From a framed photograph on the wall, a benevolent Chitrasena looks on as his legacy is given new life. On either side mirrors reflect two lines of dancers clad in unrelieved black. Foremost among them is Chitrasena’s daughter Upeka, who in recent decades has been the company’s prized soloist. Just behind her, waiting in the … Continue reading
Category Archives: The Sunday Times
Shyam Selvadurai: The Writing Life and Curating GLF
We ring the bell and from behind the forbidding black gate a cacophony of barks rises to greet us. A smaller door swings open and Shyam Selvadurai pops out, all smiles. As we pass under the portico, I think that if Great Expectations had been set in Sri Lanka, Mrs. Havisham could have lived in … Continue reading
Dr. Tilak Hewagama: Finding Methane on Mars
Looking up at the new moon, Leonardo da Vinci imagined something that no one before him had. The sight of the “old moon in the new moon’s arms” had long inspired poets even as it confounded scientists. Looking between the horns of the crescent moon, da Vinci hypothesised that the faint ashen glow that lit … Continue reading
Anuruddha Polonowita: Hitting a Perfect Pitch
It’s an open secret that Anuruddha Polonowita could help win your team the match. A spinner might ask him for a dry, dusty pitch that would allow the ball to careen in at an angle no batsmen could predict; a fast bowler would ask for a little moisture, a little grass, just enough to allow … Continue reading
Philip Hoare: A-whaling We Go
Philip Hoare is about to see his first blue whale. There, five miles out, the towering spout rises like a fountain in the middle of the undulating expanse. The height and width of this column of condensed breath (with traces of seawater and whale ‘snot’) is unique to this giant mammal. In a time when … Continue reading
Vladimir Lyakhov: In the Steps of Gagarin
3 is Vladimir Lyakhov’s lucky number – for the 3 Soyuz missions he flew, for the 3 space stations he stepped into, for the 3 times he left the station to walk into the icy vastness outside. Vladimir Lyakhov in Colombo this week. Epic journey: Yuri Gagarin, first man in space Then another … Continue reading
Laki Senanayake: Far from the Maddening Crowd
Dressed in his regulation sarong and t-shirt, Laki Senanayake looks like there are few things he takes seriously – certainly, he doesn’t count his reputation as an ‘artist’ among them. “I’m assured by various people…that I’m Sri Lanka’s leading artist – God knows where I’m leading anyone,” he says, grinning. We meet Laki at Barefoot, … Continue reading
Aaron Burton: A Journey of Inheritance
In 1976, a young anthropologist named Sharon Bell travelled to Sri Lanka to begin work on her thesis. She learnt Sinhala in three months and settled down in the village of Kanewala for two years. She became friends with local families there and in Pelpitigoda and Duwa as well, following the fishermen from the latter … Continue reading
Prof. Ramachandra Guha: A Student of Modern India
The New York Times dubbed Prof. Ramachandra Guha ‘perhaps the best among India’s non-fiction writers’; Time Magazine called him ‘Indian democracy’s pre-eminent chronicler’; In 2008, the Prospect (UK) and Foreign Policy (US) magazines listed him among the world’s 100 most influential intellectuals. But had it not been for an eccentric Englishman who died in 1964, … Continue reading
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Half of a Yellow Sun
Dressed in bright red pants, a flowing white top and pretty sandals, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie lounges luxuriously on the cushions under the shade of a large tree in the GLF cafe. Despite her laid back air, it would be a mistake to underestimate Adichie – she’s tougher than she looks. In her first session, a … Continue reading
Smriti Daniel 