Posts Categorized: Sri Kantha

The Americanization of Chennai

The Best Job in Town – The Americanization of Chennai by Katherine Boo, The New Yorker, July 5, 2004 Front Note by Sachi Sri Kantha ..the British practised overt colonialism. The Americans are now into covert colonialism. Doing anything in covert fashion is the American style. Overt racism is out; but covert racism is thriving…. Read more »

Black July – Editorials on Black July 1983

by Sachi Sri Kantha, July 27, 2004 Now, after 21 years, only one of the ten editorials [that which appeared in the Economist, August 6, 1983, under the caption ‘Not just the Tamils’] stands apart from the rest for its clarity of thoughts and time-withstanding precision. The editorialist presented four pragmatic options to solve the… Read more »

20 Years since Minister Devananda’s Major Dance

In terrorism by Sachi Sri Kantha, July 14, 2004 Twenty years and two months ago, – in May 1984 – there was a daring kidnapping episode in Jaffna involving two Americans. It was the first of its kind in Sri Lankan soil, and fortunately until now, has never recurred. A newly-wed American couple, the Allens… Read more »

Dissecting the April 2004 General Election Voting in Jaffna District

by Sachi Sri Kantha, July 6, 2004 Perfidy of Bhairavan’s clones Many Tamil movie fans would remember the signature role of ace comedian K.A.Thangavelu – that of a phony writer named Bhairavan – in the popular tear-jerker Kalyana Parisu (1959), directed by C.V.Sridhar. On returning home with a garland he had bought from a flower shop, and… Read more »

A Review of the ‘Sooriya Puthalvargal’ 2003 Memorial Souvenir

Homage to the Black Tigers by Sachi Sri Kantha, June 23, 2004 LTTE leader Pirabhakaran has been assigned the [un]flattering accolade as one of the ‘pioneers’ of suicide bombing warfare, by his adversaries and quite a few academic turkeys. In my opinion, quasi scholars like Rohan Gunaratna or, for that matter, Yoram Schweitzer [currently affiliated… Read more »

Fifth Guru Paramarta Story

Going Home on Horseback Front Note by Sachi Sri Kantha, June 18, 2004 The fifth story in the Guru Paramarta series describes how the Guru received a gifted horse and set out on his journey. A contemporary analogy to this fifth story of Fr.Beschi in Colombo was the latest attempts of President Chandrika and her… Read more »

Defection of a RAW Agent from India

by Sachi Sri Kantha, June 8, 2004 As is repeated often, perfect timing is everything – whether in the battle field, sports, creative arts, science, politics and even in writing. Encouraged by my previous essay on the defection game, one of my young and alert readers from Canada sent me a mail requesting me to… Read more »

Karuna Facing Defector’s Dilemma

by Sachi Sri Kantha; published June 3, 2004 There are two books adjacently placed in my study, since their titles share an affinity. The first is ‘The Oldest Profession – A History of Prostitution’ (1993 print) of an English translation of a German language original by Lujo Bassermann. The second is, ‘The Second Oldest Profession – Spies… Read more »

Hypocrisy Today

by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn; published June 1, 2004 [translated from the original Russian into English, by Stephan Solzhenitsyn; source: Daily Yomiuri, August 7, 1997.] Front Note by Sachi Sri Kantha If sycophancy is an art of civilizations boasting 2,500 year-old heritage (India, China and Sri Lanka), its closest kin – hypocrisy – is the ornament of civilizations [British,… Read more »

The Sycophant

by R.K. Narayan; published May 24, 2004 Front Note by Sachi Sri Kantha: Anantha Vikatan, the popular weekly published from Chennai, has been a household name among Tamils for decades. In one plane, it can be tagged as the equivalent of New Yorker for Tamils. In its English translation, Anantha Vikatan reads as ‘Happy Humorist’. One cartoon which appeared in… Read more »

Sonia’s Slap to the Roof-top Barkers

by Sachi Sri Kantha; published May 19, 2004 Sonia Gandhi’s Slap to the Roof-top Barkers As one could expect from India and Sri Lanka, quite a few hacks jumped the gun on what Sonia Gandhi would do, after the Congress Party led by her gained an electoral advantage in forming a new government. They began to… Read more »

Miffed with the LTTE’s Military Muscle

by Sachi Sri Kantha; published May 16, 2004 Miffed with the LTTE’s Military Muscle; a provocative point of view Has anyone wondered why the Washington Poo Bahs who dictate American diplomacy are miffed with the LTTE’s military muscle? Time and again, Eelam Tamils are served with statements from the American political decision-makers that the LTTE should… Read more »

Rajiv Assassination Investigation

by Sachi Sri Kantha; published May 12, 2004 Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Investigation: MDMA and the ‘Merry Go Round Politics’ of the Post-Supreme Court Phase Has anyone bothered to keep a score on the long-running theatrical farce involving the Multi Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA) and the ‘Merry Go Round’ politics and progress of the post-Supreme Court phase… Read more »

Remembering Malgudi’s Creator

by Sachi Sri Kantha; published May 10, 2004 Remembering Malgudi’s Creator, R.K.Narayan Front Note May 13th marks the third death anniversary of literary giant R.K.Narayan. Herewith, I provide a revised and extended version of my tribute to him, which originally appeared in the now defunct Tamil Nation website in May 2001, following his death. A Trend… Read more »

Fourth Guru Paramarta Story

by Fr. Costanzo Beschi; published May 5, 2004 The Stories of Guru Paramarta: Fourth Story of throwing a fish hook to catch the horse by Fr.Costanzo Beschi [aka, Veera MaMuni] Front Note by Sachi Sri Kantha The fourth story in the Guru Paramarta series describes the folly of disciple Dunce, who ventured to catch a horse… Read more »

Third Story of Guru Parmarta

by Sachi Sri Kantha; published April 27, 2004 The Stories of Guru Paramarta: Third Story of the Journey made on hired Ox by Fr.Costanzo Beschi [aka, Veera MaMuni] Front Note by Sachi Sri Kantha The third story of Guru Paramarta is less sparkling in comparison to the first two stories. This is because, Guru’s five good-for-nothing… Read more »

‘The Indian Theatre’

by Sachi Sri Kantha; published April 26, 2004 Re-visiting R.K.Narayan’s sketch of ‘The Indian Theatre’ I’m an avid fan of R.K.Narayan. It is a pleasure to read the portrayals of the Indian society (both past and present) by him, which are filled with humor and subtle satire pricking the pompous Poo Bahs. In view of the… Read more »

On the Colombo Run

by Sachi Sri Kantha; published April 19, 2004 On the Colombo run of routed Karuna There is a Tamil proverb which refers to the petty-mindedness of temple priests; ‘Even if the God grants divine munificence, the priest wouldn’t give his blessings’ [Kadavul varam koduthaalum Poosari idam kodaan.]. While two Sinhalese and one Muslim analyst openly stated… Read more »

Another Pirabhakaran Knockout

by Sachi Sri Kantha; published April 17, 2004 Nothing but another Pirabhakaran Knockout It’s a good feeling to enter the ring with thousands of people booing you. Especially when you know you can deliver what you predict. -Muhammad Ali [in his autobiography, The Greatest: My Own Story, 1975] Every sport has its own hair-raising magical moments. A… Read more »