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The Indian Tamils in British Ceylon & Sri Lanka: Pursuing Their Equality TODAY-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis International Conference focusing on the topic “MOVING TOWARDS EQUALITY AND INCLUSIVE GROWTH.”…. 200 years of People of Indian Origin Tamils (IOT) in Sri Lanka” …. BCIS Auditorium (The Olympus), BMICH, Colombo, 11th December 2023 Welcome & Opening Address: Dr. Mario Gomez Executive Director International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo … Inaugural Address: Dr. Yasodara Kathirgamathamby Conference Chair, Department of Legal Studies Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences The Open University of Sri Lanka Special Address: Prof. Gamini Keerawella, Executive Director, Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies, Colombo A coffee plucker … 19th century labourers among tea bushes .… & labourers assembled with kanganies at a tea factory ...

Dec 2, 2023 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Michael Roberts Tagged Indian Tamils in British Ceylon, Mr. Kumar Nadesan, Prof. Subeshini Moodley

High-Profile Burghers & Other Exotic Personnel in Olde Ceylon-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis Rodney Vandergert, whose title reads thus: “Random Musings of A Senile Mind,”.… an article which appeared on web on 4th March 2006 at https://kermeey.blogspot.com/2006/03/random-musings-of-senile-mind.html …… reproduced with selective highlights in this version … & brought to my attention by Charles Schokman of Australia “Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, but to be young was very heaven” Wordsworth: Preludes In the Nineteen Forties and early Fifties, Bambalawatte was the centre of the universe. It was where all the meaningful action took place and where the principal actors were mainly Burghers and a group of expatriates drawn from half a dozen nationalities. This was brought most forcibly to my mind after reading the recent obituaries which appeared in the local press – one to Zoe Jayatilleke by Tita Nathanielsz; the other to David Gladwin Loos , C.C.S.. by Bradman Weerakoon. ...

Dec 1, 2023 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Michael Roberts Tagged Livy Wijemanne, Michael Roberts, Mike Wilson, Rodney Jonklaas

The Walawwa in Sri Lanka: Its Origins-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis Dash De Soysa, …. with a modification by the author of the original Thuppahi entry set out in blue lettered text; and two ‘pictures’ of the Prince of Wales’ visit to Ceylon added on 28th Novembe 2023 The walauwa was a residence of an aristocrat in the past and, according to the Sinhala Dictionary, it is derived from the Tamil or Telugu word ‘walawu’. Some also refer to it as a place of jurisdiction. The earliest sources that refer to elite residencies and residents of Lanka can be found in many ancient Brahmi inscriptions dating from about the 2nd century BCE. The ‘prabhu‘ (elite) of various sectors – administration, military, tax collection, navigation, ports, agriculture, infrastructure and so on were referred to as ‘parmuka‘, and the king as ‘Mapurumukā‘. Similarly, ‘pramukha’ and ‘pramukhän’ in Sanskrit and ‘perumakan’ in Tamil also mean foremost, chief, principal or ...

Nov 29, 2023 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Michael Roberts Tagged Meenakshi Meyappan, The Walawwa in Sri Lanka, Vaisalakshi Ramswamy

The Humanitarian Social Commitment of Lakshman Wickremesinghe-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis Professor Rajiva Wijesinha, item taken from Daily News, 24 October 2023, ….. with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi Bishop Lakshman Wickremesinghe died on October 23 forty years ago. He was my uncle, and I had a special affinity with him with regard to both intellect and emotions. When I came back from Oxford, where he had studied a couple of decades before me, he was the family member who was most supportive of my resignation on the issue of the deprivation of Mrs. Bandaranaike’s Civic Rights, for unlike most members of the elite he understood early on what that meant for the future of democracy, a blight that has never left us since it was followed by a premature Presidential election, the ghastly referendum, and then the attacks first on Supreme Court Judges and then on Tamils. one moment during Black ...

Nov 25, 2023 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Michael Roberts Tagged Anila Dias Bandaranaike, Lakshman Wickremesinghe, Professor Rajiva Wijesinha

Migration out of Ceylon & Sri Lanka – by Michael Roberts in ADELAIDE To those CEYLONESE – term used advisedly to mark time-emphasis – who migrated from the island in the period 1948 to 1970 ….and even in the next two decades … do take the trouble to respond to these questions at whatever length you consider suitable. DEAR I am now 85 years old. I left Sri Lanka with my family in 1977 and was therefore aware of the socio-political currents that prevailed from the 1950s onwards. Some of these developments and currents motivated several Western-educated personnel of middle-class status to migrate. Some of my relatives were among those who moved out to UK, Canada and Australia. That was THEN. But these personnel are presently in the Now …unless they have departed from life on earth. All the survivors will have grey hair …. or none at all. These features ...

Nov 25, 2023 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Michael Roberts Tagged Australia, Canada, Ceylon, Michael Roberts, Migration out of Ceylon, Sri Lanka, UK

Michael Roberts Papers at Adelaide University Library-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis MICHAEL ROBERTS PAPERS, MAINLY ON SRI LANKA ……MSS 0031 AT = UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE LIBRARY HTTPS://WWW.ADELAIDE.EDU.AU/LIBRARY/SPECIAL/ Philip Gunawardena Series 1: Transcript Fil Aluwihare, Sir Richard 68 p. Blood, Sir Hilary 62 p. Dyson, E.T. 46 p. Ferguson, G.H. 51 p. Gimson, Sir Franklin 84 p. Goonewardena, Leslie 34 p. Hartwell, Sir Charles 45 p. Leach, Frank 127 p. Lucette, E.H. 34 p. Miles, G.C. 58 p. Mulhall, J.A. 65 p. Newnham, H.E. 71 p. Nihill, J.H.B. 22 p. Roberts, T.W. 89 p. ** Rodrigo, Edmund 54 p. Sandys, M.K.T. 38 p. Stevens, F.G. 23 p. Strong, A.N. 180 p. Tilney, C.E. 41 p. Wirasinha, V.L. 53 p. Woolf, Leonard 30 p. Woolley, Sir Charles 45 p. Comments on E. Leach’s book Pul Eliya 87 p. (various correspondents, arranged alphabetically Comments on interviews 200 p. (various correspondents, including both those for whom transcripts ...

Nov 25, 2023 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Michael Roberts Tagged Mr Welimuni Sunil, Philip Gunawardena, Ralph Peiris, T.W. Roberts

Just DESSERTS for India at Cricket World Cup …. & Modi’s Curtness-by Michael Roberts Tunku Varadarajan, in The Wire, 20 November 2023 where the title reads thus: “Cricket Mata Ki Jai: Jingoism Lost in Ahmedabad on Sunday” … while highlights in blue have been imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi That India lost in the final was karmic payback for the BCCI’s sins against the game, and also for the Ahmedabad crowd’s unwillingness to be sporting and civilised. Prime Minister Narendra Modi walking away from Pat Cummins after handing him the trophy. Photo: Screengrab from video Tunku Varadarajan The most remarkable thing about Sunday’s World Cup final was not that India lost. Many of us had seen the defeat coming for days, and some foresaw it as the inevitable fruit of hubris, of “ghamand”. For those inclined to Sanskrit, a couple of lines from the Bhagavad Gita define perfectly the nature of the BCCI (the Board of Control ...

Nov 25, 2023 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Michael Roberts Tagged Pat Cummins, Tunku Varadarajan

Fantastic Predictions: WORLD CUP FORECASTS from Lankan Cricketing Fanatics-by Michael Roberts A FORECAST by Errol FERNANDO, …. A Piano Player from the Heavens, 19 November 2023 Source:Thuppahis After a long tournament, we reach the final that we all predicted many weeks ago, Lorenz – India vs Australia – with the obvious prediction that India will win. Millions will back India,of course. Let me take a different path by predicting a win for the Aussies, especially if they bat first. Head, Marsh and Maxwell are dangerous players who can take the game away from India. ...

Nov 20, 2023 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Michael Roberts Tagged WORLD CUP FORECASTS

Cricket Levelling Cricket! The Glenn Maxwell Song** … – By Michael Roberts Source : thuppahis Michael Roberts, deploying a twist on the West Indian calypso song presented by Lord Superior to sketch the twists and turns in the game exposd by Glenn Maxwell in te couse of two back-to-back matches Playing against Afghanistan at Wankhede Stadium on the 14th November 2023, Glenn Maxwell produced an extraordinary innings of 201 runs off 138 deliveries that eventually secured an unlikely victory in dire circumstances—one that hauled the Aussies from 7 wkts for 91 runs in the 18th over to 293 for 7 wkts in the 47th over. He amassed amassed an unprecedented double century …. 201 runs in 138 balls at a strike/rate of 157.03. Some of his strokes were SWIPES that are not in the rule book and would be verboten in any coaching camp. These swats generally took the cricket ball to the ropes … and OVER the ropes. Some were ...

Nov 17, 2023 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Michael Roberts Tagged Aussies, Eden Gardens in Kolkata

Lakshman Wickremasinghe’s Allround Excellence at Royal College in 1944-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis Lam Seneviratne: Email Note to Michael Roberts, 12 November 2023 The recent articles by you and Rajiva Wijesinha in connection of the 40th death anniversary of Bishop Lakshman Wickremasinghe are great tributes to him. They speak of him as a Priest, Chaplain and Bishop, his human qualities and how he lived his life as a true disciple of Jesus Christ, touching the lives of many. ...

Nov 14, 2023 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Michael Roberts Tagged Lakshman Wickremasinghe, Rajiva Wijesinha, Royal College