Hania Luthufi has many cousins. It was in their company that she had her first “voice training sessions” – learning how to recite the Quran in classes organised in the family home. “I shared my childhood with about 15 cousins,” she says, “all of us lived in the vicinity. Every day at 4, us grandkids … Continue reading
Prof. Chitra Weddikkara met her husband-to-be and discovered her future profession roughly around the same time. It was 1968 and she was a young student of the biosciences. Her parents, who couldn’t bear the thought of sending her to far away Peradeniya were more willing to consent to a course in architecture at Moratuwa. Taken … Continue reading
Udan Fernando considers Mount Lavinia beach an extension of his backyard – albeit a very crowded one. ‘It’s my place to walk, exercise, eat, drink, relax, host friends and ‘just be’!’ writes Udan, noting that he is not the only one. The generosity with which the beach welcomes hundreds of people every day is what … Continue reading
There was nothing about Karen Lee’s early life that destined her for the job she has now, that of a curator with the Smithsonian Institution’s National Numismatic Collection in Washington D.C. “We’re Czechoslovak immigrants and my family didn’t feel comfortable in museums,” she says, “We were a lower middle class family. I was not taken … Continue reading
About six km away from Pooneryn, Ruvan Ranatunga could almost taste the salt on his tongue as a warm wind swept the scent of dried villus toward him. Ahead lay the Indian Ocean and the end of his long journey. By his side, on this final stretch, were family and friends, among them Indunil de … Continue reading
When scanning the ocean floor with basic sonar equipment, usually all Darshana Jayawardena will see is a straight line on his screen. Then abruptly, the line rises sharply, its vertical ascent indicating that there is now something looming below, something big. While it could be a rock, Darshana is betting it’s what he’s come looking … Continue reading
Michael Mendis’ has never been interviewed before, if anything as a former journalist he’s used to being the interviewer. (“Hi Mum,” he says chirpily, when I switch the recorder on.) This month, the 23-year- old law student came out of nowhere to claim the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for the Asia Region and is now … Continue reading
As the opening of Chandraguptha Thenuwara’s latest exhibition draws near, he seems to relish the thought of putting his viewers to work. “When you enter the exhibition you won’t see many paintings,” says the artist. “You’ll have to find them.” It’s a clever twist on his theme, ‘Beautification’. The space made clean and pristine, so … Continue reading
It’s a Thursday and Elinor Galapitage has been up since 5 a.m. baking cakes to bring to the Good Food Market in Battaramulla. Working together, she and her husband Yohan have also prepared quiches and crumbles; pies, tarts and little clay pots ready for takeaway, the creamy homemade yoghurt inside laced through with a swirl … Continue reading
Sitting in her garden, Nihara Fernando resembles nothing so much as a bird of paradise. Her toenails are pink, her fingernails are green. Big rings adorn her slender fingers; one wrist is bracketed in several bangles of varying sizes and shades of green. Her pants are red but the thin shirt she’s paired them with … Continue reading
Smriti Daniel 