50 to 1: Those are the odds that a contestant will become Australia’s next Masterchef. As the season marches relentlessly on, the odds improve but the standards get tougher, the challenges increasingly impossible. The weak (or often the merely unlucky) are ruthlessly weeded out; amateur pastry chefs and makers of homemade pasta begin to disappear … Continue reading
There’s a dinosaur in the garden. His pedigree is somewhat confused though he’s clearly a carnivore – that much is obvious from his sharp, white teeth says Dr. Patricia Vickers-Rich, patting him affectionately on his green cement head. ‘Tyron’ has lived in the quiet house on Barnes Place for a while now and in fact … Continue reading
Madhubashini Dissanayake-Ratnayaka is on the run. Her colleague is on the phone with a question related to work, her younger daughter is waiting for a ride (they’re late for chess class), her elder daughter will need to be picked up soon and her usual parking spot was taken. The mother of two wouldn’t usually expect … Continue reading
Like so many little girls, 10-year-old Shehara Liyanage was fascinated by her mother’s wardrobe. Shey longed to be properly grown up and inside that cupboard were all the props she needed to pretend she already was: outsize heels to totter around in, make-up to be inexpertly slathered on and beautiful sarees to wind around herself. “It … Continue reading
2012 marks Charles Dickens’ Bicentennial. As part of a worldwide celebration, the British Council in Sri Lanka asked five people to imagine what Dickens would write today (if he were in Colombo.) Our answers are collected up on the Dickens Microwebsite. Charles Dickens is sweating profusely. He swelters, he cooks, he poaches gently in the heat … Continue reading
For Delon Weerasinghe, going grocery shopping is not unlike setting out on a treasure hunt. Many of the ingredients he keeps in his small pantry aren’t easily available and an adventurous spirit is a prerequisite for cooking with them. What comes out of his kitchen is, as a result, rather unusual – like the lotus … Continue reading
In 1996, Bijoy Jain and Geoffrey Bawa met twice in one day, the first time by chance, the second by design. Between those two meetings, Bijoy’s appearance changed dramatically – he had shaved his long hair off completely and was now bald. What Bawa made of the young architect (and his extreme haircut) we don’t … Continue reading
Asha De Vos and her watch have been all but inseparable for nearly 15 years. A gift from her father, well-known architect Ashley De Vos, the watch was an acknowledgement of what her family recognized as Asha’s “strong desire to be at least five minutes early to anything I attended or did.” Punctuality, however, isn’t … Continue reading
Dr. Michael Van der Poorten keeps his garden well stocked with poisonous plants. A few leaves from the patch of Kalanchoe growing in the shade are enough to make up a fatal dose while the slender vine of Tragia spp, a stinging nettle, lies close to the path, ready to inflict intense itching on anyone … Continue reading
Could we have already braved the worst case scenario? It’s small consolation, but new research suggests that something along the lines of the 2004 tsunami, which left such crippling devastation in its wake, is the direst Sri Lanka could face. Using computer modelling, Dr. Janaka Wijetunga, a senior lecturer at the Department of Civil Engineering, … Continue reading
Smriti Daniel 