Features

Richard de Zoysa and his youthful contemporaries

Published

4 months ago

2026/03/15

March 13^th would have been Richard de Zoysa’s 68^th birthday. That seems paradoxical, for he was the epitome of youth and energy, and I cannot imagine him growing old the way those of us left have grown old.

But this is not about him, but about elements of our shared past that came back to me when I met Mario Gomez, with regard to an event to commemorate Chanaka Amaratunga, on the 30^th anniversary of his death. Chanaka too would have been 68 this year, born a little over a month after Richard.

Mario is now the Executive Director of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies, and I have been impressed in the last few months by the range of events he has hosted there, most recently yet another of the very different talks about Martin Wickremesinghe that the indefatigable Uditha Devapriya has delivered. I thought then that that would be a great venue for the event for Chanaka, given his close association with Neelan Tiruchelvam, and I was delighted when Mario readily agreed. That event will take place on August 1^st or possibly the day before, but it seemed necessary to start planning now.

Ravi

But part of the joy of seeing Mario, and of talking to him at length, which has not happened for years, is remembering when I first met him. This was soon after I got back from Oxford, and thought that the teaching of English, Literature in those days before I moved to English Language too, required revitalization. I wanted to bring it alive, and the first programme I did with this aim, in collaboration with Richard, was about the Romantic poets, the most accessible of the stars in the firmament of English letters.

The programme involved counterpointing the old and the young Romantics, touching on the fact that youthful fervour died, with the early deaths of the younger more committed poets, Byron and Shelley and Keats – whom coincidentally I am now reading about again, a life of Byron, the letters of Keats.

I had a narrative, which I thought Richard had read out but, looking at the script which I have kept, I believe I read it while Richard read the poetry of the older Wordsworth. I had contrasted the younger poets to him and Coleridge and Southey, whose revolutionary ideas faded as they aged, becoming in time pillars of an authoritarian establishment. But the meat of the performance was the readings from these writers, for which Richard produced a host of young people, apart from himself, some of the rising stars of the stage in those distant days.

We had girls for the younger poets, including Ranmali Pathirana whose reading of Shelley I can still hear. She impressed me so much that we used her often in the next few years, and I ultimately took her on as my assistant, when Rex Baker, who had coped with Richard in my previous absence, told me I could go on the university ship that went around the

Mario

world, but had do find anyone but Richard to act for me.

For the older poets we had boys, I had thought two of them Richard’s Josephians as I called them, for he had moved by now to training that school for the Inter School Shakespeare Competition, to the immense irritation of the Thomians. There were several generations of Josephians, whom I conflated in my mind, but Mario reminded me that he and Ravi John belonged to the first generation, and I imagined that it was both of them we used. The third male voice, that of Southey, was Rohan Edrisinha who had been a near contemporary of Richard at S Thomas’ (and we used his sister for the young Wordsworth, for I needed to stress the great changes in him over the years).

Richard

Looking at my script, with names scrawled all over it, it seems Ravi was not in the performance, though it is he who is now remembered as an actor, having finally stopped the run of Thoman best actors in the Shakespeare competition. He also followed in Richard’s path by reading the news, until the former withdrew during JVP times and then Ravi feared that Richard had threatened him, so that he then left the country.

He had earlier read English at Peradeniya, whereas Mario, more solid in build and character (he read Coleridge in our performance), studied law in Colombo, and later distinguished himself in work on rights. Hence his elevation to the ICES post, while Rohan, who has also worked in this field, and in particular on constitutional rights, has also been asked to speak at the event for Chanaka.

I recall Mario also coming home, when I was thinking of a production of Oedipus Rex with Richard in the title role. I can still recall him limping, to try on his walk for the king who had had fetters on his legs in childhood. Mario and Ravi, I thought ideal for the two different messengers, and we even talked to Graham Hatch about design, but then Richard told me that the Thomians, who were angry enough at him, were annoyed at my getting involved in the direction of plays, which was their preserve. And, so, it seemed best to desist, though I still dream of my ideal Oedipus, a play in which I had appeared at the Oxford Playhouse, though in the only minor role in it.

Nearly half a century on, I still recall the performance on the Romantics, on the Ladies College stage, for the principal, Sirancee Gunawardana, was a great supporter of my initiatives. The narrator stood at the left of the stage, myself I now realize, so that Richard would have been at the other end. We had the six younger readers (Kamani Hapugalle was Keats and Natalie Greet Byron) spread out across the stage, and they stepped forward for their readings. Looking at the script now I am still astonished at the depth of the arguments in a days when rote learning was the norm.

But I think too of the different but converging paths of so many of those whom I worked with in those distant days. Richard and Chanaka and Neelan Tiruchelvam all died in the nineties, but it is good to think that Mario continues with some aspects of their idealism, and that my lugubrious Southey will talk about the constitutional reforms which Chanaka championed, and which this country so sorely needs.

by Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha

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Features

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

Published

21 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

21 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

21 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.