the black lullaby

Mahina Bongso

Brandon Ingram

Subha Wijesiriwardena

An interesting story I thought I should share:

Currently, Indian Television has taken their dramas to new heights, however, the Indian Audience has begun taking the storylines far too seriously. One of Zee TV’s highest rating dramas – Dulhann – introduced a female villain like never before. Actress Kamya Punjabi was given the challenge of portraying India’s most feared Vamp – Sindoora Singh.

The problem is, she did it too well. According to the storyline so far, Sindoora has been trying to kill her half-brother and his wife for the longest time but after each attempt, they manage to escape. Last week, viewers were given the shock of their lives when Sindoora finally cornered the lead couple on a deserted mountain and shot them in cold blood. She didn’t stop there, when the two lovers tried to hold on to each other with their last breath, she didn’t even let their hands meet and shot them continuously until they were positively dead!

After the episode aired on Indian TV, people living close to Kamya Punjabi (Sindoora)’s house, walked over and questioned her mother as to why her daughter would do such a thing.

Kamya was on the phone to her mother when suddenly she was hit with a stone and looked up to see a gang of 20 people walking her way with clubs and poles. Kamya took refuge in the production house and she had to be driven home with security for the next few days.

Even the production house received threats on the phone!

This week however, the show Dulhann took a 21 year leap and Sindoora is now portrayed as a politician who comes face to face with the re-incarnation of the two people she killed, thus beginning her vicious cylce all over again. Let’s hope the writers decide to give Sindoora what she deserves or else, poor Kamya will face the music for displaying remarkable talent!

Jehan Gunesekera

Anush de Costa

Aavon Fernando

Ryan Holsinger 

Ruvin de Silva

Sulochana Perera

Wasaam Ismail

For more info on this play please log on to daytripper.wordpress.com

For more info on the play please log on to daytripper.wordpress.com

The following photographs are the work of Yanik Tissera

Mihiri Warnasuriya 

Jehan Mendis 

Nuzreth Jalaldeen

Samurai is a play by Geoffrey Case, Directed by Tracy Holsinger and will be performed at the British Council from the 27th – 30th of March and 3rd – 6th of April 2008.

For tickets please call Brandon on 0772 82 88 77.

Ok people so here’s the good news: my second book is complete and is now with my publisher. The first reaction I got from a lot of people was… “that was fast”, and the truth is that it was. But when you’re as passionate about writing as I am (or so I’d like to think), then it doesn’t take a lifetime to finish what you start.

Here are a few question in general that people have asked about the book and here are my answers:

Is it a sequel to The Fairy Dance?

No it isn’t. If and when I do write a sequel for any of my future books, trust me, you’ll know about it.

What subject did you choose to write on this time?

Well I know that in a few interviews I did say that I would be looking into things like abortion and marital rape, but those are in the pipeline and I need time to perfect plots before I can really sit down to write about them. As for the subject of this book – I’ve brought in a small angle on the debate about Electro Convulsive Therapy or Shock Treatment and the effect it has on people. But the bigger picture is about same sex relationships. The boundaries that keep them hidden, the reasons why some people wouldn’t want to admit to having had them and a battle of words that suggest they’re no different to any other realtionship.

Are you writing from personal experience?

Doesn’t every writer bring in a little bit of their experiences and their views into what they write? Most of you know that I have been in a relationship with a man, that is probably the basis on what this book is written. But it’s much more than that. It’s a hardcore attempt to bring down social labels and make people understand that you can’t just mess with the lives of others and expect to get away with it.

Why are the topics you choose so dark in content?

We’ve all been told the stories of the fluffy side of life and we keep holding on to them for dear life. But not every story in real life ends with the missing glass slipper fitting the right foot or a kiss that ends a century of slumber. Real life is far richer and the beauty that the darker side of it holds is something that needs to be admired. Besides, it’s my style. If everyone hopped on the Happy Banana band wagon then we’d all be living in a world of fantasy, never willing to admit the reality of things.

Have you already started on the 3rd book?

I am thinking about it, but that’s the thing with writing. Sometimes you get into the mood and you can go days on end with no sleep just writing. But sometimes you need to stay away from it. I’m going to take a small break now and focus on the first two books and in the midst of all that, if an interesting topic does happen to captivate my thoughts then I’ll go for it.

How’s the 1st book doing?

Pretty well under the circumstances. You know I was pretty proud of the fact that people started acting on things after the things that were said before and after the launch of my book. There are actually hoardings that have been done by the tourist board all the way down south that say: “NO CHILD SEX!”… they weren’t there before, so if this is an indication of change that words can cause, I’m happy.

Any other questions, please write to me.

Brandon.

With a statement like that, I can only be referring to the Chillies Creative Awards 2008.

I had the privilege of being present at last night’s judges forum. A panel of six judges plus one moderator who specialized in Sex Education, all sat down to discuss the good the bad and the ugly of this year’s ads. The evening started off well enough with the usual tone of diplomacy and subtlety… But then something strange happened. While five of the judges chose to sugar coat their statements, one of them decided to let us have it in black and white.

Of course I can tell you that some of his statements weren’t very welcoming to individuals who believed they were God’s gift to advertising. We’ve all known from the time last year’s Chillies were over that this year would turn out to be a blood bath… and it has. The stories are hilarious and the drama is outstanding.

The huge controversy surrounding SCAM has got everyone buzzed… People are getting cheezed off that their so called “legitimate” work is being ruled out as SCAM. So much so that rumor has it they might not even show up for the awards night, but not all rumors can be believed, even though some of them are backed by facts.

The judges of the TV and Print Panles brought up some very valid points last night about entering awards shows and the kind of approach that needs to be taken before you enter. I spoke with one of the judges (the most interesting one of the lot) and he spoke to me about the industry in Singapore. Sounds like it isn’t much different over there.

The sad part is that our fellow advertising folk have suddenly come to believe that if they don’t win an award they’re not worth anything. Taking that fact into consideration, I believe we can expect quite a few suicides after this year’s awards show.

But one thing I have to admire is the ability of these people to continuously stay stubborn! Every year these judges come here and give us such great advice on what our trade is all about and every year we try to bullshit them with work that has been done for the simple purpose of awards and nothing that would benefit a brand or product. More so, the advocates of such work will go to extreme lengths to prove they’re right. That’s why they’re still aching to get their hands on a Cannes Lion and the actual winners of such awards are deemed stupid.

I believe that our industry deserves a good pat on the back for their efforts to create an illusion that is obviously not going to last for too long. But the question is, what happens when the curtain comes off?

Maybe not all the judges, but at least one of them spoke the truth last night. I’d like to see how many people were fired up enough to ignite within themselves the passion to do better next year and how many people were burnt enough to sulk in their own shit pile of misery until next year and the year after that…

TSK, TSK, TSK… Sigh.

Hello everyone…

I hate being away like this and not blogging, but life has been hectic. There’s been so much that has been happening, it’s been like this major adventure. I’ve been in and out of Colombo, my role at work has changed, I finished writing my second book, we’re preparing for the Chillies this Saturday, rehearsals are going on for Samurai and that’s not even half of it.

But all that aside, the reason I haven’t blogged in so long is because I’ve been trapped in limbo for the longest time. To elaborate on that, I went through yet another stage in my life where I was uncertain of what decisions needed to be made and how to proceed further with life.

Yesterday, advice came from the most unexpected source. I had a chat with an old friend, one who is used to setting me straight and telling me the truth about myself. Very few people can do that without either sounding like their putting you on a pedestal or like they’re tearing you apart.

But the advice was good… It was so good that it kept me up the whole night.

My friend told me that sometimes even though we may look like we’re living on the outside, we feel so dead inside that it prevents us from seeing how lucky we really are. I have to admit that I’ve always been one to keep a mean grudge. I can claim to forgive people but I can’t seem to forget what they’ve done, but then I realized that this means I’ve never really forgiven them to begin with.

My friend was correct in saying that I carried a lot of hurt inside me. I’d focussed so much on the bad that I had completely forgotten the good. I dont’ mean to whine or preach, but since this is my blog, I don’t really care either… he he he… The thing is that when I was done thinking during the early hours of this morning, I was able to rise above the misery that I had put myself into. The man who gave me such solid advice was right to say that I was my own worst enemy.

And this is something I’d like to share with all of you… You are capable of creating and destroying your own destiny, it all depends on how you choose to look at things. The people we are and who we become, it’s all part of the way we live our lives. The things we let ourselves get affected by and the things that we let slide.

Living becomes so much easier when you’re able to let go, truly let go. It’s true what they say about people being tied down by emotion. You feel so much lighter and so much more ready to accept all those hazards life throws at you when you’re able to drop your baggage and start running into the waiting challenges.

I feel like a whole new person and I’m happy… after what seems like an eternity, I’m happy…

Hopefully, I’ll be back to blogging more regularly too….

till next and next,

B.