On September 9, Lakbima (a Sinhala daily newspaper in Colombo) carried a cartoon by HasanthaWijenayake. It featured a plump Jayalalitha Jayaram, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, in an aggressive posture against Sri Lanka. While her right index finger was pointing at Sri Lanka, her left hand holding the lower end of saree to her… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Sri Kantha
The LTTE’s Mega Landmine Hit
The shock that an LTTE landmine had decapitated the Sinhalese military leadership of the Northern Province, who had bragged only a week before to the India Today magazine (July 31, 1992) that they were about to humiliate LTTE, was too much to absorb by the Sinhala media and politicians. There was an orgy of breast beating, finger pointing and blame shifting. For popular consumption, these military heroes had died either due to carelessness (as Chandraprema opined recently) or due to internal back-stabbing by President Premadasa who was envious of the popularity of Major General Denzil Kobbekaduwa. Sinhalese military analysts and public found it difficult to gulp that they lost their heroes to the LTTE’s adept reconnaissance tactics.
Democracy Dance in Diapers
by Sachi Sri Kantha, September 20, 2005 This September 11, the editor of the Sangam website directed an appreciative Tamil reader’s query to me. The query posed by reader Elango was on the dilemma faced by the current Election Chief Dayananda Dissanayake on scheduling the next Presidential election in the island and the plight of… Read more »
The Nitty-Gritty of ‘Hit Lists’
by Sachi Sri Kantha, September 12, 2005 1992 Hit List in Chennai The India Today magazine of April 15, 1992 (pp.28-31) carried a three page “Special Report” authored by Anirudhya Mitra, from Madras [now Chennai]. On page 28, with a boxed caption, “The Hit List,” four photographs of prominent Tamil Nadu individuals were placed; (1) J. Jayalalitha, the chief… Read more »
The Spin and Swing of the RAW Orchestra
By Sachi Sri Kantha, September 3, 2005 It does not take even ten seconds, for Tamil music fans, to identify the characteristic voices of star performers like M.S. Subbulakshmi, Madurai Mani Iyer, Chidambaram Jayaraman and Sirkali Govindarajan. The tonal markers of sweetness, swing and lilt of each such musician’s voice are too distinct, unless one… Read more »
An Anniversary, a Proverb and a Hypocrite
by Sachi Sri Kantha, September 3, 2005 The other day I received an e-mail from one appreciative Tamil reader of my essays and commentaries. Here is a relevant excerpt: “…Almost every international writer or human rights worker (such as a doctor) supporting the Tamils of Sri Lanka is placed on a travel restriction list by… Read more »
Farewell to Lakshman Kadirgamar
by Sachi Sri Kantha, August 16, 2005 Many readers will consider this article in somewhat bad taste because it does not speak well of someone who has passed on. The editor is of the opinion that one must look at a life honestly and acknowledge the good and the bad. The feelings expressed in this… Read more »
Revisiting Mervyn de Silva
For Candid Thoughts on ‘Black July 1983’ Front Note by Sachi Sri Kantha, August 13, 2005 The horrendous events of July 1983 which scarred the bodies, minds and properties of Eelam Tamils deserve to be remembered annually. I feel, however, that it is better to re-read what one of the erudite Sinhalese journalists or our… Read more »
Tides of War IV
On ‘Tides of War’ Much of the problem with Gourevitch’s article in ‘The New Yorker’ became clear yesterday when he hosted a discussion of Sri Lanka with Dayan Jayatilleke as his guest on [US] National Public Radio. http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/08112005 Jayatilleke had come off well in Gourevitch’s article and Grourevitch had used the Jayatilleke-coined epithet ‘Sun God’ to… Read more »
Rendering Unto Caesar: a Book Review
Bradman Weerakoon, Rendering Unto Caesar, Vijitha Publications, Colombo, 2004, 396 pp. Reviewed by Sachi Sri Kantha, December 19, 2004 Of the millions of Sri Lankans born in the 20th century, Bradman Weerakoon is the only fellow to be blessed uniquely. He was blessed for the first time in the year of his birth (1930), when his police… Read more »
Reminiscences on Directing M.S.
The Musician-Movie Star by Ellis R. Dungan Front Note by Sachi Sri Kantha M.S. Subbulakshmi (the supreme musician of 20th century Tamil Nadu and known to millions simply by her initials, M.S.) bid farewell to us on December 11th at the age of 88. She is on route to moksha – the everlasting celestial palace of angels, dancers and… Read more »
Score One Again for Karma
by Sachi Sri Kantha, November 30, 2024 It is considered somewhat a bad etiquette to speak ill or criticise a deceased individual. This is especially so if that individual suffered a violent death. That the criticised individual cannot defend his or her past deeds seems to be the main reason behind this prevailing etiquette. Should… Read more »
For Pirabhakaran, the Future Begins at Fifty
A birthday greeting by Sachi Sri Kantha, November 26, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/662.html Having reached fifty, what is in store for LTTE leader Pirabhakaran? While his admirers would wish him a ‘long life’, his adversaries (both local and non-local varieties) would dream of something different from his admirers. Thus, it is opportune to review how five of… Read more »
The Stories of Guru Paramarta
Seventh Story of Falling off the Horse by Fr.Costanzo Beschi [aka, Veera MaMuni] sangam.org/articles/view2/654.html Front Note by Sachi Sri Kantha The seventh story in the Guru Paramarta series describes the obstinacy of his five dummy disciples, who were short on common sense and would do only what was instructed specifically. In this story, the Guru… Read more »
General Pirabhakaran’s Critics
An Alphabetical Assembly by Sachi Sri Kantha, November 19, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/646.html I was tempted to compile this list after I read an essay penned by R. K. Narayan entitled, ‘The Enemies.’ First I quote an excerpt from this humorous essay in which Narayan introduced his motivation for a list of the ‘enemies of society’: “…I… Read more »
General Pirabhakaran in the Foot-steps of General Washington
by Sachi Sri Kantha, November 15, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/636.html Fourteen years ago, in the pages of now-defunct Asiaweek (Hong Kong) magazine, I engaged in a ‘duel’ with a spineless, anonymous correspondent on the purported ‘anti-social’ activities of the LTTE. In my letters to the magazine editor, I compared the LTTE’s performance as a peoples’ militia as nothing different… Read more »
Twenty Books on Eelam Tamils
For reference and research by Sachi Sri Kantha, November 4, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/632.html This list was originally prepared by me to aid one young reader of my writings in the Sangam site. Early this year, he solicited my choices for study on the history and politics of Eelam Tamils. For convenience, I have arranged my selections… Read more »
Of Cranky Letters and Political Knaves
by Sachi Sri Kantha, October 20, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/612.html It seems that some kind of virus strain is turning Tamil politicians like Douglas Devananda and Veerasingham Anandasangaree into letter writers. Early this year, it was revealed that Minister Devananda wrote 16 letters to the Sri Lankan Commissioner of Elections on the ‘irregularities’ he experienced as a… Read more »
Let the Tamils Go 2
sangam.org/articles/view2/609.html Along with an article ( http://www.sangam.org/articles/view2/?uid=594 ) a few days ago by Mr. V. Navaratnam, the editor asked for a picture of Mr. Navaratnam. As usual, Sachi Sri Kantha comes through: Yesterday was Mr. Navaratnam’s 94th birthday. He was born on October 18, 1910. Regards, Sachi
Tamil Genocide, as ‘The Hindu’ Reported It – 20 Years Ago
by Sachi Sri Kantha sangam.org/articles/view2/600.html One of the English words which had depreciated in value drastically is ‘genocide’. This is a pity, since it’s a relatively ‘new’ word, coined only 60 years ago, in 1944. The New Yorker of May 3, 2004, carried a short column on the genocide theme in its ‘Talk of the Town’ pages. … Read more »