Sinhala Bloggers vs. ICTA in browser wars

English bloggers in Sri Lanka few months back found their nemesis in mainstream English print media that saw stealing and using blog content with no acknowledgements (forget payments!) fully acceptable. Sinhala bloggers too have eventually found theirs.

Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) is now under spotlight for robbing the glory of the hard work of one young software engineer (cum blogger) Danishka Navin who, we are told, did the Sinhala version of Mozilla Firefox 3 browser. According to Wikipedia, Mozilla Firefox is a web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite, managed by the Mozilla Corporation. Firefox had 19% of the recorded usage share of web browsers as of June 2008, making it the second-most popular browser in current use worldwide, after Internet Explorer.

As Danishka Navin states in his blog, the Sinhala version development was largely a group effort. Nilaksha Rathnayake, Srishanu Lokupathirage, Harshana Weerasinghe, Su Hewawasam, Wasantha, Waruna, Dhammika, Malinthe Samarakoon and Rajith were those who have joined him in developing the Sinhala version. (I mention these names because I do not want to do the same mistake ICTA did. Sorry that I could not find the surnames of some)

I was surprised to see ICTA’s one page colour newspaper advertisements announcing Sinhala version of Firefox 3. Creating Sinhala version of any software application is commendable, but a web browser is the last thing that needs a local language version. As an Internet user all I expect from a web browser is an empty box on top where I can type my URL. The only other feature I use is bookmarks. I, may be like most users, completely ignore other features.

In fact, I have used web browsers in many other languages including German, Chinese and Korean. Once there was a cyber café along Galle Road, close to Kolpetty (next to old Pramuka Bank building) that was run by few Koreans. Every PC there had Korean versions of Windows operating system. That did not prevent any Sri Lankan user (I guess none of them understand Korean) patronizing the café. They used Korean browser, with least difficulty. So why the language matter in a browser? Is the introduction of a local language browser something to celebrate at national level spending tax payers’ money lavishly on newspaper advertisements and media events at five star hotels?

But ICTA, being ICTA, just craves for publicity. Its eternal policy has been to spend 5 cents to do something and another one rupee in publicizing the effort. I am sure a sizable portion of its budget goes for image building exercises for itself and its master. Most of its projects have failed. ICTA, which boasted about ‘e-Sri Lanka miracle’ by 2007, still has little to showcase. So I guess we understand its urge to exploit every possible opportunity for more and more publicity. (including the death of its Chairman – yes, in fact, in terms of timely organization and publicity gained, Prof. V. K. Samaranayake’s funeral function should be the most successful project ICTA ever did!)

Well, selling cadavers is one thing, but robbing glory for others work is different. If I were Danishka Navin and even anybody in that larger group, I would not be happy about this daylight mugging – even if my efforts were paid. That is not what we expect from a government agency. ICTA would not have lost anything if it gave the credit deserved by the young man Danishka Navin and his team. After all, it is the young generation that drives the IT force, in Sri Lanka and everywhere not the aged bureaucrats.

It was three youngsters Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim founded You Tube. All of them were university students then. Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook while still a student at Harvard University. This 24 year old is the CEO of Facebook now. In 2008, Forbes Magazine declared him “the youngest billionaire on earth and possibly the youngest self-made billionaire ever,” with a theoretical net worth of $1.5 billion USD. All these youngsters get credit for their innovations. We all know creating a Sinhala version of Forefox is hardly in par with any of these great achievements. So why not Danishka Navin take at least that credit? Do the aged bureaucrats in ICTA with mahadenamuttas of Colombo and Moratuwa universities think he is too young to be given full credit for this innovation, and it is fair to rob part of the credit?

It is sad to see even at this stage, instead of apologising ICTA still trying to justify its mistake. This stubborn behaviour  may be good for another state agency, but definitely not for ICTA, most of whose stakeholders are already online. I do not see the Sinhala bloggers will take this lightly.

While congratulating the Sinhala bloggers for the courageous stance they have taken in the support of Danishka Navin and his team, this is what I want to tell them: Don’t think this will be the end. Publicity crazy ICTA will continue robbing your glory. Don’t worry about that. Do your good work. Perhaps ICTA might fool some people in short term but fooling everyone always is not easy for ICTA, even with the powerful backing of President’s Office. The truth will one day come out. I wish you the best.

(Two images are from Sinhala Firefox group in FaceBook)

SAARC summit 2008 in Sri Lanka makes thousands homeless: Has South Asia not seen urban poverty?

Sri Lanka is now categorized as a medium income country but it is no secret that a sizable section of population still lives below poverty line. According to UNDP statistics, 45% of Sri Lankan population lives less than US$ 2 a day (this means their spending for a day for food, shelter, clothes, transport, education etc., does not exceed Rs. 220) and 6% lives less than US$ 1 a day. It is inevitable that some of them live in urban areas, sometimes near city centers.

Urban poverty is not unique to Sri Lanka. Slums are seen in the cities of any developing country. Every South Asian country has its own share. In every Indian metro millions of people live in slums. They cannot afford proper sanitation facilities. Majority of them do not even have toilets. Though not a common sight in Colombo, mass public defecations are seen in many South Asian cities. Mumbai is so crowded that they say when a city train hits a person (which happens every day, it seems) the drivers don’t even stop. Even in Bangalore – claimed to be the high tech city in South Asia there are estimated number of 15,000 toilet cleaners who carry buckets of human refuse on their shoulders. That is the sad reality South Asia lives with.

So what is this big deal about ‘cleaning the city’ for the summit chasing off poor people from their homes? Whom are we trying to fool?

Are the leaders of our government so naïve that they assume other South Asian leaders have not witnessed urban poverty? Don’ they know these leaders, except President Gayoom of Maldives, come from countries with 30% of the population live in extreme poverty compared to Sri Lanka’s 6%. (US$ 1 per day) Colombo might have been a heaven compared to the places they come from. So why this attempt to make thousands of people unnecessarily suffer?

It is also customary now to use ‘National Security’ to justify any damaging act of the government. Some of the people who had been chased off from Glennie passes have been living for more than 50 or 60 years. If they had not been a security threat for all these days how come they are now? Have they been recruited by tigers overnight?

It is also funny that the demolition of houses and shops is not restricted to centre Colombo. Houses of poor people in areas like Kotte, Nawala, Battaramulla and Kaduwela too have been destroyed? Why? Do any of the SAARC leader visit Kaduwela? (20 km from city centre) Why these people were made to suffer unnecessarily?

For development purposes, relocation of human habitats sometimes becomes a dire need. For example, a land in the middle of the city might be required to construct a super market complex, so relocation of current occupants become necessary. It can be done, provided that those poor people not only get homes somewhere but their occupations are not disturbed. Even if they are given land to build homes, will it be of any use if the relocation disturbs their income? How they could find money to feed their children? Are there good schools to send their children?

Perhaps we should not ask these questions. The priority of any Mugabe type ruler is himself and his family. As long as his family could rob the national wealth they have no concerns what happen to the rest. Did Hitler ever worried about the Jew children’s’ education when they sent them to camps? Did Idi Amin ever worried about the welfare of the millions he cold blooded killed? Did Polpot think twice before he made half the population starve? More recently does Mugabe ever worries about what hardships his hunger for power brought to the people? So why should only Sri Lanka be different?

I only hope international journalists take note.

Raigampura Heritage: Pathahawatte Rajamaha Viharaya

The temple now known as Sri Pushkararama Rajamaha Viharaya at Pathahawatte, Kothalawela is certainly an important piece of Raigampura Heritage – and not just for its religious significance.

Reachable by taking the right turn at ‘Kotalawela junction’ – near the 11th kilometer post on Panadura-Horana Road, the entire land of the temple of 12 Hectares (5 acres), an archeological reserve since 1970, is surrounded by a huge wall of kabook. It is 2 meter wide and the height varies between 2 -3 meters. Given the depth of the foundation, the original height could have been easily twice of that. This wall dates back to either Kotte or Gampola period.

No temple needs that level of protection. So this place could not have been a temple in its heyday. Mostly, it could have been the palace. But of which king? When it was built?

There are two schools of thoughts. The common belief is it was the land that housed the palace built by Raigam Bandara or Pararajasinghe (brother of Buvanekabahu VII and Mayadunne) who ruled Raigampura from 1521-38 AD. Interestingly, both the present Loku hamuduruwo and Archeological Department endorse this opinion. Although that cannot be completely denied the available evidence does not back it fully.

Firstly, by the time of Raigam Bandara, Bandaragama has largely lost its significance as its centre of Raigama. So there was no dire need to build a palace there. (In fact, Raigama again became an independent kingdom only in 1521 AD after the famous ‘Vijayaba Kollaya’. During the period of King Vijayabahu VI Raigama was part of the larger Kotte kingdom.) Secondly, for most of the turbulent period he reigned in Raigama, Raigam Bandara was fighting against elder brother Buvanekabahu, while joining hands with the youngest Mayadunne in Sitavaka, so it is difficult to think he planned building a large palace complex. Thirdly, some literature claims Raigam Bandara stayed at a place at Mapitigama in Sitavaka during the battles with Kotte kingdom. He might not have stayed for the entire period, so we cannot completely rule out the possibility that present Pathahawatte was his kingdom.

The other school that includes several prominent historians believe it had been the palace of Prabhuraja Nisshanka Alakeshvara (1360-87 AD)– perhaps the most illustrious ruler of Raigam kingdom. Nisshanka Alakeshvara was the one who built the castle at Kotte kingdom, surrounded by a huge wall not too different from the one we see today at Pathahawatte. So it is fair to attribute that too to him.

Mayura Sandesha, believed to be written during the reign of Nisshanka Alakeshvara (which also includes an eulogy about him) mentions the peacock (=Mayura) spent one night at his palace. He (peacock) was instructed to worship Veedagama temple the first thing next day morning. (“Vandu Veedagama munida udasana”) So Veedagama temple could not be too far from the place. As of now Pathahawatte is less than one km from the Veedagama temple. This proves to some extent that the former could be Nisshanka Alakeshvara’s palace. Probably Raigam Bandara too have later stayed in the same place.

'Pathaha' as it is today

Leaving the history aside for the moment it will be interesting to see what we find at this land today. Most evident feature is a huge pit of 25 m x 15 m size – which could have been either a pond or most probably a swimming pool (=pathaha). It was well built surrounded by a stone wall. The linkage to the place name Pathahawatte is apparent, but it should have been established long before we think. Even Rajavaliya refers to Pathahawatte as the point where Mudliar Samarakoon arrived with his army to fight the rebel Edirille Rala during the Kotte period.

No matter who built the palace and the surrounding kabook wall, it is reasonable to assume the existence of one or more moats. (=Diya Agala) This was common during those times. These were deep and either filled with water (mostly with crocodiles) or mud. Mayura Sandesha author while describing the Raigampura wall says the moat was built to fit the size of the former. So it should have been minimum 3 meters wide and 3 meters deep. However, today we do not see any evidence of such a moat. Difficult to assume that survived such a long period.

No comprehensive excavations done at Patahawatte, so we have to be satisfied with the few archeological artifacts to be seen on ground. One was a part of a vessel made of stone that takes the shape of a head of an elephant. This might have been used to collect water coming from the roof of the palace. The other interesting one is the double toilet seat – which has two back to back seats. Who used it and how it was used (mostly not simultaneously) is not known. The common belief is that it was the common toilet seat of the king and queen.

Existence of a temple in the ancient palace complex then was not known. It might have been possible that bricks and other material were taken away to build other structures during the Portuguese period and later. The current temple was build somewhere in the beginning of nineteenth century.

(Most of the above information is from the two books ‘Raigampura Rajadhaniya’ by Gunasena Gamage and ‘Sinhala Vehera Vihara’ by Prof. J. B. Disanayake)

SAARC 2008….? What SAARC?

In two weeks time government/state leaders of eight South Asian nations with thousands of their delegates will have a get together in Kandy, Sri Lanka to have nice break, share few anecdotes, talk about the achievements their children/grand children and enjoy some good food. Then they will return to home countries. We call it 15th SAARC summit.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a noble organization with some respectable objectives. It is the economic and political organization of eight countries in Southern Asia – the counter part of EU in Europe and ASEAN in Southeast Asia. In terms of population, its sphere of influence is the largest of any regional organization: almost 1.5 billion people, the combined population of its member states India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan and Afghanistan.

These are the objectives of SAARC, what these eight countries intend to achieve collectively:

· to promote the welfare of the peoples of South Asia and to improve their quality of life;

· to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and to provide all individuals the opportunity to live in dignity and to realize their full potential;

· to promote and strengthen collective self-reliance among the countries of South Asia;

· to contribute to mutual trust, understand and appreciation of one another’s problem;

· to promote active collaboration and mutual assistance in the economic, social, cultural, technical and scientific fields;

· to strengthen cooperation with other developing countries;

· to strengthen cooperation among themselves in international forums on matters of common interest; and

· to cooperate with international and regional organisations with similar aims and purposes.

How many of these noble objectives we have achieved so far?

For example, has this regional cooperation been able to improve the quality of life of South Asians in anyway? (No, I do not mean the quality of life of the leaders here – cooperation or not, that has surely improved!)

What economic achievements the group has made compared to European Union? Since 2002 EU has a single currency which has significantly appreciated against the dollar. Have SAARC countries ever being able to even lay a foundation for a common currency?

Do we accept currencies of each other? Is Indian Rupee acceptable in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh? Is Bangladesh Taka accepted in any of the other countries? Do we have any regional preferential treatment in trade? Does any SAARC country prefers the goods from another SAARC country than what is coming from outside? I doubt.

For cultural cooperation, all we have are Bollywood movies. Sharuk Khan in Karachchi, Chittagong or Katmandu is as popular as he is in Hyderabad, but that has more to do with globalization that any regional cooperation. Other than that we hardly share anything even remotely be called cultural, be it music, dancing, arts or literature. Apart from few Indian authours, have we ever heard literary figures from any other nation?

The regional cooperation we talk so much does not happen as long as we stay isolated. Each of these countries has to be open to each other. Does this happen now? Anyone who recently attempted getting visa for India or Bangladesh will not answer affirmative. It is lot more easy for Sri Lankans to get visa to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand than getting visa to any SAARC country. Sri Lanka has direct flights only to three SAARC countries. Even India that share borders with many does not have direct air links to all SAARC countries. Dhaka is better connected to Bangkok than any South Asian city. Is this how we facilitate intra-regional travelling? With each country trying so hard to maintain their borders will there be any practical economic cooperation possible among them?

Certainly this is not the case of other similar regional cooperation networks. A citizen of any EU country can enter any other EU nation without Visa. The same is true for ASEAN. This, if not for anything else will improve the tourism within region. Looks like none of us are interested in that potential.

SAARC it nothing new. It started in 1985. Twenty three years is a period more than enough to achieve something solid. We have not achieved anything. So the question is how justifiable by SAARC governments to spend colossal amounts for annual international tamashas, which will be of no use to extreme poor populations of these countries. Why not use that money to build more schools or hospitals?

The saddest part is to chasing off the poor people from their homes for this totally useless event. Perhaps this is the legacy of SLFP. Even in 1976 they did a similar thing for the Non Aligned Summit. (In 1977, one slogan at the famous UNP May rally was “Colonel Gaddafi – Pelpath Kadapi” – Libyan leader Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi was a key figure in the 1976 summit) Wasting public money for hopeless get-togethers is one thing but should we let the poor of the country suffer for that too?

Don’t you feel sorry for them, Kurakkan Uncle?

Where do these poor people go when they were chased off from their homes? Should the poor people suffer because of the political gimmicks like SAARC that will only boost image of key politicians and do nothing to country?

An eviction order has been issued to 800 families in Glenie Passage, Slave Island, claiming that the land they have settled on belongs to the Defence Ministry, reported Lanka Dissent today.

Glenie Passage, which is a cross road in the Chittappalam A. Gardiner Mawatha, has been housing around 1,500 people of 800 Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim families for nearly 50 years.

The residents, who have been paying the state taxes, water and electricity bills, have even been included in the voters list. In addition, a minister of the current regime has laid the foundation stone for a project to provide electricity to the area.

Soon after coming into power, the present government has obtained their signatures in agreement to evacuate the area, promising to grant them permanent settlements in return. An attempt to evict these residents without providing them means of resettlement was disrupted after a massive protest, even obstructing the train tracks in Slave Island was held.

Several persons who claimed themselves to be officials of the Defence Ministry had visited the area on July 11th and informed its residents to shift to temporary wood settlements in the Keerakotuwa area in Wattala till permanent houses are built for them. Noting that the residents have illegally settled down in a land that belongs to the war department of the Defence Ministry, these officials have ordered them to evict within a week.

Speaking to ‘Lanka Dissent’, a resident of Glenie Passage said that they would not shift to the proposed wood settlements in Keerakotuwa, which are only about 10 x 10 feet in size. He added that they would evict their present homes only if they are offered permanent housing as initially promised.

UNP parliamentarian, Ravi Karunanayake and several others who visited the area today (July 14th) to look into the matter, informed the residents that the Defence Ministry does not have the power to evict them as it required a court order to do so. The parliamentarian added that he would not allow an unlawful eviction to take place. Speaking to ‘Lanka Dissent’, MP Karunanayake said that neither the Defence Ministry nor the government has the power to evict these residents in such a manner and charged that the government was attempting to portray Colombo as a city sans slums to the SAARC summit. The MP further added that the UNP would not allow anyone; especially not a foreign citizen to forcefully evict people from their homes without legal authorization.

News Source: http://www.lankadissent.com

Should monkeys control technology use?

Just last week we heard a brilliant idea about one fabulous usage of camera phones. According to IGP Jayantha Wickramaratne you can use it to video if somebody rapes you, so that video can be used as evidence at a court. Excellent! Judges and lawyers will get to watch blue films free of charge. Why should we object?

Now there is another group of monkeys who think that mobile phones are too dangerous to be used by public without their close supervision. So what they want us to do? Among many things, all of us mobile users will now be required to an ownership certificate. So that the policemen who check you know the phone belongs to you, not to the husband of your mistress. They might also be under the impression that would be suicide bombers always carry other’s phones, not their own. Wishful thinking.

There is a real ugly side to these regulations. Not having a certificate for a mobile phone can be an excuse for Police to arrest an individual. We all know the possible consequences. A cynic might say these are inevitable characteristics of a military state – like the Jews wearing ‘Star of David’ under Hitler’s Nazi regime.

Jews wearing the star of David during the Nazi regime

The new regulations by TRC also prohibits mobile phone sharing. This is funny. Most poor people in this country do not own phones of their own. Instead they share the phone of a friend or a family member. Most people on this country also do not purchase their phones. This can be seen especially among women and children. Most of the times a woman gets a phone as a present by husband or boy friend. Parents purchase mobile phones for their children. This is how our society works. The traditions and norms of a society cannot be changed overnight just because some monkey sitting in a Colombo office wants.

The new regulations prevent these commonly accepted practices of the society. The monkeys have made even presenting a mobile phone to your wife/husband/girl friend/boy friend illegal. You both can be arrested and jailed if your wife uses your mobile phone. My Gosh. Can anybody be this stupid? Does every government official need to demonstrate the same IQ level of their big boss?

Many countries in the developing world impose press censorship – either directly or indirectly. Some have rules for it and some pass the message by an ad hoc abduction and beating of a journalist. Some countries also impose censorship on Internet content. At last three countries (Thailand, Indonesia and Pakistan) recently banned You Tube.

However no country thinks it is necessary to restrict mobile phone usage, most probably because they are not that stupid. After all, all the dictators are not monkeys. There are intelligent dictators in the world, unlike our jokers.

Technology is a serious matter. It should be controlled by intelligent human beings, not a set of monkeys. Baboons are not allowed to operator computers and chimps cannot be pilots. When monkeys start controlling technology the outcome could be dangerous.

Three die in firing on bus in Buttala

A bus has been fired at near the 149th km post in the Galge area on the Buttala- Kataragama road around 10.30 this morning (July 11th).

Three people have died and 16 others injured in the incident, military spokesman, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.

The injured have been admitted to the Kataragama Hospital.

Kataragama Joint Operations Commander, Colonel Devendra Perera also confirmed the incident.

http://www.lankadissent.com

Lessons from today’s ‘General Strike’

Both parties claim victory in today’s strike. People are the ultimate judges and all the evidence is there. Some services didn’t work, but some did. Less people were seen in the streets but that can also be attributed to the reluctance of many to take risk of travelling. Transport services worked only partially but that did not change much. There were no interruption to the operations of schools and hospitals. Hardly any work at Central Mail exchange. Everywhere else it was a mix. Certainly it was not a General Strike. I am not sure whether this was what Lal Kantha has expected.

Lal Kantha is no N. M. Perera either. What we saw today was nowhere near the incidents in 1953 Hartal. That was what we call a ‘General Strike’. According to what I have heard in 1953 women in south cocked in the middle of Galle Road bringing the transport to stand still. We have seen none of that today.

On the other hand, the biggest mistake to avoid is to interpret what happened today as an acceptance of Rajapakse regime by the people. It would be stupid to think poor have any love for a regime that robs them shamelessly. However it was clear their expression of anger did not come out. It has been lost somewhere in the middle.

There were several reasons why today was not another 1953.

Firstly, it is impossible for anybody to launch a mass scale General Strike today. The landscape has changed. Most of the sectors are no more government monopolies. JVP has no control over private sector – specially over privately operated public transport services. Even they do not have full control within institutions like CEB and Railways.

Secondly, it is not easy to launch trade union action against a military government that uses terror means to control any obstacle comes in their way. That was why equated them to a clan of Goliaths. They have the full military and police powers behind them. Anybody who questions will be branded a ‘terrorist sympathiser’ and might be physically assaulted. What happened to Defence Analysts during the last few months was enough to discourage a trade union activity. Even apart from the risk of facing physical attacks who would want to be branded ‘traitors’ by the government itself?

Thirdly, JVP has largely lost its clout even among the government workers. It is now another three wheeler party, just like LSSP and CP.

JVP should have taken these ground realities into account before calling for a General strike.

The biggest lesson however for the entire opposition, in which I am very much a part of. We see the anger of public accumulating against this robber regime. We see how eagerly they wait to see the end of war and massive scale corruption. We see how public urge for a leadership that can take them out of the misery there are in now. However, we have so far not been too successful in diverging that force into a strong people’s movement like we did in pre-1977 days. That is exactly what is expected from UNP and this is the time we should take that challenge more seriously than we ever did in recent past.

Ajantha Mendis – another Murali in the making?

His background is odd. We have heard soldiers making their mark in others fields of sports, but not in cricket. Even during the colonial times, when cricket was restricted to white sahibs, not many military men were seen in turf. Perhaps it has to do with the time one has to spend on practicing and playing. Compared to other games, cricket is a real time killer and to use Sir Arthur Clarke’s words it is the ‘slowest form of human activity’. The dynamism in military often does not go hand in hand with such a slow form of sports.

Ajantha Mendis, of course, is a trend setter, not a mere follower of traditions. He is surely a new generation cricketer – in every aspect. Players like him are the ones who so audaciously pronounce that cricket is no more a game to be played only by Colombo elite – or in the broader sense the white sahibs who invented it. A latest icon of Y generation, he shows the sign of becoming another Murali, filling a talent gap that existed for too long. Don’t think Aussies will be too happy.

Some more about this young star from Wikipedia:

Balapuwaduge Ajantha Winslo Mendis (born March 11, 1985 in Moratuwa) is a cricketer who plays for the Sri Lankan national cricket team.

Although classified as a right-arm, slow-medium bowler, Ajantha Mendis is a spinner who bowls a mixture of googlies, offbreaks, top-spinners, flippers and legbreaks. Batsmen have been confounded by the variety of deliveries he has up his sleeve and are at a loss to figure out what his stock delivery is. Mendis was a prolific wicket-taker for Sri Lanka Army in the 2007-08 season and had taken 46 wickets at an average of 10.56 and strike-rate of 31 from six matches. His performances did not go unnoticed for Mendis was called up to the Sri Lanka squad for the tour of West Indies in April 2008 After impressing on debut in the Caribbean, Mendis only grew in stature - in particular, because of his ‘flicker’, which he releases with an unusual snap of his fingers. In a short span of time since his debut, Mendis has flummoxed international batsmen and teams renowned for their ability to play spin bowling. His best bowling performance in a one-day international came in the final of the 2008 Asia Cup, where he took 6 wickets for 13 runs in just his eighth match. His 17 wickets in the tournament earned him the Man-of-the-Series award.

A right arm spinner, he made his One-Day International debut against the West Indies at Port of Spain in 2008 and took 3 for 39. He also plays for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.

The veteran West Indies cricket writer Tony Becca wrote in the Jamaica Gleaner: “Mendis bowls everything. With a smile on his face as he caresses the ball before delivering it, he bowls the offbreak, he bowls the legbreak, he bowls the googly, he bowls the flipper, he bowls a straight delivery, he bowls them with different grips and different actions, he bowls them with a different trajectory and at a different pace, and he disguises them brilliantly. The result is that he mesmerises, or bamboozles, batsmen.”

Jerome Jayaratne, the Sri Lanka Cricket Academy coach, said: “Mendis is unusual, freaky and has developed a ball which could be described as a ‘flicker’, which he releases with a snap of his fingers, which is very unusual compared to other orthodox spin bowlers.” That ball is reminiscent of the former Australia spinner Johnny Gleeson, who had a similar delivery.

Mendis is the author of a new delivery - the Carrom Ball. Since the Doosra, the Carrom Ball is the latest addition to the cricket lexicon.

To bowl a “carrom ball” in cricket, the ball is held between the thumb, forefinger and the middle finger, and instead of a regular release, the ball is squeezed out/ flicked by the fingers like a Carrom player flicking the disc on a Carrom Board. It could result in an off-break, a leg-break, a googly or even a zooter.

“I have just seen the future of spin bowling - and his name is Ajantha Mendis.” Rob Steen thinks Sri Lanka’s latest find is a keeper.

Ajantha Mendis, playing his eighth ODI, picked up the first six-wicket haul in the Asia Cup final against India in July 2008. His 6 for 13 is the third-best bowling performance in a tournament final, and the third-best for a spinner in ODIs. His 17 wickets is the best for an edition of the Asia Cup, and he bagged those wickets at an astounding average of 8.52. Ajantha Mendis won the man of the match award in the finals as well as the player of the tournament award for his efforts.

Lalkantha – the David to strike the Goliaths

I am no fan of Lalkantha. To give my personal opinion, taking all hats off, I am also not in favour of strikes of any kind – least the ones by professionals. Traditionally, it was the left that believed in trade union action, not the UNP. We have always believed in nation building by working more, not less.

Since independence, the damage blind trade union actions have done to the economy is only next to that caused by terrorism. Lee Kuan Yew was dead right in thanking the Ceylonese left leaders, who organized a string of strikes in 1960s which resulted diverting most Colombo port bound sea traffic to Singapore, making it the most favoured port between Europe and China. I would have some more respect for Dr. N. M. Perera, and old boy of my own alma mater, had he not been the one responsible for generating such unproductively.

Having said that, I do not deny my interest this time. It is more as an observer. What stimulates most of us is the contrast in confrontation. On one side we have the entire government mechanism using all its influences like a giant octopus. On the other side we have Lalkantha sahodaraya – who is next to nothing. He is an MP, but that is nothing when compared to the establishment he is fighting against. Lalkantha sahodaraya does not give a darn. His confidence impresses me. He is a David, brave enough to attack the Goliaths – with only a catapult in hand. I wish UNP too had more leaders of Lalkantha’s caliber.

Though I hesitate to endorse this kind of trade union action, I empathise with the public and private sector employees on a fixed monthly salary. With the sky rocketing commodity prices most of them find it hard to make ends meet.

Even the essential items now cost twice more when compared with pre-2004 prices. We hear about families that save milk only for the youngest children in the family – others have to be satisfied with plain tea. We see people buying 250 g of vegetables – they cannot afford more.

This is the ‘development’ brought by ‘Mahinda Chinthana’. Minister of Consumer Affairs is shameless in admitting he has no control over the COL. Poor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, the clueless Central Bank Governor, does not even know how much money his organization prints. The inflation level was 30% last month – the highest in South Asia. It would be a miracle if people do not protest.

Is there a solution?

Here is one: Minister Dullas Alahapperuma wants the poor people to reduce one curry from the plates – so that costs will be less.

Look who is talking. I would be very much interested in knowing whether the minister and his wife are ready to do the same. This couple, average sized human beings just one decade ago (before Dullas Alahapperuma got into politics) now look more like Mr and Mrs. Obelix. I am not kidding. They are two walking globes of fat. An observer is forgiven for wondering whether they are the singular reason for the food crisis in Sri Lanka. How come they have become so overgrown during this short period?

This is the pathetic reality in our society. Minister Dullas Alahapperuma and his wife Pradeepa Dharmadasa who once sang about Sarojaas now shamelessly maintain super-luxury lives on the money robbed from poor Sarojaas. They are light years ways from reality.

Given the enormous amount of food they may seem to consume it might not be too difficult for Minister Dullas Alahapperuma and his wife to cut down one curry from their plates. In fact it would be good for their health too. Both of them badly need reducing so many layers of fat. On the other hand, how many poor people will be able to do so?

Perhaps minister Dullas Alahapperuma might not be aware about the millions in this country who take rice only with one curry (most probably the simple pol-sambol) or those who eat rice only for one meal a day. Does the minister what them to also to reduce one curry from their plates? Does the minister Dullas Alahapperuma want children also to cut down on their food? Isn’t he aware that it might result in mass scale malnutrition? Does his wife, who was so emotional about poor Sarojaas now wants to see them malnourished?

That is why the people take trade union action. The strikes might be unproductive but maintain 109 fat ministers at the cost of poor, while they are starving is far more unproductive. Perhaps that is the point Lalkantha sahodaraya wants to make.

To kurakkan boy this action would bring some poetic justice. UNP’s stance has always been a lean government. Ranil Wickremasinghe government of 2001-4 has given special attention to developing private sector so that mass scale employment opportunities are created outside the government. It was the UPFA government that wanted to limitlessly expand public sector for its political gains. What it did not realize was the short of money to sustain such a huge work force. So it is fair that the same government that did that historical mistake now encounter this. Let us see what kurakkan boy has to say.