Features

Jungles, ruins and shipwrecks

Published

4 years ago

2022/03/20

by Somasiri Devendra

Jungles fascinate me. It was a fascination that had been kindled by my father, as well as John Still, both of whom were archaeologists and writers. But, somehow, I never became one who trod the forest ways regularly. The jungle spoke to me in a different idiom – to my heart rather than my head.

Father, a teacher before turning archaeologist, became our teacher in English literature. Our text was John Still’s The jungle tide and, from the beginning, both the teacher and the author held the class spellbound. The slow progress made through the opening chapter describing a rain forest only served to stamp more deeply in my mind the world that was the jungle.

Years later I read Leonard Woolf’s haunting description of the dry zone jungle in Village In The Jungle. I always think of these two kinds of jungle – rain forest described by Still and secondary scrub by Woolf – in their words.

Trips with an archaeologist

Not long after he interpreted Still to us, father joined the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon, as it was then. He loved the work and found every excuse to go on circuit, leaving his desk. Each time he came back, he was brimful of experiences and what we learnt from him round the dining table was more than anything a university could teach.

His interests were eclectic and the tale would flit effortlessly from treasure hunters at a ruined dagoba, to a dung beetle at work, the cult of Aiyanar, a bungalow-keeper’s encounter with a wild elephant, the migrant birds, the gaemi-kavi of village pilgrims seeking male progeny from Kalu Devatha Bandara (the guardian-deity of the Sri Maha Bodhiya), and the man who manufactured sarvagna dhathu.

Being then in the class preparing for an examination, I could go with him only occasionally, but even that was wonderful. Striking inland from Puttalam, on the way to Anuradhapura, the road was, in season, bordered by weera trees in bearing and we would stop to break down the most reachable branches and strip off all the berries. He would nonchalantly remark that this was elephant country and they, too relished these berries.

Passing through the Kurunegala route, we never went past the Aiyanar jungle shrine, a mere tree, without plucking off a twig and offering it to this mysterious deity. The tree-shrine, thankfully, is still there.

Ambitious development schemes were afoot and father went to inspect work at Gal Oya, where bulldozers were turning back the jungle tide. The impact of these behemoths must have made a strong impression on him: I still have his photographs of trees being pulled down. Perhaps, it was this that prompted him to induct us into our fast disappearing cultural and environmental heritage.

Veddha songs

He took us to see the Veddahs, who were old men in the late 1940s. They sang us their songs swaying to a rhythm of their own. It was hardly music to our ears but, definitely, a far cry from what is touted as Veddah music today. Among father’s favourite verses were a gaemi kaviya in praise of Sorabora Wewa (which Seligman attributed to the Veddahs, though this is unlikely).

The verses begin with –

Paalu rata-i Vanni-ye etha-nin oha ta

Golu gene panithi veli-hinniyo aenga ta

Seru avith dive-kelinaa sonde ruwa ta

Yaa-lu thopith giyado horabora weva ta?

“It’s waste land in the Vanni from here onwards, Screaming, the she-bear will pounce on you

And the seruwas sport in the water, pleasing the eye And you, friend, have you, too, been to Sorabora lake?”

and end thus:-

Horabora waevey weva degodey vananrata rey

Kapaa gal kaanu egodata eliya ke ley

Nelaa mal pahan veherata eganthe rey

Horabora wewa n

udutu aes motada pin ke ley?

“Deep in the forest on either bank

Sluices cut in the rock tap the water.

You offer flowers and light lamps at the shrine on the other bank

But of what use is merit to you, you eyes that have not seen Sorabora lake?”

Rantembe

Another jungle trek in Veddah country was from Aluthnuwara, through the jungle to Rantembe. All this must be under water now with the construction of the Rantembe resovoir, but it was thick jungle then and we had to go in single file. If the nade gura or leader found a rock on the path he warned galak (stone), and the one behind him repeated the warning. which went drawn the single file till it reached the last man, our driver, who duly repeated it to whoever was behind him, hoping nobody was!

The rapids of Rantembe were worth every aching muscle to see. The sheer power, the roar of the Mahaveli forced into a narrow gorge was reward enough. You cannot see any of this now: so our induction to the vanishing loveliness of Lanka was something worthwhile.

“Elephant” at Tantirimalai

Another day, we were following a footpath to Tantirimale, a temple in the jungle which was famous for its unfinished reclining Buddha statue, pre-historic drawings in a cave and an ancient bo tree growing out of a crack in a slab of rock.

We were about to climb up an incline, which was really the bund of an abandoned tank, when we suddenly saw a man on a bicycle atop the bund. He was wearing sunglasses in the jungle gloom. Seeing us, he let out a yell, dropped his bike and took to the trees! When we had rescued him still trembling, he had an explanation to offer: “I thought your jeep was an elephant”. Therein lay the moral: do not wear sunglasses in the jungle!

Farewell circuit

The year I graduated from Peradeniya and started work as a teacher at Kegalle father gave me HCP Bell’s Kegalle report to make me get my historical bearings. He also decided that he would retire from the Department – though not archaeology. He set about planning a long circuit, a final good-bye to all his beloved sites, as well as to follow up reports of some new finds. This time, I went with him.

Again, I remember the barely cleared monastic site of Arankele with its long, long sakinan-maluwa (pathway for meditation). On the way we stopped at a living forest hermitage, Ruwangirikanda, where we saw many a hermit and understood what moved a man to seek the solitude of the forest. Near Arankele was Gala-pica-gala (rock-upon-a-rock) where I learnt the principles of wind erosion. And so we went from one jungle ruin to another.

Off Polonnaruwa, we went towards Dimbulagala, which was dubbed Gunner’s Quoin by sailors at sea who used to take their bearings from it. On the way we trekked to a group of boulders entirely surrounded by forest, but not yet excavated. This was Pulligoda Gal-ge (gal-ge = cave). On one of its sides was a beautiful fresco of a group of celestial beings. I was told that these were either the earliest or the only examples – I forget which – of the use of the halo on beings other than the Buddha.

Walking back to where we had parked the car, we came upon a site called Kos-gaha Ulpotha. It was a jungle spring of beautifully clear water.

At Dimbulagala, a man seeking a place for meditation had come to live in a cave. His mission was to destroy the paintings. He would comb the forest for buffalo dung and, in the nights dissolve it in water into a paint-like consistency and using a broomstick as a brush, paint over all the ancient paintings. By the time his act became known, it was impossible to remove the offending layer without destroying the paintings under it. The chemists were yet working on the problem. We saw the damage, but what could one do?

A lucky escape

I had another adventure in those parts. It was twenty years or so later, when I was working in Trincomalee. Kantalai was fully colonized by then. One day, friends visiting my brother, then the Government Agent, offered me a ride to Colombo. Gallantly, they gave me the front seat of the absolutely new car. We had passed Kantalai tank and the light was beginning to fade. There was a wide curve in the road and Joe, who was driving, asked me to switch off the tape-recorder so that he could switch on the lights.

I did not know how to do it, so he leaned over and did it. At that moment, an elephant thundered out of the jungle, where people were clearing a chena, and ran across the road. Joe promptly stood on the brakes but, before he could bring the car to a dead halt, another elephant, only about six6 to seven feet in height, ran in front of us. We hit him broadside, between the front and hind legs.

Caught in mid stride, he fell over; legs rolling up under the impact. Joe did a quick gear change and we took off like a rocket, swerving round the prone animal, just as the rest of the herd ran out of the jungle behind us. We kept going at top speed for about ten minutes, before getting out to assess the damage The radiator grill had caved in but, luckily the headlight and radiator itself were unharmed and we could go on. We reported the incident at the Habarana Police Station and carried on.

Flood relief

In 1958, we had torrential rains and floods in the country, including the least expected areas in the dry zone As was usual in such instances, all and sundry began collecting contributions for the flood victims and we teachers at Ananda College, too collected a sizeable stock. We were advised not to hand over the money but to adopt one of the affected villages and rehabilitate it. Our village was Hiriwadunna, some miles before reaching Habaran from Colombo. Apart from looking after the immediate needs of the villagers, we teachers in the upper forms used the village as a field laboratory, taking groups of student on various surveys that brought to life history, geography, botany, and the way of life in a village. What an experience it turned out to be! Probing old men’s memories turned out to be a great learning adventure.

Something the villagers said would have made eminent sense today. They were able to trace the water that came to their tank from its source: “When a tank overflowed, that water came to another tank, and when that too overflowed, it went to a third” and so on, tracing the route traversed by the water in their own tank from the beginning to the very end.

Decades later, when the cascade system was understood by our irrigation engineers, I related this concept to some of them and they admitted that they had never tapped the villagers’ reservoir of oral history.

When I asked the old folk whether there were ruins in the jungle around them, they undertook to show them to me. So I trekked with them to a thickly forested spot not far away, and came upon the remains of a small monastery. There were columns and slabs pushed aside by the living trees as they grew, and yet untouched by the archaeologist. I could not find any inscription to copy, but came upon a stone cistern, made of four slabs of stone, about waist high. Three of these were still upright, forming three sides of a square, and the fourth was lying flat on the ground. It showed two grooves chiseled for the other slabs to fit in snugly. This fit was good enough to last many centuries. I wonder how many ruins, like this one, are hidden in the forest.

Pooneryn

In the 1960s when I was in the Navy, we were called upon to open a new camp in an area totally unknown to us, but which is familiar to many now. There was an operation on to combat illicit immigration from India to Sri Lanka.

The Navy went to reinforce the Army and the sector allocated to us was Pooneryn, off Vavuniya. It was a forested, sparsely populated area just beyond an old Dutch Fort. The base camp, which was a collection of aluminium sheds, was set up in a clearing. We had a string of small outposts along the seashore to watch for incoming boats. Small groups of men would patrol those lovely, lonely beaches. There was only the main road, but none leading to the outposts until jeeps crashed through the undergrowth making tracks that later became roads.

So little was happening there and game was plentiful, that everyone became a hunter or fisherman. Driving through the open villu, we often came upon jackals, who were not in the least perturbed by us, peacocks and elephants. I remember seeing my first Ceylon magpie. The open stretch near base camp was like a slate on which was freshly written every night the tracks of all kinds of animals which had wandered there.

The outposts had to be visited day and night. During the day, we found it easier to drive along the beach from one point to another. There was no sign of anybody else or animals, but there was plenty of bird life. The most intriguing animals were fish, which swam in the very foam of the waves. As we roared and skidded along the beach, we could see before us fish after fish diving back to the deeper waters as they sensed our approach.

At night we kept to the roads. Driving through patches of arching forest alternating with open villu, one could predict which of the two he was passing through with his eyes shut. The skin was the sensory organ, for one felt warm while traversing forests and cold in the villu. It was exhilarating to go from warmth to coldness, from bright moonlight to “tunnels of green gloom”. As always, it is the sights, sounds, smells and other physical phenomena that spell “jungle” to me.

Elephants were plentiful. We had unknowingly built one post under a large tree the elephants used to scratch their backs on. The entire tree would start shaking in the night and the human inhabitants would seek refuge on the beach! One night I remember driving back along an abandoned tank bund, which was blocked by branches torn down by elephants. There was no way of reversing, so we had to get down and clear the way. Steaming piles of elephant droppings were around us and we could hear the culprits pulling more branches. But they were not worried by our presence and both animal and man went their separate ways peacefully. Pooneryn was a wonderful place then.

Mansions of the sea

The year was 1930. The scene was Dodanduwa, the last home of the traditional three-masted sailing ships of the Sinhalese, the yathra dhoni or maha-oruwa. The occasion was the launching of a ship. Two friends, one an entrepreneur and the other a seaman, had joined forces to build and launch this vessel that, though no one knew it at the time, was fated to be the last of her breed.

Kariyavasam Patuvata Vithanage Don Siyadoris de Silva, land owner, and Punchi Sinno Marakkalaehe, mariner, hoped that their freighter, by now named Amugoda Oruva, would do brisk business with South India and the Maldives. To mark her maiden voyage to Male, verses were composed, among which was:-

Gaman yanna naekatin oruva baa geney

Saman deyiyanta puda panduru baenda geney

Viman sagarey kanu mul soya geney

Apit yamuva haema deviyanta vaenda geney

“Auspiciously have we launched our vessel

And made our offerings to the god of Adam’s Peak

Let us now worship all the gods and go In search of the mansions of the sea.”

No god, alas, heard their pious prayers and the proud ship foundered on the reefs of Male, leaving those left behind in Dodanduwa to sing her dirges:

Metaenin oruva baa laa gati varaayata

Diyamba porn sata divve tharangataya

Kopamana ruval aedalaa divvat sondata

Amugoda oruva tava naeta aave gamata

“From here was the vessel taken to the port

And many a league did she race along under sail,

But however many sails were hoisted, and however fair she sailed

Amugoda Oruva never made home again.”

Sixty years or so later I was in Galle, organizing an international group of maritime archaeologists who were training a clutch of our young archaeology undergraduates and, at the same time, compiling a data base of shipwrecks in Galle Bay. Among the group was Tom Vosmer, an Australian boat ethnographer, with whom I discussed the Amugoda Oruwa and the large 100-year old model of a yathra dhoni at Kumarakanda Pirivena, Dodanduwa, that I had been privileged to photo record.

Tom was enthusiastic, for this was the last of a type of large outrigger-equipped sailing ships which could be traced back to the time of Borobudur. Days were spent in examining the model, and measuring, photographing and making detailed drawings of structural details. Built by the young son of a ship-owner, around 1890, it had been awarded a gold medal by the Governor. Tom considered that its accuracy, both in scale and detail, made it a fairly reliable source for (????????)

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Features

The Iran War, Global Oil Crisis, and Local Options

Published

7 hours ago

2026/03/22

Thilina Walpola

Flight of Insanity

Now in its third week and still no end sight, Trump’s Iran’s war is showing a tedious pattern of tragic-comic episodes. The human tragedy continues under relentless aerial assaults in Iran and under both aerial and ground assaults in Lebanon. Israel, now in a hurry to destroy as much it can of its enemy assets before Trump lapses into war withdrawals, is picking its spots at will; three of its latest scalps could not have come at higher echelons of the Iranian regime. Within two days, Israeli has targeted and killed Ali Larijani, the powerful, versatile and experienced secretary of the Supreme National Security Council; Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij paramilitary force; and Iran’s Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib.

Yet there is no indication if the continuing hollowing out of Iran’s decision making apparatus will produce the intended effect of encouraging the people of Iran to come out on the streets and topple the regime. People cannot pour on to the streets, even if they want to, until the American and Israeli bombing stops. That may not happen till the US military finishes its list of asset targets in Iran and Israel finishes off the list of Iranian leaders who are tagged on by Mossad’s network of Iranian moles. They are so widespread that last year after setting up a special task force to expose the internal informants, the National Security Council found out that the person whom they had selected to lead the task force was himself a spy! Disaffected citizens are also becoming informal informants.

The comical side of the war is provided by President Trump in the daily press court that he holds at the White House, taking full advantage of the presidential system in which the chief officer is not required to present himself to and take questions from the country’s elected lawmakers. There has never been and there likely will never be another presidential spectacle like Donald J. Trump. It is shocking although not surprising to find out daily as to how much he doesn’t know about the war that he started or where it is heading. The ghost of Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary of the Iraq war and the coiner of the ‘unknown unknowns’ phrase, would tell you that Trump is the epitome of one of the known knowns, the predictable bully. For all his misjudgements and bad calls over the Iraq war 23 years ago, Rumsfeld now looks like a giant of a professional in comparison to Pete Hegseth, the bigmouthed charlatan who parades as Donald Trump’s Secretary of War.

Asymmetric Advantage

For its part, Iran appears to be reaping the worst and the best of an asymmetric warfare. Iran is getting pummelled in all the metrics of conventional warfare and there should be nothing surprising about it. It is rather silly for the American and Israeli military spokespeople to crow about their aerial strikes and their successes. On the other hand, the US and Israeli forces combined have not been able to answer Iran’s ability to establish areas of war where Iran sets the term and scores at its choosing. Quite astonishingly, President Trump has said that Iran was not supposed to attack its neighbours and no one apparently told him that such attacks might happen.

“Nobody. Nobody. No, no, no. The greatest experts—nobody thought they were going to hit,“ Trump responded to a leading question by a Fox News reporter whether the President was “surprised nobody briefed you ahead of time” about the likelihood of Iranian retaliation against America’s Gulf allies. Prevarication is second nature to President Trump and it is the same explanation for the Administration’s strategic gaffe over the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has imposed a blockade over the narrow waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman that provides vital passage for about 20% of the world’s oil shipments. Again, no one told him that Iran might do this. That is also because Trump has gotten rid of all the people in government capable of providing advice and is surrounding himself with sidekicks who will not challenge him on his misrepresentation of facts. As well, by keeping Congress out of the loop the President and the Administration tossed away the opportunity to deliberate before deciding to go to war.

True to form, Trump trots out another bizarre argument that the US does not have any shipment through the Strait of Hormuz and, therefore, it is up to countries, including China, that depend on the Hormuz route to come to his party in the Persian Gulf. The US would be there to help them out and he went on to invite his erstwhile allies and fellow NATO members to join the US and help the world keep the Strait of Hormuz open for its oil shipments.

Trump’s calls have been all but spurned. No US president has suffered such a rebuff. Other presidents did their consultations with allies before starting a war, not after. “This war started without any consultations,” said Germany’s Defence Minister Boris Pistorius. He then queried incredulously: “What does Donald Trump expect from a handful of European frigates in the Strait of Hormuz that the mighty US Navy cannot manage alone?” Iran has let it be known that it will block passage only to its enemies and allow others to cross the strait by arrangement. Chinese, Indian and Pakistani ships have been allowed to navigate through the strait. The UN and NATO countries are reportedly considering new initiatives to ensure safe passage through the Strait, but details are unclear.

While the official American endgame is unclear, scholars and academics have started weighing in and calling Trump’s misadventure for what it is. Three such contributions this week have caught the media’s attention. Muhanad Seloom writing online in Al Jazeera, has presented an unsolicited yet by far the strongest case for Trump, arguing that “the US-Israeli strategy is working” because Trump’s war against Iran is accomplishing a “systematic, phased degradation of a threat that previous administrations allowed to grow for four decades.” A former State Department staffer and now a Doha and Exeter academic, Seloom seems overly sanguine about the impending demise of the Iranian regime and underplays the political implications of the war’s externalities and unintended consequences for the Trump presidency in America.

The comprehensive degradation of virtually all of Iran’s hard assets is not in question. What is in question is whether the asset degradation is translating into a regime change. The additional questions are whether the obvious success in asset degradation is enough to save President Trumps political bacon in the midterm elections in November, or will it stop Iran from controlling the Strait of Hormuz and impacting the global oil flows. Firm negative answers to these questions have been provided by two American scholars. Nate Swanson, also a former State Department staffer turned academic researcher and who was also a member of Trump’s recent negotiating team with Iran, has additionally highlighted the martyrdom significance of the killing of Ayatollah Khamenei both within Iran and in the entire Shia crescent extending from Lebanon to Karachi.

Robert Pape, University of Chicago Historian, who has studied and modelled Iranian scenarios to advise past US Administrations, has compared President Trump’s situation in Iran to President Johnson’s quagmire in Vietnam in 1968. Pape’s thesis is that asymmetric conflicts inherently keep escalating and there is no winning way out for a superpower over a lesser power. The main difference between Vietnam and Iran is that Vietnam did not trigger global oil and economic crises. Iran has triggered an oil crisis and the IMF is warning to expect higher inflation and lower growth as a result of the war. “Think of the unthinkable and prepare for it,” is the advice given to world’s policy makers by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva to a symposium in Japan, earlier this month.

Global Oil Crisis

The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has created a crisis of uneven supplies and high prices the likes of which have not been seen since the 1973 oil embargo by Arab countries in the wake of the Yom Kippur War that saw the price of oil increasing four fold from $3 to $12 a barrel. The International Energy Agency (IEA), which came into being as the western response to the 1973 Arab oil embargo, has warned that the market is now experiencing “the most significant supply disruption in its history.”

According to Historians, denying or disrupting oil flows has been an effective tool in modern warfare. The oft cited examples before the 1973 oil embargo are the British oil blockade of Germany in World War 1, and the stopping of Germans accessing the Caucasus oilfields by the Soviet Union’s Red Army in World War II. The irony of the current crisis is that until now the world was getting to be more energy efficient and less oil dependent as a result of the technological, socioeconomic and behavioural changes that were unleashed by the 1973 oil embargo. Post Cold War globalization streamlined global oil flows even as the turn towards cheaper and renewable energy sources increased the use of alternative energy sources.

What was becoming a global energy complacency, according to Jason Bordoff and Meghan O’Sullivan, American academics and National Security advisers to former Presidents Obama and Bush, suffered its first disruptive shock with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Market reaction was immediate with crude oil prices increasing by over 50% and exceeding $135 per barrel. Russia cut its natural gas supply to Europe by half leaving western Europe the worst affected region by the crisis. In contrast, Asia is the worst affected continent by the current crisis although market reaction was not immediate apparently because the US was deemed a far more reliable actor than Russia. It is a different story now.

The present crisis is expected to ratchet up crude oil prices to as high as $150 to $200 a barrel in current dollars from what was below $75 before Trump started the war. Futures trading before the war projected $62 per barrel in 2027. Now, lower prices are not anticipated until after the end of this decade. The daily price has been yo-yoing above and below $100 in harmony with Trump’s musings about the course of the war and the time for its ending. The current market uncertainty stems from the growing realization that the Trump Administration was not clear about why it was starting the war and now it does not know how or when to bring it to an end. The Hormuz crisis has made the prospects all the bleaker.

Sri Lanka’s Options

In the unfolding uncertainty, the only certainty is that Sri Lanka’s options are limited. The challenges facing the country and the government involve both politics and economics. For the country, even the political options are limited – perhaps as limited as the economic options available to the government in the short term. The incessant political critics of the government start with extrapolating Aragalaya and end with anticipating another government collapse like the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government. But anyone looking for political alternatives to the NPP government should look at the press photograph showing a recent news conference of opposition party leaders announcing the formation of “a common opposition platform to resist the government’s anti-democratic actions.” Missing an action and absconding per usual, like Julia Roberts in Runway Bride, is once again Sajith Premadasa, the accredited Leader of the Opposition.

Talk about democratic priorities when the economic engine and the energy generators will soon have no oil or diesel to run on. Among the assembled, there is no one equipped enough to head a government ministry with the possible exception of Champika Ranawaka. And it is rich to talk about constitutional dictatorship for a group that was associated with the extended one-party government from 1977 to 1994, and a second group the tried to perpetuate a one-family government between 2005 and 2022. It is virtually imperative to argue that for the sake of the country the NPP government must successfully navigate through the impending crisis. Whether the government will be able to live up to what is now a necessity, not just expectation, we will soon find out.

There is no minimizing or underestimating the magnitude of the crisis. Crude oil and petroleum products account for nearly 20% of the total import bill. Rising oil prices will impact the balance of payment and forex reserves, and could potentially siphon off the currently accumulated $7+ billion forex balance. Rupee devaluation and inflation are likely, but not necessarily to the absurd levels reached during the ultimate Rajapaksa regime. Economic growth will slow and the $1.5 to $2.0 billion FDI targets may not materialize. The current arrangement for debt repayment may have to be revisited, even as relief measures will need to be undertaken to soften the rising price effects throughout the economy and among the less privileged sections of society. Restricting consumption has already been started and the country may have to brace for further restrictions and even power cuts.

In the short term, renegotiating the current EFF (Extended Fund Facility) terms with the IMF will be unavoidable. Equally important are long term measures. The low storage capacity for oil and petroleum has made price fluctuations inevitable. The government has announced storage capacity expansion in Kolonnawa and fast tracking the construction of a jet-fuel pipeline from Muthurajawela to Katunayake – to facilitate the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) becoming a regional aviation hub. The current shipping problems present a new opportunity for the utilization of the expanded terminal facilities to increase transhipment operations at the Colombo harbour.

At long last, after 78 years, there is some action to upgrade the storied 99 oil tanks in Trincomalee. But the bulk of the upgrading depends on the trilateral agreement between Sri Lanka, India and the United Arab Emirates to create an energy hub in Trincomalee. This might run into delays because of the current situation involving the UAE. Already delayed is the construction of the $3.7b Sinopec Oil refinery in Hambantota, the MOU for which was signed more than an year ago. The NPP government has been adept in keeping good relationships with both India and China. Now is the time to try to expedite the deliverables on their commitments.

Another not so long term necessity is to expand electricity generation through renewable sources and minimize its dependence on thermal generation based on imported oil, not to mention coal. Thermal power contributes to just under 50% of energy output at about 80% of total generation costs. In contrast, just over 50% of the output is generated by renewable sources, including hydro, at 20% of the total cost.

The contribution of hydropower is weather dependent and its uncertainty has long been the pretext for persisting with thermal power and not encouraging the development of solar and wind energy sources. There is no more urgent time to stop this persistence than now in light of the oil crisis. The government must cut through the cobwebs of vested thermal power interests and make clean energy a central part of its Clean Sri Lanka initiative. China is in the forefront of renewable energy technology and expansion and has timed the unveiling of its new five year renewable energy expansion plan to coincide with the current oil crisis. Many countries are emulating China and Sri Lanka should join them.

Features

Two Decades of Trust: SINGER Wins People’s Brand of the Year for the 20th Consecutive Time

Published

7 hours ago

2026/03/22

Thilina Walpola

Singer Sri Lanka, the nation’s foremost retailer of consumer durables, celebrates a truly historic milestone at the SLIM-KANTAR People’s Awards 2026, securing a prestigious triple victory while marking 20 consecutive years as the People’s Brand of the Year, an achievement made possible by the enduring trust and loyalty of Sri Lankan consumers.

This year, SINGER was honoured with yet another triple win with People’s Brand of the Year, Youth Brand of the Year and People’s Durables Brand of the Year at the awards ceremony. This remarkable recognition reflects the deep and lasting relationship the brand has built with Sri Lankans across generations, standing as a symbol of trust in homes across the island.

Reaching this 20-year milestone is not just a testament to brand strength, but a celebration of the millions of customers who have continuously chosen SINGER as a part of their everyday lives. For two decades, Sri Lankans have placed their confidence in the brand, welcoming it into their homes, their families, and their aspirations.

Expressing his appreciation, Janmesh Antony, Director – Marketing of Singer Sri Lanka PLC, stated:

“Winning these awards reflects our commitment to quality, innovation, and staying closely connected to our customers. Being recognised as Durables brand, Youth brand, and as the People’s Brand of the Year highlights our ability to resonate across generations. As we celebrate 20 years as the People’s Brand, our deepest gratitude goes to our customers, this milestone truly belongs to them. It also reflects the dedication of our teams, who continuously strive to serve them better every day. Winning Youth Brand of the Year further reinforces our focus on staying relevant and meaningfully connected with the next generation.”

Commenting on the milestone, Mahesh Wijewardene, Group Managing Director of Singer Sri Lanka PLC, added:

“This recognition is a tribute to the millions of Sri Lankans who have stood by us over the years. Being named the People’s Brand of the Year for the 20th consecutive time is both humbling and inspiring. It reflects the deep trust our customers place in us, and we are truly grateful for the role we play in their everyday lives. This milestone strengthens our commitment to continue delivering value, innovation, and service excellence, always with our customers at the heart of everything we do.”

Over the years, SINGER has grown alongside the people of Sri Lanka, evolving from a trusted household name into a future-ready retail powerhouse. By continuously innovating its product portfolio and enhancing service excellence, the brand has remained closely aligned with the changing needs and aspirations of its customers.

Guided by a deep-rooted customer-first philosophy, an extensive islandwide retail network, and dependable after-sales service, Singer continues to set benchmarks not only in the consumer durables sector but across the nation. By elevating everyday living and bringing greater convenience, comfort, and ease into Sri Lankan homes, the brand has become a trusted partner in shaping modern lifestyles. Its growing connection with younger audiences further reflects its ability to seamlessly blend legacy with contemporary aspirations.

As Singer Sri Lanka celebrates this milestone, the company remains profoundly grateful for the trust placed in it by generations of Sri Lankans. With a continued commitment to enriching lives through innovation and making everyday living more effortless and accessible, Singer looks ahead to growing alongside its customers, strengthening its place as one of the most trusted, loved, and enduring brands in the country.

Features

Test cricket of a different kind in 1948

Published

7 hours ago

2026/03/22

Thilina Walpola

Photo shot on the occasion of the 1948 women’s cricket match between England and then Ceylon

Early last year [probably 2004] I received a call from Michael Ludgrove the then head of the rare book section at Christies Auction house requesting help to decipher the names of Ceylonese cricketers who had signed a cricket bat in the 1930’s following a combined India-Ceylon match against the visiting MCC. This led to my keeping an eye out for unusual items on Ceylon cricket.

A few months later a set of autographs came up for sale. They were of the visiting English women cricketers who played a match in Colombo, against the Ceylon women in the first “Test” of its kind. I was lucky to trace two of the test cricketers from the Ceylon team who now live in Victoria, Beverly Roberts (Juriansz) and Enid (Gilly) Fernando. Incidentally Gilly is called Gilly after AER Gilligan the Australian Cricketer and answers to no other name.

The visiting English team were on their way to Australia on the SS Orion. The Colombo Cricket Club were the hosts and the match was played at the Oval on the November 1, 1948. The match attracted a crowd of around 5,000 many of whom had not seen women play cricket before. Among the distinguished guests were the Governor General, the Bishop of Brisbane, the Assistant Bishop of Colombo -the Reverend Lakdasa de Mel, the Yuvaraj and Yuvaranee of Kutch and Sir Richard Aluwihare.

The well known cricket writer, SP Foenander, provided the broadcast commentary.

The English team consisted of: Molly Hyde (Capt.), Miss Rheinberger, Nacy Joy, Grace Morgan, Mary Duggan, Betty Birch, Dorothy McEroy, Mary Johnson, Megan Lowe, Nancy Wheelan,

The Ceylon team consisted of Miss O Turner (Capt.), Miss Enid (Gilly) Fernando, Miss C Hutton, Miss S Gaddum, Shirley Thomas, Marienne Adihetty, Beverley Roberts, Pat Weinman, Leela Abeykoon, Binthan Noordeen

Reserves: Mrs D H Swan & Mrs E G Joseph. Umpires: W S Findall and H E W De Zylva.

There is on record a previous match, played by a visiting English women’s cricket team in Colombo. However, they played against a team consisting mainly of wives of European Planters and no Ceylonese were included.

Beverley Roberts, 16 years old Leela Abeykoon and Phyllis De Silva were from St John’s Panadura which was the first girl’s school to play cricket. Their coach was G C Roberts (older brother of Michael Roberts). Marienne Adihetty was from Galle and her brother played for Richmond College. Binthan Noordeen was from Ladies College. She is the granddaughter of M.C. Amoo one of the best Malay cricketers of former days, who took a team from Ceylon to Bombay in 1910. Binthan was a teacher at Ladies College at the time and also excelled in hockey, netball and tennis. Pat Weinman is the daughter of Jeff Weinman, a former Nondescripts cricketer.

The team was mainly coached by S. Saravanamuttu with others such as S J Campbell helping. The arrangements were made by the Board of Control of Cricket headed by P Saravanamuttu. Though the match itself was one sided with the Ceylon women cricketers beaten decisively, the Ceylon team impressed the visitors by their gallant display, after less than two months of practice as a team. The English team won the toss and batted first. Molly Slide the captain scored a century in a fine display of batting. The captain of the Ceylon team Mrs Hutton took six wickets for 43.

(Michael Roberts Thuppahi blog)

Dr. Srilal Fernando in Melbourne, reproducing an essay that appeared originally in The CEYLANKAN, a quarterly produced by the Ceylon Research Society in Australia.