Uthpala Wijesuriya Archives

Another Time, Another World: Social Science in Postwar Sri Lanka-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis Background: In Sri Lanka, social science research witnessed an expansion in the 1950s. Various scholars, including Stanley Tambiah and Gananath Obeyesekere, found their calling in anthropology, and went on to introduce and popularise the subject in local universities. This period also witnessed an increasing interest in Sri Lankan and specifically Sinhala society from Western scholars, including Edmund Leach, James Brow, and Richard Gombrich. While many local scholars active in that period have commented on how social science research evolved at Sri Lankan universities, no proper study of this has been done yet. Brief Description: The authors will talk with veteran Sri Lankan scholars, including anthropologists, sociologists, linguists, diplomats, writers, and public servants who worked or studied in Sri Lanka in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, and publish the interviews as podcasts. The objective is to get an idea of the ...

The Royal-Thomian Cricket Match: Its History–by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis Uthpala Wijesuriya, in The Island, 17 March 2023,where the title presented is “The Earth’s Greatest Rivalry” … while the highlighting in this presentation has been imposed by a Thuppahiyaaaaaaaaa. The Royal-Thomian or the Battle of the Blues, the world’s second oldest uninterrupted cricket battle, will unveil for the 144th consecutive year this week. The encounter pits the boys bearing the crests of the Elephant and Palm Tree against those bearing the Cross and Dove. The Royal-Thomian is in many ways greater and more epic than the three matches that can be most favorably compared to it: St Peters–Prince Alfred in Australia, Eton–Harrow in Britain, and the Ashes. This is particularly so in the annals of schoolboy cricket in Sri Lanka. Indeed, the history of Sri Lankan cricket cannot be written without the Battle of the Blues. Chandana Panditharathna once observed, “The magic of the match ...