The Life of the Poet by Jean Arasanayagam is the winner of the Gratiaen Prize 2017, for the best work of creative writing in English by a Sri Lankan writer living in Sri Lanka.
Jean Arasanayagam
Arasanayagam’s writing was commended by the judges for its erudition and sophistication and for its ability to explore and exploit her own personal experiences as a poet to reflect on the life and view the world as a poet more generally. While the collection is deeply personal it maintains a fine balance between the personal and the general and speaks to themes that resonate with society and life at large.
Jean Arasanayagam is one of Sri Lanka’s most prolific and foremost writers. She has been international writer at the Rockefeller centre Bellagio, international writer in Iowa and writer-in-residence in the South West U.K. and Exeter. She received a Doctor of Letters awarded by Bowdoin College Maine and the Premchand award, awarded by the Sahitya Akademi, India. Jean is the recipient of many State Literary awards and the Lifetime Achievement Award, Sahitya Rathana.
The Gratiaen Prize was founded in 1993 by the Sri Lankan-born writer Michael Ondaatje after he won the Booker Prize for The English Patient. The Prize is awarded each year to the best submitted creative work in English, written by a Sri Lankan writer resident in Sri Lanka. Both published works and unpublished manuscripts are accepted as submissions.
The judges for the Gratiaen Prize 2017 were: Prof. Carmen Wickramagamage, Professor in English at the University of Peradeniya (chair); Andrew Fowler-Watt, principal of Trinity College Kandy and highly experienced educationist; and Michelle de Kretser, renowned Australian author of Sri Lankan origin.
The Gratiaen Prize 2017 marks the 25th anniversary of the prize and is the only Sri Lankan literary prize for English writing to be awarded continuously for over two decades. Speaking at the prize event Chair of the Gratiaen Trust Prof. Walter Perera recounted the many challenges faced in sustaining a literary award in a context where funding for the arts is severely limited and Mr. Chandu Haputhanthri, Managing Director of Sarasavi – the sponsors of the Gratiaen Prize main event – outlined Sarasavi’s commitment to fostering a quality publishing culture in Sri Lanka. To mark the 25th anniversary of the Prize the Gratiaen Trust in collaboration with Commonwealth Writers has organized a series of creative writing workshops and an academic conference organized by the University of Colombo, Department of English which critically revisits the 25-year history of the Gratiaen award.
Seen it All / May 27, 2018
The Gratien is an irrelevant, corruptly awarded prize. It is a disgrace to modern Sri Lanka due to its blatantly racist award year after year to light-skinned Burghers only, or those who kowtow to them. Gratien Panels are connected by nepotism and other ethnic and social links, and they grant it to mediocre writers on that basis. It favours burghers and burgher-connected people (probably because it was established by Michael Ondaatje). Jean Arasanayagam herself was on the panel in 1994. How could Arasanayagam miss it with a first name like Jean? The name Devendra has also fared regularly on the panel, probably due to their Felsianos connection. Probably the nonagenarian Tissa Devendra will also ‘win’ it before he kicks the bucket. Other panel members have always been predominantly Burgher or non-Sinhalese, with the occasional ‘westernised’ Sinhalese thrown in. As to grantees, who have heard of Vivimarie Vanderpoorten (the winner of 2007) and Lal Meddawattegedera, her husband (the winner of 2012), except as Gratien winners? Is it a pure coincidence that the 2015 winner happened to be a person called Thiyagaraja Arasanayagam? They will probably award it to dead people like George Keyt, Harold Peiris, Lionel Wendt and David Paynter when they run out of living Burghers to award it. The Gratien is a national embarrassment and please help us save face by canning this corrupt, incestuous prize granted to mediocre writers.
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David Wei / May 27, 2018
the racist tone of this letter is haardly surprising to anyone who lived in SL in the 50s and 60s.
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nimal fernando / May 29, 2018
Oh! C’mon guys ………… one of our country-persons can’t even win a cockamamie prize without it turning into almighty racially charged brawl.
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She at least wrote something and got the darn thing published ………… in a land where there are lawyers walking around who have never even sat for an exam ……… or people claiming alumnus of colleges where the college has no record of them ever attending ………. to hell with the ruddy Gratiaen prize it does no harm ……….. but these other great talents might end up wining the biggest prize; the presidency!
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“The judges for the Gratiaen Prize 2017 were: Prof. Carmen Wickramagamage, Professor in English at the University of Peradeniya (chair); Andrew Fowler-Watt, principal of Trinity College Kandy and highly experienced educationist; and Michelle de Kretser, renowned Australian author of Sri Lankan origin.”
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How dare they task the judging to these unqualified nitwits? When an eminent local heavyweight literary panel comprising Dr Mervyn Silva, Dr Mahinda Rajapakse, Dr Gotabaya Rajapakse, Ranjan Ramanayake, Palitha Thewarapperuma could have done a better job.
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They certainly would have been better at Eeny, meeny, miny, moe than the other lot.
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When will Lankans ever learn?
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nimal fernando / May 30, 2018
Oh! C’mon guys ………… one of our country-persons can’t even win a cockamamie prize without it turning into an almighty racially charged brawl.
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She at least wrote something and got the darn thing published ………… in a land where there are lawyers walking around who have never even sat for an exam ……… or people claiming alumnus of colleges where the college has no record of them ever attending ………. to hell with the ruddy Gratiaen prize it does no harm ……….. but these other great talents might end up wining the biggest prize; the presidency!
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“The judges for the Gratiaen Prize 2017 were: Prof. Carmen Wickramagamage, Professor in English at the University of Peradeniya (chair); Andrew Fowler-Watt, principal of Trinity College Kandy and highly experienced educationist; and Michelle de Kretser, renowned Australian author of Sri Lankan origin.”
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How dare they task the judging to these unqualified nitwits? When an eminent local heavyweight literary panel comprising Dr Mervyn Silva, Dr Mahinda Rajapakse, Dr Gotabaya Rajapakse, Ranjan Ramanayake, Palitha Thewarapperuma could have done a better job.
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They certainly would have been better at Eeny, meeny, miny, moe than the other lot.
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When will Lankans ever learn?
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Percy / May 27, 2018
There have been many talented writers totally ignored by the Gratien Prize Committee which seems to favour people who are anti Sinhalese in outlook. It is just an extension of the Friday Forum a group of pandankarayas of the Yahapalana govt.
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Native Vedda / May 27, 2018
Seen it All or Seenith Thamby
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Those who complain about nepotism in Gratien award system should look at the country as a whole. Whatever the scale of nepotism you allege (if ever indeed there was) in Gratien it should be proportionate to the level nepotism prevailing through out the country. If anything under or over the national scale of nepotism it means something wrong with the management.
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This is a Singlish/Tanglish speaking country hence it is hard to find people who could write lucidly and creatively.
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Rather than being a parochial bigot address the main issues:
Look at the the effect of 1958 language policy.
How the country’s energy and resources were being wasted on narrow nationalistic destructive courses, championing only the virtues of myth.
Help the young improve their creative writing skills and English.
Let them unleash their potential.
Make sure you do not sit on their back as often happens with those one sided nationalists.
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Seen it All / May 27, 2018
So you are justifying corruption because it is ‘par for the course’ in this country? You are a sick person indeed. You are also saying there are not enough English writers good enough to receive a Gratien award. You are a joke, and a shameless one at that.
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If complaining against obvious, plane racism makes me a ‘parochial bigot’, I will happily wear it, rather than being a Burgher Supremacist like your stinking self. Nationalists are not more destructive than pathetic cockroaches trying to be ‘SUDDHAs in this country. By the time we abolish the national language as per your orders and develop a generation of English writers, the Gratien prize will not exist.
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We are not going to reverse the progress of 1956 to get a few of the filthy lucre made available by a Burgher who left this country for Canada. He himself did not deserve the kudos he received for the crap The English Patient, given by the British who liked it for political reasons. It is just the ugly hypocrisy of this fraud I commented on.
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Native Vedda / May 27, 2018
Seen it All Seenith Thamby
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You are pathetic.
Why don’t you look at other the whole sleazy award giving industry.
Sri Lankans are product of sleaze collectively. You are no different. Also you have a whole industry of whose main mission is to envy real achievers and cry shame.
Singling out one particular person does not prove you are concerned about Gratiaen Prize selection process but what your behavior shows is certainly you envy the winner because she is from “other community”.
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“We are not going to reverse the progress of 1956 to get a few of the filthy lucre made available by a Burgher who left this country for Canada.”
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Progress what progress you stupid moron?
Were you born yesterday or sleeping all through the from 1956 to date? I am sorry you bigot has missed a lot. Never mind you will see the shows, the repeats again and again.
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Stupid is as stupid type
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cedric / May 27, 2018
You haven’t seen it all !!
Here’s the list of winners for your information courtesy of Wikipedia. You can now cheer up a bit old pal.
2016
Charulatha Abeysekara Thewarathanthri, Stories[2]
2015
Thiyagaraja Arasanayagam, White Lanterns: Wesak 2011
2014
Vihanga Perera, Love and Protest[3]
2013
Malinda Seneviratne, Edges[4]
2012
Lal Meddawattegedera,Playing Pillow Talk at MGK
2011
Madhubhashini Disanayake-Ratnayake,There’s Something I Have to Tell You
2010
Sakuntala Sachithanandan, On the Streets and Other Revelations
2009
Prashani Rambukwella, Mythil’s Secret
2008
Shehan Karunatilaka, Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew
2007
Vivimarie Vanderpoorten, Nothing Prepares You
2006
Senaka Abeyratne, 3 Star K
Isankya Kodittuwakku, The Banana Tree Crisis
2005
Delon Weerasinghe, Thicker Than Blood
2004
Jagath Kumarasinghe, Kider Chetty Street
2003
Nihal De Silva, Road from Elephant Pass
2002
Vijita Fernando, Out of the Darkness
2001
Elmo Jayawardene, Sam’s Story
Sumathi Sivamohan, In the Shadow of the Gun/The Wicked Witch
2000
Ruwanthi De Chickera, Middle of Silence
1999
Neil Fernandopulle, Shrapnel
Viskesa Chandrasekaram, Forbidden Area
1998
Jeanne Thwaites, It’s a Sunny Day on the Moon
1997
Gamini Akmeemana, The Mirage
1996
Tissa Abeysekera, Bringing Tony Home
1995
Sybil Wettasinghe, The Child in Me
Rajiva Wijesingha, Servants
1994
Punyakante Wijenaike, Amulet[5]
1993
Carl Muller, The Jam Fruit Tree
Lalitha Withanachchi, Wind Blows Over the Hills
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Seen it All / May 27, 2018
This time it is Cedric? How Sri Lankan sounding! You f*****s are incurable.
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Are you a bloody idiot or a dishonest thief? Read the names again and see how many of those qualify to be classified as a Sinhala Buddhist. Carl Muller? Rajiva Wijesinha? Jeanne Thwaites? You want me to go on?
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You racist thieves can’t face the truth. We will throw the Gratiaen where it needs to be stored. In the toilet bowl.
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Native Vedda / May 27, 2018
Seen it All
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“This time it is Cedric? How Sri Lankan sounding! You f*****s are incurable.”
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If one removes all foreign sounding names there won’t be any one left in the list nor in this island with authentic Sinhala name.
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Well tell us what you consider as a Sinhala name for example
Menike, Kuveni, Kopperundevi, kekille, Mahadenamutta, Sangili Karuppan,
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Hethuvadia / May 28, 2018
With respect, two many Menikes have betrayed our nation by sleeping with foreigners in ‘civil marriages’, meaning without ever getting legally married, creating a sub nation of bastards. These bastards born outside wedlock are now claiming they are superior to the rest of us! Is there anything more pervert?
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Agnos / May 27, 2018
Seen It All,
What about Malinda Seneviratne? Isn’t he a dyed-in-the-wool Sinhalese Ultranationalist?
You choose to see what your hateful mind lets you see, and then think you have seen it ‘all.’
For what it is worth, in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, many writers in Colombo-based English dailies said that Jean Arasanayagam and Alfreda de Silva were the best poets in English from Sri Lanka. I am glad that Ms. Arasanayagam has some award as recognition of her talent while she is alive.
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cedric / May 28, 2018
Seen it all
I only put some facts out there for all to see. You can either accept argue or reject it.
But what’s with the personal attacks? …… and the bitchiness?
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Burt / June 1, 2018
Seen it All:
I hear there is going to be an annual award for bigots. Worry not: Sinhala Buddhist will get it year after year in the foreseeable feature.
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Amarasiri / May 27, 2018
Seen it All,
It is good that they are awarding prices to Paras living in the Land of Native Veddah Aethho, written in Para-English, to those Paras STILL LIVING in the Land of Native Veddah Aethho, as Para-English has become global Language, UNLIKE Para-Sinhala or Para-Tamil.
Mitochondrial DNA history of Sri Lankan ethnic people:
http://www.nature.com/articles/jhg2013112?message=remove
Would you like standardization in the award of the Gratien prize among the Paras, so that the Para-Burghers would not be at an advantageous position relative t the other Para, Para-Sinhala, Para-Tamils and :Para-Muslims, whose mean IQ is 79, just like the standardization for university entrances, started in 1970’s?
Since the Para-Burgers only study and know Para-English, naturally they are at an advantage. They will not do well in the Para-Monk Mahanama Prize in poetry for the serene enjoyment in either Pali or Para-Sinhala or Para-Tamil.
Just curious.!
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David Wei / May 28, 2018
I feel sorry for people like you who profess hate for all things Western but lie, cheat and even risk your lives to move to a Western country. meanwhile your country is known for being a mendicant failed state and, seeing what you write, I am not surprised.
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Amarasiri / May 28, 2018
David Wei,
//It is good that they are awarding prices to Paras living in the Land of Native Veddah Aethho, written in Para-English, to those Paras STILL LIVING in the Land of Native Veddah Aethho, as Para-English has become global Language, UNLIKE Para-Sinhala or Para-Tamil//
What is your problem? Comprehension? Given below are some links for your education and edification.
Amarasiri makes no distinction between Para-Sinhala and non-Para Sinhala. However, Amarasiri appreciates that despite the control and excesses of the Church, the the Age of Reason and Enlightenment, for rationalism and free thought, arrived in the West, which European society was able to overcome, which the Islamic Societies failed in the 12th century, when religion represented by the Ulema prevailed, and those societies are still stagnant.
Ibn Rushd in his darkest hour
https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/artsandculture/2015/4/9/ibn-rushd-in-his-darkest-hour
Renown Astrophysicist Dr. Neil Degrasse Tyson explains what went wrong with Islam.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZCuF733p88
Ibn Rushd is the most capable rationalist philosopher in the history of Arab civilisation, and the best versed on the achievements of his age and the ages before him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vviYeA4fIPM
Educational Heritage of Ancient India : A Talk by Sahana Singh
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Amarasiri / May 29, 2018
David Wei ,
Amarasiri’s comment was directed at Seen it All,, who seem to suffer from deficiencies, that are characteristic of some Paras. You seem to have misunderstood the comment and the message behind it.
The comment was not meant to criticize the winner of the award, Jean Arasanayagamut, but to criticize the comment by Seen It All .She certainly deserves the award, as given below.
“Jean Arasanayagam is one of Sri Lanka’s most prolific and foremost writers. She has been international writer at the Rockefeller centre Bellagio, international writer in Iowa and writer-in-residence in the South West U.K. and Exeter. She received a Doctor of Letters awarded by Bowdoin College Maine and the Premchand award, awarded by the Sahitya Akademi, India. Jean is the recipient of many State Literary awards and the Lifetime Achievement Award, Sahitya Rathana. “
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Manik / June 2, 2018
Err.. last year’s winner is Charulatha Abesekara Thewarathanthri.
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Rienzie Nanayakkara / May 27, 2018
Judging by the venomous language of the criticism, it is indeed a “national embarrassment ” that we have such petty minded people among the so called educated lot!
I wonder whether the writer was a contender for the Gratiaen Prize?
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MR / May 27, 2018
My heartiest congratulations Amma. You truely deserve many more awards.!!
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K.Pillai / May 27, 2018
“……..The Gratiaen Prize was founded in 1993 by the Sri Lankan-born writer Michael Ondaatje after he won the Booker Prize for The English Patient………”.
It will be in order to add that the prize is named after Michael Ondaatje’s mother, Doris Gratiaen.
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sarvan / May 27, 2018
The comment by ‘Seen it All’ is depressing. The Gratiaen Prize is awarded on LITERARY merit, and if one objects, s/he must present LITERARY grounds for that protest; perhaps, draw comparative attention to the LITERARY qualities and merits of another work by another creative writer.
Taken to extremes, prizes and recognition – be they in the field of; for example, science or sport – would be on grounds other than science or sport! This is what the Nazis did – including the spheres of employment, promotion etc. They also banned and burnt books by certain authors – not only those by Jews but those by authors differing on ideological grounds or on those of principle.
That letter sadly is a symptom of a sickness.
Sarvan
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Native Vedda / May 27, 2018
sarvan
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Thanks
The Nazi/Fascists nationalists are capable of destroying anything which remotely resembles good, reasonable, enjoyable, intellectual, justice, truth, life, property and people, memories, ………….. peace, ….
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No wonder Seen it All or Seenith Thamby is starting the process/eight stages leading to ethnic cleansing and eventual genocide.
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Percy is his sidekick.
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R. Varathan / May 28, 2018
Dear Prof. Sarvan
If the dwindling few in the country can be called the educated class can spew such racial venom, the country has long lost its cultural moorings. Do I need to emphasise this well established truism.
Don’t these narrow Buddhist Sinhala bigots know English literature in the country cannot be bullied into the politics of extreme Sinhala
Buddhist nationalism.
Is July ’83 visiting the Arasanayagam’s again – this time in a more virulent form?. Across the Straits, it survives the continued attack of cousins in Hindutva. Out there it the prejudice grows and grows making Indian English writers and poets a force to be reckoned with in the world scene in spite of immense challenges.
R. Varathan
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Native Vedda / May 28, 2018
R Varathan
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Was it Krishna Menon, Nehru’s chum who told the English Reporters in London that the reason for Indians winning a number of prestigious Awards for English Literature was that the Brits picked English whereas Indians Studied English?
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Don’t blame Seen it All Seenith Thamby, who has been living in a particular well since his birth and there is no way for him to learn beyond what he is fed with.
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R. Varathan / May 28, 2018
Dear Native
You will not dispute the quality of English in India has exponentially grown since the days of Krishna Menon and Nehru. Despite the political pressure of narrow nationalism in the powerful Hindi, Tamil and other States, English continues to have a place in that anarchical Continent.Look at the quality of Feature articles in The Hindu, ToI and other leading Indian dailies that meets the best anywhere.
Oh! what killed the quality of the pen of men like Tarzie Vittachi and the like (My memory falters in the name of the others) who placed little Ceylon in the front ranks of the agenda of quality English writing. I dare say it is not bigotry on my part to attribute this to pseudo-nationalism of the 1950s? What we feel today in net loss in the quality of English have their roots in the chaos of suspect nationalism of those irresponsible days. More than an entire generation pays for the folly. I cannot resist a smile to read current desperate and costly efforts to reverse the process in bringing back English.
R. Varathan
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Native Vedda / May 28, 2018
R. Varathan
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Thanks
The smart ass patriots are accelerating to hit the bottom from all directions.
Let them reinvent fire, wheel, Zero, ….
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Please read Prof H L Seneviratne’s article
Buddhism & Good Governance: The Case For A Sangha Rebellion
JUNE 15, 2017
Colombo Telegraph
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/
index.php/buddhism-good-governance
-the-case-for-a-sangha-rebellion/
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wannihami / May 28, 2018
R. Varathan, that is absolutely untrue. I have had many, many colleagues who were educated in India when I was working in English speaking western countries. The quality of English of my Indian educated colleagues varied a lot. I would say about 20% of them had high functional level of English usage, others did not. And the variation also depended on where they were educated, and in which social class they were brought up . In general, Southerners were better in their English language abilities than Northerners. People see Arundathi Roys, Vicram Seths and come to the opinion that you have aired. Remember that there are 1.3 billion Indians, are you referring all of them or 0.001% of them?
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R. Varathan / May 29, 2018
I have no dispute with the crisp comments of Wannihami. The fairly competent Indians able to handle themselves well in English today could well be over 1.001% – surely. I have visited there in the past many decades and find in urban Tamilnadu today you can easily get by with English – though not so in Delhi and the deep North. You will agree the quality of English in India today is qualitatively superior to what that obtained were half a century ago. If the madness of Dravidism did not intervene in the South – more specifically Tamilnadu – there would have been many more Shoba Narayans and Malini Parthasarathys.
But you have a point. At least in the major capitals of N,E,W and S of India the middle class stands out in English proficiency. It was so here too – until the rot set in. The Kaduwa must be having its own backers too – now that we hear many Rathu Sahodarayas are sending their little lones for English classes – in many instances surreptitiously.
Lest I be misunderstood, please let me assure you I have no issue in giving Sinhala and Tamil their due place in the country. But this should not be at the expense of English where we threw the baby with the bath-water. The great Buddhist Sinhala nationalist Rajapakse family tried to make amends during the closing days of their tenure. But this, as most of their efforts, were half-hearted ephemeral efforts.
R. Varathan
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Native Vedda / May 29, 2018
R. Varathan
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“Lest I be misunderstood, please let me assure you I have no issue in giving Sinhala and Tamil their due place in the country. But this should not be at the expense of English where we threw the baby with the bath-water.”
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I agree with you entirely.
The problem with parochial nationalists is that some of them are literate in English and they make sure their children too are English educated while opposed to the others learning the language.
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wannihami is one of them who believes the country should be ruled by majority ignoring the reasonable democratic rights of the minority..
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Native Vedda / May 29, 2018
wannihami
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Whichever way you compare the Indians to this little islanders, because of their sheer numbers they have more people in every category you could imagine .
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I suggest without further ado make sure the entire population of Sinhala and Tamil speaking people are being relocated to South India and be part of the productive world than fooling each other and destroying this island.
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Umpire / May 27, 2018
Everyone needs to calm down. There is some truth, or at least an appearance about the Gratien panels and past winners that might lead to the perception that it is a Burgher driven project. This year’s panel seems to complicate the issue even more. why should De Kretzer (a former governor of Victoria, Australia, who is a medico) be brought in to judge 21st century Sri Lankan literature? He simply is not qualified for the task, other than by being a Burgher. So there are some aspects the Gratien needs to address if it is to earn credibility.
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Walisinger / May 28, 2018
Umpire, since you have got your basic facts wrong just F off!!!
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Umpire / May 28, 2018
Is your mother needing service? Is that where you want me to be off to?
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Walisnger / May 30, 2018
She is dead.But can try your own mother. I am saying so because Michelle’s father is not former governor David de Kretzer who has 4 sons namely Steve, Mark, Ross and Hugh. Get your basic facts right. It is people like with little knowledge who have put his country in trouble.
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Umpire / May 30, 2018
But they are all karapoththas anyway! That’s the point.
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Mike Banda / May 28, 2018
What is this brother, you are getting involved in arguments with everyone on the CT site. As a dead Trotskyite I am turning in my grave about your allegiance to the hymie mob of ours. But you know we stole others’ land and it is only a matter of time before they take it back. Tough titties cousin.
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Mrs Udubaddewa / May 27, 2018
She won because she’s is Tamil. A racist country that I do not want to live.
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K.Pillai / May 27, 2018
“She won because she’s is Tamil.”
You sound like Mrs Udubaddewa.
Sorry you are Mrs Udubaddewa!
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Native Vedda / May 27, 2018
Seen it All
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“This time it is Cedric? How Sri Lankan sounding! You f*****s are incurable.”
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If one removes all foreign sounding names there won’t be any one left in the list nor in this island with authentic Sinhala name.
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Well tell us what you consider as a Sinhala name for example
Menike, Kuveni, Kopperundevi, kekille, Mahadenamutta, Sangili Karuppan,
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Native Vedda / May 27, 2018
Mrs Udubaddewa
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“A racist country that I do not want to live.”
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You shouldn’t be here in the first place.
Thanks don’t come back.
When you go please take all your brethren with you.
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Percy / May 28, 2018
This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our Comment policy.For more detail see our Comment policy https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/comments-policy-2/
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AmarasiriX / May 28, 2018
Just clarification sought. Are Mrs Arasanayagagam’s fingers pointing to where the Gratiean will be stored?
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Mrs Udubaddewa / May 28, 2018
Tamil, Tamil, Tamil, Tamil
Everything is Tamil in Sri Lanka
Tamils are ruiling Sri Lanka
I hate Sri Lanka where Sinhalese are gon thaka thiruwas
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Native Vedda / May 28, 2018
Mrs Udubaddewa
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Are you still here?
You shouldn’t be here in the first place.
Don’t come back.
When you go please take all your brethren with you. and leave cash and jewelries you stole from our family.
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S.R.H. Hoole / May 28, 2018
Congratulations, Jane. Proud of you.
Jeevan
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Thamilan / May 29, 2018
Yes, yes, if a bit of TAMIL rights are protected, we can’t care less about racism.
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We go to the UK, Canada, US and Australia and clean toilets and shopping centers suffering discrimination worse than slavery. But we demand Tamil as a national language and a Homeland here. In these western countries where we live… we might think about demanding the same things soon. Burghers are well come to the celebrations.
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Sorry but there is a minor inconvenience. Our white masters will measure the colour of their skin on the underside of their arm at the airport before allowing entry.
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We don’t care, do we?
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Native Vedda / June 3, 2018
Thamilan
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“Our white masters will measure the colour of their skin on the underside of their arm at the airport before allowing entry.”
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Is that why you are still hiding in the kitchen of a Tamil restaurant? Take care.
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Shan / May 29, 2018
Indeed she deserves this award and I congratulate her.
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justice / May 29, 2018
Kipling was the best poet, writer ever.
I still read him.
https://www.google.ca/search?ei=Y5ANW9-QHOXQjwT5uZWICQ&q=Rudyard+Kipling&oq=Rudyard+Kipling&gs_l=psy-ab.12..0i131i67k1j0i67k1l3j0l6.15540.25994.0.37842.10.10.0.0.0.0.156.1312.0j10.10.0….0…1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.10.1296…0i7i10i30k1j0i10k1j0i7i30k1.0.06PVktuUDlI
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Dionysus / May 30, 2018
Seen It All’s letter is clearly the work of a frustrated writer, a loser. But since the letter is well-written and clear, my advice would be that s/he continues to write in English. There may be a prize still for bigotry awaiting a winner somewhere.
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Jeevan Hoot / May 30, 2018
Congratulations Jean, you won solely because you are a Tamil
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Charulatha / May 30, 2018
Jean, the whole country has gone to Tamils. Please write about it.
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