Features

The Reality of the Present and Memories of the Past

Published

2 years ago

2024/10/6

V V Ganeshananthan

The Reality of the Present? A hope inspiring change in the system of governance with two potential statesmen at the helm. They have received endorsement and kudos from those who did not vote for AKD as president and almost delirious celebration and welcome from those who did. Except opposing politicians, it looks as if all Sri Lankans are happy with Anura Kumara Dissanayake as President and Dr Harini Amarasuriya as Prime Minister. Though of almost the same ideology, they are a contrast to each other not only in the obvious but in various attributes and thus the idea that it’s all for the best: they complement each other. Hope has been kindled for the future of this wonderful land. People are willing to undergo privation till we get out of the economic quagmire the land and its people were pushed into since all undergo hardships together – no longer ‘more equal pigs’ ruling the rest.

Memories of the Past? What are they as relevant to my article? The devastating attack on Tamils first in Colombo and then in the outstations, orchestrated, they said by a Minister of JRJ’s government in 1983. The other memory is of the civil war, caused by the Tamil terrorist LTTE. And why these memories? Because I mean to write about two Tamil artistes who have made waves internationally with their creative skills.

The new president promised when he took his oaths that he would consider all Sri Lankans worthy and needy of being cared for and the condition of the less privileged and marginalized improved. He mentioned those who voted for him and those who did not; all needed governmental concern and service. That was a very encouraging and hope giving pronouncement as it was mainly the districts with larger populations of Tamils and Muslims that voted for his opponents. We sorely need to be considered as one people – Sri Lankans – and the divides promoted by former leaders erased whether racial or religious. Mercifully the NPP is not overtly Buddhistic. Homage by both Heads were paid to the Mahanayakes, as was done to other religious leaders.

The drama artist

A relative in New York wrote me a week or two back that she had seen a marvelous theatre production in New York University’s Skirball Center by an Australian Tamil playwright. It was a stunning experience, she said. Naturally I was intrigued – one of our Sri Lankans capturing theatre goers in NY where crème de la crème theatre is presented. I asked for details and she obliged: “The opening scene sets the stage for Sid to become curious about his origins. And thus his taking the audience back to the 1983 riots and its aftermath, where we were all complicit in an atrocity there was no going back from. The play of three and a half hours flew by and left us touched in a myriad ways; and brokenhearted. Our connections, our ties to a place we called home and our sense of place forever changed by thoughtless political motivations dividing the country along ethnic lines. All of us left the theater feeling diminished.” (This person, a Sinhalese, who loved Sri Lanka was forced to migrate during the 1989 JVP uprising).

I read more about the play and pass on details, principally from an article by Louise Collins Hughes in the NYT. The play Counting and Cracking is by S Shakthidharan known as Shakthi. A direct descendent of the famous C. Suntheralingam, civil servant, mathematician and controversial politician, Shakthidharan was an infant just past his first birthday when his family left Sri Lanka because of the 1983 riots and settled down in Sydney. There, his mother Anandhavalli encouraged full assimilation as an Australian but kept him culturally alive to his Tamil origins, she being a Bharathanatyam dancer. He gets interested in his ancestry and thus the play which he describes as being like ‘his soul on a plate.’ He says: “I do think of Sri Lanka as my homeland and Australia as my home.”

The autobiographical play opens in 2004 when Siddhartha or Sid, a college student, and his mother Radha scatter the ashes of a relative in the Georges River in Sydney and his mother says she has kept her grandmother’s ashes under her bed for 21 years – metaphor for her locked memories of the scars of the ethnic riots and having to uproot herself from thus far idyllic Sri Lanka to transfer to an alien country. He gets curious about his ancestry but she finds it too painful to recollect and recount their family story. Bit by bit he fills in the details.

Produced by Belvoir St Theatre and Kurinji, directed by Eamon Flack, with an international cast of 19, it took many years to premier in Sydney. The playwright’s mother, Anandavalli, was invited to the first rehearsals and she stayed on as choreographer and costume and set designer. The production’s resounding success paved the way for its presentation in New York, again garnering very positive reviews.

This play is symbolic of a shameful period of the past when torture and deaths were inflicted on Tamils, causing thousands to migrate – a loss to Sri Lanka as in the case of this internationally recognized theatrical and musical artiste and so many others who have distinguished themselves in various spheres all over the globe.

Woman writer wins prestigious prize

Here is another example of the past coming together with the present: the past totally regrettable and caused by violence and the present having the daughter of an emigrant family achieving great success in her adopted country.

I write of American Tamil writer V V Ganeshananthan who won the 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction on June 13 for her novel Brotherless Night. The inaugural Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction went to author-activist Naomi Klein for Doppelganger –”a personal account of her plunge into the world of online misinformation.” Each won $38,000.

Ganeshananthan’s earlier Love Marriage (2008) and this novel won her many prestigious awards. She spent 20 years collecting info for her second novel, mostly listening to stories told by Tamil migrants to the US and visitors and then cross checking them through research. Thus the story of 16-year old Sashikala, aspiring to be a doctor, undergoing painful growing up years and experiencing much trauma in Jaffna. The novel emerges as genuinely autobiographical, though imagined. Different to the play. Both creative writers did not live through the experiences they include but were intimately connected being Tamil and of affected families.

Of the protagonist’s four brothers, the eldest is killed in Dehiwala by the Sinhala rioters in 1983; the next two join the LTTE, giving up studies, assured professional success and family. Thus the emotion-evoking title Brotherless Night. She speaks not only for herself and family but youth in general – whether Tamil or the Sinhala soldiers on duty in Jaffna.

I read the book, was totally impressed, and wrote a comment in this column. What impressed me most was that though the story was fictional it detailed some of what happened during the period 1983 to 2009 – the duration of the civil war – accurately and remarkably unbiased. “…has worked to disentangle the ambivalent feelings native Sri Lankans and members of the diaspora have about the brutal conflict and the LTTE.” “Brotherless Night can feel like a hybrid, delicately balancing the requirements of fiction – plot, characterization – with those of historical documentation” and I add correct, true documentation. The author herself noted that writing historical fiction ‘carefully and thoughtfully’ about a traumatic conflict well within living memory that was true to people’s experience was ‘hard work.’

To me, Brotherless Night chronicles the dire faults, injustice and violence of the Tamil Tigers as seen and assessed by the protagonist – the medical student. She fictionalizes a true incident –the torture meted out by the LTTE on a much loved teacher for organizing a cricket match. Sashi in the novel is befriended by a Jaffna medical college woman lecturer who definitely is Rajini Thiranagama, who with colleagues started chronicling abuse of human rights of the LTTE plus of course government forces stationed there. In the story her co-HR activist is killed, but it was Thiranagama who was shot in the back by an LTTE cadre as the lecturer was cycling home.

Ganeshananthan’s parents – father physician and mother Montessori teacher – migrated to the US in the early 1970s and she was born in 1980 in Connecticut but the family moved to Maryland, Bethesda. She graduated from Harvard College in 2003, where she was managing editor of the The Harvard Crimson. Later she earned her MFA at the University of Iowa in 2005, and another master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, specializing in arts and culture journalism.

To tie up knots – present and past – I conclude that the thrust of my article is that never again should racial flaring consume our island in flames. Can we hope that with the change of political culture and systems; sincere, sensible politicians in VIP positions; racial harmony will be restored and people become calmer, more so with fair play and justice restored?

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Features

The hard challenge of clinching a political settlement in the Middle East

Published

14 hours ago

2026/07/23

Sahan Weerasooriya

Bruised hearts: Displaced Palestinian civilians in the Gaza.(Photo by Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Despite some sections of the Trump administration persisting with the view that the possibility could not be entirely ruled out of there being a diplomatic solution to the current US-Iran hostilities in West Asia, the skeptic could not be blamed for thinking otherwise. The intensity, scale and frequency of the tit-for-tat strikes by the antagonists over the past few days against selected military targets and civilian infrastructure in particular in West Asia make the adoption of this stance excusable.

The continuing hostilities render the mentioning of the MOU signed between the warring parties in mid-June a laughable matter. While it could very well be that the foes are wishing privately for a cessation of hostilities before long, what seems to be uppermost on their minds right now is to negotiate with each other from a position of strength. This strategy compels them to incapacitate each other militarily to the extent possible, lest they have to concede too much to each other during negotiations. Hence the stepped-up hostilities.

However, even on the question of there being a negotiated political settlement in the West Asian theatre in the longer term, the skeptic could come to be seen as scoring over the optimist. Developments on the ground account for this.

At the time of writing Israel’s Netanyahu government is going ahead in fairly care-free fashion with the establishment of more Jewish settlements in the Gaza and the West Bank, and it’s all happening under the apparently complacent gaze of the US. In fact, some quarters estimate that Israel is in control of some 65% of the Gaza Strip. Ethnic cleansing, that is, is being drastically stepped-up.

Accordingly, in terms of the power relations of West Asia, the world is almost back to the status quo of the late forties of the last century when the state of Israel was established and the Palestinians were reduced to a microscopic minority in the land they came to inhabit. Therefore, even the impartial observer would be compelled to ask: ‘Will a negotiated peace be ever possible in the Middle East?’

The humanist in the observer would prefer to answer this question in the affirmative and it is indeed the ideal stance to adopt considering the staggering human and material costs of the conflict. But the way ahead to peace could be expected to be highly hazardous and arduous. Among other odds, it would also prove an uphill endeavour to win minds and hearts.

The US’ Trump administration would need to be counted out in this pursuit. This is on account of the fact that it has been far too wayward in its management of West Asian affairs in particular over the past couple of years. Given its unpredictable character it is a matter for conjecture whether it could be counted on to live up to its commitments.

Moreover, Israel could be expected to ‘go it alone’ in the Middle East regardless of whether US help is coming or otherwise. It has indicated as much in recent times and Israel could be doubted on this score only at the doubter’s peril. Because time and again Israel has demonstrated that it could steadfastly defend its interests even single-handedly in the Middle East. History bears this out.

However, a durable alliance with the US would stand Israel in good stead. On the matter of military and intelligence assistance, for example, the US’s help proved invaluable for Israel in the past and going forward this is bound to be so as well. Moreover, it is unlikely that the Trump administration would give up on Israel, considering that a strong Israel is crucial for the furtherance of the US’ strategic and economic interests in West Asia.

But whether the above factors would have a considerable bearing on the question of working out a durable solution to the West Asian tangle is an entirely different matter. Israel, as in the case of the Palestinian enclaves, is acutely security conscious and would need to satisfy itself fully that it could live in a security environment that would guarantee its complete safety, going forward.

The Middle East is badly in need of another peace effort on the lines of the Oslo Accords of the mid-nineties that brought the key actors together and helped hammer out a solution that addressed some of their notable concerns. To be sure, that process did not prove to be the ideal answer to the tangle, but it yielded some respite to the region and drove home that one-time sworn foes could indeed negotiate with a degree of success. The West Bank authority, although falling short of fulfilling some key Palestinian aspirations, is testimony that a degree of success is possible if the intent is right.

Given the current realities of West Asia, peace-making is bound to be an uphill challenge. The violence faced in recent times by the Palestinian community, in particular, has been nothing less than mind-numbing. Merciless has been the violence visited on them by the Israeli side. In such circumstances, durable peace in the region could smack of an idealist’s dream.

Nevertheless, there needs to be urgently, a meeting of minds over the divides. The US would need to be counted out as an honest broker in bringing the sides together but the rest of the West would do well to step up to the challenge.

In this exercise the onus would be on the world’s democracies to take the initiative and doggedly stay the course. An acceptable combination would be the EU and the UN. Given their credentials, the main sides in West Asia ought to find them the least controversial.

Even if the relevant institutional and political arrangements could be shored up to take a reconciliation process forward, winning hearts and minds for the peace drive would prove a grueling challenge. Over the past few years in particular tens of thousands of hearts and minds on both sides of the divide have been bruised badly in the runaway murderous violence that has come to define the Middle East.

These badly scarred personalities would need to experience healing without much delay. It is therefore a multi-faceted challenge that is at hand. Since wide-ranging expertise would be needed in the healing process, people’s participation in peace-making, ranging over the divides, would need to be made a durable reality. It will be a time for enthroning humanity and ensuring the rejection of all forms of violence and coercion.

Features

Amazing Thailand …right here in Colombo

Published

14 hours ago

2026/07/23

Sahan Weerasooriya

For many Sri Lankans, Thailand is the go-to holiday — beaches, temples, food, and that famous warm hospitality.

In fact, I’ve been to Amazing Thailand 24 times myself, and was honoured with the Friends of Thailand International Media Award by the Tourism Authority of Thailand for promoting Thai tourism.

The good news I have for you today is that you don’t even need a passport to get a taste of Amazing Thailand.

The Royal Thai Embassy, in Colombo, is bringing a vibrant slice of Thailand, to the city of Colombo, with Thai Festival 2026 — a cultural experience like never before.

Whether you are an avid enthusiast of Thai culture, a total novice, or simply just interested in exploring foreign cultures, Thai Festival 2026 is going to be the perfect opportunity for you to get more than just a glimpse into one of the most celebrated cultural heritages in South East Asia. And ENTRANCE IS FREE.

The festival will be held on the 1st and 2nd of August, 2026, at Siam Nivasa, 43, C.W.W. Kannangara Mawatha, Colombo 7, and the East Parking Area, of the Colombo Municipal Council, from 11:00am to 5:00pm.

Both days will be full of live entertainment, and dispersed throughout with Thai cultural displays, including exhilarating traditional dance performances and breathtaking Muay Thai demonstrations.

Exploring art and craft specific to Thailand, tasting irresistible authentic Thai cuisine, and playing arcade games, are just a few more fun-filled events available for visitors at the festival premises.

An array of Thai products will also be available for purchase.

While at the festival, you will find Sri Lankan Alumni from Thai universities sharing their experiences with you and willing to answer any questions you might have, related to studying abroad in Thailand.

You can also register for the Muay Thai workshop that will be happening on the 7th and 8th of August, 2026, in Colombo.

Irresistible authentic Thai cuisine

Visitors can also stand a chance to win traditional Thai souvenirs, get exclusive photo opportunities, and, the big one — to enter the raffle draw, at the end of each day, for the grand prize of an all-inclusive round trip to Thailand.

Be sure to avail yourself of this exceptional opportunity and add a cultural spin to your weekend.

To keep up with the latest updates on Thai Festival 2026, head over to the Thai Festival official social media pages.

The Royal Thai Embassy in Colombo official webpage:

https://colombo.thaiembassy.org

Official social media:

Facebook: @RTEColombo

Instagram: @thaiembassysrilanka

Thai Festival official social media:

Facebook: Thai Festival in Colombo

Instagram: @thaifestival_colombo

TikTok: @thaifestival.incolombo

Features

Thicker, stronger hair …

Published

14 hours ago

2026/07/23

Sahan Weerasooriya

Hair fall, in this heat, can be so frustrating, and noticing a thin patch is even more worrying. The good news is … yes, with a little care and kitchen ingredients, you can nourish your scalp and support healthy regrowth.

Try these four easy home remedies … even our grandmothers trusted:

* Coconut Oil and Curry Leaves Tonic:

Warm 04 tablespoons of coconut oil, with a handful of curry leaves, till the leaves turn black. Cool, strain, and massage into scalp 02-03 times a week. Leave for 01 hour, or overnight.

Why:

Coconut oil deeply nourishes, while curry leaves help strengthen roots and add shine.

* Onion Juice for Spot Treatment:

With cotton, dab the juice of 01 small onion, directly on the thin/bald patches. Leave for 20-30 minutes, and then wash with a mild shampoo. Use twice a week.

Why:

Rich in sulfur, onion juice helps boost blood circulation to the scalp.

* Aloe Vera and Castor Oil Mask:

Mix 02 tablespoons of fresh aloe vera gel and 01 tablespoon castor oil and apply to the scalp, focusing on thinning areas. Leave for 45 minutes, and then rinse with cool water.

Why:

Aloe vera soothes the scalp, while castor oil coats hair to make it look thicker.

* Fenugreek and Curd Strengthening Pack:

You will need 02 tablespoons fenugreek seeds, soaked overnight, and 02 tablespoons plain curd.

Grind to a paste, apply to scalp for 30 minutes, and then wash.

Why:

Fenugreek strengthens strands and reduces breakage.

Extra Tips for Healthy Hair:

Avoid tight hairstyles that pull on the scalp.

Eat iron and protein rich foods: greens, dhal, eggs, fish.

Use lukewarm water, not hot.

Be gentle when brushing and drying.