Nadeesha* has worn a burqa for 15 years, and the abaya for twice as long. Last week, when she heard that a ban on face-covering was in place, she knew there was a difficult time ahead. “This is a lovely country, it is my country. It has been a paradise on earth, and we have … Continue reading
There are few people who know their way around a Sri Lankan garbage dump as well as Dr.Randika Jayasinghe. However, while you might expect the research scientist to be studying landfill composition or whether toxins are leaching into the groundwater, Randika is actually more interested in talking to the communities in the area. “I look … Continue reading
As the sun sets at the Attari-Wagah border between India and Pakistan, the two countries execute a quick parade. Every day, a border closing ceremony involves soldiers in full regalia from both sides marching in a choreographed demonstration that includes the highest kicks you have ever seen. Spectators applaud, but when tensions run high in … Continue reading
It’s easy to assume that once you have stood on the summit of Everest, the world laid out before you, that no other climb will offer quite the same challenge. However, hanging from ropes on the icy face of Aconcagua’s glacier in South America, their bodies shuddering uncontrollably with cold, their fingers at risk of … Continue reading
RIP, Devil Dance. This week, in our Q&A with author Shehan Karunatilaka we take a moment to grieve for the much-anticipated manuscript that earned him a place on the shortlist for the 2016 Gratiaen, and gain some consolation in word of two new books and the possibility Chinaman might live again as a mini-series for … Continue reading
Vraie Balthazar remembers thinking: “This can’t be normal.” Her periods had taken on a kind of life of their own. She would bleed not just three or four days, but seven days. Her sanitary napkins needed to be changed every two hours. She would layer them together, two-pads deep, to make a kind of adult … Continue reading
Standing at just 4’11, Thilini Gunasekera is used to being dismissed. It happened when she wanted to join the Air Force and study aeronautical engineering – she didn’t meet the height requirement. It happened again when she stepped into a classroom full of men to study how to become an automobile mechanic – except this … Continue reading
