Independent writer and communications specialist. Writes about food, arts, culture, books, Colombo and Sri Lanka as a features writer. Takes on book projects, communications projects & corporate work.
On Cynthia Shanmugalingam's cookbook Rambutan
An interview with restauranteur and cookbook author, Cynthia Shanmugalingam, on food, cooking and her Tamil heritage.
Long walk for equality
Members of Sri Lanka’s Malaiyaha Tamil community travelled from Thalaimannar to Matale by foot to mark 200 years since their south Indian ancestors’ arrival in Sri Lanka. A piece on the roots of the Malaiyaha Tamils' struggle and the 250km walk they undertook.
Shehan Karunatilaka on his Booker Win
A Q&A with Shehan soon after his Booker win. In his own words: "For Sri Lankan writers, I’d say find the story that moves you and that no one else can tell. And then make time and space in your life to read and write every day. If you spend an hour writing every day, in 12 months you’ll have something. It may not be good, but it will be something you can build on. Be patient. Be kind with yourself and ruthless with the work. But please keep writing, there are so many Sri Lankan stories to tell."
On public space and protest: the Gotagogama Library
"The ‘Gotagogama’ library follows a tradition of libraries at protest sites and the emphasis placed on public learning in citizen-led resistance. Recently in India, libraries were a fixture in the farmers’ protests and at the Shaheen Bagh protest in Delhi. People’s libraries were also a part of the Gezi Park protests in Turkey, Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement, the Occupy Wall Street movements in the US and the protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square in Egypt.
A lot has already been written about ‘Gotagogama’. Perhaps what the protest space ultimately offers is a public space for reimagining."
Essay: On Living and Dying as a Muslim in Sri Lanka
A personal essay on grief, identity and the pandemic.
‘We sign everything else except our own marriage document’
Recently, Sri Lankan Muslim women have galvanized under the hashtag #LetHerSign on social media, speaking out about being unable to sign their marriage documents. Sri Lankan Muslim women are also often absent at their own marriage registration ceremonies.
Sri Lanka is one of the few Muslim family laws around the world which exclude Muslim women from the nikah process to a large extent.
This is a tale of 5 nikahs. I'm very grateful to everyone who was generous with their time and resources for this piece and for the women who trusted me with their stories.
On the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Sri Lanka
The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Sri Lanka moved to a new space and opened a new exhibition. It's very, very strange to write about art when the country is slow burning and every day is a struggle. In many ways, parts of the MMCA's exhibition and its choice of new location offers up modes of making sense of where Sri Lanka is now, through a cultural lens.
Kamala Vasuki, on her artistic journey
Artist and activist Kamala Vasuki discusses her art, activism and her work as a community-based artist.
3 food bloggers from Sri Lanka, 3 stories
Social media platforms such as YouTube and TikTok have seen an increase of food-related content from users based in Sri Lanka. Three food bloggers -- Anoma's kitchen, Yarl Samayal and Wild Cookbook -- shared their stories and their food journeys.
A portals to our past: digital archive of dissidents and activists in Sri Lanka
The online archive of Dissidents and Activists in Sri Lanka from the 1960s to 1990s was launched earlier this year and is centred on the theme of dissent, documenting the activity of Sri Lankan activists within a particular generation who challenged the existing political and social status quo.
What does it mean to be deaf in Sri Lanka? What does it mean to be deaf amidst a pandemic in Sri Lanka?
A sign language translator, a deaf blogger based in Sri Lanka and the team at Sri Lanka Central Federation of the Deaf spoke about their experiences in the past two years, communication challenges, the results of decades of advocacy and lobbying, the lack of research on deaf persons and much more. Thank you to everyone who shared their stories.
COVID-19 and Sri Lanka's film industry
How do you market and release a film during a pandemic? What do you do when a 25-year passion project has been completed and cannot be launched? What are the implications of zero social protection or employment benefits on an industry which is built on freelance labour? Stakeholders from Sri Lanka's film industry discuss the effects of the pandemic.
Q&A with Shehan Karunatilaka on his Booker longlist
In an email interview shortly after his booker longlist announcement, Shehan Karunatilaka spoke of what it means to be on the Booker longlist.
Anuk Arudpragasam on his latest book A Passage North
"In many ways, Arudpragasam’s novel A Passage North feels like an elegy written through fiction. It reflects on what it means to remember, what it means to bear witness and to contend with the guilt of survival. Reading it is a reminder that for many Sri Lankans, long before the pandemic, the space to grieve, mourn and heal has always been a luxury."
In conversation with Sri Lankan writer Kanya D’Almeida, winner of the Asia Regional Prize at the Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2021
"In March 2021, Kanya D’Almeida received an email from an online publication about a short story she had submitted. A firm, polite rejection, it outlined a list of things to be tightened or changed and she groaned, wondering if she would need to take the story back to the drawing board. A day later, she received an email from Commonwealth Writers informing her that the very short story was one of 20 shortlisted from a record number of 6423 entries from 50 countries."