Features
For children, by children, about children

Virtual arts festival that examines pandemic’s effects on children
By Sajitha Prematunge
The Children in Lockdown Arts Festival 2021, to be held from November 26 to 28, 2021, live on Zoom, and livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube in parallel, will bring together artists, children, and adults to reflect on the treatment and experiences of children in Sri Lanka during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Festival is the culmination of a six-month programme curated by Stages Theatre Group (STG) and supported by Kindernothilfe (KNH), through which 20 artworks, addressing the challenges faced by children during the pandemic, were commissioned. They include theatre performances, art installations, puppet shows, short-film screenings, and artist talks.
On the guidance of Festival Director Piumi Wijesundara, the festival will unfold under six themes, vulnerable children, digital wellbeing, health and wellbeing, families, schooling and abuse during the pandemic, and each segment will have a viewing of related artwork and an artiste talk, including child artistes, followed by a panel discussion. The Festival will also provide a platform for communities to meet, discuss, debate, and communicate on the issues faced by children during the pandemic, through talks, panel discussions, workshops, and forums led by children, adults, artists, and professionals working with children. The purpose of the Children in Lockdown Arts Festival is to bring together children, artists, educators, families, and communities to understand and creatively address the impact of the pandemic on children in Sri Lanka.
Freedom to work
“As a theatre company, STG always believes that artists should be commissioned and be given the freedom to work,” said Curator Ruwanthie de Chickera. She pointed out that there aren’t many commissioning programmes in Sri Lanka and artistes have to struggle to fund their own projects. “Or artists are told what to do too often. There is a lot of meddling and micromanaging by patrons. We wanted to let artistes exercise their own individuality, offer them freedom and responsibility, with regard to their artform.” But with the pandemic, doing productions was next to impossible. STG found this the ideal situation to curate a festival on behalf of artists who were going through a rough time due to the pandemic. “There was no money, opportunity or motivation for artists to work because of the pandemic,” said De Chickera. The German organisation KNH was more than happy to provide funding.
De Chickera is an artistic director and founder member of STG, an ensemble theatre company producing socially and politically conscious original Theatre. She works with students, teachers, and schools to help strengthen and introduce creative processes into formal and informal learning. Her co-curator, Malith Hegoda is a filmmaker who began his career as a photographer and a publicist for theatre and film. His directorial debut feature won awards locally and was officially selected for several international film festivals, including the prestigious BFI London Film Festival in 2014. Between De Chickera’s experience in live performance and Hegoda’s experience in film, they were able to cover a vast area in terms of artistic skill. Out of 80 applicants, 20 works of art were selected for the festival. The festival was curated to represent artists of different capacities and experience, to allow children also to participate. In fact, six of the 20 artworks commissioned were proposed by child artists. The open-source art exhibition features the artworks of over 140 children and is curated by two child artists: Acsah Kulasingham and Amani Naeemullah. In order to ensure maximum accessibility to and participation of children and communities, island-wide, all digital interactive sessions will be facilitated in Sinhala, Tamil, English, and Sign Language.
Pressing issues of children
De Chickera said that the objective of the festival was to address the most pressing issues for children, one of the most vulnerable groups and perhaps the most overlooked during the pandemic. “The public is oblivious of the impact the pandemic has on children. Staying at home, away from school, is just the tip of the iceberg,” said De Chickera. She said that, from the turbulence of family life, the digital world they’ve suddenly been thrust into, bereavement, domestic violence to addiction, all contribute to the suffering of children. “Even children with special needs, children seeking asylum and children from the estate sector are represented in the festival. If the needs of the general population of children are neglected, then the public is most certainly oblivious to the needs of these children. In fact, some of the suicides over the past two years is directly connected to the pandemic.” De Chickera blames the Education Ministry for failing the children. “At a time when most of the children didn’t have access to education, the Ministry was not considerate enough to postpone any of the examinations.”
On a lighter vein, Mahadenamuththa and his cohorts are attempting a zoom rehearsal and everything is falling apart. Puwak Badilli’s grandsons and granddaughters are bawling their eyes out; Polbemooni’s husband, Polbemoona, complains that his dinner is late; Usiamma, from the North, has to climb on to the roof to get better reception and complains that she can’t dance on the roof for fear of falling. Rabbada Ayya’s wife has declared strike action, so he is forced to take part in the Zoom rehearsal while doing laundry. The play, ‘Mahadenamuththayi Coronawayi’ (Mahadanamuththa and Corona), another highlight of the festival, sheds light on how the pandemic has thrown the work-life balance off kilter.
‘Mahadenamuththayi Coronawayi’ is the brainchild of Sulochana Dissanayake, Founder and Artistic Director of Power of Play, a company that specialises in performing arts for communication, reconciliation and development, with a special focus on theatre and puppetry. Flanked by rod puppets Rama, Sita, Ravana and Hanuman, Dissanayake said that Power of Play’s goal is to drive home the fact that our folklore and traditional arts are still relevant in the 21st century. “In fact, we can solve most of our existing issues with a pointer or two from Mahadenamuththa and Andare stories. Power of Play is based on this very concept.” Dissanayake has a bachelor in theatre and economics from the UK. She later travelled to South Africa and Indonesia on a Watson Fellowship by IBM Corporation. In Indonesia, she was introduced to rod puppets.
Virtual production
‘Mahadenamuththayi Coronawayi’ was supposed to be a live show. Ironically, due to the pandemic and resulting health regulation, they had to settle for a virtual production. Its focus was on the pandemic’s effects on families, across all age groups. “And also how phoney the concept of working from home is. We are expected to carry on as if nothing has changed, one has to look perfect on-screen, with the appropriate background, when in reality everything is going haywire.” Because you are working from home while forced to deal with everything from bawling children, pets, high-pitched chirping of squirrels to the choon-pan version of Beethoven’s 1810 classic Für Elise. As a wife, mother of two very young children and an entrepreneur, Dissanayake knows first-hand how stressful working from home can be. “I have performed internationally and have done extensive tours across the country, but I can’t manage one zoom workshop flawlessly.”
It is this mismatch between reality and expectations that Dissanayake hopes to highlight in her adapted version of Mahadenamuththa. Dissanayake has introduced a more equitable and race and gender-equal, albeit modernized, concept of Mahadenamuththa. “The satire factor of the Mahadenamuththa stories play a major role in the current context,” said Dissanayake. “Traditionally satire was used to expose social issues.” In the new Power of Play version, Mahadenamuththa has come to realise that contemporary issues cannot be solved with the help of men. So, the modern ‘golayas’ (apprentices) are Muslim, Tamil, Burgher men and women, the descendants of Mahadenamuththa’s original golayas.
“Theatre artistes are one of the most affected groups by the pandemic because theatres are closed and even when they weren’t, people were reluctant to expose themselves at public events. So any form of collaboration was welcome,” said Dissanayake. She said that what appeals to her most about the Children in Lockdown Festival is that it is the first united effort to shed light on the realities, of a diverse cross section of communities, during the pandemic. “The festival features creative works from children, teenagers, women, men, both rural and urban communities, married and single people. The LGBT community is also represented. This diversity is unique to the festival,” said Dissanayake. “It will be interesting to note, through the various performances, workshops and discussions, how challenging the pandemic has been irrespective of one’s socio-economic, ethnic or religious background.”
Creative work
With a PhD in robotics, academic Maleen Jayasuriya also dabbles in creative work. His group of concerned citizens, the ‘Digital Wellbeing Initiative’, is anxious about technology related issues. He elaborated that smartphones are pretty cheap and just about anyone can afford one and apps are coming out of the woodwork. Smart tech, such as Virtual Reality, has revolutionised the field so much so that they have rendered the usual safeguard ineffectual. “Because the field is moving at such breakneck speed policy is unable to catch up. Because of the generation gap parents have not been able to address these issues either and even schools have all but neglected digital wellbeing,” said Jayasuriya. He pointed out that the pandemic was the tipping point. The Digital Wellbeing Initiative’s project featured in the festival, #RECONNECTUS, which also happens to be their maiden project, brings these issues into focus.
“The best way to resolve digital wellbeing issues is to raise awareness early on. Kids these days are smarter than we give them credit for, they are more aware than we were at their age.”
Jayasuriya reiterated the importance of making kids understand basic information such as how algorithms and addiction work, how it affects one’s well being, all of which were discussed during the workshops that lead to the project. Another issue discussed is how to tackle misinformation. He explained that the main product of social media is data gathered from users, which is sold to advertising companies, who are their actual customers. “Users are not the actual customers of social media platforms, the advertising companies are. They don’t have your best interest at heart.”
Jayasuriya pointed out that social media bypasses gatekeepers such as journalists, scientists and academics, as opposed to traditional media such as newspapers or journals. According to him such conditions are ripe for misinformation. “As such, the young generation has to be taught necessary skills such as journalistic and research skills because they interface directly with these new technologies.”
Next on their list were cyberbullying and privacy. “Cyberbullying affects one’s self-esteem and there are considerable threats to personal information. Once personal information is in the public domain, there is no taking it back. Consequently, it is vital for the younger generation to be aware of these concerns.”
The end result of the workshops was a set of Public Service Announcement (PSA) videos, a digital wellbeing campaign researched, created, and performed by children. In all 21 kids with various artistic inclinations took part in the project. Aptly titled #RECONNECTUS, it signifies the younger generations’ need to connect with technology in a healthier way. “One of our guiding philosophies is that this technology is not inherently harmful. It can be a tool, as long as we can balance the negatives and accentuate the positives.”
‘quaranTEEN’ is a solo performance by 19-year-old Leeth Singhage, wherein a teenager stuck with the bleakness of university applications, on-line life, and poor judgement, investigates how others navigate the pandemic. It is based on interviews conducted with teenagers on their experiences of the lockdown.
“From a policy perspective, if our collective efforts can snowball into some kind of tangible change that could affect policy, that’s a huge achievement in itself,” said Jayasuriya. Dissanayake said that there is a strong connection between art and mental wellbeing. “Art is an outlet for stress. It has huge potential to regulate emotions. Therefore we must find creative outlets that are COVID-19 safe, to release all those pent up energies. Art allows one to pull oneself out of the constant state of negativity.” Dissanayake suggested that people make the festival a family affair. De Chickera believes that the three-day, not to mention free of charge, festival would surely rekindle a sense of community if more people participated.
Official festival webpages:
https://www.stages.lk/curation
https://www.stages.lk/arts-festival
https://fb.me/e/1SSyIyKWT
Features
Babies made using three people’s DNA are born free of hereditary disease

Eight babies have been born in the UK using genetic material from three people to prevent devastating and often fatal conditions, doctors say.
The method, pioneered by UK scientists, combines the egg and sperm from a mum and dad with a second egg from a donor woman.
The technique has been legal here for a decade but we now have the first proof it is leading to children born free of incurable mitochondrial disease.
These conditions are normally passed from mother to child, starving the body of energy.
This can cause severe disability and some babies die within days of being born. Couples know they are at risk if previous children, family members or the mother has been affected.
Children born through the three-person technique inherit most of their DNA, their genetic blueprint, from their parents, but also get a tiny amount, about 0.1%, from the second woman. This is a change that is passed down the generations.
None of the families who have been through the process are speaking publicly to protect their privacy, but have issued anonymous statements through the Newcastle Fertility Centre where the procedures took place.
“After years of uncertainty this treatment gave us hope – and then it gave us our baby,” said the mother of a baby girl. “We look at them now, full of life and possibility, and we’re overwhelmed with gratitude.”
The mother of a baby boy added: “Thanks to this incredible advancement and the support we received, our little family is complete. “The emotional burden of mitochondrial disease has been lifted, and in its place is hope, joy, and deep gratitude.”
Mitochondria are tiny structures inside nearly every one of our cells. They are the reason we breathe as they use oxygen to convert food into the form of energy our bodies use as fuel.
Defective mitochondria can leave the body with insufficient energy to keep the heart beating as well as causing brain damage, seizures, blindness, muscle weakness and organ failure.
About one in 5,000 babies are born with mitochondrial disease. The team in Newcastle anticipate there is demand for 20 to 30 babies born through the three-person method each year.
Some parents have faced the agony of having multiple children die from these diseases.
Mitochondria are passed down only from mother to child. So this pioneering fertility technique uses both parents and a woman who donates her healthy mitochondria.
The science was developed more than a decade ago at Newcastle University and the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and a specialist service opened within the NHS in 2017.

There was a case of epilepsy, which cleared up by itself and one child has an abnormal heart rhythm which is being successfully treated.
These are not thought to be connected to defective mitochondria. It is not known whether this is part of the known risks of IVF, something specific to the three-person method or something that has been detected only because the health of all babies born through this technique is monitored intensely.
Another key question hanging over the approach has been whether defective mitochondria would be transferred into the healthy embryo and what the consequences could be.
The results show that in five cases the diseased mitochondria were undetectable. In the other three, between 5% and 20% of mitochondria were defective in blood and urine samples.
This is below the 80% level thought to cause disease. It will take further work to understand why this occurred and if it can be prevented.

Prof Mary Herbert, from Newcastle University and Monash University, said: “The findings give grounds for optimism. However, research to better understand the limitations of mitochondrial donation technologies, will be essential to further improve treatment outcomes.”
The breakthrough gives hope to the Kitto family.
Kat’s youngest daughter Poppy, 14, has the disease. Her eldest Lily, 16, may pass it onto her children.
Poppy is in a wheelchair, is non-verbal and is fed through a tube.
“It’s impacted a huge part of her life,” says Kat, “we have a lovely time as she is, but there are the moments where you realize how devastating mitochondrial disease is”.

Despite decades of work there is still no cure for mitochondrial disease, but the chance to prevent it being passed on gives hope to Lily.
“It’s the future generations like myself, or my children, or my cousins, who can have that outlook of a normal life,” she says.
The UK not only developed the science of three-person babies, but it also became the first country in the world to introduce laws to allow their creation after a vote in Parliament in 2015.
There was controversy as mitochondria have DNA of their own, which controls how they function.
It means the children have inherited DNA from their parents and around 0.1% from the donor woman.
Any girls born through this technique would pass this onto their own children, so it is a permanent alteration of human genetic inheritance.
This was a step too far for some when the technology was debated, raising fears it would open the doors to genetically-modified “designer” babies.
Prof Sir Doug Turnbull, from Newcastle University, told me: “I think this is the only place in the world this could have happened, there’s been first class science to get us to where we are, there been legislation to allow it to move into clinical treatment, the NHS to help support it and now we’ve got eight children that seem to free of mitochondrial disease, what a wonderful result.”
Liz Curtis, the founder of the Lily Foundation charity said: “After years of waiting, we now know that eight babies have been born using this technique, all showing no signs of mito.
“For many affected families, it’s the first real hope of breaking the cycle of this inherited condition.”
[BBC]
Features
Western proxy war in Ukraine could be approaching dangerous tipping point

Fast-breaking developments in US-Russia relations and US-Ukraine ties could very well be pointing to the wasting war in the Ukraine theatre currently approaching a dangerous tipping point. The US has reached the crucial decision to equip Ukraine with the necessary lethal arms to counter Russia’s ongoing missile and drone strikes on it and if implemented could mark a qualitatively new phase in the conflict between the West and Russia in Ukraine, which could have serious implications for regional and even world peace.
‘We want to make sure Ukraine can do what it wants to do, US President Donald Trump is quoted as saying following a recent meeting he had with NATO chief Mark Rutte in Washington, subsequent to indicating that the US will be sending ‘top of the line weapons’ to Ukraine through NATO countries. Such weaponry could include Patriot air defence systems which are generally seen as an effective answer in particular to Russia’s air strikes on Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is on record that he had thanked the US President for his ‘willingness to support Ukraine and to continue working together to stop the killings and establish a lasting and just peace.’
Going ahead, the West would need to bear in mind that the supplying of exceptionally lethal arms to the Ukraine through its mediation could be seen by the Putin regime as hostile acts directed at the Russian state. That is, the West would be considered as involving itself physically in the ongoing hostilities between Russia and the Ukraine, necessitating the West, and more specifically NATO countries, to brace for Russian military strikes on them. Needless to say, such an eventuality would bode ill for international stability and peace.
Accordingly the West would need to assess very finely the consequences of its decisions on the Ukraine front. While the US President’s recent statements on these questions could be seen by some as mere rhetoric Trump is also on record as having indicated that his patience is wearing thin with Putin over the central issue of bringing peace to the Ukraine.
Inasmuch as Trump needs to trod gingerly going ahead so must Putin. In the event of full scale hostilities breaking out between the East and West in the Eastern European theatre no camp would stand to gain; this ought to be plain to the main antagonists, since they are evenly matched in terms of military capability. Even if the conflict in the Ukraine stagnates at a proxy stage, the costs for both sides would be staggering in human and material terms. Russia would need to recollect Afghanistan and the US would need to take itself back to the numerous proxy wars it fought in the then Third World.
However, although there are great uncertainties and perils for the world in the event of the current proxy war in the Ukraine degenerating into a more frontal East-West military confrontation in Europe, President Trump could be considered as holding the ‘Trump card’ to force a negotiated end to the present crisis.
This ‘Trump card’ takes the form of the economic strife which may descend upon the world in the event of the Trump administration going fully ahead with its ‘reciprocal tariff’ based trade wars with the majority of countries.
The US under President Trump may not be the most popular major power but it continues to be critical to the world’s current economic health. However much unpalatable it may be, the truth is that the economic vibrancy and prosperity of the US are key to many a country’s material survival. This is on account of the multiple economic linkages between the US and the rest of the world. The weaker the economy the greater is its dependence on the US and its largesse. For example, Sri Lanka knows this only too well.
The Trump administration is on record that it would be imposing what are described as ‘secondary tariffs’ on those countries whose economic operations are even indirectly benefiting Russia and if implemented could bring about crippling economic hardships for quite a few countries.
Major economic powers, China and India, are fully aware of these consequences. This is the reason why they would prefer not to undermine current economic arrangements between them and the US and between the latter and the rest of the world.
The above positions should not be misunderstood to mean that the rest of the world should be in a subservient relationship with the US. There is no question of the US exercising some sort of suzerainty over the rest of the world. This is not the case but in international relations the primacy of economics over politics may need to be recognized; economic realism needs be a cornerstone of foreign policy.
It would be quite some time before the BRICS grouping reaches the commanding heights of the world economy. Right now, it would be self-defeating, given the US’ continued economic power, for the South in particular to gloss over the might of the West and depend lopsidedly on the BRICS powers for its entire economic sustenance and survival. Indeed, a Non-aligned foreign policy remains best for the South.
It does not follow from the above considerations that the West could continue to turn a blind eye to the dangers posed to it and the world from the Ukraine conflict. Immense caution and foresight would need to go into its moves to arm Ukraine with its more sophisticated and exceptionally lethal weaponry. A cornered enemy in the battlefield, suffering overwhelming losses, cannot be expected to be continually discreet. With its patience relentlessly wearing thin it could unleash its Weapons of Mass Destruction, thus driving the world to the brink of destruction.
Accordingly, it is hoped that better counsel would prevail over all concerned and that differences would be resolved at the negotiating table. May be harsh economic realities would come to dictate terms and propel the quarters concerned to give cool rationality rather than the avarice born of self-aggrandizement a chance in their dealings with each other.
Features
Shah Rukh Khan – secret to looking young

I’m sure the whole of Sri Lanka is eagerly looking forward to the arrival of Bollywood heartthrob Shah Rukh Khan, due in Colombo, next month, for the grand opening of the City of Dreams.
What makes Shah Rukh Khan standout is not only his acting prowess but also his looks.
At 59-plus, he looks absolutely great … or, let’s say, simply awesome.
Generally, people in their late fifties, or even in their mid-fifties, look frail, and some can’t even walk steadily.
So, what is Shah Rukh Khan’s secret to looking young, and, remember, he will be hitting 60 on 2nd November, 2025!
Yes, diet, is given top priority where Shah Rukh Khan is concerned.
While many of us need around four meals a day, Shah Rukh focuses on two main meals a day – lunch and dinner – and avoids snacking or elaborate dishes.
His meals often include sprouts, grilled chicken, broccoli, and sometimes dhal. And don’t we all love dhal!
While he enjoys sharing meals with others when he’s with family or travelling, even if it means indulging in richer dishes, like biryani or parathas, his core diet remains consistent, he says.
Wonder what would be his menu during his very short stay in Sri Lanka! Perhaps traditional Indian foods like tandoori chicken and mutton biriyani, roti, parathas, food cooked with ghee! He also likes the drink lassi, I’m told.
Perhaps, we should also ask him to check out some of our dishes, as well … a good rice and curry menu, with dhal!
It isn’t diet alone that has given Shah Rukh his young look but, he says, exercise, too, has played an important part, especially where his physique is concerned.

Young Shah Rukh Khan in the early ‘90s
Shah Rukh refers to his fitness journey during the pandemic, saying during the pandemic he decided to work hard on his body.
He focused on building a strong physique, and, by exercising consistently, he achieved a body he is proud of today.
Another factor responsible for his leaner, healthier body, and a sharper appearance, is that he has completely quit smoking
This major lifestyle change has also helped him maintain a leaner, healthier body, and a sharper appearance, he says.
Strangely, his sleep routine is totally different to what experts say. We are told that we need between seven and nine hours of sleep per night for optimal health.
Shah Rukh admits he has an unusual sleep schedule and this generally happens when he has a busy shooting schedule.
He usually goes to bed around 5.00 am and sleeps for about four–five hours. Even though it’s not ideal, he manages it around his busy shooting schedule.
In fact, Shah Rukh is a night person and usually loves working in the night. He also loves night shoots. He had said, “I usually head to bed around 5.00 am. On shooting days, I wake up by 9 or 10 in the morning. After coming back home late at night — sometimes around 2.00 am — I take a shower and get a workout in before I finally sleep.”
On the work front, he will be seen next in the movie ‘King’, due for a grand release in 2026.
Shah Rukh Khan continues to inspire millions with his commitment to fitness and I hope Sri Lankans will take a cue from this Bollywood heartthrob and maintain a leaner, healthier body.
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