as what this article expressed- Natalie Gyte). Or that it’s a campaign on a treadmill, like this comment on the Daily FT: In response to Natalie Gyte and Arvind, expecting a ...
I have a proposal to all those who drive in Sri Lanka. It’s a protest of sorts against a menace that has killed a few, left some severely injured, damaged vehicles and property, and angered even those who don’t drive. I’m writing about the army and police convoys that clear the streets for ministers, who seem to be in ...
…through the streets of Katmandu. A wider street in New Road, Kathmandu Almost racing to keep up, we’re following our Nepali friend cum tour/foody guide. We navigate through New Road (a Pettah-like) marketplace– weaving through dense crowds of people, squeezing through narrow alleys, leaping out of the way of crazy motorcyclists and chickens, dipping through hobbit-sized entrances that lead into (what seems ...
“Statistics have revealed that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at 7 billion, this adds up to more than ONE BILLION WOMEN AND GIRLS”. Another reason as to why I am rising, and this is what I stated in the One Billion Rising (OBR) South Asia video ...
Inadvertently of course. Though it’s quite sad that they campaign with such passion to be exactly what patriarchy (and capitalism) wants of women. Take slut-walk for instance. Sure, I agree that women should have the freedom to wear whatever they want and not be oogled or worse raped. But we all know that clothes have nothing to do with ...
Graffiti. The stuff we have in Sri Lanka ranges from school boys defaming other schools on random walls or spraying the name of their ex-girlfriends on walls and following it up with an expletive. Yeah, over here cans of spray paint are used for vandalism, revenge and defamation. Nothing pretty. But cities across the world, even our neighbour—India, have pretty ...
Photo credit- Tai Hsin Shiek (Snapped and Framed) I am bruised and battered after taking part in the Colombo Fun Ride—organized by the Pedal Pushers. Not because I’m inept in riding a bicycle but because a *feral little girl charged her tricycle right into my push bike at the Colombo University turn off. She was cackling the whole time. Yes, ...
I shifted rooms this weekend. With my siblings no longer living at home, I decided to relocate myself into the best room in the house! It’s actually the smallest room (where the architect-sister dumped all her building models) but the view out the windows is gorgeous! Well… mostly tall yellow and green bamboo trees, but it’s pretty nevertheless and ...
Avurudu treats for sure! Hope you had as much avurudu kalivi as your sweet tooth could handle. Since koha’s are symbolic of the Sinhala and Tamil New year, I painted this… Happy Avurudu folks! Since I’m a bit handicapped now that my right big toe is missing a nail, I’ve confined myself to my bedroom so I won’t stub it ...
The plan was to climb scale Lakegala, that monstrous mountain you see in the pic, over the weekend. Thankfully, we got back alive; though not in one piece. I lost a toe. Okay… a toe nail really. But before I get into the gory details, I’ll tell you more about Lakegala! We took a bus to Kandy and then ...
Snapped while driving through heavy traffic in Maradana In the scorching, dusty streets of Colombo the scene is all too familiar. As soon as the traffic lights switch to red, a beggar with a brawling toddler over her shoulder rushes up to your car and taps on the shutter. Standing in the sweltering heat, sweat dripping from her temples, she ...
Sex slavery sounds like something out of the Middle Ages. When women were examined, bargained and sold like meat or any other commodity for that matter. While you won’t see that happen so flagrantly today; it’s nonetheless rampant. It’s happens here in Sri Lanka in fact. Except it’s called ‘prostitution’; or to make it more acceptable and vapid it’s ...
Notice how the head of my DP is in the clouds? Get it? No? *deflates* Spent a while on Facebook browsing through friends’ profiles in search of creative cover photos. I was a bit disappointment I didn’t come across any; except for @Rushda_’s cover– her’s was cool. From what I did notice, about 90% of the cover photos I ...
… to bake! I’d given up on baking. The last time I baked was a few months back when my cousin’s birthday came up. He would constantly remind me that I’d never cooked or baked anything for him and so I decided to bake him a batch of chocolate chip cookies for his birthday. Unfortunately, that was a disaster! The ...
The Three Musketeers I checked out Sri Lanka’s first 3D cinema last week. While it might have been that Three Musketeers was shot in 2D and rendered 3D later- it just wasn’t all that brilliant. Sure, seeing famous actors pop off the screen is pretty neat (it feels like a theatre performance) but somehow several scenes still felt very 2D. ...
