Adilah Ismail

//To get into character for Auntie Netta, Nimmi Harasgama compresses her jawline like an accordion to give the illusion of multiple chins. Since her initial appearances over a decade ago, her clothes are now updated to island-appropriate kaftans. Netta’s makeup is chaotically blotted lipstick, which strays out of her lip line. The braided wig has been abandoned for a dishevelled, short wig. When many people meet Nimmi Harasgama in real life, there is an inflection of surprise and a double-take when they connect her to her online alter-ego: “Wait, you’re Aunty Netta?”//

Zora Neale Hurston wrote that “There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” This was the first in a new series on life in the middle of a pandemic.

‘Notes on Resilience’ looked at hope, resilience and joy in a challenging year. Here, sociology lecturer and newly minted parliamentarian Dr. Harini Amarasuriya discussed the post-pandemic futures we need to collectively work to and how maybe we should look towards cats for life lessons. Have a read :)

Melony Mahaarachchi began to study engineering later than most students and while being a full-time mother. Her first engineering job was at Elon Musk’s SpaceX in 2010. She went on to join the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to work on the Mars 2020 Rover mission, which launched in July 2020. Here, she spoke about failure and learning, her pandemic philosophy and hope.

Visakesa Chandrasekaram discusses the release of his movie ‘Paangshu’ after the first lockdown, the importance of friends and family bonds in cultivating personal resilience and how Bharatha natyam helped cultivate mental and physical resilience in a slow-burn year.

A Q&A with Hafleen Dawood, a secondhand and rare book seller based in Wellawatte, and better known as Deen the Book Man. We discussed how the pandemic affected book sales, how he adjusted to meet reader requirements and plans for 2021.

For our final edition of ‘Notes on Resilience’ Amalini De Sayrah speaks about the generosity of Sri Lankans in times of need, burnout and 2020 as a year to acknowledge and reflect on privilege.

Yudhanjaya explores burnout, the heightened importance of communication with one another and the changing conditions of writing and publishing in 2020.

Kiribath publishers began soon after the Easter attacks to help children at the Zion Church, Batticaloa affected by the attacks deal with their trauma. Since then, they've expanded to publish board books that young Sri Lankan children can relate to, with Sri Lankan contexts, places and faces.

I really enjoyed Minoli's collection of short stories, Broken Jaw. Here's a Q&A. We discussed writing, toggling between academia and fiction and more.

Ramadan in 2020 was one like no other. I spoke to Muslims around Sri Lanka about their experiences of fasting through a pandemic, how they navigated COVID-19 and their plans for Eid.

Kumar and Yaheli Sangakkara speak about their connection to Galle and the process of finding their dream holiday home.

Contributing writer - The New Establishment 100 coffee table book and the Echelon Magazine edition of this list.
The New Establishment was a list of new leaders who are building, leading and disrupting Sri Lanka's business world. More info here: https://echelon.lk/ne100/about/

An essay on Eid in Sri Lanka and the cultural elements that have influenced the island's palate.

Fidel’s first book is a departure from the cricket journalism that accompanies his by-line. We had a chat about his cricket writing and 'Upon a Sleepless Isle'.

Ps: Recommended reading to accompany this - Fidel's profile on Kumar Sangakkara's dad as well as his 2019 profile on Lasith Malinga.

Lead writer for MAS Holdings' 30-year anniversary coffee table book.