Sachitra Mahendra

No strings attached

Hand puppets are fun. It is a natural and fun extension of the pretend play that young children engage in so readily. With a little encouragement from the elders, the hand...
Something to crow about...

Pasenadi, the king of Kosala, had 16 bad dreams one night. His Brahmin consultants warned harm either to his kingdom, his life or his wealth. They recommended all kinds of...
Last debt paid

Arahant Sariputta is a famous name in Buddhist literature among a few others: Moggallana, his colleague and Ananda, the Buddha’s chief assistant. Sariputta’s story starts in...
Dreamer’s domain

In my second dream, thus addressed King Kosol to his sole holy audience, the Buddha, to puzzle out some mysterious visions he had in sleep. Small trees and shrubs burst...

Never unprepared

The breakfast is brief. Immediately following breakfast, the cadets were straight back into training. Straight-bodied, these cadets showed the prowess of discipline and agility. That was the...
Enter rain retreat

The rain retreat, having commenced in Esala, comes to an end in Vap. It is time for Buddhists to celebrate with much grandeur – spiritual grandeur. In Pali Katina means ‘unbreakable’.Modern days do...
First Man Giant step in Retrospect

Karen Armstrong dies, leaving her father in an ineffable agony. Her death following fast-declining health brought some kind of halt to the smooth-sailing lifestyle of her father. Stunned by his...
Stories, yet untold

First, there was nothing. She had hardly anything to write down. But she never gave up doodling and squiggling. Perched on the ground, the little girl would watch over her author-parents. In a little...
Empty entry

Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad are now known as 2018’s Nobel Laureates for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict. Plus, George Smith, Frances Arnold and...
Spellbound!

Meandering under the scorching sunshine, you find this house perched a cut above the rest with its window blinds. A decade ago, this very house was home to Sri Lanka’s music ambassador. Once inside,...
Final Score: Goal without score

Can we simply sit back and chill when the world is in shambles? Forget the Rupee depreciation, crime wave and Trump playing havoc on the world scene, and here we are, going on with our merriments. On...
Mothering a sage

The Buddha’s initial rejection for a Bhikkhuni Sasana is scoffed at by feminists from some quarters. They question why the woman cannot achieve the Nibbana. This shows their lack of common sense as...
Wallowed in paradox

This nation belongs to royalty. We have been familiar with that notion since the colonial times and then the Independence. But this same royalty seems to hinder the future of the nation, as most...
Applause for belles lettre

That rush of joy seeps in slowly across the middle bench of the audience. That is where the shortlisted nominees occupied waiting for the ‘final judgement’. As the book covers appear on the large...
Indigo attraction

It demands attention. The sitting posture and the way you hold the electric tool, all that demands mindfulness. This is not some meditation technique. It is how you engage in the encaustic art,...
Windy walk to the peak

The Kandy-bound trip always poses a challenge to any driver: the mission uphill. For the manual gear drivers, it is an acid test of striking a balance between releasing the accelerator pedal and...