A Life Less Ordinary

Matthew Chapman is an entrepreneur and investor who has mastered the art of relationship building. His company ChapmanCG finds HR leaders for the world’s leading companies. He's an investor in Bawah Reserve, a luxurious and sustainable tropical island retreat that's a Condé Nast Traveler Top 10 resort of Asia. And he's a co-founder of the 300km Snowman Race in Bhutan, one of the world's toughest ultra-marathons in the world, focused on raising awareness of climate change.

T.P. Tovenaar is a writer from London, born to Sri Lankan parents. For the last decade, she’s called Colombo home.

Her book, 'Mum’s the Word', is a collection of hilarious and heartwarming stories about the relationship between a Sri Lankan mother and her British-born daughter, both trying to live within a complex mix of cultures, customs and environment. The stories light-heartedly remind us that we’re more than our place of birth and that immigration isn’t a bad thing.

Show host Udhara and Tovenaar spoke about her career at the BBC, how she learned from crushing rejection, why diversity is one of humanity’s greatest strengths, and how her book makes you appreciate the joys of family.

Ivy Singh-Lim founded Bollywood Veggies Organic Farm with her husband in Kranji, a northwestern suburb about 22 kilometres from the towering skyline of Singapore, showing an alternative, greener side to the country.  Visitors can explore the village-like tropical farm, eat a mouth-watering, farm-to-table Nasi Lemak served on a banana leaf, and learn about the history of food and its influence on civilisation. In our Season 2 finale, hosts Vanessa Fernandez and Udhara de Silva visited her home in the middle of the farm, where she lives with her husband and dogs. They spoke about: 

Theresa Goh is the first female Singaporean swimmer to qualify for the Paralympics. Vanessa and Udhara met the world-record breaker to talk about her childhood, how athletes compete over milliseconds to win races, being an openly gay public figure, and why accessibility should be a given in any space.

Theresa Goh is an ambassador for Singapore's LGBT non-profit, Pink Dot, a group for everyone, straight and gay, who support the belief that everyone deserves the freedom to love.

Ben and Saranta Gattie built The Working Capitol, a co-working space set up in a renovated former biscuit factory on Keong Saik Road. Since opening in 2015, it has become one of Asia’s leading co-working spaces. Hosts Vanessa & Udhara spoke to them at The Working Capitol about:

Jonathan Bonsey and John Palmer have called Singapore home for the last 3 decades. Jonathan Bonsey runs Bonsey Design, a design agency which has built iconic Asian brands in entertainment, media, retail, and much more. John Palmer is a serial entrepreneur who’s built e-commerce, social media and aviation companies. Hosts Vanessa and Udhara had a chat in their office about:

Tan Kheng Hua is an award-winning actress and producer who has worked on projects in theatre, TV and film since the early 90s. She was the Empress Dowager on Netflix’s Marco Polo, has produced a critically acclaimed cabaret act, The Dim Sum Dollies, and most recently, played the role of Kerry Chu in the record-breaking, much loved Hollywood film, Crazy Rich Asians. Hosts Udhara and Vanessa chatted with Kheng about her career beginnings, the art of acting, and her views on everything from entertainment to ageing.

If you loved this episode, subscribe to our show and leave us a review. It’d mean the world to us!

Nomads Bazaar produces A Life Less Ordinary, which involves a lot of travel, time, and resources. By donating even a dollar or two on Patreon, you help us create meaningful and impactful entertainment.

Outspoken. Irreverent. No bullshit. These are rare qualities in Sri Lankan society, and even rarer for Sri Lankan influencers who run their own companies. Indi Samarajiva started YAMU, the digital guide to Colombo and Sri Lanka 5 years ago, and the way the company operates says a lot about its founder.

Tanya & Udhara talked to him about moving back to Sri Lanka after growing up in North America, building a content company in a country whose startup culture is in its infancy, and his views on everything from Sri Lankan education to Buddhism.

Visit www.alifelessordinary.asia for more information and show notes.

Thanks for listening to the first season of A Life Less Ordinary! Please subscribe to our show so you'll be able to hear our brand new episodes later this year!

Colombo is a city with many personalities – you have personalities and then you have Personalities with a capital P. The first lot are people that everybody knows because Sri Lanka is a small island, and Colombo is somewhat of a tiny bubble within the small island. These people are related to this person or that, who know so-and-so, and who live in the most exclusive parts of the city. But then there are the second group of people. The people known for what they do and who they’ve become.

Danu Innasithamby is one of those people. A young media personality larger than life who flits effortlessly between radio, TV, newspapers and magazines. Originally from Jaffna, Danu moved to Colombo – by boat, bus, and bicycle – at a very young age to escape the ravages of war.

What we love about Danu is the relentless pursuit of his dreams. He started working at just 16 on two of Colombo’s most popular radio stations. Having conquered radio, he went on to host TV shows and has since built up a personal brand in English, Sinhala and Tamil. With a unbeatable work ethic, Danu wakes up at the crack of dawn to host a morning radio show on LiteFM, and then proceeds to fill his day with one of the most colorful and diverse work days in Sri Lanka: producing his web series ‘Jaffna Boy’, writing his newspaper column “Buzz With Danu”, and working on various stage, TV and film productions.

This episode’s guest has a life deeply rooted in music. His grandfather was a pioneering Sri Lankan pop music entrepreneur. And today, at just 25 years old, our guest is turning the Sri Lankan music industry on its head through the creative haven he founded, The Sooriya Village.

The Sooriya Village gives musicians and creatives a space to compose, record, and perform their work. All the while, the Village initiates international collaborations so that local musicians can get the global audience that they deserve.

During the recording of this episode, our guest revealed his preference to remain as anonymous as possible. He wants people to know his work, and not its creator. You’ll see through the course of our conversation that his inspiration comes from his love of creating, his love of music, and his desire to help others, and not the inevitable recognition and attention that his projects attract.

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.