ඔබගේ දරුවා හඳුනා ගනිමු

දරුවන් උපන් විගස ඔවුන් ගැහැනු පිරිමි වශයෙන් නම් කිරීම අපගේ පුරුද්දයි. දරුවකු ඉපදුන විගස හැම දෙනාටම දැනගන්න ට අවශ්‍ය වන්නේ දුව ද පුතා ද යන්නයි. සමහර දෙමවුපියන් දරුවා උපදින්නට පෙර මේ ගැන සොයා බැලීමට උනන්දු වෙයි. අල්ට්‍රා සවුන්ඩ් ස්‌කෑන් පරීක්‌ෂණ මගින් (Ultra sound scan) උපදින දරුවා පුතාද, දුවද යන්න දැන ගැනීමට දැන් දෙමවුපියන්ට පහසුකම් ඇත. මේ හැම අවස්‌ථාවකම අප පුතා සහ දුව වෙන්කර හදුනා ගත්තේ ද දරුවාගේ පිටතින් පෙන්නුම් කරන ලිංගේන්ද්‍රිය වර්ධනයේ ආකාරය අනුවයි. ඇත්තෙන්ම දරුවකු පුතාද, දුවද යන්න මුලින්ම, තීරණය වන්නේ මවගේ බීජයක්‌ (ඩිම්බයක්‌) සහ පියාගේ බීජයක්‌ (ශුක්‍රාණුවක්‌) එක්‌ වී කළලය සෑදෙන මුල්ම අවධියේදීය. මවගේ සහ පියාගේ ජාන එක්‌වීම සිදුවන ආකාරය අනුව ජානමය වශයෙන් ගැහැනු පිරිමි දරුවන් ඇතිවීම තීරණය වේ. මෙසේ සෑදෙන කළලය වර්ධනය වන විට එහි ජානවල පාලනය යටතේ ගැහැනු හෝ පිරිමි ලිංගේන්ද්‍රියන් බාහිරව සහ අභ්‍යන්තරව වැඩීම සිදු වේ. බාහිරව පෙනෙන ලිංගේන්ද්‍රියයන්වලට අනුව දරුවා පිරිමි ද ගැහැනු ද යන්න තීරණය වේ. ඉහත ක්‍රියාවලි නිසියාකාරයෙන් සිදුනොවන අවස්‌ථා ඇත. එනම් බාහිර ලිංගේන්ද්‍රියන් ගැහැනු හෝ පිරිමි යන ආකාර දෙකටම සමාන හෝ වෙන්කර හදුනාගත නොහැකි ආකාරයකින් පිහිටා තිබීමය.

තාත්තා වශයෙන් ඔබ දරුවන් අතර ජනප්‍රිය ද?

අම්මා ගෙදර බුදුන් ලෙසත්, සෙනෙහසේ ප්‍රතිමුර්තිය ලෙසත් සිය ප්‍රතිරූපය මවා ගනිද්දී දරුවන්ගේ ලෝකය තුළත් ඒ තරමට ම සමාන දායකත්වය ලබන පියවරුන් ගැන ගුණ ගායනය ප්‍රමාණවත් නොවේය යන අදහස අද අපේ සිත් තුළද ඇත. ඔබ හොඳ පියෙක්‌දැයි වූ ස්‌වයං තක්‌සේරුව වෙනුවෙන් වූ මිනුම් කීපයක්‌ පිළිබඳව අවධානය යොමු කරමින් මේ ගැන ඔබටම තක්‌සේරුවක්‌ ගොඩ නගා ගත හැක. 

1. බිරිඳට දක්‌වන ආදරය. 

දරුවන්ට හොඳ පියෙක්‌ වන පුද්ගලයා නිතරම සිය බිරිඳ පිළිබඳවද යහපත් ප්‍රතිචාර දක්‌වන්නෙක්‌ බව අමතක නොකළ යුතුය. ඔහු බිරිඳට ආදරය සෙනෙහස මෙන්ම ගෞරවය දක්‌වන්නෙක්‌ වීම අවශ්‍යය. දරුවන් ඉදිරියේ බිරිඳ නිගාවට පත් කරන්නා යහපත් පිය චරිතයක ලා අගය කිරීම අසීරුය. පවුලක මව් චරිතය සඳහා වූ නිසි තක්‌සේරුවක්‌ ලබා දෙන්නාට දරුවන් විෂයෙහි සම්මානනීය පියෙකු වීම එතරම් අපහසු නැත. 

2. ආත්මාර්ථකාමී නොවන්න 

පියෙකු ලෙසින් වූ ඔබගේ අභිමානය පවත්වා ගැනීම සඳහා වූ ආධිපත්‍ය ගොඩ නගා ගැනීම අවශ්‍යයෙන් ම සිදුවිය යුත්තක්‌ නොවේ. පවුලක පියෙකු විසින් ගොඩ නැගිය යුත්තේ ආධිපත්‍ය නොව පියා මුල් කර ගත්තා වූ අභිමානයකි. මේ සඳහා පියා නිතරම පරාර්ථකාමිවීම අවශ්‍යය. පවුලක ගෞරවණීය පිළිගැනීමට නම් තම අණසකට සියල්ලන්ම යටත් කර ගැනීම නොව තමන්ගේ ආත්මාර්ථයට වඩා පවුලක සිටින සියළු දෙනාගේම අදහස්‌ උදහස්‌ සඳහා වූ ගැලපීම මත පරාර්ථකාමී ලෙස හැසිරීම සාර්ථක පිය චරිතයක්‌ ගොඩ නැගීමෙහි ලා දායක වේ. 

Jayasuriya's top five ODI knocks

It's quite remarkable to think that someone born in the 60s is still playing international cricket in the year 2011. The soon-to-be 42-year-old Sanath Jayasuriya played his 445th and final ODI against England on Tuesday, Here are five of his finest one-day knocks...

5. 140 v New Zealand, Bloemfontein, December 1994

The Sri Lankan selectors showed a remarkable amount of faith at the beginning of Jayasuriya's career. For a man of his pedigree, it took an astounding 64 ODI innings before he was able to post his maiden one-day hundred in a quadrangular series in South Africa, Bloemfontein being the venue for Sri Lanka's Mandela Trophy clash against the Black Caps.

With Sri Lanka batting first against Ken Rutherford's Kiwis, Jayasuriya found himself rooted with his score on 21 for all of seven overs before breaking the shackles and powering to his maiden limited over ton. The left-hander finished with 140 from 143 deliveries as Sri Lanka posted 288 in their fifty overs, but rain had the final say as the rest of the game was washed out.

Despite the no-result the match was significant for the fact that it featured Jayasuriya's first of 28 one-day international hundreds, with six typically swashbuckling sixes launched over the fence at the then Springbok Park.

4. 125 v India, Karachi, July 2008

Battling for form and fighting to prolong his international career, the Master Blaster came good when it mattered in the final of the 2008 Asia Cup, inspiring Sri Lanka to a 100-run demolition of India.

Batting first the Sri Lankans found themselves in trouble on a decent track, at 66 for four. Jayasuriya however was to orchestrate a stunning counter-attack, smashing Praveen Kumar's 17th over for 26 runs to kick things off before the 39-year-old finished with 125 from 114 deliveries. The innings left India in a state of shock which Ajantha Mendis gleefully took advantage of, bagging six wickets as Sri Lanka claimed Asia Cup success. Jayasuriya shut up his critics good and proper, finishing as the tournament's top run-getter with 378 runs across five innings.

3. 134 v Pakistan, Singapore, April 1996

Perhaps the most significant aspect of the powerful left-hander's career has been the way that he's transformed the philosophy behind limited-overs batting, an approach which caught all opposition by surprise in the 1996 World Cup as Sri Lanka clinched the title despite never previously having reached the knock-out stage of the competition.

Jayasuriya's uncompromising style was encapsulated in Sri Lanka's first game after their World Cup success. In a game which boasted 664 runs in total, the world champions overpowered Pakistan, Jayasuriya responsible for a 134-run blitz. His remarkable hundred came at a fair rate of knots - a strike rate of 206 to be exact - setting the then world record for the fastest to fifty and 100 in ODI cricket. His 11 sixes in the innings also stood for 15 years as the record for the most in a single ODI knock.

2. 152 v England, Leeds, July 2006

The bragging rights for both the quickest ODI hundred and half-century belonged to the 'Matara Marauder' for a brief period after that 1996 effort against Pakistan, and ten years later he added the tag of the fastest man to 150 in one-day internationals with a breathtaking knock against England at Headingley.

Developing libraries

Historically, libraries were places in which recorded knowledge was stored.

The ancient library of Alexandria is a classic example of a complete repository of knowledge. Its destruction by over-zealous Christians led to the ruin of scientific thinking in the West for a thousand years.

In Sri Lanka, libraries still function as mere repositories of books. While this is of course an essential requirement - especially given the low rate of book ownership in Sri Lanka - a library is far more than that.

A modern library is a complete system for providing information, providing the public with the means for accessing information or with information about how the required information may be acquired.

On-line catalogues

It is electronic as well as book-based, and is plugged into the internet and into book-sharing on-line catalogues, which enable the location of resources unavailable in situ.

It has been recognised in the richer nations that libraries play a central role in their progress. Governments in these countries have invested funds and resources in libraries to facilitate education and the management of knowledge, which they recognise is pivotal to advancement.

The legend who made us look stupid

Sanath Jayasuriya prepares to go on his final journey as an international cricketer at his residence in Borelesgamuwa. He arrived in England during the third Test between Sri Lanka and the hosts together with the other ODI specialists.

Rex Clementine reporting from London - The Island

There are some similarities between UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe and Sri Lankan opening batsman Sanath Jayasuriya. One is that they both are politicians and the other is that however much you push them, they won’t go. And at least one of them will bring down the curtain today ending an illustrious career that spread over two decades, 22 years to be exact. It looked as if Jayasuriya was ever present in the Sri Lankan side. Such was his longevity that Dinesh Chandimal, who is expected to bat at number four today was barely a month old when Jayasuriya made his debut for Sri Lanka at the MCG.

Sanath, good bye for the last time!

By Revata S.Silva - The Island

Those who talk sensibly on Sanath Jayasuriya nowadays conveniently forget one thing. Any kind of sensibility and logic are irrelevant when the Jayasuriya phenomenon in international cricket is discerned. Jayasuriya’s career is all about strangeness; so his retirement is. It could be a bizarre feeling for anyone who writes about cricket to think that the fella will retire certainly for the last time this time; today in the Kennington Oval, London, after the first One-day International against England.

His previous retirement plans last year during the World Cup coincided with his entering into politics. So disappointingly the ‘Fonseka Vs Rajapaksa’ centred political rivalry, debate and bitter division in the local political milieu badly affected the opinion on the legendary cricketer. His immense popularity dwindled.

Jayasuriya, who will be 42 on June 30, will be the most unorthodox and revolutionary batsman to play international cricket at least for the last three decades (since the 1980s). Sachin Tendulkar could be the best of the lot but Jayasuriya was different. He was an epoch-making one. No other batsman quite single-handedly helped herald a new era of batsmanship like Sanath did in the mid 1990s. The sequence of events where Jayasuriya first becoming the most feared batsman in the world, by the late ‘90s, and then the sudden popularity of pinch-hitting, the arrival of Gilchrists, Rainas and Gayles, then the Twenty20s and the IPL, and all what we see today.... This Matara Mauler is a trend-setter if not THE main trend-setter of the bang-bang form of ultra modern cricket, the apple of the commercial world’s eye now.

The big plan to build a brain

By Roger Highfield

A scientist is trying to use the world’s largest computer to mimic our mind , writes Roger Highfield.

Your brain has capabilities unmatched by any machine. It consumes only a little energy, equivalent to that used by a 30-watt light bulb. Yet it can do amazing things – it can learn and think, as well as predicting the consequences of its own actions, expressing itself in language and understanding the language of others.

Now the owner of one such brain, a South African-Israeli professor called Henry Markram, is preparing to build an instrument that can simulate this magical machine down to the molecular level. The Human Brain Project, at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne on the shores of Lake Geneva, intends to build a carbon copy of the brain by around 2023. Rendered in software rather than flesh and blood, it will draw on the help of 13 institutions across the EU – as well as the largest computer man can build.

One man, many characters

He tops the list of great actors Sri Lanka has ever produced. His performances on silver screen have kept the audiences spellbound. Then after briefly disappearing from the reel, he is back, adding depth to modern day productions like Tikiri Suwanda and Selvam.

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Milestone performances

* Saradama
* Gehenu Geta
* Ranmuthu Duwa
* Getawarayo
* Chandiya
* Sarawita
* Allapu Gedara
* Seegiri Kashyapa
* Punchi Baba
* Dahasak Situwili
* Para Walalu
* Tun Man Handiya
* Welikathara
* Haralaksaya
* Thushara
* Desa Nisa
* Madol Duwa
* The God King
* Siripala Ha Ranmenika
* Gehenu Lamai
* Veera Puran Appu
* Bambaru Avith
* Siribo Aiya
* Baddegama
* Pura Handa Kaluwara

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Joe Abeywickrama needs no introduction as an actor, as his name is assimilated in the minds of all the local movie buffs. Proving his mettle in the international arena Joe had been honoured with the Best Asian Actor title for his performance in Prasanna Vithanage’s Pura Handa Kaluwara at the 1999 Singapore International Film Festival. Here are excerpts of an interview with Daily News ‘Projector’ in which the versatile thespain shares his personal experiences in the sets and behind the screen over many decades.

Joe Mahaththaya, as he is commonly addressed by the people in the celluloid world, quietly walked to the gate to greet and receive us. The trademark smile and the unique voice which had added credibility to this great actor’s performances do not seem to let go of its grip. Yet, a hint of weariness seems to reflect on his face.

After all, it is years since he dished an exceptional performance as the cunning Gorin Mudalali, his breakthrough role, in D B Nihalsinghe’s Welikathara (Desert).

Joe Abeywickarama Picture by Lalith C Gamage

At the age 12 Joe got the opportunity to watch the latest English films released at the Colombo Regal. They were released simultaneously at Imperial theatre in Ratnapura, for the benefit of white men who worked in the estates as Planters. Thus Hollywood giants like John Wayn, David Niven, Lee Marvin and Marlon Brando who starred in these films, became Joe’s heroes.

“We used to crawl to the gallery of the cinema to watch their films”, Joe recalled with an impish smile.

There was a twinkle of the old mischief in the comic actor still running in his blood.

These characters influenced the young lad to brush up his innate acting skills and adapt a natural rhythm. This he portrayed to the hilt in productions like Welikathara, Bambaru Awith, Baduth Ekka Horu and Ran Muthu Doowa.

“It was hard to convince the Indian directors. A few actors like me and Gamini tried our best to bring a natural acting style to Sinhala cinema.

At the time, an actor was required to possess girlish looks to be chosen for a main role. My profile pushed me to portray the next best role, which was comedy.

Indian girl 'sold for sex' by her father in Kerala

25 June BBC / SO

A 17-year-old Indian girl who was allegedly forced by her father to have sex for money with up to 200 men has described her ordeal to the media.

Police in the southern Indian state of Kerala arrested her father and 29 other people two weeks ago.The girl said she was raped by her father, starved and forced by him to have sex with other men.Her father has not made any public comment. Police have vowed to hunt down the men alleged to have paid for sex.They have despatched special police teams to find up to 70 men she has named and accused of paying to have sex with her. These are said to include contractors, film producers and policemen.

"My father first raped me when my mum was not home. Later he started taking me out to different locations, saying I'll get a chance to act in movies," the girl told a local television channel.

Human retina protein as a light-sensitive magnetic sensor

For migratory birds and sea turtles, the ability to sense the Earth’s magnetic field is crucial to navigating the long-distance voyages, these animals undertake during migration. Humans, however, are widely assumed not to have an innate magnetic sense. Research published in the latest Nature Communications shows that a protein expressed in the human retina can sense magnetic fields when implanted into Drosophila, reopening an area of sensory biology in humans for further exploration.

Insidious… And It All Falls Down

Courtesy - The Sunday Leader By Sumaya Samarasinghe

Renai and Josh Lambert are a perfect couple. They look wonderful, he (Patrick Wilson) teaches at a high school and she (Rose Byrne) composes songs at home while taking care of their three children, Foster, Dalton and their baby sister.
This obviously happy family where mother and son wear matching pyjamas is going to have their life turned upside down by unknown forces.
When Insidious begins, the couple has moved into a lovely old house which fits to the letter, all the requirements of a haunted mansion. The staircases are creaky, there seem to be a million rooms and closets and of course, the much dreaded horror-movie attic is there too.
Insidious, a mixture of the haunted movie and possessed child genre, does not reach the levels of Amityville and The Exorcist (those two films are a little difficult to match in story line, suspense levels and directing).
Children are generally attracted like magnets to the forbidden and little Dalton ventures up the staircase of the attic only to fall and violently knock his head. His parents quickly come to his rescue; he is tucked into bed with his teddy bear and told to never come to attic alone again.
The next morning when his father  wakes him for school, he finds his son in a coma which no doctor can explain.

Moody men ‘more attractive’ than happy men

Happy men don’t get the girl because women find moody looking men far more attractive, according to scientific research.

The study suggests that flashing a ‘winning smile’ is not the way to a woman’s heart. Indeed, men who swagger or look gloomy are much more likely to get pulses racing. The surprising findings may help to explain the enduring appeal of ‘bad boys’.

Experts say the findings indicate that smiling men do not appear to be as strong, powerful or masculine as those who glower or who seem arrogant.

In contrast, men are far more attracted to happy, smiling women.

It is suggested this is because men prefer more approachable, submissive women.

මැකී නොයන යසෝදරා වත

ශ්‍රී ලාංකීය ජනකවි සාහිත්‍යයේ සුවිශේෂත ම ජන කාව්‍ය යසෝධරාවතයි. අඥාත ජනකවියකු ගේ සුවිශේෂ ප්‍රතිභාව එහි ගැබ් ව පවතී. මේ අනගි ජනකාව්‍යයේ පහස විවිධාකාරයෙන් ලබා ගැනීමට එදා සිට අද දක්වා කවියෝ, ගේය පද රචකයෝ සමත් වූහ. රඹුකන සිද්ධාර්ථ හිමියන්ගේ “ළා දළු බෝපත්” නම් වූ නිර්මාණය ද එබඳු වූ එක් අවස්ථාවකි.

බෞද්ධ සාහිත්‍යකරුවන් සිද්ධාර්ථ චරිතය වීර චරිතයක් බවට පත්කරන්නට වැරවෑයම් කරද්දී යසෝදරාවගේ චරිතය හිතාමතා ම අමතක කරනු ලබයි. ඇය ලවා නරසීහ ගාථා කියවා එයින් ද බුද්ධ චරිතය ආලෝකවත් කර නිහඬ වෙයි.

එහෙත් ඒ යසෝදරා ගේ චරිතය නැවත ප්‍රතිනිර්මාණය කිරීමට ප්‍රථමයෙන් ම සමත්වන්නේ සිංහල ජනකවියා ය. ආදරය ඉදිරියේ හඬා වැටෙමින් වුවද ආදරය වෛරයට පෙරළා නොගත් උත්තරීතර ගැහැනියක යසෝදරාවතෙන් ජනකවියා නිර්මාණය කරයි. ඒ තමා හැරගිය සැමියා පිළිබඳ ව තවමත් දයාව ආදරය දක්වන සාම්ප්‍රදායික ආසියානු කාන්තාව ගේ ප්‍රතිමූර්තියයි.

”කැලේ තිබෙන කොයි දේවත් රසවේවා

මලේ බමරු ලෙස පිරිවර ඇති වේවා

අව්වේ තිබෙන රැස් මාලා අඩු වේවා

ගව්වෙන් ගව්ව දිව මාළිග සෑදේවා”

(යසෝදරාවත)

යසෝදරාව රඹුකන සිද්ධාර්ථ හිමියෝ නැවත වරක් මෙසේ ප්‍රතිනිර්මාණය කරති.

ළා දළු බෝපත් සෙමින් සැලෙන සේ

යසෝදරා දේවී

වාවනු බැරිතැන රහසේ හැඬුවා

පෙර සංසාරේ ඇසුර මතක් වී

ඇය ද මිනිස් දුවකි. ආලයේ වේදනාව ඇයට ද දැනෙයි. තමාට අහිමිව ගිය ආදරය පිළිබඳව ඈ තුළ ද කම්පාවක් පවතී. එහෙත් ඇගේ හඬා වැලපීම සිද්ධාර්ථ හිමියන් සමාන කරනු ලබන්නේ ළා දළු බෝපතක් මඳ සුළඟට හෙමින් සැලීමටයි. ඒ උපමාලංකාරය තුළින් ඇය කෙරෙහි කම්පාවක් මෙන් ම භක්තියක් රසිකයා සිතෙහි හටගනී. එසේම ඇය හඬා වැටෙන්නේ රහසේ ය. ප්‍රසිද්ධියේ හඬා වැලපෙමින් තම සැමියාට අගෞරවයක් කිරීමට ඈ නොසිතයි. ජනකවියා මේ අවස්ථාව නිරූපණය කරන්නේ මේ අයුරිනි.

මට ඉඹින්න තහනම් ඇයි ඔය සුදු කම්මුල්

මල් කැකුළකට ආදරේ කියන්න
තහනම් නැහැ පුංචි සමනළුන්ට
ළඟට ළංව කවි කියන්න අවසර ඇත්නම්
මට ඉඹින්න තහනම් ඇයි
ඔය සුදු කම්මුල්

අහස තරම් දුරක හිඳන්
පිනි වැස්‌සක්‌ බිමට එවා
ඔබෙ කෙහෙරැලි සිප ගන්නට
අහසට හැකි නම්
ඒ කෙහෙරැලි සිප ගන්නට
ඇයි මට තහනම්

ගහකොළ නටුවලට හොරෙන්
මහ රෑ ඔබෙ ළඟට ඇවිත්
ඔබෙ සියොළඟ සිපගන්නට
සුළඟට හැකි නම්
ඒ සියොළඟ සිපගන්නට
ඇයි මට තහනම්


පද මාලාව - ශාන්ත කුමාර විතාන
ගායනය හා ගී තනු - ලක්‍ෂ්මන් හේවාවිතාරණ

යෞවනය....... හරියට මල් උයනක්‌ වගේ......... හරිම සුන්දරයි..... ඒ උයනේ පිපී හිනැහෙන මල්....... හරියට ආදරවන්තයා එනතුරු මඟ බලාන ඉන්aනා ආදරවන්තියන් වගේ....... දසත සුවඳ පතුරන මේ මල්වල රොන්.......... කොතරම් රසවත්ද...... ඒ රොන් බොන්න එන සමනළයන්......... හරියට පෙම්වතිය සොයා එන පෙම්වතා වගේ .......... උන් මල්වලට හරිම ආදරෙයි...... ඒ නිසා මල් පෙති නොතලා..... රේණු නොසලා රොන් උරා බී ප්‍රේමයෙන් මන්මත්ව ඈතට ඈතට ඉගිලිලා යනවා...

කැලණිය ප්‍රදේශයේදී පැහැර ගැනීමට ලක්‌වූ දෙහැවිරිදි දිළිණි

මීට සති තුනකට ඉහතදී කැලණිය ප්‍රදේශයේදී පැහැර ගැනීමට ලක්‌වූ දෙහැවිරිදි දිළිණි නමැති දැරිය  මෙතෙක්‌ දිනක්‌ වෙන්ව සිටි ඥති සොහොයුරියෝ  යළි හමුවූ මොහොතේදී ඇතිවූ සතුට බෙදා ගත්තේ  මෙලෙසිනි.  ඡායා -නිශාන් එස්‌. ප්‍රියන්ත

Upul Tharanga banned for three months

Sri Lanka opening batsman Upul Tharanga has been found guilty of committing an anti-doping rule violation under Article 2.1 of the ICC Anti-Doping Code and has been suspended from all cricket and cricket-related activities for a period of three months.

Tharanga (26) provided a urine sample as part of the ICC’s random in-competition testing program after the conclusion of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 semi-final between Sri Lanka and New Zealand, held in Colombo on March 29 , 2011.

His sample was subsequently tested by a World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) accredited laboratory and was found to contain metabolites of two glucocorticosteroids - Prednisone and Prednisolone.

Fastest growing millionaire population: Sri Lanka among 10 economies

Six of the 10 economies with the fastest growing millionaire populations were in Asia, led by Hong Kong and Vietnam, which each saw an annual growth of 33 percent.

Others included Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Singapore and India, the 15th annual World Wealth Report by Merrill Lynch’s wealth management division and consultancy Capgemini said.

Asia’s growth outpaced Europe, where so-called high net worth individuals increased six percent to 3.1 million, and puts it within reach of North America, where the number of wealthy rose 8.6 percent to 3.4 million.

The king and the Sal tree

In ancient India, there lived a king named Brahmadatta. He had a wonderful royal park where there were many types of trees. He loved to see how the trees grew and how birds and beasts lived in the park. But he was not quite happy about his own royal palace.

So he thought to himself: "All kings I have visited live in palaces supported by many pillars. But I want to be different from them. I want to build a palace supported on one single pillar. And that single pillar should be a good one. He summoned his royal wise man and builders."

He said, "Make me a palace supported by one single pillar made of a trunk of a tree."

They nodded their heads and agreed to go in search of a tree that suits the pillar.

When they were looking for a suitable tree, they found a magnificent Sal tree. It was straight and tall. The branches were spreading. But at the same time, they knew that this is one tree which is venerated by people of the kingdom.

"Let us inform about this tree," said the wise man.

"Oh how good of you to have got the right tree," said the king. "That's the type of tree I want. Go cut it down." When the wise man and the royal courtiers went up to the tree to make necessary arrangements to cut the Sal tree, they heard a voice: "What are you trying to do?"

The ART of GIVING

 "Rivers do not drink their own water; trees do not eat their own fruit and no rain cloud has ever got to eat the grains reared by them. So why do they bother?” 

Because giving is the most wonderful act of human benevolence you can ever witness. It is not everyone who can give. A good way to detect who is good at giving is to give a person a pineapple to peel away the skin. If one is greedy and close fisted, he will never be able to do this properly leaving the “eyes” only half removed which will make your tongue itchy when you eat it with “eyes”. Giving things away is not easy. That is why The Enlightened One taught us that avarice is the root cause of all our suffering!! I know it is so very difficult to appreciate this fact in this era of conspicuous consumption but I am sure you can remember the tale of King Wessanthara who gave away his two children and also the King Sirisangabo who gave his head to the poor man who gave him part of his meal.  

But look at us? Are we willing to give anything away to even our closest relative or friend?

After much thought say we made up our minds to give. OK, when should one give?

There is a gem of an anecdote in the Mahabharata where a beggar seeking alms is asked by the King Yudhishdir to come the following day, to which his brother Bheem congratulates the King because he has defeated Mara or Death because that is the reason why the King is so sure the beggar will be alive the day after. The King feels ashamed and gives the beggar alms. So the correct time to give is …. Whenever the need for alms arises, the need of the receiver, not yours. Because it is not certain that you - the giver or the beggar - the receiver will be there to receive what you want to give and what he wants to receive the next time.

POEM

Mendis, the other one, shows what Sri Lanka missed during World Cup

Courtesy - The Island By Rex Clementine  reporting from New Road

Jayasuriya played with the old charm cutting and pulling with brutal power.

Former S. Thomas’ cricketer Jeevan Mendis showed what Sri Lanka missed during the recent ICC Cricket World Cup hammering an entertaining 99 to help Sri Lanka to a 57 run win in their one-day warm up game against Worcestershire here at New Road yesterday.

Mendis was expected to make the cut for the World Cup, but narrowly missed out on selection. Post World Cup with the national team looking for new faces for the next phase of Sri Lankan cricket, Mendis looks to be staking claims to a permanent slot in the team’s middle order.

The 28-year-old left-hander, batting at number six, gave a glimpse of his potential when he reverse swept left-arm spinner Shaaiq Choudhry for four early on in his innings. Later when Choudhry returned for his second spell, he cleared the ropes on three successive occasions with the third one bringing up his half-century. On all three occasions the balls went to the nearby woods and new balls had to be called for.

He required three runs off the last ball of the Sri Lankan innings for his century, but could manage only two and was left stranded on 99. However, along with his batting skills, his ability to bowl leg spin is certain to make him a permanent fixture in the side when the ODIs begin. Unlike his namesake, Ajantha, Jeevan is also an exceptional fielder at covers.

Life of the Buddha, military training and youth

The Buddha was born as Prince Siddhartha, to King Suddodhana and Queen Maya, over 2600 years ago in a Sakyan kingdom, in present day north east India. His caste was kshathriya and the social function of this caste was to be a warrior to fight in wars. In keeping with that social obligation, Prince Siddhartha exhibited his Military skills as a 16 year old youth before an audience of Sakyan elders in order to prove his Military skills, the art of warfare to win over the hand of Princess Yasodara, his own first cousin, in marriage.

After going through the physical characteristics of the new born Prince, the Royal court Astrologers predicted that either he will be a Universal Monarch or a Buddha. King Suddddhana wished and took all steps to make the young prince a universal Monarch. This implies that Prince Siddhartha would have further military training, to sharpen his skills in the Art of warfare, in order to achieve his father’s wish to be a Universal Monarch till the age of 29.

Being the intellectual he was, by that age Prince Siddhartha realised the futility of war as a means of perpetual suffering and As described in Attadanda sutta and opted to change course, and took to the path of Mendicancy, to put an end to suffering and seek the ultimate happiness.

New Little Ice Age in store?

The Earth could enter a new ‘Little Ice Age’ in the coming years due to low solar activity, astronomers believe.

By Stephen Adams

Sunspot activity, which follows an 11-year cycle, is due to peak in 2013 after which it will start to wane slightly. But astronomers think the next upswing will be less intensive than normal, or could fail to happen at all. That could affect weather on Earth because low solar activity has been linked to low global temperatures in the past.

Between 1645 and 1715 almost no sunspots were observed, a solar period which came to be called the Maunder Minimum. During those decades Europe suffered frequent unusually harsh winters, and the time was later termed the Little Ice Age.

Although there is no conclusive evidence that one caused the other, many scientists believe it did.

Sunspots are darker patches on the sun’s surface, caused by small areas of strong magnetic activity which disrupt the normal flow of intensely heated gases.

Paradoxically when there are most sunspots, overall solar output - called total solar irradiance (TSI) - is also at a high.

Are We Raising Our Kids To Face Life?

Delia attended a convent school and her anxious parents never sent her anywhere alone.  Then Delia reached the age of eighteen and passed out of school and qualified to enter the University. Now came the big problem. She had to find out the bus routes by herself and she was afraid to venture out alone.

In time, Delia became a wife and a mother.  She realized that her parents, with the best of intentions, had not prepared her to face the challenges of life.  So she made up her mind to bring up her daughter in a different way, not shielding her from reality.

Delia’s daughter Sonali turned two and she realized that the child preferred the company of other children in preference to staying with her mother.   So she began to look around for a play group for the pre-school refused to admit her until she was two and a half.

At the age of five, Sonali qualified to enter the Big School.  Delia realized that the child was afraid of the big buildings and took her to see other buildings to make her feel comfortable. In the pre-school, she had already prepared the child by taking her one day on the matslide and bringing her home.  The next day, Delia introduced the teacher to the little girl and then brought her home.  The following day, she had left the child in the classroom but remained within sight.  Thus gradually, she introduced the child to school so the child did not cry and develop a dislike for studies.

Special police for expressways

A special police division will handle the traffic on the expressways that are to be set up shortly according to highly places sources at the Police Headquarters.

According to the police a new division is required since traffic regulations on the expressways are different from the normal traffic laws.

New regulations are now being drafted by the police for the expressways. The new division of expressways traffic is to be administered by a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) with powers vested similar to the Western Province Traffic DIG. Police officers would be recruited after undergoing a special training to control expressway traffic.

Traffic policemen representing the new division were to be recruited for duty in the Southern Expressways from Kottawa in the Colombo district to Pinnaduwa area in Galle which is to be opened for transport next month. (Daily Mirror online) By Supun Dias

Teenage trauma

Teenage suicide attempts in Sri Lanka have increases ten to fifteen times fold since 1993. On the other hand, according to Sri Lanka Sumithrayo, an organization set up to prevent suicide in Sri Lanka, the rate of teen suicide had dropped from 47 out of 100,000 in 2005 to 20 out of 100,000 in 2008. Even though Sri Lanka has a declining trend for successful suicides, the number of adolescents who attempt suicides continue to increase. To reduce the rate of attempted suicide, the public must be aware of its causes. 

	Love affairs are one of the main causes for teenage suicide in Sri Lanka. Even though health issues from sexual activity is running high, what seems to be as important, if not more important to the Sri Lankan population, are the risk of losing marriageability, unwanted pregnancy and social stigma
Teenage trauma can eventually lead to drug addiction, alcoholism and even suicide

‘Teenagers having problems’ is simply an understatement in the 21st Century. Stress placed on the current adolescent generation includes not only punishments at home or grades in school, but are interconnected. According to Director of Sumithrayo Nalini Ellawela, most of the suicides are caused by failed love affairs, failure at examinations and fear of punishment at home.

Times 2 Wow, it’s liz love

Male warms heart of female with a bunch of flowers

These amazing pictures prove that a bunch of flowers can go a long way - even in the animal kingdom. A male sand lizard, perched on top of a plant, catches the eye of a female with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. My hero: The female loses her balance and falls, only for her suitor to reach out and gently carry her to safety Say it with flowers: The male lizard appears to be wooing his potential mate with a bunch of flowers After she carefully climbs up the plant to reach him, she accepts his gift and the pair form an almost perfect heart shape. But to prove the course of true love never did run smooth, the female then dramatically slips and falls off the plant -- only for her doting new partner to dive to her rescue and help her down. The romantic drama was captured by keen photographer Alexey Tymoshenko. 'I took these pictures in the back of my parents house in Ukraine. I've been visiting there ever since I left home,' Alexey, 19, said. 'When I was a child one of my favourite things I used to do was play in the garden and watch the lizards. 'For many years I've learnt their behaviour - if you're friendly with them they are friendly with you because they get used to you and your hands very soon. 'Usually 30 minutes is enough for them to understand you won't do them any harm and now I can photograph them without them being afraid of me. 'But I never thought they could be so passionate and helpful to each other. It was amazing watching one drop and the male dive to catch her. 'And I was especially surprised by the scene with the flower - I'm not a specialist and don't know what it means but it really looked like one lizard is proposing.' Alexey, from Ukraine, is studying engineering at university and takes photos as a hobby. He added: 'I like to photograph nature, especially animals as they don't pose so you can photograph them as they are.' Sand lizards spend a lot of time buried just below the surface of the sand, although they also enjoy basking in sunshine. © Daily Mail, London / ST

`YOUR DOCTOR’ ****** `YOU AND YOUR DOCTOR’

`YOUR DOCTOR’

1. Is your doctor registered with the Sri Lanka Medical Council?

2. Is your doctor kind and caring towards you?

3. Does your doctor listen to you attentively and give clear answers to your questions?

4. Does your doctor make you feel comfortable and spend sufficient time with you to have a meaningful discussion about your health concerns, even when extremely busy?

5. Does your doctor explain the steps of management and the follow up action necessary for your good health, together with their likely consequences?

6. Does your doctor explain the effects and side / adverse effects of the drugs prescribed and write the prescriptions and relevant instructions legibly?

7. Does your doctor provide a satisfactory service that you can afford?

8. Does your doctor refer you to another doctor, hospital or a relevant service in time when your problem is difficult to solve?

9.Does your doctor promptly inform you when an error is made during care ?

10. Is your doctor accessible in an emergency ?

** Look for the above qualities whenever selecting a doctor for you and for your family.

********************------------

`YOU AND YOUR DOCTOR’

1. Be considerate about other patients too when you visit your doctor

2. When visiting your doctor – be sure to take all your medical records, make sure you take all the medicine you have been taking, make special mention if you have any allergies.

3. Listen to your doctor’s advice carefully and if anything is not clear ask the doctor again. Preferably have a family member of a friend accompany you to the consultation

4. If you are pregnant or breast feeding, make sure your doctor aware of the fact at the consultation.

5. Check the accuracy of the medicine you buy from the pharmacy and compare with the prescription looking in particular for the generic name (not brand name) of the drug and the expiry date.

6. Take your medicine according to instructions given by your doctor regarding the dose, frequency and duration. Do not stop taking the medicine half way.

7. Always buy medicine on a prescription except for simple pain killers like paracetamol.

8. Avoid buying medicine on old prescriptions without your doctor’s advice. Do not use medicine prescribed for others and also do not give medicine prescribed for you to others.

9. While taking the medicine, if you experience any uneasiness, develop an allergic reaction or your condition become worse, stop the medicine and inform the doctor immediately

10. Always obtain a referral letter from your doctor before you consult a specialist and when you go for investigation

11. It is your interest to avoid doctors who are tired and over worked.

** Help your doctor to help you

Online English, IT for university students

'The first batch of university freshers who completed the leadership and positive thinking development training programme should face for an online English and IT placement test during the next 10 days from today, Higher Education Ministry Secretary Dr Sunil Navaratne told the Daily News yesterday.

He said that the test will be conducted in 26 centres islandwide. About 9,000 students are expected to sit for the test.

The students are requested to visit www.nodes.lk to find out the venue, time and date of their exam by entering their NIC numbers in the separate link given in the top left corner of the web site. Dr Navaratne said that the online test will have two papers for IT and English with one hour for each paper.

Fathers’ Day An occasion to honour the hero in one’s life

On the third Sunday in June every year from 1910 every son and every daughter world over is reminded of his or her responsibility to honour his or her hero - the greatest man in life who is there to help, direct, advise, guide caress and teach him or her to make him or her feel secure and to make available all pleasures in life. There are unfortunate sons and daughters who can only remember the good old days and thank their ‘dads’ for what good they had done when they were living.

This day is an occasion to recall, recognize and remember those endless pains he had taken for your growth and upbringing that every special icon, your father or whom you call your Dad, Thaththa and Appachchi in Sinhala and Appa in Tamil.