When Jeet Thayil was 13 years old, he bought a copy of Catch-22. His father, the noted journalist and editor TJS George, did not approve. When he found Heller’s book, he confiscated it. Thayil went out and bought another. Enraged, believing the book to be inappropriate for a young man, and certainly for one who … Continue reading
Though she was born in Kuala Lampur, and has since lived in England, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, Minoli Salgado will tell you her earliest memories are of her grandparent’s home in Sri Lanka. Revealingly, this is a country she feels compelled to return to again and again in her writing. A poet and the author … Continue reading
British novelist Sebastian Faulks is the latest member of the Fairways Galle Literary Festival team. His job description, as he puts it is to act as “a sort of go-between” for authors being invited to the festival and the organizers themselves. Formerly the first literary editor of The Independent and now the author of over … Continue reading
C-H-A-M-M-I. Chandima Rajapatirana’s first word, painstakingly spelled out, letter by letter, was a revelation. He had had no means of communicating in the 17 years that led up to this moment. Few suspected he had anything worth saying. Raised by his Sri Lankan parents in the US, he was first diagnosed with autism at the … Continue reading
With white sarongs draped around their waists and white turbans on their heads, two bare-chested traditional Sabaragamuwa dancers perform on stage. In the background is a contemporary jazz trio improvising music that echoes and weaves through the ritual chant. This is a juxtaposition not often seen in Sri Lanka, making the Baliphonics group compelling enough … Continue reading
[COLOMBO] South Asia’s medium-sized and secondary cities, rather than its megacities, will determine whether urban development succeeds or fails in the region says a UN report. The State of Asian and Pacific Cities 2015, released in October 2015 by the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and … Continue reading
[COLOMBO] An integrated resource recovery centre (IRRC) model, which uses composting, recycling and bio-digestion, offers an inexpensive solution to the escalating problem of waste management in Sri Lanka, say the authors of a new Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) publication. The island nation’s cities face multiple waste management challenges arising … Continue reading
[COLOMBO] Sri Lanka has made significant progress on maternal and child health but falls short on critical health services for vulnerable women, sexual minorities, the country’s at-risk population and those who live in former conflict areas, say the authors of a country profile on sexual and reproductive health. This two-part report on Universal Access to … Continue reading
32 years after the riots of Black July engulfed Colombo, there is perhaps only one place in the city where you can still see traces of the fires that were set that day. But that is not the reason why tuk-tuk drivers will throw you an assessing look if you ask to be dropped off … Continue reading
[COLOMBO] High spatial resolution images captured by drones are bettering those generated by satellites, and enabling researchers in Sri Lanka to study crop health and irrigation in greater detail. A team of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) has been testing the Swiss-manufactured eBee, or Electronic Bee in the skies above the Anuradhapura district, this … Continue reading
Smriti Daniel 