Opinion

Journalist with the best in work and write

Published

4 years ago

2021/12/18

Of everybody I have known, Nihal has taken the longest time dying. As far as I recall, he first announced his impending death 50 years ago. I thought he would make it to his father’s 90 years, but he fell short by two. Regardless of the time consumed, his life was a life well-lived.

He spent his early years as a Lake House employee at the family home in Wattala, where he was a neighbour of his Ananda schoolmate, my cousin, Asoka Gunasekara. Big Brother, Dr. Viranga Tissa, was a reputed medicine-man who has long been domiciled dow Under. Nihal, by no means the black sheep in the family, occupied an outer room with direct access to his motorbike. His father, a man of few words, took his ease on the haansi-putuva in the verandah.

I came to know quite well the spouses of their twin sisters, Manel and Indrani, Lakshman Ranatunge, head of the Mahaweli Engineering Agency and Denzil de Silva of the Government Film Unit. (In the coverage of the inauguration of our ‘Republican’ Constitution in 1972 at the Navarangahala, Denzil gave my wife and me more time on the screen than he vouchsafed most of the Ministers).

When the Official Language Act was brought into operation on 1st January 1964, I was put in charge of whatever had to be done at its commanding end, the General Treasury, and on that day the press people were directed to me for clarifications, etc. Nihal interviewed me for the Sunday Observer and carried a front-page piece, with a photo by Rienzie Wijeratne, who had made me look even younger than my 25 years. Nihal’s note referred to my footwear (sandals) and my writing habits (poetry) and left the occasion for the interview ‘to be filled in’. He may have guessed that for some time more, inter departmental correspondence would continue in English with a caveat in lower case at the bottom that read “the original in Sinhala will follow”.

As soon as the UNP came in the following year, I was pushed around (five Districts in 19 days – Totsy Vittachchi who did the pushing around seemed to take pleasure in telling me “These are not my instructions. These are Government orders’ ‘ – to which I gave myself the dubious satisfaction of retorting “That’s what a week ago would have been called ‘political interference’) – heady days that ended when I was moved finally to Matara. On the infrequent runs home to Kandana / Kurunegala, we stopped for a break at ‘Brief’ for the infant to be fed.

Eventually posted back to Colombo, we moved into a tiny apartment on Pedris Road and found Nihal next door at Alfred Place. He was in a kind of slice of an old house with several tenants, the landlady upstairs and Manjusri and family occupying the central space on the ground floor. There was a succession of young men at Nihal’s, sometimes they overlapped. With our little people around, ‘Club breaks’ (mostly at the Art Centre) were few. We were there when word reached us that the landlord’s agent had changed the locks at Manju’s and Nihal’s.

The Art Centre in those days, had a good supply of all kinds of power, and following a brief confab we trooped down to the site of the outrage led by Lucky Wikramanayake, lawyer extraordinary who, unbeknown to us could come up with a powerful kick as well. The illicit locks were got rid of, the police informed, the culprit summoned. It turned out that the perpetrator had expected to take possession of the premises in dispute as beneficiary of a dowry arrangement (which all civilised people deplore). Furthermore, I knew the man – he was a senior accountant at an industrial firm. I happened to be Director of Industries at the time. Thus, maybe, apologies were made and Lucky accepted them (with a flippant kind of grace).

Nihal continued to enjoy his work at Lake House, and made steady progress in terms of responsibilities imposed on him. Initially, he had had a bit of a struggle to move up to the editorial desks, as he had joined at or near the bottom as a proof-reader. (So, had I around the same time, the mid-1950s, but I went upstairs to the book publishing department, headed by E P Mendis, brother of the historian Dr. G C Mendis. In addition to my duties as proofreader, I was given other tasks including checking the translation of ‘Golden Island’ and looking for bias in ’Ceylon Yesterday and Today’, the new work by Dr. Mendis).

I recall being told by his seniors at Lake House (Willie Bua / Clarence Fernando comes to mind) that Nihal was way and away the best reporter they had. That proved to be a matter of no consideration at all when the UNP took power in 1977: they fired him.

(I was sent to ‘the Pool’ for a prolonged hibernation: that entity derived its name from the ‘pool vote’ provided to the Treasury to cover the wages of senior officers in the periods between being transferred and assuming office at the new place).

By then Nihal had moved to a largish upstairs room, plus garage, in Havelock Town, that young architect Ranjith Alahakoon had done a marvelous job turning into several elegant spaces. Nihal had settled there with his collections of books, sculptures, paintings (including Manjusri’s rendering of a divine being’s “sax- eka”).

His comrade, S Pathiravitane was often there (they teamed up later to give Upali’s ‘The Island’ a certain shape). We were further down Havelock Road and on days when a new play was staged at the Wendt or Lumbini I’d stop by at Nihal’s to type out my review (unless of course, there had been an intermission at the Art Centre, and I had to rush to Lake House to do my typing there).

Those were days that did not recognize sexuality other than that between women and men – and saw no discussion at all of ‘such things’. I think I knew all Nihal’s companions but an exhibition of jealousy as is common among girl-friend/boy-friend hardly ever occurred.

Our ‘gay’ friends preferred their own company, but a few were at ease discussing their tangles with my wife (it was said that I had no heart).

Those days of prejudice continued. There were social acquaintances (and even a couple of our friends) who were terrified at the thought that my wife and even I would get to know of their ‘shame’.

There’s just the one lover that stands out in my memory: a young Arab from North Africa who, I believe, was indeed Nihal’s “anthima-last-final”, “one-and true-and only-love”. I can no longer remember whether they met in Belgrade in the early 1960s or in Paris some years later. If the latter, the atrocities committed by the French in Africa, particularly in Algeria, would have been out in the open (more or less). Fanon’s ‘Black Faces, White Masks’ would have begun to be read and the French police were unable to burn every copy of ‘The Wretched of the Earth’ (they began that operation in Paris the very day they heard that Fanon had died). ‘France’ has not changed one bit; within the last few months they sent fully armed destroyers, etc., to the eastern Mediterranean, where they have no excuse to be and have got the like-minded Biden & Blinken to try to ensure that ‘independent’ African nations keep Russian ‘mercenaries’ out – and employ only their own. (Given current reports on what ‘Canada’ did to native children for over a hundred years, one must conclude that justice demands that all such criminals as Macron and this Trudeau, be treated French fashion and guillotined.

Nihal was a reader – and had lost no time finding ‘Shakespeare & Company’ in Paris. It was probably there that he discovered Henry Miller and his ‘Tropic of Cancer’ and similar works.

And it was the time of other exciting events out there – the Paris students at the barricades, the new wave of film by Truffaut and Godard. He would have had a rich life in and around Paris but, as I can testify, the wine then was not denatured and would not have given him such anxiety as to give him cause for fear of death: his premonitions began around that time.

When Lake House became so intensely dumb, he helped the inimitable Haris Hulugalle launch ‘Focus’. Our older son had lost his pet dog and I promised him that Uncle Nihal would carry a poem ‘for Ringo’ in the first issue of his new newspaper (March, 1978). It was titled ‘Death of a Male Chauvinist Dog’.

There was another weekly he did later for a pro-SLFP paper, ‘FORUM’.

Pending his return to Lake House following the fall of the Dharmishtas, he teamed up with Pathi at the ‘The Island’.

GAMINI SENEVIRATNE

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Opinion

We do not want to be press-ganged

Published

5 hours ago

2026/01/13

Sahan Weerasooriya

Reference ,the Indian High Commissioner’s recent comments ( The Island, 9th Jan. ) on strong India-Sri Lanka relationship and the assistance granted on recovering from the financial collapse of Sri Lanka and yet again for cyclone recovery., Sri Lankans should express their thanks to India for standing up as a friendly neighbour.

On the Defence Cooperation agreement, the Indian High Commissioner’s assertion was that there was nothing beyond that which had been included in the text. But, dear High Commissioner, we Sri Lankans have burnt our fingers when we signed agreements with the European nations who invaded our country; they took our leaders around the Mulberry bush and made our nation pay a very high price by controlling our destiny for hundreds of years. When the Opposition parties in the Parliament requested the Sri Lankan government to reveal the contents of the Defence agreements signed with India as per the prevalent common practice, the government’s strange response was that India did not want them disclosed.

Even the terms of the one-sided infamous Indo-Sri Lanka agreement, signed in 1987, were disclosed to the public.

Mr. High Commissioner, we are not satisfied with your reply as we are weak, economically, and unable to clearly understand your “India’s Neighbourhood First and Mahasagar policies” . We need the details of the defence agreements signed with our government, early.

RANJITH SOYSA

Opinion

When will we learn?

Published

5 hours ago

2026/01/13

Sahan Weerasooriya

At every election—general or presidential—we do not truly vote, we simply outvote. We push out the incumbent and bring in another, whether recycled from the past or presented as “fresh.” The last time, we chose a newcomer who had spent years criticising others, conveniently ignoring the centuries of damage they inflicted during successive governments. Only now do we realise that governing is far more difficult than criticising.

There is a saying: “Even with elephants, you cannot bring back the wisdom that has passed.” But are we learning? Among our legislators, there have been individuals accused of murder, fraud, and countless illegal acts. True, the courts did not punish them—but are we so blind as to remain naive in the face of such allegations? These fraudsters and criminals, and any sane citizen living in this decade, cannot deny those realities.

Meanwhile, many of our compatriots abroad, living comfortably with their families, ignore these past crimes with blind devotion and campaign for different parties. For most of us, the wish during an election is not the welfare of the country, but simply to send our personal favourite to the council. The clearest example was the election of a teledrama actress—someone who did not even understand the Constitution—over experienced and honest politicians.

It is time to stop this bogus hero worship. Vote not for personalities, but for the country. Vote for integrity, for competence, and for the future we deserve.

Deshapriya Rajapaksha

Opinion

Chlorophyll –The Life-giver is in peril

Published

1 day ago

2026/01/12

Thilina Walpola

Chlorophyll

Chlorophyll is the green pigment found in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. It is essential for photosynthesis, the process by which light energy is converted into chemical energy to sustain life on Earth. As it is green it reflects Green of the sunlight spectrum and absorbs its Red and Blue ranges. The energy in these rays are used to produce carbohydrates utilising water and carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen in the process. Thus, it performs, in this reaction, three functions essential for life on earth; it produces food and oxygen and removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to maintain equilibrium in our environment. It is one of the wonders of nature that are in peril today. It is essential for life on earth, at least for the present, as there are no suitable alternatives. While chlorophyll can be produced in a lab, it cannot be produced using simple, everyday chemicals in a straightforward process. The total synthesis of chlorophyll is an extremely complex multi-step organic chemistry process that requires specialized knowledge, advanced laboratory equipment, and numerous complex intermediary compounds and catalysts.

Chlorophyll probably evolved inside bacteria in water and migrated to land with plants that preceded animals who also evolved in water. Plants had to come on land first to oxygenate the atmosphere and make it possible for animals to follow. There was very little oxygen in the ocean or on the surface before chlorophyll carrying bacteria and algae started photosynthesis. Now 70% of our atmospheric oxygen is produced by sea phytoplankton and algae, hence the importance of the sea as a source of oxygen.

Chemically, chlorophyll is a porphyrin compound with a central magnesium (Mg²⁺) ion. Factors that affect its production and function are light intensity, availability of nutrients, especially nitrogen and magnesium, water supply and temperature. Availability of nutrients and temperature could be adversely affected due to sea pollution and global warming respectively.

Temperature range for optimum chlorophyll function is 25 – 35 C depending on the types of plants. Plants in temperate climates are adopted to function at lower temperatures and those in tropical regions prefer higher temperatures. Chlorophyll in most plants work most efficiently at 30 C. At lower temperatures it could slow down and become dormant. At temperatures above 40 C chlorophyll enzymes begin to denature and protein complexes can be damaged. Photosynthesis would decline sharply at these high temperatures.

Global warming therefore could affect chlorophyll function and threaten its very existence. Already there is a qualitative as well as quantitative decline of chlorophyll particularly in the sea. The last decade has been the hottest ten years and 2024 the hottest year since recording had started. The ocean absorbs 90% of the excess heat that reaches the Earth due to the greenhouse effect. Global warming has caused sea surface temperatures to rise significantly, leading to record-breaking temperatures in recent years (like 2023-2024), a faster warming rate (four times faster than 40 years ago), and more frequent, intense marine heatwaves, disrupting marine life and weather patterns. The ocean’s surface is heating up much faster, about four times quicker than in the late 1980s, with the last decade being the warmest on record. 2023 and 2024 saw unprecedented high sea surface temperatures, with some periods exceeding previous records by large margins, potentially becoming the new normal.

Half of the global sea surface has gradually changed in colour indicating chlorophyll decline (Frankie Adkins, 2024, Z Hong, 2025). Sea is blue in colour due to the absorption of Red of the sunlight spectrum by water and reflecting Blue. When the green chlorophyll of the phytoplankton is decreased the sea becomes bluer. Researchers from MIT and Georgia Tech found these color changes are global, affecting over half the ocean’s surface in the last two decades, and are consistent with climate model predictions. Sea phytoplankton and algae produce more than 70% of the atmospheric oxygen, replenishing what is consumed by animals. Danger to the life of these animals including humans due to decline of sea chlorophyll is obvious. Unless this trend is reversed there would be irreparable damage and irreversible changes in the ecosystems that involve chlorophyll function as a vital component.

The balance 30% of oxygen is supplied mainly by terrestrial plants which are lost due mainly to human action, either by felling and clearing or due to global warming. Since 2000, approximately 100 million hectares of forest area was lost globally by 2018 due to permanent deforestation. More recent estimates from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) indicate that an estimated 420 million hectares of forest have been lost through deforestation since 1990, with a net loss of approximately 4.7 million hectares per year between 2010 and 2020 (accounting for forest gains by reforestation). From 2001 to 2024, there had been a total of 520 million hectares of tree cover loss globally. This figure includes both temporary loss (e.g., due to fires or logging where forests regrow) and permanent deforestation. Roughly 37% of tree cover loss since 2000 was likely permanent deforestation, resulting in conversion to non-forest land uses such as agriculture, mining, or urban development. Tropical forests account for the vast majority (nearly 94%) of permanent deforestation, largely driven by agricultural expansion. Limiting warming to 1.5°C significantly reduces risks, but without strong action, widespread plant loss and biodiversity decline are projected, making climate change a dominant threat to nature, notes the World Economic Forum. Tropical trees are Earth’s climate regulators—they cool the planet, store massive amounts of carbon, control rainfall, and stabilize global climate systems. Losing them would make climate change faster, hotter, and harder to reverse.

Another vital function of chlorophyll is carbon fixing. Carbon fixation by plants is crucial because it converts atmospheric carbon dioxide into organic compounds, forming the base of the food web, providing energy/building blocks for life, regulating Earth’s climate by removing greenhouse gases, and driving the global carbon cycle, making life as we know it possible. Plants use carbon fixation (photosynthesis) to create their own food (sugars), providing energy and organic matter that sustains all other life forms. By absorbing vast amounts of CO2 (a greenhouse gas) from the atmosphere, plants help control its concentration, mitigating global warming. Chlorophyll drives the Carbon Cycle, it’s the primary natural mechanism for moving inorganic carbon into the biosphere, making it available for all living organisms.

In essence, carbon fixation turns the air we breathe out (carbon dioxide) into the food we eat and the air we breathe in (oxygen), sustaining ecosystems and regulating our planet’s climate.

While land plants store much more total carbon in their biomass, marine plants (like phytoplankton) and algae fix nearly the same amount of carbon annually as all terrestrial plants combined, making the ocean a massive and highly efficient carbon sink, especially coastal ecosystems that sequester carbon far faster than forests. Coastal marine plants (mangroves, salt marshes, seagrasses) are extremely efficient carbon sequesters, absorbing carbon at rates up to 50 times faster than terrestrial forests.

If Chlorophyll decline, which is mainly due to human action driven by uncontrolled greed, is not arrested as soon as possible life on Earth would not be possible.

(Some information was obtained from Wikipedia)

by N. A. de S. Amaratunga ✍️