Sachitra Mahendra

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...
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...
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...
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...

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...
The art of small things…

Four old musketeers are lounged around outside the store’s entrance. Their lightest vehicle – yes, it is the good old bicycle – is parked just alongside. So attentive to their pal in the middle, the...
Irreversible step of the First Council

Immediately after the Buddha’s death a monk named Subaddha cried out that they don’t need to worry about discipline any more. This Subaddha should not be misunderstood with the other monk who was...
The good, true and beautiful

When she set foot in the Moorfields Eye Hospital, she was only eight. Her battle has already begun in earnest. Rhiannon Willis had lost her sight in one eye and her other eye was already making her...
The sight of the blue skies

Being one among 48 pupils was her toughest challenge. The requirement to learn 12 subjects was even worse. Answering the 12 question papers looked almost impossible. Worse still, the duration for one...
Rite redesigned

The large handkerchief lying on the middle links them all. The figures, four in number, are seated in two rows facing each other albeit gazing off into the distance. The figures are connected to each...
The Disability question

Disability is no longer an uncompromising term. Thanks to the intervention of numerous government as well as non-governmental organisations, the physical fragility has earned an official status. Sri...
Waking up for the GOAL

Things are not easy for the new coach. He has to work hard to ignite the spirit of the children destined to tilling the earth in this distant hamlet. With an uncooperative principal and a bunch of...