Isuri Dayaratne has been reading Yann Martel’s ‘Life of Pi’ and she simply loves it. Martel’s strange but very precise description of one character in particular – Mr. Satish Kumar – got her hooked. ‘His construction was geometric: he looked like two triangles, a small one and a larger one, balanced on two parallel lines,’ … Continue reading
Namita Gokhale chooses to give her speech sitting down but makes up for it by delivering an engaging and interesting talk. Considering there is a strike on, the small auditorium in the Colombo University building is surprisingly full. There are perhaps 40 people in the audience – about the number, Namita estimates, that attended some … Continue reading
Farah Zahir knows that for a parent, not knowing can sometimes be the heaviest of burdens. Still, she is often the last place they go looking for answers when their child isn’t developing normally. A post-doctoral fellow working at the Friedman lab and the British Columbia’s Genome Sciences Centre in Vancouver, Canada, Farah studies the … 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
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
The hullabaloo that greeted the opening of the E01 in late 2011 may have been somewhat out of proportion to what one might expect a mere expressway would warrant – but while they’re common enough elsewhere, this was a first for Sri Lanka. The 128km of winding concrete ribbon made travelling from Kottawa in … Continue reading
I keep a wary eye peeled for religious fanatics and rabid atheists as I lead Dr. Richard Dawkins through the Governor’s Mansion in Galle. Both would only try to hijack my subject, (albeit for very different reasons) and I am intent on shepherding my charge through to where a modest verandah abuts a small garden. … Continue reading
“As a Palestinian, my life was a war,” Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish is saying. “You expect the worst of tomorrow. You say, ‘Thank god, I am alive today, but I don’t know what will happen tomorrow’. ” His voice cracks a little on the last words as our internet connection falters and the video feed stutters. … Continue reading
Embossed on the gold coin is the arrogant profile of Alexander the Great. On it, the young conqueror’s features endure: his luxuriant curly hair and the crooked line of his broken nose; his elongated cheeks and large, unblinking eyes. Curiously though, his head is covered in the scalp of an elephant, its trunk curling triumphantly … Continue reading
Could he write a book that rivalled ‘War and Peace’? When Louis de Bernièrespublished ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin’ in 1994, he was 40, nearly the same as age as Leo Tolstoy was when the latter released his iconic novel in 1869. Though many tumultuous decades separated the two men, Louis’s ambition was to produce a novel … Continue reading
Smriti Daniel 