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A clear blue sky-By Capt Elmo Jayawardena Source:Island (I publish this article just so that we can remember how sad the times were during the war for both sides. Let us hope and pray such will never happen again) The one unforgettable memory that Selva always carried within himself was the colour of the vast Jaffna sky, spotless and shimmering in brilliant blue. It appeared as if the Gods had decided to spread a sheet and tucked it taut to the corners of the horizon as if to show off how perfectly they could do things. Off and on there would be fluffy white clouds, being sheep-dogged by winds aloft, harmless cartoons scattered in the sky, men and dogs, trees and castles or whatever a child wanted to imagine them to be. The clouds were seldom grey and laden with rain. That’s how the dry climate came about to roast ...

Apr 8, 2021 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles Tagged Elmo Jayawardena

eLanka Newsletter – 31 Jan 2021 – 9th edition – Sri Lankans in Australia Click here or on the image below to read this week’s elanka Newsletter Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM – Advocate for doctors with disabilities – QLDSTATE RECIPIENT AUSTRALIAN OF THE YEAR 2021 “THE PRICE THAT IS PAID” – by Des Kelly Ms Azmeena HUSSAIN, VIC – MEDAL (OAM) OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA IN THE GENERAL DIVISION – For service to the community of Victoria, and to the law. Community and Multicultural Affairs Australia Day 2021 Honours List – Mr Anthony Phillip SWAN (Honorary Consul for for Sri lanka in Queensland Australia) RAY PEREIRA – MEDAL (OAM) OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA IN THE GENERAL DIVISION DR PETER JAYALOUCHANAN SELVARATNAM, VICTORIA – MEMBER (AM) IN THE GENERAL DIVISDION OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA Wishing Harry and Dr. Imelda de Sayrah all the very best! as they Celebrate ...

Jan 31, 2021 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, eLanka Newsletters Tagged Elmo Jayawardena, John Keells, Niroshan Dickwella

Search for Ehelepola’s grave in Mauritius Published 4 days ago on January 2, 2021 In the Island Newspaper, Sri Lanka By Capt. Elmo Jayawardena (The writer of the State Literary Award-winning book, The Last Kingdom of Sinhalay, prompted by what he saw in the Mauritius) The SIA jumbo turned for the final approach on Plaisance International Airport. The night was cloudy and listless, the sky was demanding with a stratocumulus overcast. There was moderate rain over the airfield. My copilot who was flying the aeroplane was an experienced operator and he landed the big Boeing 747 with professional skill that received applause from the passengers. We taxied and parked in front of the terminal. It was almost midnight; I’ve arrived in the island of Mauritius, not merely as a pilot but to start another one of my wild goose chases. This one was a peach. I was going to look ...

Jan 6, 2021 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Capt Elmo Jayawardena Tagged Elmo Jayawardena

A SAD NIGHT TO REMEMBER – by Capt Elmo Jayawardena Martinair DC-8 4th of December 1974 a DC-8 aircraft belonging to Martinair crashed into the Anjimalai mountain range also known as the Seven Virgins. The accident happened around 1015 PM and the location was in the vicinity of Maskeliya. This was the worst air disaster that had taken place in Sri Lanka. 191 lives were lost with no survivors. That is how the 4th of December became a sad night to remember. Corona curfews give us time to read and in my isolation at home I have been pulling out ‘Bucket-listed’ stories to munch. Most articles I browsed through about the Martinair DC-8 crash had covered all aspects of this horrible disaster. Adequate details were available to re-construct the story and come to reasonable conclusions of what may have happened. We all know the easy way out of most aeroplane ...

Nov 30, 2020 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Capt Elmo Jayawardena Tagged Banda Archi, Capt Elmo Jayawardena, Elmo Jayawardena, Seven Virgins mountain

TIME FOR US TO WAKE-UP AND LEND A HAND – BY Capt Elmo Jayawardena Yesterday (12TH May) I was coming home at noon from the CandleAid office and stopped the car at the Moratuwa main junction to post a letter. I saw a long line of people standing on the pavement. They looked poor, dressed poor and with sad long faces, standing in the scorching sun. They were motionless, speechless, no words between them. The silence was a clear personification of their solution-less plight. They were just leaning on anything that stood. There was a pawnshop, they were waiting to pawn things they had. Whatever they had. I was tempted to take a photograph but realized that would be adding insult to injury. These were people with dignity. That is almost the last straw, the Pawn Shop. No one to borrow from and no one to assist, just the ultimate hope ...

May 18, 2020 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles Tagged Elmo Jayawardena Comments 0

FIRST TIME IN THE AFRICAN SKY – BY Capt Elmo Jayawardena The year was 1986, the month, September to be precise. The Non-Aligned conference was being held in Harare under the leadership of Prime Minister Robert Mugabe. 120 countries sent their leaders or their representatives to take part in the conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). All the details of NAM can be found in Google and I shall not waste your time as to who started it and where and when. The story I have for you is about flying the African Sky and the background is the conference in Harare. Honorable Prime Minister, Mr Ranasinghe Premadasa too was participating in the NAM gathering and I, along with two other pilots were rostered to go as passengers to Harare and fly back a Lockheed Tri-Star carrying the VVIP entourage. It was only a day’s flight; after all they were ...

Mar 20, 2020 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles Tagged Dulip de Alwis, Elmo Jayawardena, Sam Ranabahu Comments 0

Are we bowling without umpires again? (Flightversion) – by Capt Elmo Jayawardena

I plagiarised this title from myself, bear with me for the repetition. It fits so well that I did not bother to create a new heading to tell a repetitive story. I wrote the original after the elections in 2010 when UPFA had an astounding victory. That was when I published the original ‘Bowling without Umpires’. The gist of the story was that the ordinary Sri Lankans were getting hammered left right and centre by politicians in power who wrote the rules at their own whims and fancies. That was then, this is now and I did make some changes here and there to fit the current tableau. All that is political, the same Diyawanna-Oya meander’s in the vicinity of the same parliament and the same parliament stands majestically menacing, sheltering those we elected to rule us and a fair number of them to ruin us. Reminds me of the ...

Sep 15, 2017 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles Tagged Are we bowling without umpires again?, Capt Elmo Jayawardena, Elmo Jayawardena Comments 0