Features

The passing of an iconoclast

Published

4 years ago

2021/12/12

by Anura Gunasekera

More than fifty years ago, my friend Jayasena Sirimanne, then a struggling amateur actor-cum-producer, and I, impressed by the dark, saturnine good looks of Nihal Ratnaike, his deep, rumbling baritone voice, the tall broad shouldered frame on which clothes sat with an uncontrived elegance, his avowed Marxism and casual contempt for the established order, named him the “Maha Kalu Sinhalaya”. We found it quite natural to conflate Nihal, the journalist, with the deposed Walagamba fleeing the advancing Chola.

Nihal, in our youthful eyes then, was the eponymous dissident, the quintessential bohemian. He lived that life as it came to him naturally. Politically, he was committed to an intellectual attachment to the extreme Left but he did not actively fight for his convictions.

In my early twenties, his little single bedroomed flat on Havelock road was a very convenient place to sleep off the excesses of a night, before presenting myself at my parental home the following morning. That was an abode which very frequently saw similar traffic. Nihal was always unquestioningly hospitable, sharing with all-comers meals he cooked himself in his tiny kitchenette. One wall of the sitting-cum-dining-cum- bedroom was covered with packed bookcases, prominent among the titles that I can still recall being Hemingway, Steinbeck, Silone, Moravia, de Beauvoir, Henry Miller , Orwell, Wilde, Mailer, Fitzgerald and other dissidents and icon-bashers. The playwrights ranged from Shakespeare to Ibsen, Beckett, Arthur Miller, Nabokov et al whilst Eliot was a preferred poet. There were also shelves dedicated to Ceylon history. On every available ledge rested dusty brass figurines, and sculptures and carvings by local artists, whilst a wide range of paintings, line drawings and sketches adorned much of the wall space. Very prominently featured was an iconic poster of Che Guevara and, alongside, a billboard print from the Moulin Rouge. The latter he had acquired whilst living in Paris.

Before I met Nihal in person I used to be an avid reader of his regular column in the Daily News, written under the pen-name “Viranga”. I liked the name so much that when our son was born many years later, we named him Isuru Viranga. But that is another story.

In 1967 my friend, the late Trevor Rosmale-Cocq, amused by my admiration of the writings of “Viranga, introduced me to the real man. The meeting took place in the then Art Centre Club bar, a dimly lit watering-hole above the Lionel Wendt, the meeting place of choice for both the artful and the artistic of Colombo. It was then managed by Ananada Gunatillke, who soon became my friend, entirely because of my frequent visits to the place.

Nihal could be found at the club on most evenings. Before entering the place you knew he was there; the deep, distinctive rumble of his baritone emerging clearly from the babble of voices, punctuated occasionally by the belly laugh, an equally deep extension of the voice, the man himself leaning against the bar, glass in one hand and cigarette drooping from the other, invariably in intense argument, either about current politics, theatre, film, art or books. Those were the subjects closest to his heart, those which invigorated his senses.

In the group around him would be Ernest Macintyre, Winston Serasinghe, Dhamma Jagoda, Chitrasena, Nihal’s dear friend Bevis Bawa, Geoffrey- the equally famous but less outrageous other Bawa brother- journalist Ajith Samaranayake, painter Manjusri and other assorted writers, theatre producers, journalists, actors and actresses, playwrights and artists; not all of them at the same time but at one time or another. There would also be yet others , not to be classified as belonging any cultural milieu but simply interesting personalities, some who worked hard at sustaining such an image, like the eccentric Eustace Fonseka. Tony Muller was a fixture at Nihal’s side, generally unsmiling and uncommunicative, opening his mouth only to sip from his glass.

The Art Centre Club then was where the off-beats and the oddballs gathered, along with star-struck youth such as I, feasting off an exotic table. The conversation was always interesting and often brilliant, the company very colourful and bewilderingly varied, whilst the drinks were cheap and the older patrons very generous. Impecunious, unemployed youth such as I could stride in confidently, with only the return bus fare in hand and, a few hours later, stagger out with the bus fare still intact.

Nihal was one of those exceptional people with a genuine personal magnetism, which made others to gravitate to him. It was not a consciously cultivated state but a natural composite of luminous intelligence, sardonic wit, a deep sensitivity to social and political dynamics, a genuine caring for people and a brutal honesty of opinion. What you saw was what you got. His imposing physical stature and rich, deep voice complemented the other attributes.

When I joined the Police Department as a Sub-Inspector in 1968, Nihal was horrified. In his eyes the police was a necessary evil but also an “extension of a fascist regime”- his own words. He recommended that I read George Orwell’s “1984”, as an extreme case scenario of life under ultimate repression. Some years later, after I had read Solzhenitsyn, I suggested to him that life in Stalinist Russia was the closest one could get to the Dystopia of Orwell. However, whilst conceding the excesses of the Bolshevik regime, he rationalized them as a regrettable case of individual freedoms occasionally being subjugated for the common good. When I left the police to become a planter in a British owned company he was amused, asking me how I planned to justify my admiration for the revolutionary vision of Che Guevara, whilst being an agent of the oppressive colonial model of plantation management. I cannot remember how I dealt with that question.

As a writer and journalist and in his views candidly expressed on other platforms, Nihal was aggressively anti-establishment. He openly despised the United National Party political doctrine. Unsurprisingly, the very day after the UNP election victory in 1977, he was dismissed from his then position as Deputy Editor of the Daily News. When I phoned him from my estate home in Nuwara Eliya he said, ” Anura, the Dharmishta government has done something very Adharmishta to me”, his very words. Subsequently, he successfully contested his dismissal at Labour Tribunal and was awarded compensation. Later, he did a short assignment for “CARE”, followed by a spell as the editor of “Focus”, another publication which enjoyed a brief but interesting life. With the changing of regimes he returned to Lake House where he was, variously, Associate Editor, Editor-in-Chief and Director, Editorial. He was also Media Consultant to the Prime Minister during Ratansiri Wickramanayake’s term. In between there were also spells at the Sunday Standard and the Island.

Nihal was a deeply complex, non-conformist who led an extremely simple existence. He attracted people to his orbit very quickly and retained them as friends for life. He was genuinely indifferent to the accumulation of wealth and assets, or material gain. Quite content with what was sufficient for the day, he lived a life which was governed by his uncompromising principles and unconventional personal beliefs. His passing was also consistent with the way he lived, quick, without drama and extended farewells. He had left strict, detailed written instructions for his family, for the immediate and unceremonious disposal of his physical self. His much loved sisters, the twins Indrani and Manel, and Waruna, his loving nephew, all of whom cared for Nihal in his final years when ill-health enforced dependence on this otherwise fiercely independent man, followed his final directives to the letter.

Nihal would have considered this tribute an embarrassing ostentation but I feel obliged to tell the world of a man who, at an early stage of my life, compelled me to examine my world view from different angles. We disagreed often but delighted in the debate. In the last couple of years, restricted by Covid-induced protocols, we did not meet often. My last meeting with him was a couple of months ago, when I sat by his bed for a few hours and reminisced on old times, discussed the books that we both enjoyed, together deplored the current state of the country, chuckled over interesting incidents of the past and revived memories of old friends who have passed on.

Nihal was older than I with a near generational gap between us but, together, we have sat through the final rites of several mutual friends. Trevor Roosmale-Cocq and Abey Ekanayake were two such in the last decade. The most recent was in 2019, that of Scott Dirckze where, as he was laid to rest, Nihal said to me with great sadness, ” he was a good and dear friend; I shall miss him very much”. I shall say the same of Nihal, my dear friend of over half a century.

All News Advertisement

Features

Acid test emerges for US-EU ties

Published

15 hours ago

2026/01/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Tuesday put forward the EU’s viewpoint on current questions in international politics with a clarity, coherence and eloquence that was noteworthy. Essentially, she aimed to leave no one in doubt that a ‘new form of European independence’ had emerged and that European solidarity was at a peak.

These comments emerge against the backdrop of speculation in some international quarters that the Post-World War Two global political and economic order is unraveling. For example, if there was a general tacit presumption that US- Western European ties in particular were more or less rock-solid, that proposition apparently could no longer be taken for granted.

For instance, while US President Donald Trump is on record that he would bring Greenland under US administrative control even by using force against any opposition, if necessary, the EU Commission President was forthright that the EU stood for Greenland’s continued sovereignty and independence.

In fact at the time of writing, small military contingents from France, Germany, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands are reportedly already in Greenland’s capital of Nook for what are described as limited reconnaissance operations. Such moves acquire added importance in view of a further comment by von der Leyen to the effect that the EU would be acting ‘in full solidarity with Greenland and Denmark’; the latter being the current governing entity of Greenland.

It is also of note that the EU Commission President went on to say that the ‘EU has an unwavering commitment to UK’s independence.’ The immediate backdrop to this observation was a UK decision to hand over administrative control over the strategically important Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia to Mauritius in the face of opposition by the Trump administration. That is, European unity in the face of present controversial moves by the US with regard to Greenland and other matters of contention is an unshakable ‘given’.

It is probably the fact that some prominent EU members, who also hold membership of NATO, are firmly behind the EU in its current stand-offs with the US that is prompting the view that the Post-World War Two order is beginning to unravel. This is, however, a matter for the future. It will be in the interests of the contending quarters concerned and probably the world to ensure that the present tensions do not degenerate into an armed confrontation which would have implications for world peace.

However, it is quite some time since the Post-World War Two order began to face challenges. Observers need to take their minds back to the Balkan crisis and the subsequent US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq in the immediate Post-Cold War years, for example, to trace the basic historic contours of how the challenges emerged. In the above developments the seeds of global ‘disorder’ were sown.

Such ‘disorder’ was further aggravated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine four years ago. Now it may seem that the world is reaping the proverbial whirlwind. It is relevant to also note that the EU Commission President was on record as pledging to extend material and financial support to Ukraine in its travails.

Currently, the international law and order situation is such that sections of the world cannot be faulted for seeing the Post World War Two international order as relentlessly unraveling, as it were. It will be in the interests of all concerned for negotiated solutions to be found to these global tangles. In fact von der Leyen has committed the EU to finding diplomatic solutions to the issues at hand, including the US-inspired tariff-related squabbles.

Given the apparent helplessness of the UN system, a pre-World War Two situation seems to be unfolding, with those states wielding the most armed might trying to mould international power relations in their favour. In the lead-up to the Second World War, the Hitlerian regime in Germany invaded unopposed one Eastern European country after another as the League of Nations stood idly by. World War Two was the result of the Allied Powers finally jerking themselves out of their complacency and taking on Germany and its allies in a full-blown world war.

However, unlike in the late thirties of the last century, the seeming number one aggressor, which is the US this time around, is not going unchallenged. The EU which has within its fold the foremost of Western democracies has done well to indicate to the US that its power games in Europe are not going unmonitored and unchecked. If the US’ designs to take control of Greenland and Denmark, for instance, are not defeated the world could very well be having on its hands, sooner rather than later, a pre-World War Two type situation.

Ironically, it is the ‘World’s Mightiest Democracy’ which is today allowing itself to be seen as the prime aggressor in the present round of global tensions. In the current confrontations, democratic opinion the world over is obliged to back the EU, since it has emerged as the principal opponent of the US, which is allowing itself to be seen as a fascist power.

Hopefully sane counsel would prevail among the chief antagonists in the present standoff growing, once again, out of uncontainable territorial ambitions. The EU is obliged to lead from the front in resolving the current crisis by diplomatic means since a region-wide armed conflict, for instance, could lead to unbearable ill-consequences for the world.

It does not follow that the UN has no role to play currently. Given the existing power realities within the UN Security Council, the UN cannot be faulted for coming to be seen as helpless in the face of the present tensions. However, it will need to continue with and build on its worldwide development activities since the global South in particular needs them very badly.

The UN needs to strive in the latter directions more than ever before since multi-billionaires are now in the seats of power in the principle state of the global North, the US. As the charity Oxfam has pointed out, such financially all-powerful persons and allied institutions are multiplying virtually incalculably. It follows from these realities that the poor of the world would suffer continuous neglect. The UN would need to redouble its efforts to help these needy sections before widespread poverty leads to hemispheric discontent.

Features

Brighten up your skin …

Published

15 hours ago

2026/01/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

Hi! This week I’ve come up with tips to brighten up your skin.

* Turmeric and Yoghurt Face Pack:

You will need 01 teaspoon of turmeric powder and 02 tablespoons of fresh yoghurt.

Mix the turmeric and yoghurt into a smooth paste and apply evenly on clean skin. Leave it for 15–20 minutes and then rinse with lukewarm water

Benefits:

Reduces pigmentation, brightens dull skin and fights acne-causing bacteria.

* Lemon and Honey Glow Pack:

Mix 01teaspoon lemon juice and 01 tablespoon honey and apply it gently to the face. Leave for 10–15 minutes and then wash off with cool water.

Benefits:

Lightens dark spots, improves skin tone and deeply moisturises. By the way, use only 01–02 times a week and avoid sun exposure after use.

* Aloe Vera Gel Treatment:

All you need is fresh aloe vera gel which you can extract from an aloe leaf. Apply a thin layer, before bedtime, leave it overnight, and then wash face in the morning.

Benefits:

Repairs damaged skin, lightens pigmentation and adds natural glow.

* Rice Flour and Milk Scrub:

You will need 01 tablespoon rice flour and 02 tablespoons fresh milk.

Mix the rice flour and milk into a thick paste and then massage gently in circular motions. Leave for 10 minutes and then rinse with water.

Benefits:

Removes dead skin cells, improves complexion, and smoothens skin.

* Tomato Pulp Mask:

Apply the tomato pulp directly, leave for 15 minutes, and then rinse with cool water

Benefits:

Controls excess oil, reduces tan, and brightens skin naturally.

Features

Shooting for the stars …

Published

15 hours ago

2026/01/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

That’s precisely what 25-year-old Hansana Balasuriya has in mind – shooting for the stars – when she was selected to represent Sri Lanka on the international stage at Miss Intercontinental 2025, in Sahl Hasheesh, Egypt.

The grand finale is next Thursday, 29th January, and Hansana is all geared up to make her presence felt in a big way.

Her journey is a testament to her fearless spirit and multifaceted talents … yes, her life is a whirlwind of passion, purpose, and pageantry.

Raised in a family of water babies (Director of The Deep End and Glory Swim Shop), Hansana’s love affair with swimming began in childhood and then she branched out to master the “art of 8 limbs” as a Muay Thai fighter, nailed Karate and Kickboxing (3-time black belt holder), and even threw herself into athletics (literally!), especially throwing events, and netball, as well.

A proud Bishop’s College alumna, Hansana’s leadership skills also shone bright as Senior Choir Leader.

She earned a BA (Hons) in Business Administration from Esoft Metropolitan University, and then the world became her playground.

Before long, modelling and pageantry also came into her scene.

She says she took to part-time modelling, as a hobby, and that led to pageants, grabbing 2nd Runner-up titles at Miss Nature Queen and Miss World Sri Lanka 2025.

When she’s not ruling the stage, or pool, Hansana’s belting tunes with Soul Sounds, Sri Lanka’s largest female ensemble.

What’s more, her artistry extends to drawing, and she loves hitting the open road for long drives, she says.

This water warrior is also on a mission – as Founder of Wave of Safety,

Hansana happens to be the youngest Executive Committee Member of the Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union (SLASU) and, as founder of Wave of Safety, she’s spreading water safety awareness and saving lives.

Today is Hansana’s ninth day in Egypt and the itinerary for today, says National Director for Sri Lanka, Brian Kerkoven, is ‘Jeep Safari and Sunset at the Desert.’

And … the all-important day at Miss Intercontinental 2025 is next Thursday, 29th January.

Well, good luck to Hansana.