Swami Vivekananda's books in Sinhala

To celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, a fountain of wisdom, of spirit and fire that kindled millions of people all over the world to enrich their spiritual life, Indian Cultural Centre in association with Ramakrishna Mission, Colombo is launching three books in Sinhala. The programme will be held at 5.30 pm on April 30 at Conference Room C, BMICH, Colombo 7.

Minister of Water Supply and Drainage Dinesh Gunawardena and Chief Government Whip will the chief guest on the occasion.

High Commissioner of India Ashok K. Kantha will preside over the function. The Sinhala translations of the books titled 'Fables and Other Stories by Paramahansa Ramakrishna', 'Education', by Swami Vivekananda and The Biography of Shri Ramakrishna', will be released.

All the books are published by the Ramakrishna Mission, Colombo. Swami Sarvarupananda, Swami-in-charge, Ramakrishna Mission, Colombo will introduce the books.

Swami Vivekananda (1863 - 1902) had a special relationship with Sri Lanka, the country that he visited thrice.

His main visit to Sri Lanka in 1897 had generated enormous interest and Swamiji travelled extensively across the country and delivered lectures at Colombo, Anuradhapura and Jaffna.

TELEMG to hold short film contest

The Tele Makers Guild (TELEMG) will hold a short film competition in August to coincide with the Tissa Abeysekera commemorative ceremony.

Short films not exceeding 12 minutes on humanitarian themes may be sent in for the contest before May 15 to Tele Makers Guild, 21/2, S. de S. Jayasinghe Mawatha, Nugegoda. A coffee table book depicting the life and times of the renowned film-maker and scriptwriter Tissa Abeysekera will be launched at the ceremony.

Srigeeth Thalath Mohammed musical concert

Chandra Sri Somasiri

Chandra Sri Somasiri will present his Srigeeth Thalath Mohammed musical concert at the Indian Cultural Centre, Colombo 7 on May 9 at 5 p.m.

Thalath Mohammed earned the sobriquet 'King of Gazal'. With his silken voice he entertained the audience for many generations. He was born on February 24, 1924 and sang his first song at the age of 16. In 1941 he signed a singing assignment with HMV.

He sang his first film song for Arzu. After singing 700 songs he died on May 9, 1998.

Many local singers such as Dharmadasa Walpola, Haroon Lantra, Mohideen Baig, Sisira Senaratne and Sydney Attygalle were influenced by Thalath Mohammed's singing style.

Silumina / Rasanduna senior journalist Chandra Sri Somasiri will pay a tribute to the great Gazal singer Thalath Mohammed by singing his songs at the concert.