SUNDAY LEADER
This is a selection of articles written for The Sunday Leader. The original website shutdown with the closing of the newspaper. Certain articles still appear in different websites as scans or reposts.
Aritha Wickramasinghe is a man of many things. He’s an international banking lawyer and the founding trustee of Think Equal, a UN Human Rights Office endorsed education initiative. He was recognised for his initiatives promoting equality and human rights by the Financial Times in 2015 ranking him No. 1 Future Global Business Leader in an outstanding list which included Mark Zuckerberg. He has advised the British Government on using British business to promote human rights abroad, and has contested British Government to recognise non-gendered persons. In 2017, Attitude Magazine ranked Aritha as the 15th most eligible bachelor in the world, ahead of well-known celebrities Sam Smith, Adam Lambert, Wentworth Miller and Sir Ian McKellen. In a world where history books are filled with changing the world, Aritha is adding on with history that matter.
Chrissy Manby is the author of some of our favourite Chick Lit books such as Girl Meets Ape, Seven Sunny Days, Getting Personal, Lizzie Jordan’s Secret Life and Getting Over Mr Right, among many others.
Even though she has been publishing in magazines since the age of 14, most of them were short stories in the Just Seventeen magazine. After countless contributions and studying Experimental Psychology at Oxford, she moved to London, and with the encouragement and help of David Garnett, she got her first book Inspiration out to the world. Up until then, all her stories were published under pseudo names, and in 1997, she finally published her first book Flatmates under her name. In 2010, she started publishing under the name ‘Chrissy Manby’ with the novel Getting Over Mr Right and her latest novel, A Proper Family Holiday was out in June.
Otara Gunewardene, the founder of ODEL, is an iconic figure in Sri Lanka’s business industry, an inspiration to all women and those who want to make a difference in the world. With a history going back 25 years, ODEL has been catering to the needs of the customer with agility and versatility. As many as 20 stores spread around Sri Lanka, ODEL raising the bar on quality clothing as well as amazing customer service. With the celebrations of the 25th anniversary underway, the shocking news arose that Otara has sold the company and will be leaving ODEL in the capable hands of Softlogic Holdings PLC. After years of associating the brand of ODEL with the inspiring face of Otara, it will be a big change for all in Sri Lanka.
Jeff Fuchs is a name associated with two things that we, as civilians, would find very diverse, but in reality they are in on the same ‘level’. An obsession with tea and mountaineering is of two different emotional levels for us – soothing and exciting. However, for Jeff, it’s the same rush hunting after the best tea in the planet, climbing mountains, hunting down ancient routes, and of course, writing about it. He was the first westerner to take on the entire 5000kms of the ancient Tea Horse Road from Yunnan, over the Tibetan Plateau and down into India. The exhilarating eight month journey is forever immortalised in his book; ‘The Ancient Tea Horse Road: Travels with the Last of the Himalayan Muleteers’.
Born in the wild 70s in Birmingham, Mike Gayle started his conversations with the heart dialogues with his novel, ‘My Legendary Girlfriend’. His bestselling books such as Turning Thirty, His n’ Hers, Mr Commitment, Brand New Friend and many others have warmed the hearts of many around the world. He has an amazing gift for digging deep into the hearts of men and women, and bringing out emotions in its raw form.
Mahela Jayawardene is one of Sri Lanka’s finest and classiest players in present day cricket. Every youngster starting out in the game of cricket wants to be like him or his partner in crime, Kumar Sangakkara. The soft spoken and quite funny former captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team has set a standard when it comes to being one of the best batsmen today in this ‘Gentlemen’s Game’. His thirst for chasing runs and wining matches has always been outstanding and his name is a household name for all cricket fans around the world. Jayawardene made his debut in the record breaking test match in 1997 against India at R.P.S., Colombo and has added 66 to Sri Lanka’s first innings score of 952/6, the highest test score ever.
Described as the ‘future of local fashion’ by stylistlk, Amesh Wijesekera escorted Sri Lankan fashion into a new dawn opening doors for eccentric and imaginative fashion designers everywhere. Studying at the Academy of Design, Colombo, Amesh emerged as the winner of ‘Student Graduate Industry Collaboration’ award at the ‘Mercedes Benz Fashion and Apparel Awards Sri Lanka 2015’. His style of design, bold and unconventional, highlights fusion of fabrics, designs and styles. Reminding stylistlk of Maison Margiela, Amesh’s designs also carry the distinctive touch of demolition and assembling of random items fused together as well as collaboration of masculinity and femininity.
TNL Onstage winners (2007), Hollow, has gone to become one of the most recognised and powerful heavy metal acts in this country with a very loyal fan base which only continues to grow. With their daring aggressive image, Hollow definitely not a force to be messed with.
The radiating beauty of Dannielle Kerkoven is nothing new to the people of Sri Lanka. She is a conquering icon of Sri Lankan fashion and is an elegant star on the ramps of Sri Lanka and worldwide. Her experience and her unwavering grace gave authority in validating renowned products and establishments. Her appearance at a runway shows only increased the professionalism of the event and any item of clothing, makeup or hairstyle she wore gave glory to the designers or stylists. Dannielle was recognised for her beauty as well as her grace at the Fashion Asia Awards 2014 where she bagged the award for ‘Asia’s Top Fashion Model of the Year’ (Female Category).
The Sri Lanka Cyber Games took place from the 9th to the 11th of December, and for the ninth successive year, Gamer.lk brought out the big guns! Sri Lanka’s biggest gaming festival saw qualifiers pre-SLCG from around Sri Lanka with qualifying rounds taking place in Galle, Kandy, and for the first time in Jaffna!
Natalie Soysa is a known face among almost everyone who has ever been around anything art-related. Whether it’s a photo exhibition, a metal concert, a gallery opening or even the odd poetry reading, you are surely to find her nestled in a corner.
This series was done weekly where prominent figures in Sri Lanka were interviewed on their reading favourites.
Making videos is his passion. Kasun Gunasekara also knowns as '@kalumalli', started making videos in 2005 when he got a computer at their household at a time when smartphones could only record loq quality .3pg videos, and he didn't have access to the internet.