As written for The Platform, UK [September 2017] An “autobiographical comedy” is how Trevor Noah’s memoir Born A Crime is often described. But, as everyone’s current favourite satirical funny man, Noah does here too what he does best. Drollery as a façade for dark witticisms. A laugh-out-loud hardcover made up of pages laced with a grim life […]
July 26, 2012
As written for The National, UAE (July 26, 2012) My definition of a glorious (yes, glorious) Saturday morning; 6 hours, 4 stores and a personal acquisition of 6 titles later = a round-up and critique of the top second-hand book stores in Dubai + the most fun I’ve had on a writing assignment in a […]
April 25, 2012
As written for Muslim Matters (April 25, 2012) The city of Dambulla in Sri Lanka, more known for its representation in tourism brochures as a registered heritage destination for culturally-inclined tourists to the island, made headlines of a less-idyllic nature on the afternoon of Friday the 20th of April – when Buddhist monks led a 2000-strong protest against a […]
February 8, 2012
As written for MuslimMatters The Arab League officially halted its observer mission to Syria on Saturday the 28th of January 2012, just a month after agreeing to introduce the presence of their monitors across the beleaguered republic. The current state of the Arab Republic needs no introduction; with the number of fatalities escalating to hundreds […]
January 30, 2012
As written for The National, UAE (January 30, 2012) To merely call the Egyptian-Lebanese author Yahia Lababidi a “poet” would be like heinously dedicating a blank notebook to a specific purpose – limiting the many possibilities of potential expression to just one. For Lababidi is not just a rhapsodist, but also an essayist, and even […]
December 25, 2011
As written for Halal World (October-December 2011). The Arab Spring, a label for a series of revolutions which we hoped would prove more deciduous than seemingly-endless, has now outrun seasons to cross-over into Autumn. Undoubtedly, the Middle East is portraying a bleak reflection of its current state of affairs. With despots toppling like a line of […]
December 25, 2011
As written for The National, UAE (November 21, 2011). As is the case with most Sri Lankan authors having spent a considerable period of time abroad, I expected Shehan Karunatilaka’s accent to have a pronounced Kiwi cadence and tinged with only a slight Sri Lankan nuance, considering the years he spent in New Zealand. But […]
September 14, 2011
As written for Groundviews. Up until just two years ago, I have only known a Sri Lanka at war. And it was possibly just over a decade ago when I came about to comprehending that we were in fact, at war with ourselves. Having recently just returned from yet another visit to […]
November 22, 2017
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