Metamorphoses, writes Shehan Karunatilaka in his introduction to the Sri Lankan issue of PIX, “is the past becoming now; the broken becoming the whole as Sri Lanka is transforming, from war porn to tourist brochure; from third world mess to Asian hopeful. It is the dark ages before our renaissance, the difficult puberty that we’re … Continue reading
Though she was born in Sri Lanka, raised in Zambia and is currently resident in America, Dr. Neelika Jayawardane has long since resigned herself to being Indian. “In Africa, if you’re South Asian, you’re Indian,” she says. “They see us as one monolithic Indian, just as we see Africans the same way. Instead of being … Continue reading
Bowing before Saraswati for a few minutes at the start of every school term, Hindu schoolchildren in India pray for her blessing on their books and their efforts. Lankan writer Yasmine Gooneratne asks much the same of the goddess, though in her case, she is actually writing the books themselves. “There was a point in my … Continue reading
When Julia Child was dubbed ‘Our Lady of the Ladle’ in a Time Magazine cover story in 1966, she was already well on her way to becoming a towering figure (both literally and figuratively) in American public life. A one-woman cultural revolution, Julia penned well over a dozen cookbooks (starting with the now iconic ‘Mastering … 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
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
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
91 days will teach you a lot about a country. Since they moved here in early February, Jürgen Horn and Michael Powell have found that the quickest way to gather a group of Sri Lankans is to get into a car wreck. They’ve become addicted to kottu and thambili, learnt that baby elephants sometimes like … Continue reading
Before there was Pottermania, there was Dickensmania. In his lifetime, Charles Dickens was a phenomenon and now, 200 hundred years after he was born, Dickens remains one of the world’s most beloved novelists. This February marks the author’s bicentenary and it is fuelling a surge of interest in all things Dickensian. At the heart of … Continue reading
Smriti Daniel 