Poet Lost

If you are a regular reader of this blog then you are probably aware that I set up a bulletin board a few days back. Sadly, I had to take it off because it needs quite a bit of diskspace and I have only 20MB with this account.

Considering the limited resources at hand, I’ve decided to host a website instead. The new site ‘Postlost - Theena Kumaragurunathan musing about the mundane‘ will be an online archive of creative writing work and essays that I worked on.

The design of the site is, I admit, very simplistic, but its the best I could do with my limited knowledge of HTML and web design software. Overall, I am happy with the way it turned out though. Right now, only the home page is functional, but I will be additional pages everyday. Suggestions for improving the design from experienced web developers would be welcome.

I recently completed an assignment for my International Relations class on the French Revolution and its impact on the spread of the democractic form of government. I was quite happy with the way it turned out, considering that I worked on the entire assignment 24 hours before it was due.

I am not sure when the grades for the assignment will be released, but I would like an opinion from people who are experts on the subjects. Any students of political science, history or international relations out there who read my blog on a regular basis? If so, I would really appreciate your input on my paper. It can be found here

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Two news reports - one good, the other scary - caught my attention today. The latter honestly gave me a mini heart attack. Asian Tribune posted a story on the ‘Acquisition of nerve gas and other lethal chemical weapons by the LTTE‘. Excerpts that stood out for me:

Eastern sources which revealed this information to “Asian Tribune” and has now confirmed that this special task force is in possession of chemical weapons with instructions from the LTTE leader to use these weapons only against Karuna cadres. This specific instruction was given to the cadres, because the foreign power which provided these chemical weapons to the LTTE has reportedly obtained from the Sri Lankan rebels an assurance that they should not use these weapons against the Sri Lankan Armed Forces.

And then this:

There are suspicions that a West European country closely aligned with the LTTE and which espouses LTTE’s causes may be the offender. This West European country, it is said, might have provided these chemical and other modern weapons to the LTTE via another East European country under a bi-lateral agreement with that country with special secret instructions for onward shipment to the Vanni based Sri Lankan terrorist organisation.

I haven’t seen this covered in the local print media, so I don’t know whether this is journalistic excellence on the part of Asia Tribune or simple fear-mongering. Either way, I was, and am still, very concerned. I like to hear the everyone’s thoughts as well.

If anyone has come across any mention of this in other media channels, please be kind enough to mention the source. A link would be great too.

At the other end of the spectrum is this piece of news on Lankannewspapers.com.

Apparently a group of people representing ex-pat Tamils in UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada Denmark and Norway have called for the total ban of the LTTE in Europe. In addition - and this is the part that I love - they’ve rejected the LTTE’s claim as the ’sole representative of the Tamil people’.

Being a Tamil myself, I’ve heard tales of ex-pats being asked to ‘contribute’ for the ‘Tamil cause’. The ones who don’t are blacklisted and will endure the wrath of the respective LTTE body in that country.

Yep. Apparently that is how you become a sole representative of a demographic.

My heart rejoices in the knowledge that there are people who still stand up for their rights instead of being brainwashed sheep.

I applaud you good sirs.

I’ve been working on a Bulleting Board (BB) / forum lately for the simple reason that there is a dearth on quality BBs dedicated to SL. Lankansoc is probably the one exception, but its mainly made up of expatriates and Lankan students in the UK.

The BB is finally live, but still very much in a testing phase. You can find it here. Sri Lanka Assorted Bullshit (or SLAB) aims to be a place for quality discussions free of wannabes, extremists and idiots of any kind.

If you happen to be any of the above, don’t bother visiting.

Sorry for the silence, but I’ve been rather busy at work. My studies also have demanded more attention; thus, I have little time for blogging.

I had to however post today on an event that could have huge implications on Sri Lankan cricket. News of Sanath Jayasuriya’s axing from the Sri Lankan squad for the test series against India finally brought home the realization that the man’s career is in its winter years.

Throughout the recent Indian one day series, he has looked a mere shadow of his former self. Injuries to the sholder haven’t helped matters. In a way, his dropping could be a blessing in disguise. What he needs right now is to get back into the right mental frame of mind, and to be physically fit, before the season’s real test begins: a trip to Australia. This, of course, is under the assumption that he will be selected for that series in the first place.

Of equal, if not more, concern is the other big surprise that has come about from the current series. Chaminda Vaas replacing Mahela Jayawardene as vice-captian looks, atleast on paper, to be one that is merely a reactionary move following the terrible performance of the team in the current Indian series. But Cricinfo’s Charlie Austin gives a frankly disconcerting report on some of the events that might have led to the Jayawardene’s domotion and Vaas’ subsequent promotion.

I’ve been following Austin’s reports for over a year now and I am well aware that his access to the Sri Lankan team is relatively high. His relationship with the players - especially with Kumar Sangakkara, Jayawardene and Muttiah Muralitharan - is something that even most local reporters don’t enjoy. Therefore, his analysis of events, sometimes, carries with it a hint of team dynamics and the social structures in place. This is one of the few times I can recall being perturbed by his report.

Its no secret that since 1996, Sri Lanka cricket has been a tool for politicians and power hungry businessmen. In light of such events, it was remarkable that the team itself suffered very little; of the three South Asian cricket super-powers, Sri Lanka has always prided itself as a united team with little or no squables. As a loyal fan, I can only hope and pray that will still be the case in the future.