Thaliba Cader
Thaliba Cader, a young woman with short hair and towering ambitions, discovered her passion for molecular biology at twenty. Now an undergraduate at the Faculty of Science, University of Colombo, she has long found solace in writing—journaling daily since she was twelve. With each passing day, she edges closer to turning her words into a published book, a milestone she sees as the true measure of a life well lived (procrastination included).
Why a Penguin Walking the Wrong Way Invites Us to Project Meaning
“I make a promise to the clouds, and walk to the summit, to reclaim the sky that should have been mine.”
Healing in Unevenness FABIENNE Francotte’s Still Life of Memory
Fabienne Francotte’s Still Life | Nature Morte moves with the quiet insistence of memory. It does not dramatize trauma or offer consolation. Instead, it dwells in what remains after the storm, tracing the subtle impressions that pain leaves on the body and the psyche. The exhibition asks the viewer to slow down, to inhabit spaces of absence and invisibility, to witness the unspeakable without the need for closure. Francotte’s practice is shaped b
Vanishing Y
The Y chromosome has long been the symbol of maleness. It is the genetic spark that sets in motion the development of testes, the production of sperm, and the cascade of traits traditionally associated with
KALĀ 2026: Building Cultural Infrastructure Beyond Artistic Representation
At a moment when Colombo is quietly reasserting itself as a site of critical cultural thought, KALĀ 2026 arrives not merely as an exhibition platform, but as a carefully constructed space for sustained regional dialogue.
Sonali Perera on Make-A-Wish Sri Lanka: The Care That Cannot Be Prescribed
In hospital corridors where time is measured in test results and treatment cycles, childhood often becomes an afterthought. For children living with critical illness, joy is postponed, routines are replaced by uncertainty, and imagination quietly recedes behind clinical necessity. Yet within these spaces, something less tangible but equally vital persists: the human need to hope. Make-A-Wish Sri Lanka operates in this narrow but powerful margin
Not Just Skin Deep: Nazneen Nazeer on Beauty, Motherhood, and Meaning
She speaks about beauty the way some people speak about faith, gently, thoughtfully, and with an understanding that it is never just skin deep. To sit across from her is to realize that her work is not driven by trends or vanity, but by people, stories, and seasons of life. From formal training in Paris to building a brand rooted in Sri Lankan identity, from motherhood to mentorship, her journey is one of quiet determination and deep purpose.
All the Favorite Stickers You Never Used
We have a habit of waiting. Waiting for the right moment, the right version of ourselves, the right conditions to finally allow ourselves to feel, to act, to choose. We convince ourselves that restraint is maturity and that postponement is wisdom. Somewhere between caution and self-denial, we forget how to live in the present. As children, we saved our favorite stickers carefully, peeling them halfway and pressing them back onto glossy sheets. T
Neesh: The Energy Fuelling a Cautious Generation
For the quieter Gen Zs, the ones who play it safe, overthink the consequences and hesitate before taking up space, Neesh feels like dopamine in human form.
The Dawn Dispatch
Well. Does a lady apologise? Rarely. But loyalty is a tricky business. Two loyal parties seldom survive unscathed. Someone must disappoint. Today, regrettably, it is I. You asked for delivery. I served absence. Consider it suspense. Be assured, this typewriter intends to work overtime in the coming year. And when skirts begin to lift, do not protest. You asked for the wind. I once believed inconsistency could be disciplined with a New Year’s inte
A Tuk Ride Should Cost More Than a Cab. Why Not?
There is something quietly absurd about a tuk costing more than a car. Not absurd in a numerical sense, but in what it signals. A tuk is loud, imperfect, open to dust and rain, driven by someone who may tell you
Christmas at 700 Feet Lunch at Citrus Blue Orbit’s Festive Buffet
Some places live in a city’s memory long before they become dining destinations. The Lotus Tower is one of them. It rises above Colombo not just as an architectural icon, but as something almost
Don’t Let Your Figs Rot
December arrives like a inspector. It steps into the room, closes the door softly, and asks a single question: What did you make of the year that was placed in your hands? If you are here, reading this, the answer is probably not simple. You might have had twelve clean opportunities, twelve fresh beginnings, twelve imagined turning points, yet somehow watched them dissolve into one another. Perhaps you tried. Perhaps you hesitated. Perhaps life
A December to Savor Park Street Gourmet’s Holiday Experience
There is a particular kind of magic that settles over Colombo in December, one that does not arrive all at once but unfolds slowly, like the careful peeling back of crisp wrapping paper. It begins in subtle ways: the faint scent of cinnamon drifting through cafés, the twinkle of fairy lights catching your eye, and the soft hum of traffic beneath a veil of carols drifting from shop speakers. Then, almost imperceptibly,w the city seems to surrender
Thank you, you did great! Sri Lanka’s Week of Fury: Reflections on a Nation Under Water
What began as scattered heavy showers across the island soon escalated into one of the most devastating weeks of extreme weather Sri Lanka has faced in recent years. Each day brought new tragedy, every report added more districts to the growing map of destruction, and the weight of the unfolding disaster felt heavier than the floodwaters that swallowed homes, roads, and entire communities. Cyclone Ditwah, gathering strength offshore, intensified
How to Lose Yourself in Ten Days Followed by the Reclaiming of the Land
There are seasons when losing yourself happens slowly, almost politely, as if erosion could learn manners. At other times it arrives abruptly, a room going dark before you can locate the switch. For years I believed I was immune to such disappearance. I kept my life orderly, my emotions in neat stacks,
The Courage to Be Imperfect: Inside Nawodha Bandara’s MBFW Collection
As Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week 2025 approaches, attention turns toward one of Sri Lanka’s most distinctive creative voices, Nawodha Bandara, the designer behind NAO.
Boomer Eyes Gen Alpha The Future Held in Tiny Hands Children’s Future Forum 2025
It began with nothing more than just a thought. A thought that floated across a quiet afternoon like a moth drawn to an open window, soft and unassuming but persistent. We did not have a grand plan, any
A Crown Can’t Silence a Woman: Miss Universe Faces Its Reckoning in Bangkok
Beauty pageants have long existed in the uneasy space between grace and control, where empowerment is celebrated onstage but often muted behind it. For decades, contestants have mastered the delicate choreography of confidence and compliance, smiling through silence in glittering rooms built on poise. Last week, in a ballroom in Bangkok, that choreography fell apart.
When British Vogue Asked “Is Having a Boyfriend Embarrassing Now?”
In her British Vogue piece “Is Having a Boyfriend Embarrassing Now?”, writer and activist Chante Joseph examines a fascinating social shift: the collective recoil from what she calls “Boyfriend Land,” an era when a woman’s social currency was often tied to her romantic attachments. Joseph’s essay succeeds because it does what good cultural writing should, it observes the absurdity of the present with irony and introspection. Beneath the humour li
The Sound of Coexistence How AKMA is Preserving Musical Traditions Across the Wider Subcontinent
In South Asia, music has always been more than melody. It is memory, lineage, and the story of coexistence itself. Across the subcontinent, rhythms and ragas have moved more freely than borders ever
