Among all the pens carried in to South Africa in the early 1980s was one that concealed a secret. Hidden in its casing was a microfilm, a mini-reproduction of an extraordinary book that would soon be printed and distributed widely through underground, anti-apartheid networks. Published originally by a Sri Lankan professor in distant Australia, it … Continue reading
Howard Martenstyn was only 12 years old when his brother threw him overboard. Cedric and he were on a boat off the coast of Trincomalee and Howard didn’t know how to swim. Suffice to say, he learned quickly. He adored his older brother and from him he also learned to love the world’s wild places … Continue reading
As they enter the room, Russell ‘Teats’ Peters and Clayton ‘Toots’ Peters split up. Russell, one of the world’s most successful comedians, steps to the front where a long table is set up for the news conference. Watchful elder brother, Clayton sits right at the back. This is their fourth time on a major tour, … Continue reading
Standing at the junction in Pettah, I let my nose guide me forward. Past the hot fragrance of dried red chillies heaped in their gunny sacks, past the subtler, earthy scent from the stores where rice merchants weigh their produce and the shops of the spice sellers where the aroma of cinnamon, clove and pepper … Continue reading
By the tender age of five, Mike Harridge was already an avid horticulturalist. He remembers his mother’s garden in their home in Havelock Town being crowded with fruit trees – jak, mango, guava and custard apple. For a little boy interested in the natural world, it was a paradise and he grew up on friendly … Continue reading
When I pull back my window drapes, I discover half of Delhi has disappeared. It’s my first day in the city and a new bed in a strange room has me rising early. From the tenth floor, I see the horizon has dissolved in a cloud of heavy fog as a cold snap grips India’s … Continue reading
Noorjehan Bilgrami has spent decades fascinated by one colour. Born in Hyderabad, India Noorjehan was still very young when her parents chose to migrate to Pakistan as partition cleaved India in two. Moving to Karachi as a nine-year-old, she would nurture an interest in art until as an adult she made it her calling. However, Noorjehan … Continue reading
In his cave, the cheese maker is hard at work. A burst of chilled air greeted us when he first opened the heavy door and now the floor beneath our feet is slick and cold. In the air is the faint smell of ammonia, a natural by-product of the ageing cheese. Stacked on the wooden … Continue reading
Nelun Harasgama designs her sarees downstairs while her husband, the photographer Luxshman Nadaraja takes pictures of them upstairs. “He is famous, I am not,” says Nelun, smiling, but that isn’t quite true. Before she ever began designing sarees, Nelun’s paintings won her acclaim but she always found them difficult to talk about. Stark and haunting, … Continue reading
The men sit around the table in solemn conference but they don’t mind when the caretaker W.A Samson interrupts to put a bucket on the table. On rainy days, the roof above the mannequins leaks and Samson is their first line of defence. Much of the beautiful old Town Hall building in Pettah is in … Continue reading
Smriti Daniel 