Author Archive: whizpen
A short story written Thirty Two years ago
Helping my aunt clean her house some time ago, I came across some old magazines and books which she didn’t need. Amongst these was a yellow tattered copy of a Woman’s Era magazine dated January second 1984. Calculating that’s 32 years ago!! Anyway, reading the magazine I came across a short story named “An Eye …
Bow your head before you hang it!!
Many it seems are busy these days hanging out…themselves I mean. Last one I heard was a young carpenter who hung himself because he had lost his new phone (????). I mean a PHONE FOR HEAVENS SAKE!!! The statistics tell us that every few minutes (or was it seconds?) a person in this world dies, …
“People tend to become what you tell them they are”
There was an inmate at a certain prison who had been given a death sentence for a crime commited. The doctors there used to place a tablet beneath his tongue daily, promising him every single day that on the 30th day this tablet would cause his death.The doctors, however, were flabbergasted when the inmate, as …
Made in Cheena
Doing some last minute Eid shopping two months ago it occurred to me that nearly everything in my shopping bags was made in China. From a tiny pin to a huge toy, a head shawl to a prayer mat, even an ear phone to a smart phone seems to be from China. Evidently the Chinese …
Supermoms: To be or not to be??
According to the dictionary, a supermom is a mother who successfully manages a home and brings up children while also having a full time job. The number of these so called “supermoms” has multiplied during the past few decades including in our little Sri Lanka. A fast moving world, directed media and financial constraints due …
I am hungry…
The delicious aroma of cooking food wafts from the kitchen making my stomach growl in hunger. But I cant eat. Well, not yet and not until a little after sunset. As the Muslim holy month of Ramadan draws to a close I have been fasting continuously in this manner daily from before sunrise …
The Property of Ward 48
Nestled amidst the sprawling buildings of the Colombo National Hospital of Sri Lanka is Ward 48. Conveniently situated on the second floor of the building opposite the O.P.D, outwardly, it seems to be no different from the other wards except for an exotic treasure it contains. Entering the ward, one would be greeted on the …
A Buddhist, a Muslim and an Undivided Nation
No Halal. That’s what they said the last time. No Hijab. That’s what they say now. No Muslims. That’s what they would say the next time. Indirectly No Unity .That’s what they are trying to say the whole time. Who are these people?? What do they really want?? A few Buddhists friends even doubt whether …
A Buddhist, A Muslim and the Halal factor
It was with much confusion that I followed the recent protests by some in the Buddhist community against Muslims and the Sri Lankan Halaal Certification Authority. I mean, do these guys of the “Bodu Bala Sena” really realize what they are protesting against? Or what actually Halal is? And don’t these guys who proclaim …
A virgin girl in India
Thirty miles west of Taj Mahal, on the road to the city of Jaipur lies a collection of shelters which houses the 59 families of the Bedia tribe. And their livelihood? A long tradition of caste based prostitution. Girls born here become prostitutes in a rite of passage into “adulthood” as routine as marriage is …
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