Sri Lanka’s hill country has the power to evoke wanderlust even in the most ardent armchair anthropologists. The interior conjures pure romanticism: undulating green hills, serene mountain air, nineteenth century steam trains, and timeless tea plantations. It’s a must-see for international visitors and a welcome retreat for citizens island-wide. But all this loveliness shades a little known truth: that “these ...
A celebration of women and girls. This is what Judith (better known as Jude) Kelly, the dynamic Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre, London, set out to do back in 2011 through the groundbreaking Women of the World (WOW) festival. Since then, the festival has spread across 53 countries, bringing together inspiring, high-achieving women who have shared their stories of ...
Early October, Hollywood was shaken to its core when multiple allegations of sexual abuse emerged against Harvey Weinstein in the media. Empowered by the takedown of the movie mogul by his victims, women all over the world rallied to express their support and outrage. And so the #MeToo movement was born—or rather revived by actor Alyssa Milano, who urged women ...
Famed as the largest ironwood forest in Asia, the Jaathika Namal Uyana, an ancient forest sanctuary close to Dambulla, leads to the rose quartz mountain range. The latter also claims to be the largest in Asia, a claim which is neither substantiated nor disputed. Despite this, mining at the rose quartz mountain range in Sri Lanka is illegal, and the ...
Sri Lanka is home to 21 million people, 19 ethnicities, and four officially recognized religions. For the longest time, however, there were no official records of most of the island’s ethno-religious minorities. The ones we know about are the Sinhalese, Tamils, and Moors, given that they are taught in school. Everyone else—who make up two percent of the population—is categorised ...
Since November 2011, many people in the country have been enjoying the remarkable ease of the E01 Southern Expressway: a clear, smooth ride between Kottawa and Pinnaduwa, conveniently linking Colombo and Galle in a little more than an hour, covering 95.3 kilometres. On the journey, most would have marvelled at the achievement of the road’s construction, as one glides along ...
Discussing one’s mental health has always been a sensitive topic. Reactions range from being dismissed by parents and peers, to being made fun of, or outright ignored. Stigmatization is bad enough in Sri Lanka to the extent of affecting treatment: getting professional treatment for mental health issues is often looked down upon. According to a research paper published by the ...
While we locals know how great Sri Lanka can be, on a global scale our pearl of the Indian Ocean is a miniscule insignificant dot dwarfed by giants. so it comes as no surprise that no one really knows about us. What they do know has made the island seem like this otherworldly exotic location, which is made all the ...
Despite being an oasis of tropical tranquility, Sri Lanka is no stranger to strife. The country’s past has been plagued through the ages with more conflict than can be counted, the most recent being the civil war that spanned nearly three decades. The island has also been battered constantly and mercilessly by natural elements, from the 2004 tsunami to the ...
Getting the Right to Information (RTI) has been a long-awaited process for democracies, especially in a country like ours where corruption and misuse of public funds is rampant. The Parliament passed the RTI Act in June 2016 as part of the government’s 100-day work pledge, and it came into force this February. Despite the Act being passed over a year ...
While the University of Ceylon was Sri Lanka’s first independent degree awarding institution, the concept of higher education in the island wasn’t entirely alien. The university’s antecedent of 20 years was the Ceylon University College, a degree awarding body affiliated with the University of London. This connection was terminated when the University College merged with the Ceylon Medical College and ...
