TamilWeek_Jan_01

Benign Parliamentarian from Batticaloa

by D.B.S Jeyaraj

Joseph Pararajasingham is the latest in a long line of Parliamentarians done
to death by political violence in Sri Lanka. The 71 year old Politician was shot
dead within the hallowed precincts of the St. Mary's Cathedral in Batticaloa at
1. 10 am on Christmas day.

Differentiate Between Ethnic and Separatist
Conflicts for Effective Peace Efforts

By Dr. S. Narapalasingam

President Mahinda Rajapakse at a meeting with Parliamentarians of the Tamil
National Alliance (TNA) held at Temple Trees on December 21 is reported to
have given them an assurance that “he will consider the North East Problem in
an innovative spirit and dedicate himself in the search for a new path for a
solution”.

Art Exhibition
on North-East
High Security
Zones

by K. T. Kumaran

Thamotharampillai
Shanaathanan's
exhibition of paintings
- High Security Zones
in North-East,
diaspora - will be
inagurated on the 5th
of January at the
Paradise Gallery in
Colombo 3, Sri Lanka.
It will go on till 27th of
January 2006, from 10
AM to Midnight.

Some lessons in international politics

by Dr. Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu

The international dimension of the ethnic conflict and peace process is
perhaps the one most opined on and yet, least understood in terms of the
incentives, strictures and punishments the international community or any
members thereof can visit upon the two main protagonists.
It is worth reflecting on this for a moment, especially since the role of the
international community was also an issue in the general election and following
it, positions taken in the election campaign have mellowed, even fundamentally
changed.

Joseph Pararajasingham:Random images

by K.S.Sivakumaran

The assassinated Joseph Pararajasingham was known as P.Joseph while he
was a student at St. Michael’s College, Mattakalappu in the early 1950s. I
was two years his junior in the same school during the period 1947-1952.

At that time Rev. Fr. E. Crowther was the Rector. He was a Sri
Lankan, although his name sounded alien. Readers might
remember him as the Thomian cricket captain. His brother, S. J. K.
Crowther, a novelist was also the editor of the then Ceylon Daily
News.

The school was managed by American Jesuists and had a strict
disciplinarian in Rev. Fr. Fengler and an amiable Principal, Rev. Fr.
Sommers.

Full Text of the joint statement issued by India and
Sri Lanka on Friday at the end of President
Mahinda Rajapakse's state visit:

1. Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka, and Shiranthi Rajapaksa
paid a state visit to India from Dec 27-30, 2005, at the invitation of the
President of India, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. The President of Sri Lanka was
accompanied by Mangala Samaraweera, Minister of Foreign Affairs, A.H.M.
Fowzie, Minister of Railways, Transport and Petroleum and Petroleum
Resources Development, Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, Minister of Trade,
Commerce, Consumer Affairs and Marketing Development, Ferial Ashraff,
Minister of Housing and Construction, R. Bogollagama, Minister of Enterprise
Development and Investment Promotion, Ministers, leaders of political parties
and senior officials.

Better to go to Oslo than going to war

By Jehan Perera

Sri Lanka looks set to enter a period of escalated violence in the New Year
that is to dawn. Instead of waking to the good news of Christmas, which
celebrates the belief that divinity mingles with human beings, the early
morning news was as tragic as could be. Joseph Pararajasingham, MP for
Batticaloa, whom I knew personally, was shot dead in Batticaloa, as he took
part in a midnight Christmas service being celebrated by the Bishop of
Batticaloa, amidst hundreds of families and worshippers. With his
assassination, the demon of violence claimed the life of yet another of Sri
Lanka’s political leaders, who urged moderation, and sought to straddle the
great divide of Tamil nationalism and Sri Lankan unity.

Rajapakse’s
operation to woo
India

By Professor
Karthigesu
Sivathamby

After assuming the high
office as Sri Lanka’s
president, Mahinda
Rajapakse began his
official tours overseas with
a visit to New Delhi, India.
That is quite
understandable. His
remarks on the objectives
of the visit, made on the
eve of his departure,
reveal Sri Lanka’s
intentions to persuade
India to play a more
decisive role in resolving
the Sri Lankan crisis.

Tamils should be vigilant of
southern political moves

By Professor Karthigesu Sivathamby

It is very revealing that the Sinhalese themselves have begun to refer to
political and other issues outside the northeast of Sri Lanka – especially in
relation to the Tamil question – as politics of the south (dhakune
deshapalanaya). Realising this polarisation is a very important development
in the political psychology of this country.

The tsunami: A lost opportunity

By: Kumar Rupasinghe

Sri Lanka has faced two major tragedies since we gained our independence.
A man-made disaster, which has led to three insurrections, one of which is
still ongoing, with preparations for another Eelam war under way. The other
is the tsunami tragedy, which overwhelmed us beyond our imagination. Its
magnitude and the extent of the human tragedy were overwhelming, where
over 35,000 people lost their lives within a matter of 20 minutes. It displaced
over a million people, eliminated the livelihoods and sustenance of over
200,000 families.

Here was an opportunity for all the peoples of the country to respond to the
common tragedy.

Hope in the emerald isle [FrontLine]

Housing projects as part of the rehabilitation efforts are well under way in Sri
Lanka, but the shortage of skilled labour could prove to be a stumbling block
in taking them to completion fast.

The past year has been one of mixed emotions for the tsunami survivors in
Sri Lanka. The initial trauma and shock gave way to hope of a proper
rehabilitation, which receded with each bout of political bickering and ended
in dejection. However, at the end of the year, it is that unique Sri Lankan
attribute to get on with life rather than wallow in distress that has stood out
and made all the difference.

According to official estimates, 35,322 people died, 21,441 were injured,
1,500 children were orphaned and nearly a million persons were displaced
when giant tidal waves struck two-thirds of the island's coastline. Fifty-two
district secretariat divisions (equivalents of taluks in India) in 13 districts
across the country's northern, eastern, southern and south-western coasts
were affected.

Mamunai Project

The tsunami of 2004 devastated this small village in December 26th 2004.
The people of Mamunai, not only lost their homes, school, their means for
the livelihood (boats, motors, nets) but their loved ones as well. When we
visited this village in January of 2005, we witnessed the destruction and the
sadness of the people. We spoke to the villagers and without exception the
people wanted help to start their livelihood. They did not ask us for money,
homes, food etc.. They also did not want to live in refugee camps based on
handout of well wishers. They asked us to help them get back to their
livelihood of fishing. This was the catalyst for “Project Mamunai”.

Update: Sri Lanka's Coast, After the Tsunami [NPR]

December 28, 2005 · Steve Inskeep talks to Steve Matthews of the relief
organization World Vision. Morning Edition talked with him last year, just after
the deadly tsunami struck Sri Lanka. Matthews has returned to the region
repeatedly over the last year, and is currently in Galle, Sri Lanka.

Bah Hambug: "War on Christams" [New Yorker]

Chestnuts are roasting on an open fire, with Jack Frost nipping at your nose
and folks dressed up like Eskimos—or, to update the line for political
correctness, with tots in boots just like Aleuts. It’s that magical season when
lights twinkle and good will abounds. It’s time again for the thrill that comes
but once a year: the War on Christmas.

Tamil cinema's new high [Hindu]

The year 2005 has been a landmark one for Tamil film industry, with
box-office successes like never before.

There is a lot to celebrate, as 2005 turned out to be the year of blockbusters
for the Tamil film industry.

Never before have there been so many hits and super hits. Out of 97 films
released in 2005, there were three blockbusters, two super hits, four hits and
at least five films that broke even.

The combined gross worldwide from just two blockbusters "Chandramukhi"
and "Anniyan" is said to be around Rs. 110 Crores, out of a likely box-office
gross receipt of Rs. 400-500 crores.

Bollywood film in Time's Top 10 [BBC]

Bollywood film Black has been selected as one of the top films of 2005 in a
listing by American Time magazine.

Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Black is about a relationship between a
deaf-blind child and her teacher.

"Black is more than a noble weepie; it is the ultimate Bollywood love story,"
Time magazine said of the film.

Other films which made the magazine's top list for the year included Ingmar
Bergman's Saraband and Werner Herzog's The White Diamond and Grizzly
Man.

Time magazine described Black as "an unofficial remake" of the 1962
American film The Miracle Worker, about the deaf-blind child Helen Keller
and her teacher Annie Sullivan.

Dream Journey with Kadri Gopalnath

Kadri Gopalnath was born in Panemangalore, in Dakshina
Kannada district (Karnataka, South India) in 1950. He acquired a
taste for music from his father, Thaniappa who was a nagaswaram
vidwan. Young Gopalnath once saw the saxophone being played in
the Mysore palace band set. Ofcourse, the band set was playing a
western tune. Thrilled on hearing the vibrant tone of the
saxophone, Gopalnath decided to master it. It took him nearly 20
years for him to conquer the complex western wind instrument and
he was eventually crowned as the "Saxophone Chakravarthy". His
achievement is especially laudatory, as Gopalnath had to make
certain improvisations to the conventional Saxophone instrument in
order to play Carnatic music. So perfect has this adaptation been
that no less a musician than Shemmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, the
doyen of Indian Music, has acknowledged Kadri Gopalnath has a
true Carnatic music genius.

Kadri plays compositions meant for the nagaswaram, anaboc like
double reed instruments.

- International Herald Tribune

Kadri’s prowess and skill in handling the Saxophone to convey the
nuances of Carnatic Music was really encouraging to watch.
Despite the fact that the saxophone is a brass instrument and
lacks the mellifluous timbre of the traditional nagaswaram, Kadri
was able to produce such a rich variety of Musical Cadences.

- Daily News, Colombo

His soft, legato flurries meshed perfectly in an unusual grouping of
violin, Jew’s harp and Mridangam drum.

- The Times, London

Click for Sax by Kadri Gopalnath