Avinash Kumar treats the name B.L.O.T as part instruction manual, part personal philosophy. An acronym for Basic Love of Things, B.L.O.T is a two man audio-visual collective. Avinash’s friend and collaborator Gaurav Malaker is in charge of the music, while Avinash is the resident VJ. Having performed in Colombo before, Avinash was back to lead his … Continue reading
Under a blazing sun, a forest of metal towers shimmer. The constant rumble of heavy machinery fills the air, as clouds of dust are kicked up by bulldozers and big trucks. When it’s complete, the New Chilaw Grid Substation currently under construction will supply the island’s North Western Province with an estimated 450MW of power. In … Continue reading
For many years the only dwarf Randika Cooray saw was the one in the mirror. Born with achondroplasia, Randika had a genetic condition that resulted in disproportionately short arms and legs. Short though they may be, Randika’s limbs didn’t let her down at the 2013 Dwarf Games held in Michigan, U.S.A. The biggest yet, the event … Continue reading
It was 2008 going on 2009 when Sharad Amalean turned to his elder brother Mahesh Amalean and said, “This is going to unravel completely.” It wasn’t news to Mahesh, who as Chairman of MAS Holdings had watched as the company reeled under the economic downturn. As orders dropped, they had had to lay off people … Continue reading
Each episode of the television show ‘America’s Got Talent’ draws anywhere between 10 and 12 million viewers in the United States alone. This is the largest audience Sean Panikkar, 31, has ever performed for and it makes for an unusual twist in an already very successful career. Having been voted through to the semi-final round … Continue reading
Hania Luthufi has many cousins. It was in their company that she had her first “voice training sessions” – learning how to recite the Quran in classes organised in the family home. “I shared my childhood with about 15 cousins,” she says, “all of us lived in the vicinity. Every day at 4, us grandkids … Continue reading
Prof. Chitra Weddikkara met her husband-to-be and discovered her future profession roughly around the same time. It was 1968 and she was a young student of the biosciences. Her parents, who couldn’t bear the thought of sending her to far away Peradeniya were more willing to consent to a course in architecture at Moratuwa. Taken … Continue reading
Udan Fernando considers Mount Lavinia beach an extension of his backyard – albeit a very crowded one. ‘It’s my place to walk, exercise, eat, drink, relax, host friends and ‘just be’!’ writes Udan, noting that he is not the only one. The generosity with which the beach welcomes hundreds of people every day is what … Continue reading
There was nothing about Karen Lee’s early life that destined her for the job she has now, that of a curator with the Smithsonian Institution’s National Numismatic Collection in Washington D.C. “We’re Czechoslovak immigrants and my family didn’t feel comfortable in museums,” she says, “We were a lower middle class family. I was not taken … Continue reading
About six km away from Pooneryn, Ruvan Ranatunga could almost taste the salt on his tongue as a warm wind swept the scent of dried villus toward him. Ahead lay the Indian Ocean and the end of his long journey. By his side, on this final stretch, were family and friends, among them Indunil de … Continue reading
Smriti Daniel 