The comment thread under a YouTube video featuring Pankaj Mishra tends to get crowded quickly. The Indian novelist, essayist, literary critic, lecturer, and reporter has that effect on people – perhaps never more so than with his latest book, Age of Anger. Come 2018, Mishra has participated in more than his fair share of debates … Continue reading
It seems inevitable now that Richard Flanagan would come to know Siegfried Heidl better than John Friedrich. Heidl is a work of fiction, but he is Flanagan’s creation; Friedrich on the other hand, when all is said and done, was a man Flanagan spent just three weeks with, some 30 years ago. Yet, Friedrich has … Continue reading
It is difficult to predict when the elephants will come. As darkness falls around Udawalawe National Park, the 52 villages that speckle its borders go on alert. Thin wire fences hum with the threat of electricity. Across the dry zone, farmers climb up into rudimentary treehouses overlooking their paddy fields. They must try … Continue reading
YOU CIRCLE THIS exhibition as you might a sacred site. The layout is such that one artwork leads you to another in a ring. The Red Dot Gallery in Colombo is so small that every work in ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ seems close enough to speak to its neighbour. They murmur to each other … Continue reading
We find our toddy tavern down a dirt road in Mannar; a one-room structure with a grimy, shadowy interior and an uninspired beige exterior. The only building for miles, it blends in perfectly with its surroundings—parched paddy fields dotted with wandering cows in shades of brown and white. When the owner, Kumar, hears we are … Continue reading
Chhimi Tenduf-La was anxious about dengue even before the current epidemic in Sri Lanka reached its height this June. With 80,000 cases so far, and hospital wards overflowing, he felt his heart sink when his paediatrician reported they were turning away children simply for a lack of beds. Tenduf-La’s concern is overwhelmingly for his kids. … Continue reading
