By Gamini Weerakoon The conventional belief was that the military at best should be confined to barracks or be on battlefields but after the much celebrated victory over terrorism the forces have not been demobilized as is usual in other countries or found civilian jobs but appear to move into civilian projects under the Ministry [...]
By Gamini Weerakoon We were wondering on a windy May morning in our hansiputuwa in our Isstoppuwa about the name of our country: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. Is it democratic? We wondered. Some loyalists of the ruling party would of course agree. Could there be a government more democratic than this? So far [...]
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the political magician pulled a rabbit out of his hat. Before May Day he was being lambasted and pulverized by the Opposition and even those on his own side, although in whispers. But after May Day his critics, though not silenced, are on a low key. His May Day present to workers [...]
By Gamini Weerakoon The English are becoming quite tribal. Not that they weren’t before. We recall the patriotic poetry dinned into us at school even in the immediate post Independence years soon after the sun had set on the British Empire: If I should die think only this of me That there is some corner [...]
Fresh rustic breezes, whiff of delicacies from the Avurudhu table and nostalgic memories of the time spent in the gama in their salad days would have rejuvenated the patriotic fervor of those Sri Lankan patriots who were breathing fire and thunder before the New Year on protecting the sovereignty, integrity, unity of Sri Lanka. Four quarrelsome years [...]
By Gamini Weerakoon Two old boys, Nodath (ND) and Sududath (SD) of the Forward School for Backward Boys hugged and exchanged the traditional Avurudhu greetings as they did at school – Happy Avurudhu umbatai mattai. Without wasting time they told their best waiter at the Water-hole to bring the best of the old stuff available [...]
A team of dedicated herpetologists (Herpetology: Study of reptiles) has discovered eight new species of frogs after a long period of search and study in the humid, rain-drenched, mosquito and leech infested jungles around Sri Pada. The discovery of eight unknown species, we are told by authoritative biologists, is quite an achievement. The modest scientists [...]
TV commentaries on Monday, on the ‘historic day’ of ‘great significance’ at Hambantota took our thoughts to the story (in Greek mythology) of the brash young boy Icarus who had acquired a pair of wings, trying to reach the sun despite the warnings of his father, Daedalus. The tragic end of Icarus has given rise [...]
Paang Choong has been my early morning wakeup call for a greater part of the year, but from last week it has been the melodious Koha. Paang Choong (for those not up with the latest English-Sinhala lingo developments) is the baker’s boy who goes up and down the road in a three-wheeler playing recorded tunes to [...]
Sri Lankans have taken the Greek ideal expressed in Latin (Mens Sana incorpore Sano) – A healthy mind in a healthy body – to heart. It came down from British educators. Whatever British ideas we have rejected this idea of: A healthy body in a healthy mind remains. Sports meets The nation, these days has [...]
