About me

Hello there and thanks for stopping by. My name is Ishanthi (pronounced ish-arn-thi) but you can call me Ish.

I’ve parked a career as a banker (and before that, a lawyer) to follow a little dream and pursue an idea – to discover the country of my birth and to expose its finest with a fresh set of eyes. It is in part a pilgrimage to my heritage and in part my reminiscences, mostly navigated by those unpredictable moments of serendipity. 

I was born in the Colombo suburb of Dehiwela and migrated to Australia when I was four.  My memories of those early years are faded and somewhat uncertain but, if I close my eyes … the heady scent of Arabian jasmine hand-picked for the temple offering, the daily cry of neighbourhood street vendors peddling their freshly caught fish, the searing heat of my late grandfather’s stone ground chilli sambal, and the flourish of vibrant silk saris … still lingers.  I visited Sri Lanka again when I was 15 and many times since. Each visit infuses some colour into those faded recollections, but I am always yearning to know more and to make sense of my patchwork of memories and nostalgia. Each visit also seeded a desire to unearth Sri Lanka and its many delights in my own way, through a contemporary lens.

With a love of history & culture, travel and lifestyle and an eye for design and art, I’m going to show you that Sri Lanka is far more than just the sum of its beaches and monuments. It is an electrifying mix of a multi-faceted past, ancient traditions and avant-garde creativity laced with a touch of opulence.  Here you will find me re-evaluating the old alongside the new and showcasing the richness of Sri Lanka’s modernity. 

Welcome to my journey! Ayubowan.