A Life Less Ordinary

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who seems to say things just to provoke a reaction? No matter what the topic is about? Often we just go with the flow and keep our cool. But sometimes, no matter how hard we try, we react, in varying degrees of emotion. And sometimes, those provocations make us stop and think.

Hosts Tanya & Udhara talked to performance artist Venuri Perera, discovering why she aims to push our buttons, the challenges of being an artist in Sri Lanka, and the difficulty and excitement that comes with creating your own opportunities in life.

Travel opens our eyes to so many different ways of living, different perspectives, different cultures, and of course, different kinds of cuisine. You could fall so deeply in love with a country, that you dream of one day living there and adopting it as your second home.

Well that's exactly what Alice Luker did. The British photographer and blogger, who by the way has taken pictures for Conde Nast Traveler and Nat Geo traveler, used her creativity and love of exploration to build an adventurous life in Sri Lanka. For the past few years, she's been taking exquisite pictures of Sri Lankan culture, food, architecture and destinations and posting them as @StyleInSriLanka on Instagram. She now also has a blog of the same name with local recipes, interviews with fascinating Sri Lankans, and destination pieces about the island. With over 30,000 loyal Instagram fans, she is one of Sri Lanka's most creative digital influencers.

Host Udhara talked to Alice Luker about her journey so far, and what it's like running Style in Sri Lanka.

Hosts Tanya & Udhara talk to author of 'Serendipity', Ashok Ferrey, about his colourful life across many continents. He's one of Sri Lanka's best-selling authors in English and his latest book is 'The Ceaseless Chatter of Demons'. This episode will show you how an interest in many different things, having several callings, can be an incredible asset.

Ashok Ferrey's upbringing is as diverse as his interests: born in Colombo, raised in East Africa, educated at a Benedictine monastery in the wilds of Sussex. Ferrey studied maths at Oxford University, ending up in the south of London where he converted Victorian houses during the years Margaret Thatcher was in power.

Anyone who reads fiction in Sri Lanka will know Ferrey for his novels. When he's not writing and training Sri Lanka's 'rich and infamous', he designing houses and lectures on architecture.

Hosts Tanya & Udhara talk to Reza Akram, a Sri Lankan photographer who's worked with the British Council, Al Jazeera, and the UN. He proves that everyone has a real chance to pursue their wildest dreams. And not just one chance, but many, many chances. But wildest dreams don't come true overnight. It takes stamina, long-term thinking, and sacrifice.

Out of his several projects, one that stands out to us are his incredible black and white photographs of Angampora fighters, which attracted the attention of the Huffington Post. You'll find out what turned a university project featuring this 3000-year-old martial art into a long-term endeavour with more than its fair share of challenges.

In a country in which many aspiring creatives would say they don't feel valued, Reza might seem like an exception to the rule. But by the end of our conversation, we're hoping that you'll see that you can create your own luck and own opportunities, regardless of your current situation.

Every country has its taboos, and Sri Lanka is no different. 'Sex', 'drugs', and 'HIV' are all words that are uttered in hushed tones. To find out more, hosts Tanya & Udhara talked to Hans Billimoria from the Grassrooted Trust. He works with people living with HIV, people who use drugs, who sell sex, and people who have been marginalised due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. He also works with young people who've been sexually abused, cyber-stalked or bullied and conducts workshops and talks on healthy relationship behaviour.

We understand that some of the topics we discuss in this podcast might be of a sensitive nature, but we hope you can stay with us and draw a few insights from this conversation. To use a quote, 'Quick sensitivity is inseparable from proper understanding'. Which means, if you react too quickly without seeking to understand, you lose the true meaning of what was being said.

When you think of a womens rights advocate and a hair-designer from the tropical isle of Sri Lanka, do you instantly jump to picture them conquering Mount Everest, one of the coldest and harshest places on earth?

Well these are two people who did just that: one shines a light on gender equality, the other creates fabulous hair with acting and singing on the side, and when they're not working – they scale a mountain or two. Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala (@jayfemrock) is the first and only Sri Lankan to summit Mount Everest (that's 8,848 metres), and Johann Peiris (@EverestSriLanka) is the only Sri Lankan man to reach an altitude of 8,400 metres.

This week's episode is going to shatter your notions about the boxes people are placed into by society, their families or themselves. By the end of this episode, we hope you leave with a more adventurous, curious, and bold spirit eager to find out what boxes you're trapping yourself in.