Wish all of you a pleasant and wonderful New Year!

Dear Friends, 

Lost 1982 was started unexpectedly, 

When I felt isolated and lonely.

But within a short period of time,

It was embraced by admirers all over the world.

Thus I felt detached.

During the last year it was felt 

That the Lost 1982 was capable of

Doing something significant

Due to the ideas and suggestions 

Being received from all of you 

I thoroughly believe that 

The strength and the courage 

Necessary to accomplish this further

Will be bestowed to me in plenty in the future as well.

Lost 1982, 

Will stay forever with you, all throughout the year

Giving you 

Whatever the Best!

ආදරණිය සබඳ

ජීවීතේ අහම්බෙන් වගේ දැනුණ හුදෙකලා බවත් සමඟ පටන්ගත් LOST 1982 

කෙටි කාලයක් තුළ පෘතුවියේ විශාල ප්‍රදේශයක විසිරි සිටින්නාවූ 

දයාබර මිනිසුන් බොහෝදෙනෙකුගේ ග්‍රහණයට නතුවී ඇත. 

ඒ නිසා උපේක්ෂා සහගත මධ්‍යස්ථ හැගීමක් දෑනේ............

පසුගිය වසර තුළ හරවත් යමක් කිරීමට LOST 1982 ට හැකිවූ බවක් දෑනෙන්නේ මේ වනවිට ඔබගෙන් ලැබෙමින් පවතින අදහස් හා යෝජනා මගිනි. 

එය ශක්තිමත්ව ඉදිරියට යාමට අවශ්‍ය කරන ජිව වායුව වඩාත් වැඩියෙන් 

හෙට දවසේදී ලබාදෙනු ඇතෑයි මම විශ්වස කරමි.

LOST 1982, 

2012 වසර පුරාවටම LOST 1982 ට 

සංවේදී බොහෝදේ සමඟ, ඔබත් සමඟ සිටින බවට 

ස්ථිරසාර ප්‍රකාශයක් කරමි...........

2012 

බොහෝ සුන්දර, සංවේදී, පැතුම් ඉටුවන................

වඩාත් යහපත් නව වසරක් වේවා........

Song of Myself

BY WALT WHITMAN

Courtesy - http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174745

The death of the wise man

“Do you know that the wise man of the royal palace is dead?” The first villager at the market place asked the second villager. “Yes, I know but who is going to be his successor?” Asked the second villager.

“I am not sure of that, but the king is worried.” 

“Why?” 

“The king feels he cannot find a suitable one to succeed him.” 

“But what about the old man? He was a challenge to the dead man.” 

“How did he become a challenge to the dead man?”

“Well the dead old man was much nearer and dearer to the king and advised him in all matters pertaining to the kingdom.”

“But there is another wise man who does not like the dead man.” 

“Who is he?” 

“He lives alone in the hills,” 

“Do people go to see him?”

“Yes he is well known for his advice.” 

“Is he a wise man?”

“Yes certainly. He says the kingdom is not a ruled properly due to wrong advices of the old man. He is now dead and gone.”

“So then let us inform the king to appoint this man of the hills to succeed the dead old wise man.”

“I am not sure if the wise man of the hills may agree to accept the post of the wise man of the royal palace.”

“Why, if the king wants and orders him to be his wise man why can't he accept the position?”

“But he says that the king too is foolish and the king can be up to mischief. He dislikes the ways and manners of the king.”

“That is going to be a serious point. Why don't we get the courtiers to know about this matter and send a messenger to meet the man in the hills.”

NKoreans Salute, Cry for Late Leader Kim Jong Il - ABC News

NKoreans Salute, Cry for Late Leader Kim Jong Il - ABC News

Mahela, Scores 10,000 Test runs: First in SL, ninth in the world

Former Sri Lanka cricket captain Mahela Jayawardene yesterday became the first Sri Lanka batsman to score 10,000 Test runs in the first day’s play of the second Test between Sri Lanka and South Africa at Durban. Mahela needed just one run to reach the milestone and he was eventually bowled out at 31. He was playing in his 127th Test Match in a career spanning nearly 14 years. Kumar Sangakkara is the second highest run getter for Sri Lanka in Tests having scored 9,170 so far. Mahela is also the ninth in the world to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket. (AP Photo)

Contagion… Get Your Hand Sanitizers Out!

Courtesy - The Sunday Leader By Sumaya Samarasinghe

It starts with a cough which does not sound like a good one and the effect is even more frightening because the screen remains black which leaves a lot to the imagination of the viewer. Well the film is called Contagion after all so it has to be about some terribly contagious disease.

I was a little surprised at Steven Soderbergh’s decision to direct a story and film which could be easily categorized as “déjà vu” because it would certainly not be the first time that a movie has been made about an airborne virus which decimates the planet!

But then again, all the previous films were not directed by Soderbergh’s masterful hand. In Contagion no one takes the law into their own hands or transforms himself into a superhero. Frightfully realistic and staying away from any sensationalism, the film gives a nearly academic analysis of what steps would be followed if a global epidemic was to occur. From quarantine, to a lack of body bags, food scarcity and of course the scientists struggle and battle to create a vaccine.

සැබෑ ආදරයට හේතුවක් අවශ්‍ය වෙන්නේ නෑ

දවසක් පෙම්වතුන් දෙදෙනෙක් මුන ගැහිලා කතා කර කර ඉන්නවා...

ගෑණු ළමයා : "ඇයි ඔයා මට ආදරේ කරන්නේ?"

පිරිමි ළමයා : "මට ඒකට හරියටම උත්තරයක් කියන්න බෑ,ඒත් මම ඔයාට ගොඩාක් කැමතියි."

ගෑණු ළමයා : "ඔයාට හරියට හේතුවක් කියන්නත් බෑ,ඔයා කොහොමද කියන්නේ ඔයා මට කැමතියි කියලා? මට ආදරෙයි කියලා?"

පිරිමි ළමයා : "මම ඇත්තටම හේතුවක් දන්නේ නෑ,ඒත් මට පුලුවනි මම ආදරෙයි කියලා ඔප්පු කරන්න."

ගෑණු ළමයා : "ඔප්පු කරන්න? නෑ මට හේතුවක් ඕනි. මගේ යාලුවෝ හැමෝගෙම බෝයි ෆ්‍රෙන්ඩ්ස්ලා එයාලට කියලා තියෙන්නේ ඇයි එයාලා ආදරේ කියලා,ඒත් ඔයාට බෑ."

පිරිමි ළමයා : "හරි හරි...ම්ම්ම්.....ඔයා ලස්සන නිසා..ඔයාගේ කට හඩ ගොඩක් මිහිරි නිසා...ඔයා මගේ ගැන ගොඩක් හොයලා බලන නිසා...ඔයාගේ හිනාව නිසා..."

ගෑණු ලමයාට ගොඩාක් සතුටු හිතුනා. තව ටිකක් වෙලා කතා කර කර හිටිය මේ දෙන්නා වෙන් වෙලා ගියා. 

ඒත් එදා හවස ගොඩාක් අවාසනාවන්ත සිදුවීමක් උනා,ගෑණු ළමයා ගොඩක් ලොකු අනතුරකට මුහුන දුන්නා. අනතුරෙන් පස්සේ ගෑණු ළමයා සිහි මුර්ච්ජා තත්වෙට පත් වුනා. ගෑණු ළමයව බලන්න ආපු පිරිමි ළමයා ගෑණු ළමයා ලගින් ලියුමක් තියලා යන්න ගියා,ඒ ලියුමේ මෙහෙම සටහන් උනා.

සොදුරිය,

මම ඔයාට ආදරේ කලේ ඔයා ලස්සන නිසයි,ඒත් ඔයා ඉස්සර වගේ ලස්සන නෑ,ඒ නිසා මට ඔයාට තවදුරටත් ආදරේ කරන්න බෑ. මම ඔයාට ආදරේ කලේ ඔයාගේ කටහඩ ගොඩක් මිහිරි නිසා,ඒත් ඔයාට දැන් කතා කරන්න බෑ,ඒ නිසා මට ඔයාට තවදුරටත් ආදරේ කරන්න බෑ. මම ඔයාට ආදරේ කලේ ඔයා මා ගැන හොයලා බැලුව නිසා ඒත් ඔයාට දැන් ඒ වගේ මම ගැන හොයලා බලන්න විදියක් නෑ,ඒ නිසා මට ඔයාට ආදරේ කරන්න විදියක් නෑ.

අද උදේ ඔයා මගෙන් ඇහුවා වගේ දැන් ඔයා මගෙන් ඔයාට ආදරේ කරන්න හේතුවක් ඇහුවා නම් මට කියන්න උත්තරයක් ඉතිරි වෙලා නෑ. 

ඒත් ඔයා දැන් මගෙන් ඇහුවොත් මම ඔයාට තවම ආදරේද කියලා මම උත්තර දෙන්නේ "ඔව්" කියලා,ඒ වගේම මම ඔයාට කලින් වගේම දිගටම ආදරේ කරනවා,ඒ මොකද ආදරේට හේතුවක් අවශ්‍ය නෑ කියලා මම විශ්වාස කරන නිසා.

Courtesy - 

සැමට සුබ නත්තලක් !

සීතල දුරුත්තේ හිම කැටි මල්........... විසිරේ

සාමයෙ ගීතිකා හඬ දස දෙස............ පැතිරේ

මැදියම් රැයේ පැල්පත් මන්දිර...........අතරේ

කිතු සමිඳුන් දෙසු සුබ පණිවිඩ............ පැතිරේ

- රත්නසිරි පතිරණ

True meaning of Christmas: Message for all

Courtesy - Daily News -

Rodney Martinesz

Another Christmas is upon us with the cheery festive mood evident all around. The city is thronged with last minute shoppers and business is brisk, from the humble pavements to the giant shopping malls.Christmas perennials blare forth from the ubiquitous record bars and sundry shops sending the Christmas feeling coursing through one's veins.

Scented cypresses are sold on pavements and sidewalks to buyers in a rush.Rubicund apple cheeked Santa Clauses beam out of shop windows advertising the latest brands and the people's faces mirror a general air of gaiety and joy.The holiday mood has engulfed one and all with the atmosphere thick with the feelings of joyful expectation at the dawn of yet another Christmas.

Present day Christmas festivities have come a long way from those Yuletides of yore when things moved at a leisurely pace albeit with brisk activity in the days leading up to Christmas.For the very young, in most Christian families, the December vacations herald the Christmas season with parents too reserving their quota of leave for the Christmas season to embark on the much looked forward to Christmas shopping.

Those were the days when shopping was done at leisure unlike today's mad scramble in keeping with the fast pace of present day life.The lavish bonuses dished out by the many Mercantile firms also made Christmas a big occasion for celebration. Christmas shoppers also had their favourite stores in the past unlike today where everything could be bought under one roof. Alas most of these landmarks are no more although most old timers speak of them with a sense of nostalgia.

Devotion

Christmas was also a much looked forward to event in the now almost extinct burgher community which dominated many pockets in the Colombo North area, notably Hulftsdorph,Princess Gate and Kotahena. For them Christmas was a much looked forward event to be celebrated to the utmost. In fact Christmas was a day of Bacchanal roister where spirits flowed freely. Like the rest, the days preceding Christmas were devoted to stockpiling where the stores were conveyed in rickshaws, a common mode of transport at the time.Central in the run up to the Christmas day was the preparation of the Christmas cake for which the ingredients had been carefully preserved for months.The Breudher was another must in Burgher homes prepared to a special recipe.

Carols was another feature in Burgher homes sung with gusto to perfect harmonising by members of the families and extended families.

The weeks preceding Christmas would normally see carol singers parading the streets in groups donned in fancy attire visiting every home collecting in the process a substantial purse invariably spent on lengthy bouts of roistering. Central to all is the mid night mass where the church overflow with both the faithful and those “once a year church goers”.

Universal festival

It goes without saying that Christmas is a universal festival celebrated across religions, cultures and ethnic boundaries .No matter what gloom has descended Christmas festivities cannot be dampened.That is why even in the throes of the worst economic crisis to hit the Western world Christmas is celebrated without let or hindrance among these societies.

But is Christmas being observed as it should ? Is this great event heralding the peace and joy to the world being abused, its true meaning and the message conveyed by the birth of Jesus in a manger surrounded by cattle and shepherds, distorted and denigrated? Or is it being used as a pretext for another bout of merriment and revelry ?.

Sadly amidst the babel and humdrum, today the underlying message of Christmas is largely lost in the modern age of raw commercialism and the cacophony of the market place. Nay, Christmas today has been made a commodity by the multinational commercial behemoths to rake in inconceivable profits sacrificing the true message of Christmas on the Atar of Mammon.

Today Christmas has been taken for granted as an occasion for revelry and nothing else by a majority of Christians buttressed by the fact it coincides with the year end. Symbols such as the Christmas tree, the crib denoting the nativity, are only tokens for the unbridled jollity. Sadly even the Church today has failed to get across the message to its followers of the true meaning and message of Christmas - the message of sharing and reaching out to the poor and the deprived.Here too only token concession is made with the larger picture subsumed in the festivities and merriment.

The level of commercialisation of Christmas can be seen by the giant structures of the nativity scenes adorning the frontage of supermarkets and city shopping malls, symbols of ostentation and profiteering. Santa Clause is but a clownish figure doing his thing opposite shops and store fronts.

The time has come to rescue Christmas from the grip of mammon and revisit the true meaning and message denoted by the coming of Christ to this world.

Christmas should be salvaged from the unbridled commercialisation to which it has fallen in this day and age. A huge responsibility devolves around the church leaders and leading Christian figures to redeem Christmas from the current decadence.While celebrations are quite in order as meriting such a momentous occasion Christmas should not be degenerated to a commodity to be exploited by the unscrupulous and the mendacious.

It is time that the essential message of Christmas be dinned into Christians with more emphasis and vigour by the guardians of the faith so that we would all be enriched and inspired by the lasting message of that far away first Christmas and make Christmas a more meaningful event in the hearts and minds of all Christians instead of letting temporary, fleeting pleasures override us blinded by the tinsel and chrome,the baubles and the gee gaws, that have come to characterize this momentous event

Christmas - manifestation of God’s love in a troubled world

E. Weerapperuma

God is love. The extra-ordinary Birth of Jesus Christ from the womb of a Virgin is a splendid manifestation of God's love. We, the Catholics, the Christians and the men, women of good-will celebrate this eventful birth, Christmas, every year. Jesus Christ is the central figure in the whole celebration and without Him, there is no Christmas.

Jesus Christ was not born into a peaceful world. It was in trouble and in a chaotic mess. But the men of good will of the day, hoped against hopes for a Messiah, a Saviour into this chaotic and trouble world, since the day of the fall of our first parents.

They ignite the wrath of God, the creator when they disobeyed Him.

Though God threw away them, from the Garden of Eden, the merciful God creator promised a saviour and in celebrating Christmas, we recall to mind that promise of God and its fulfillment in the birth of Jesus Christ in the manger.

The will of God

Christ did not choose royal palace, or the lineage of the royalty though He was connected to the clan of David, the King, to be born to this world. He preferred a poor Carpenter Joseph to be His Foster Father and Mary, a young virgin His earthly Mother. They lived a hand to mouth life sharing and experiencing the poverty of the majority of their time and Mary stands in the trio, the outstanding and extra-ordinary figure, as for her total submission to the Will of God had paved the way to implement the plan of God for humanity of the past the present and the future.

Her submission-fiat is the key word of the celebration of Christmas which has been disfigured today, and the event been far too commercialized to the extent that we have lost or buried the real meaning of Christmas.

When Mary, a Virgin who had not known a man when the Angel of God greeted her to announce what God has planned and when she in all her innocence inquired how what the Angel said could come true, she being a Virgin, she was told in plain language that everything was possible to God and informed that her Cousin Elisabeth was pregnant and was in her sixth month. And Mary said “I am the hand-maid of God-May Thy Holy Will be done”, writes the scribe of the Sacred Scripture.

Birth

Look at Joseph, the Carpenter. He is advised in a dream by the Angel of God to accept Mary with a child as his wife and we read from that time onwards He was troubled with the responsibility on his shoulders. He takes the wife close to give birth to infant Jesus to Bethlehem. They were not welcomed and Mary gives birth to her infant child in a shed, not with men and women surrounding her in a alien country, but with cows and calves in the manger. The birth takes place, in the pretty cold atmosphere both a fact of nature and figuratively manifested the cold-feet of the people who refused to provide shelter to the woman in her last stages of pregnancy. They wanted no trouble. They did not want to bother!.

Joseph was troubled again. Hostility was growing against the birth of his Son. He was advised in a dream to fly away with the mother and Child to avoid the sword and for the safety, until further notice.

We celebrate Christmas today, pushing all that happened in history to the back door and the atmosphere of celebrating that birth of Infant Jesus is coloured and disfigured with much commercialization.

Christmas has meaning in relation to the paschal event of Suffering, Death and Resurrection of young man Jesus in His thirties and if we lose sight of that, there is no meaning to our celebration of Christmas. Christmas is, because of Easter. If there is no death there is no Resurrection and if there is no Resurrection, our faith has no meaning, St Paul reminds us all.

Christmas we celebrate reminds us of the Second Coming of Jesus in His Glory to Judge the world of the Living and the Dead. The day of retribution. We have to be conscious of that and keep that in our minds when celebrating Christmas.

For He will say “I do not Know You”. “I came in the form of the poor, the naked and the hungry. I was in prison and I was sick. You failed to treat me, visit me and did not bother to care about me and I do not know you!”.

And if we have been liked the wise virgins, the sacred scripture relates, who were conscious that at any time of the day the prince would arrive, we would be fortunate to be called to live and enjoy the privileges of the Kingdom of God!

There is no point and no meaning if we say “I love my God” and forget or ignore pleas of our neighbour who looks for help and protection.

This Christmas we celebrate invites us to recognize Christ in the poor and the needy, in the sick, the marginalized and those thrown to the wayside, in Sri Lanka.

Like in the case of Mary, the Virgin who submitted herself totally to the plan of God unhesitatingly, we whose names are written on the palm of the Divine, are also called to give ourselves to God in all what we do, to spread His Message of Love, to our immediate neighbourhood first and foremost and to the world at large.

When Christ was born, the world was in trouble and that troubled world continues even to this Christmas day and we feel the pressure of that situation even in Sri Lanka, our Motherland. Catholics, Christians and those men, women of Goodwill who claim to be the sons and daughters of this land have a duty as children of light to be the torch-bearers, to enkindle the world with words and deeds to make a better world to live, for those who are living today and to those who would follow us some day.

If we, the present generation could ensure the prevalence of peace and harmony within the neighbourhood and diffuse the message of love into each and every corner of society, then celebrating Christmas would have meaning to our lives and to lives of our neighbour.

We wish our readers such a Christmas this year !

The Prince and the Follower

Very testing is this Walk with Thee, 

Of well over half a century, 

Bruising has this pledge been, 

To stand close to Thee

But what else could I expect? 

For, Your Way is paved with pitfalls and pain, 

To fully take on which Man’s courage fails

However, it leads to blessedness, 

And Peace which were in Bethlehem’s Stable born, 

When the Word was in Flesh formed, 

And a Second Life was given to Man by God.

Lynn Ockersz

What a Love .......Interesting.......

අවුරුදු 5 දී ''මම ඔයාට ආදරෙයි'' කිව්වම ඔයා ඇහුවා ''ආදරෙයි කියන්නේ මොකද්ද'' කියලා.

අවුරුදු 15 දී ''මම ඔයාට ආදරෙයි'' කිව්වම ඔයා ලැජ්ජාවෙන් හිනාවෙලා බිම බලා ගත්තා.

අවුරුදු 20 දී ''මම ඔයාට ආදරෙයි'' කිව්වම ඔයා ඔයාගේ මූණ මගේ පපුවට තද කරලා මගේ අත තදින්    අල්ල ගත්තා.

 අවුරුදු 25 දී ''මම ඔයාට ආදරෙයි'' කිව්වම ඔයා මට උදේ කෑම හදල දීලා නළලට හාදුවක් දීලා මට කිව්වා ''වැඩට යන්න පරක්කු වේවි, ඉක්මන් කරන්න'' කියලා.

අවුරුදු 30 දී ''මම ඔයාට ආදරෙයි'' කිව්වම ඔයා මට කිව්වා ''ඔයා මට ඇත්තටම ආදරෙයි නම් අද කලින් ගෙදර එන්න'' කියලා.

අවුරුදු 40 දී ''මම ඔයාට ආදරෙයි'' කිව්වම ඔයා මට කිව්වා ''මම දන්නවා අනේ, පුතාට home work කරන්න උදව් වෙන්න'' කියලා.

අවුරුදු 50 දී ''මම ඔයාට ආදරෙයි'' කිව්වම ඔයා මහමින් හිටපු ඇඳුම දිහා බලාගෙනම යන්තමට සිනා සුනා.

අවුරුදු 60 දී මම ඔයා මට ලියලා එවපු මුල්ම ලියුම අතේ තියාගෙන කියවන අතරේ ''මම ඔයාට ආදරෙයි'' කිව්වම ඔයා මගේ අත් දෙක තදින් අල්ල ගෙන මගේ මූණ දිහා බලගෙන හිටියා.

අවුරුදු 70 දී මම රෝහලේ ඇඳේ ඉන්නකොට ඔයා ''මම ඔයාට ආදරෙයි'' කිව්වම මට මොනවත් කියාගන්න බැරුව ඇඬුනා.

අපි ගොඩාක් වෙලාවට අපි ආදරේ කරන කෙනා ''මම ඔයාට ආදරෙයි'' නැතිනම් ''I Love You'' කිව්වම පිළිතුරු විධියට ''මමත් ඔයාට ආදරෙයි'' හෝ ''I Love You Too'' කියල කියනවා බොහෝ දුරට අඩුයි. ආදරේ පෙන්නන ක්‍රම බොහෝමයක් තිබුනත් අපි කවුරුත් ආසයි අපි අනිත් කෙනාට ආදරෙයි කිව්වම ඒ කෙනත් අපිට ආදරෙයි කියලා කියනවා නම්. මේ දේ අත් විඳපු අයත් ඇති, ඒ අයට වගේම ආදරේ කරන හැම දෙනාටම මේ අදහස වැදගත් වේවි කියලා හිතනවා.

''I LOVE YOU'' , There are many ways of expressing love but nothing can play the same magic that these 3 words can play when said in return.

සැ.යු. මෙය පරිවර්තනයක් බව කරුණාවෙන් සලකන්න.

Woman lies upside down for three months to avoid miscarriage

Donna Kelly, a pregnant mother who had suffered repeated miscarriages, has given birth to a girl after lying upside down for three months.

Mrs Kelly, 29, suffered from a weak cervix and was warned at five months into the pregnancy that she was at high risk of losing another baby.

She agreed to spend 24 hours a day on a hospital bed which was tilted skywards to lift her feet above her head and reduce pressure on her cervix.

Under the supervision of Professor Siobhan Quenby, a world-expert on recurrent miscarriages, she ate, read and watched television in the position, only leaving her bed to visit the toilet.

She gave birth to Amelia, weighing 4lbs 15ozs, six weeks prematurely by emergency caesarean after her waters broke in late August. The baby spent two weeks in an incubator in intensive care before being allowed home.

The birth of her first child, Joshua, four years ago is believed to have permanently weakened her cervix. She miscarried twice, at 23 weeks and 19 weeks, before Amelia was conceived. Attempts to stitch the neck of her cervix and strengthen it with hormone were unsuccessful.

"I was surprised when she told me to lie in bed at a tilt but I was ready to give anything a try," said Mrs Kelly, a former gynaecological nurse from Coventry.

“Father of Invention”…Keeping it light

Courtesy - The Sunday Leader By Sumaya Samarasinghe

So what’s this movie about again? A semi con man being released from jail? A father rebuilding his severely damaged relationship with his lovely daughter?

At the end of “Father of Invention”, no one is really very sure because the movie has gone kind off all over the place. But then again, if your are in a mood for something very light, with lovely sets and an attractive cast, this is the film for you as long as you keep your expectations low!

The movie begins with Robert Axle (Kevin Spacey) being released from jail after spending eight years behind bars. Axle was once an infomercial king and called himself a “fabricator”, someone who takes the invention of others and makes them into new products.The only issue here is that he “fabricated” an exercise machine/ab cruncher which “ crunched off’ the fingers of its users and a few thousands of people actually found themselves maimed thanks to his faulty machine!

Robert cannot go back to his wife, now ex, because she has re-married and busted most of her money producing a pathetic record.His only option to avoid the homeless shelter is to re-kindle his relationship with his estranged daughter Claire (Camilla Belle) whom he loved but also completely neglected as a child as he was too busy making money. Claire lives in a creaky lovely old wooden house with tasteful furniture and two quirky roommates played by Heather Graham and Anna Anissimova.At first, they aren’t that keen to share the premises with an ex felon. But quite rapidly, Robert becomes part and parcel of the girls lives and he gradually gains confidence again to re-start his career.

තරග බිම ඇද නොවැටෙන රාජ්‍ය මාධ්‍ය

මහා බ්‍රිතාන්‍යය, කලෙක හිරු නො බසින අධිරාජ්‍යය ලෙස විරුදාවලී ලැබුවා ය. ඒ හිරු නො බසින අධිරාජ්‍යය පසු කලෙක වෙස්ට් මිනිස්ටර් පාර්ලිමේන්තු ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදයේ පූජාසනය ලෙස ද බුහුමන් ලැබුවා ය. නිදහස් ජනමාධ්‍ය අතින් ගත් කළ; එංගලන්තය ලෝකයටම පරමාදර්ශයක් විය. මෙසේ ම ජනමාධ්‍ය නිදහස අගයන කොයි කවුරුත් බී.බී.සී. සම්ප්‍රදාය පුරෝහිතයෙක් කොට ගත්තේ ය. මේ සියල්ලට යටින් රූපට් මර්ඩොක් නම් පුද්ගලගයා එංගලන්තයේ අදිසි අධිරාජ්‍යයක් ගොඩනඟා ගත්තේ ය. අර මහේශාක්‍ය එංගලන්තයේ ආණ්ඩු පෙරළන, ආණ්ඩු හදන, රජුන් තනන්නා බවට පත් වූයේ ද රූපට් මර්ඩොක් ය. ඔහු ඒ බලයක් අත්පත් කැර ගත්තේ පත්තර පිටුවලිනි. එංගලන්තයේ අගමැති නිල නිවස වන ඩවුනිං වීදියේ අංක 10 දරණ ස්ථානයට අලුත් පදිංචිකරුවෙක් පැමිණෙන්නේ ද? නැතිනම් මෙතෙක් කල් සිටි පුද්ගලයාම එහි තවදුරටත් පදිංචි වීමට වරම් ලබන්නේ ද යන නො වරදින අනාවැකිය කියවුණේ; මර්ඩොක් ගේ පත්තර පිටුවලිනි. කෙටියෙන් ම කිවහොත්; මර්ඩොක් කොතැනද? එතැන නිසැකයෙන් ම ආණ්ඩු බලය ද රැඳී තිබිණි.

මේ අසහාය රූපට් මර්ඩොක් ගේ අදිසි අධිරාජ්‍යය පසුගියදා පොළවටම සමතලා වූයේ කිසිවකුත් නොසිතූ පරිදි ය. News of The World පුවත්පත මර්ඩොක් ගේ පුවත්පත් අධිරාජ්‍යයේ මුල් පෙළේ සෙන්පතියකු විය. ඒ පුවත්පත අභාවප්‍රාප්ත වූයේ කිසිදා මැකිය නොහැකි කළු පැල්ලමක් ද සමඟිනි. පොදුවේ පිළිගත් ජනමාධ්‍ය ආචාර ධර්ම පමණක් නොව එංගලන්තයේ නීතිය ද, පුද්ගල නිදහස ද ඔවුන් අතින් කෙලෙසිණ. ප්‍රකට පුද්ගලයන්ගේ පෞද්ගලික දුරකථන සංවාදවලට හොරෙන් සවන් දී පසුව ඒවා ප්‍රවෘත්ති බවට පත් කර ගන්නා දුර්භාවිතයක යෙදී සිටි බව සාක්ෂි සහිතව අනාවරණය විය. News of The World පුවත්පතේ මාධ්‍යවේදීන් මේ සඳහා එංගලන්තයේ පොලිසියට හා සුප්‍රකට ස්කොට්ලන්ඩ් යාඩ් නිලධාරීන්ට පවා අල්ලස් දී තිබූ බවත් අනාවරණය විය. ඔවුන් එංගලන්ත මහ රැජණ ගේ දුරකථන සංවාදවලට පවා හොරෙන් සවන් දුන් බැව් සඳහන් ය. ඒ ‘මාධ්‍යවේදීන්’ අද බන්ධනාගාරයේ ය. වහාම ක්‍රියාත්මක වන පරිදි News of The World පුවත්පත වසා දමා සේවකයින් ගෙදර යවා අත පිස දැමීමට රූපට් මර්ඩොක් තැත් කෙළේ ය. එහෙත් මෙය මාධ්‍ය මර්දනයක් බව හෝ මාධ්‍යවේදීන් ගේ අයිතීන් උල්ලංඝණය කිරීමක් හෝ බව කීමට කිසිවකුත් ඉදිරිපත් වූයේ නැත. මානව හිමිකම් සංවිධාන ද, අන්තර්ජාතික ජනමාධ්‍ය සංවිධාන ද නෑසූ කන් ඇතිව තම තමන්ගේ වැඩක් බලා කියා ගත්තේ ය.

Maname at 55

Courtesy -  The Island By Nanda Abeywickrama

Professor K N O Dharmadasa’(KNO)s feature in theSatMag of The Island of Nov. 19 and the comments of my Peradeniya and public service colleagues Dr. Punchihewa and Shyamon Jayasinghe that followed, inspired me to pen this note about not one as suggested by KNO, but, in fact, two momentous anniversaries deserving to be celebrated in the year 2011 namely Professor Sarachchandra’s all time classicSinhabahu, which completed 50 years of continuous running and his first break through on stage, Maname Natakaya, which counted 55 years on stage bereft of much celebration. They both deserve celebration at national level because perhaps no other production of the performing arts in Sri lanka seems to have endured unbroken public acceptance for such length of time. Indeed there was such a joint celebration held 10 years ago at the Elphinstone Theatre, at which several generations of players were present. I was delighted to see a further elaboration of the Sinhabahu related events by KNO in the Midweek Review of Dec. 07. I was also fortunate to be invited to the delightful evening at the Tower Hall Foundation on Oct. 25, where the original cast of Sinhabahuled by Charlie Jayawardhana presented a memorable rendering of the Sinhabahu classics. With terrorism related tensions hopefully behind us, the time appears to be right for us to open a dialogue on the revitalisation of Sinhala theatre and connected activities;the space provided by the editor of The Island newspaper in this effort has to be appreciated.

Sinhabahu at 50 and Maname at 55

While KNO has written his original piece purely as a Rasika (a highly sophisticated one at that) ofSinhabahu I write as a rasika of both Maname and of Sinhabahu and more important as an ‘insider of Maname’ having been associated with its production from nearly the inception as an undergraduate. To deal with Sinhabahu first, my first sighting of it was 50 years back in late 1961 in Kandy (at Pushpadana Hall, I guess). This would have been one of its first performances outside the Peradeniya University and I had to drive all the way from Trincomalee from my first public service posting to see the new play. To convey the range of delightful emotions thatSinhabahu generated in me that evening, on seeing this ‘unprecedented work of art’ as KNO puts it I have to borrow his own expression chamathkara (joyful surprise) in no small measure. I was not only mesmerized by the fusion of lyrics and the melodies underpinned by the drumming and the matching dance forms but carried to a new plane of enjoyment by the multiple climaxes of the tragic drama which left behind a set of deep emotions to ponder over for a long time to come. So, I fully share the KNO’s view that Sinhabahu is ‘the classic and the poem’ that set the Sinhala stage on fire and perhaps will remain so for some time to come.

Nelum Pokuna - Arts Theater

ශ්‍රී ලාංකේය කලා ඉතිහාසයේ නවතම පර්ච්ඡේදයක ඇරැඹුම සනිටුහන් කරමින් නෙළුම් පොකුණ මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ ප්‍රසංග කලා රඟහල ජනාධිපතිවරයා සහ චීන මහජන සමූහාණ්ඩුවේ දේශපාලන කමිටුවේ උප සභාපතිනි ෂින්ග් මෙයින් මහත්මිය අතින් ඊයේ (15) ජාතියට තිළිණ කෙරෙන සමරු ඵලකය නිරාවරණය කිරීමෙන් අනතුරුව ජනාධිපතිතුමන් මෙයින් මහත්මියට සුබ පැතූ මොහොත. ජනාධිපති ආර්යා ශිරන්ති රාජපක්‍ෂ, අගමැති දි. මු. ජයරත්න මහත්ම මහත්මීහුද මෙහි සිටිති.
ඡායාරූප - සුදත් සිල්වා සහ සුදත් මලවීර

Traffic plan for Night Races

A number of roads in Colombo will be closed to make way for the Colombo Night Races which is to be held on Friday and Saturday.

The roads will be closed from 7.00pm on Friday till 6.00am on Saturday and again from 6.00pm on Saturday till 6.00am on Sunday.

‘Electric Peacock Festival’ will be held at Chaithya Road tomorrow and on Saturday at 6.30pm featuring a number of artistes. Following the festival the races will start after 9.00pm, organizers said. 

Public and private sector employees are advised to take alternative roads and take their vehicles or buses after finishing work at 4.30pm tomorrow, the police said.

The race will start from the Lotus Road in front of the Galadari Hotel. Then it will go through the Ceramic Junction, a left turn from the CTO Junction, Chatham Street, Baron Jayathilake Mawatha and then a left turn towards York Street and then towards the York Street-Bank Road Junction. From the junction, turn right towards Janadipathi Mawatha, NSA roundabout and finally back to Lotus Road. 

Lorries and buses will not be permitted to enter from several places during the given time periods. The places are Colpetty Junction, Pittala Junction, Ibbanwala Junction, Gamini roundabout, Ceynor Junction and the Khan roundabout.

Nelum Pokuna - From China with Love

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday opened the country's first state-of the-artPerforming Arts Theatre - the Nelum Pokuna (Lotus Pond) Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre gifted by the People's Republic of China. The Rs 3,600 million theatre is poised to be a catalyst for a revival of the arts in the region and bring renewed vitality to take Performing Arts to greater heights.

The opening of the theatre symbolized the centuries old friendship between China and Sri Lanka. President Rajapaksa unveiled a plaque to open the theatre in the presence of Chinese Special Envoy Zhang Meiying,

Vice Chairperson of the National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference of the People's Republic of China while the members of the Maha Sangha chanted Seth Pirith.

The guests were conducted to the theatre's main auditorium in a colourful procession consisting of over 500 traditional dancers. The first dance titled The voyage to heartland produced by artistes Jayantha Chandrasiri, Rohana Weerasinghe and Channa Wijewardena was staged soon after the speeches by the President and the Chinese Special Envoy.

This drama revolved on Chinese monk Fa Hsien who travelled from China to Sri Lanka in the 4th Century in search of Theravada Buddhism. It was an attempt to show a fraction of his venture to search Vinaya Pitakaya, a part of the Thripitakaya.

A Chinese troupe staged a special show titled Romance on 'Marine Silk Road' which had won the best artistic works prize by Publicity Department of CPC central committee, Special Osmanthus Prize of Guangxi Dramas and Operas Expo and Copper Drum Award of Guangxi People's Government Arts Creation.

කාන්තා සෞඛ්‍ය සායනය - ප්‍රසූත නිවාඩුවේ වැදගත්කම

ප්‍රසූත නිවාඩු යනු සේවකයකු ආයතනයකින් ලබන දීමනාවක්‌ වන අතර මෙය පඩි සහිත හෝ පඩි රහිත විය හැකිය. මෙම නිවාඩු ල2බා දෙන්නේ මූලිකව ම ළදරුවා සඳහා කාලය යෙදවීම සඳහා වන අතර මව්කිරි දීම දිරිමත් කිරීම සඳහා මෙම නිවාඩු ක්‍රමය බොහෝ සේ ප්‍රයෝජනවත් වේ. මෙම නිවාඩු අප රටේ ලැබෙන්නේ මවට පමණක්‌ වන නමුත් සමහර රටවල පියාට ද දරු ප්‍රසූතියෙන් පසු නිවාඩු ලබා ගැනිමේ අයිතිය ඇත. මෙම නිවාඩු සඳහා විවිධ රටවල විවිධ නීති අනුගමනය කෙරේ. මව මෙන් ම පියා දරුවා වෙනුවෙන් කාලය ගත කරන බැවින් සහ පියාට දරුවා සම්බන්ධව වගකීමක්‌ ලබා දීමේ ක්‍රමයක්‌ ලෙස බොහෝ බටහිර රටවල මෙම නිවාඩු නීතිගත කර තිබුණද සමහර සේව්‍යයන් ඒවා ගැන තැකීමක්‌ කරන්නේ නැත. 

ප්‍රසූත නිවාඩු වල වැඩි ම වාසිය ලැබෙන්නේ මව්කිරි දීමේ කාලය වැඩි කිරීම සඳහා ය. ලංකාවේ නීතියට අනුව පළමු දරුවන් දෙදෙනා සඳහා මවකට දින 84 ක පඩි සහිත ප්‍රසූQත නිවාඩු සඳහා අයිතිය ඇත. මේ සඳහා ජීවි දරු උපතක්‌ සිදු විය යුතු යි. තුන්වන දරු උපත සඳහා එනම් දරුවන් දෙදෙනෙකු සිටින මවකට හිමි වන්නේ දින 42 ක ප්‍රසූත නිවාඩු කාලයයි. නමුත් දරුවන් දෙදෙනෙකු ප්‍රසූත කළ නමුත් එක්‌ දරුවකු පමණක්‌ ජීවත් වන්නේ නම් එවැනි මවකටද දින 84 ක ප්‍රසූත නිවාඩු කාලයකට අයිතිය ඇත. මේ සඳහා අදාළ තොරතුරු සේව්‍යයා වෙත දැනුම් දීම සේවකයාගේ යුතුකමකි. මෙලෙස ම නිවුන් දරුවන් දෙදෙනෙකු ලැබූ මවකට තුන්වෙනි දරු ප්‍රසූතියේ දී ලැබෙන්නේ දින 42 ක ප්‍රසූත නිවාඩුවකි. එනම්, වැදගත් වන්නේ දරුවන් කී දෙනෙකු ජිවත්ව ඇත්ද යන්නයි. 

මාතෘ සුබසාධන ආඥාපනත (1941) මගින් මෙම කරුණු නීතිගත කර ඇත. කාන්තාවකට දරු ප්‍රසූතිය සඳහා සේව්‍යයා හෝ හාම්පුතුන් මගින් ඉටුවිය යුත සියළු යුතුකම් මෙහි සඳහන් වී ඇත. කිසි ම කාන්තාවක්‌ දරු ප්‍රසූතියෙන් සති 4 ක්‌ ඇතුලත සේවයේ යෙදවීම මෙම පනතට අනුව සිදුකළ නොහැක. උපරිම පඩි සහිත ප්‍රසූත නිවාඩු ප්‍රමාණය සති 12 ක්‌ වන්නේ එක ම දරුවකු පමණක්‌ සිටින මවකට ය. මෙම සති 12 න් සති 2 ක්‌ ප්‍රසූතියට පෙර ලබා ගැනීමට ඇයට අයිතිය ඇත. දරුවන් දෙදෙනෙකුට වැඩියෙන් සිටින මවකට සහ ප්‍රසූතියෙන් ජීවි දරුවන් නොලබන මවකට හිමි වන්නේ ප්‍රසූත නිවාඩු සති 6 ක්‌ පමණි. මෙයද සති 2 ක්‌ දරු ප්‍රසූතියට පෙර භාවිතා කිරීමට ඇයට අයිතිය ඇත. නමුත් මාතෘ මරණයක්‌ සිදු වුවහොත් එම මව වෙනුවෙන් මෙම වරප්‍රසාදය ලැබෙන්නේ මරණය සිදු වූ දින දක්‌වා පමණි. 

Veena Malik: I was topless but 'not nude' in FHM

(Veena Malik: "I will not allow anyone... to take advantage of my body")

Pakistani actress Veena Malik has defended a recent photoshoot in an Indian men's magazine, saying she was "topless" and "covered" but not "nude". Ms Malik is seeking $2m in damages from FHM India, alleging that they "morphed" the images to make her appear naked. The magazine denies the claims.

Ms Malik told the BBC that she did not get paid for the photographs, which have caused controversy in Pakistan.

She said she had refused another offer from an agency for a nude photoshoot. Regarding the photos in FHM India magazine, she said: "If you look at my shoot, I do admit that I have done a topless shoot."

"But it was not that topless -- a proportion of the body was covered with my hands," she said.

"I liked the idea of a bold shoot, but I did not do a nude shoot -- that's why I am standing here today, because I have to prove it. "I won't allow anybody to remove my bikini or my shalwar (loose trousers) or my dupatta (scarf).

"If I want to do it, I will do it myself. And if I do it, I will own it," she told BBC's World Have Your Say programme. Asked about reports that her father has disowned her and has called for her to be punished, Ms Malik said, "My father is angry."

"They are my family -- I love them," she continued. "Once I am done with this case... I will go back to my family and I will convince them, and I still love them." Many listeners and readers contacted the BBC World Service to offer either support or criticism -- much of it very harsh -- of the images.

Toilet cleaning chemicals in your shampoo

By Dr. Channa Jayasumana

Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Rajarata University,

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and its close relative Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) are inexpensive detergents commonly used in cosmetic cleansers, hair shampoos, bath and shower gels, soaps shaving creams, mouth washes and toothpastes. It is probably the most dangerous ingredient used in skin and hair-care products.

In the cleaning industry SLS is used in toilet cleaners, garage floor cleaners, engine degreasers and car wash soaps, it is very corrosive and readily attacks greasy surfaces. Far from giving "healthy shining hair" and "dirty less skin", soaps and shampoos containing sodium Laureth sulfate can lead to direct damage to the hair follicle, skin damage, permanent eye damage in children and even liver toxicity. Hence recently its use in health care products has been banned in many countries. But still it is a main component in shampoo, bath gels etc available in the Sri Lankan market.

Sodium lauryl sulfate is used throughout the world for clinical testing as a primary skin irritant. Laboratories use it to irritate skin on test animals and humans so that they may then test healing agents to see how effective they are on the irritated skin.

National integration : Need to think ‘outside the box’

Speech at the Committee Stage of the Budget Debate 2011 on the votes of the Ministry of National Languages and Social Integration by Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, MP dviser on Reconciliation to the President on December 9

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I am grateful, Mr Speaker, for this opportunity to support the budget allocation and the work of the Ministry of National Languages and Social Integration amongst others. In fact my one complaint is that not enough has been given for the work of this extremely important ministry. In his budget speech the President made clear the seminal contribution to national development of the activities associated with this ministry, and I can only hope that its work does not suffer from a shortage of resources.

In one sense limitations on the funds allocated to the ministry should not be a problem, because its work should be conducted by other ministries too. For instance, with regard to National Languages, a greater responsibility lies with the Ministry of Education. Given the continuous failure of our education system over the years to promote bilingualism, let alone the trilingualism that the President requires in fulfillment of his vision for a prosperous, pluralistic and united Sri Lanka, there is also need for more work by the Ministries of Higher Education and of Vocational Training.

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Communication skills

Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, MP

Given the need for better coordination in this regard, I hope very much that the recommendation in the committee deliberations on the Ministry of Human Resources, to establish both a Consultative Committee and a coordinating mechanism between the various ministries concerned, will bear fruit. It should be noted that the Ministry of Public Administration should also be involved in this, given the important role that the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration should play in this regard. Some years back, when I first got involved in public life in an executive position , as head of the Peace Secretariat, I noted to my line management that there would be no possibility of sustainable peace unless we developed a much more effective administration, with better skills of communication as well as planning, than we had.

Every day that passes convinces me of this more and more, and unless we develop appropriate skills, and initiative, in middle management as well as elsewhere, the excellent proposals in the budget will come to naught. I hope that the Ministry of Public Administration, as well as the ministry responsible for public sector reforms, will fast forward plans in this regard and ensure effective implementation.

President captain at today’s T-20

President Mahinda Rajapaksa will give a different kind of leadership at a cricket match to be held in Colombo today. He will captain the team of ministers while former Sri Lanka cricketer and now Matara District MP Sanath Jayasuirya will head the team of MPs in a softball T-20 match at the Sports Ministry grounds.

Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage who was practising yesterday afternoon said the winning team in this first ever politicians’ T-20 would be awarded the Speaker’s Cup. “This match has been initiated by the President as he feels that a sporting event of this nature will help dispel animosities that crop up between MPs during parliamentary debates and also to help them relax,” he said.

Several UNP MPs will also take part in the tournament but the JVP-DNA members said they would not participate. Invitations have been sent to all MPs for the match which will be telecast live on CSN from 2 p.m. today.

Minister Dulles Alahapperuma said this match would be an annual fixture. The President was expected to return to the island last night from Bali, Indonesia.

By Damith Wickremasekera / Sunday Times

“ The Help”…A Film With A Conscience

Courtesy - The Sunday Leader By Sumaya Samarasinghe

When Soma or Joseph wake up at dawn to prepare a freshly cooked lunch or straighten a messy house after scrubbing the toilets before walking around carrying a grumpy child in their arms; few would find that abnormal eventhough the house in not theirs, the toilets are not the ones they use and the baby isn’t their flesh and blood.

They are often called “servants” a terrible word to describe another human being who is doing the most humiliating job one could even think of: cleaning the mess and taking care of the property and children of others for a pittance. The Help which takes place during the Civil Rights movement era in the USA, is based on Kathryn Stockett’s wonderful novel of the same name and for many of us, the story will be a good wake up call to remember that those who clean after us are human beings.

The Help describes the lives of maids, two in particular Aibileen and Minny who are approached by Eugenia “Skeeter” Pheelan( Emma Stone), a white neighborhood girl whom they have seen grow up. Skeeter has come back from college and wants to be a journalist. But in Jackson, Mississippi, girls are expected to marry, cook and have babies. Increasing their IQ levels and questioning how they treat their helps is not part of the requirements to land yourself a good and preferably rich husband.

Sinhala - Song.............

ආදරයේ සුන්දර වරද

සිත වනාහි දුර ගමන් කරන, තනිව හැසිරෙන, ශරීරයක් නැති ගුහාවක් වැනි ය යනුවෙන් බුදුහිමියෝ වදාළහ.

”සිත නම් වල් අසෙකි

අල්වා බැඳ තැබිය යුතු

නුවණින් මෙහෙයවිය යුතු

(ප්‍රබුද්ධ – මහගමසේකර)

එසේම බන්දුල විජේවීරයන් ගේ ගීතයක් උදෙසා සුනිල් ආරියරත්නයෝ මෙසේ පද ගෙතූහ.

හිත හීලෑ නෑ

හරිම මුරණ්ඩුයි

තැන තැන ඇවිදිනවා

හිතෙන හිතෙන තැන නවතිනවා

(මහාචාර්ය සුනිල් ආරියරත්න)

දමනය කිරීමට නොහැකි මේ සිතිවිලි නිසා මිනිසා විවිධාකාර වූ ප්‍රායෝගික අර්බුදවල පැටලෙයි. ප්‍රේමය නම් වූ විෂයයෙහි වැඩි වැඩියෙන් මේ අර්බුද ඇතිවනු දක්නට හැකිය. ආදරය වූ කලී එක හිතකින් එකකුට හෝ එකියකට පමණක් පුදකළ යුතු ය යන්න සාම්ප්‍රදාය යයි.

ඒ සම්ප්‍රදාය බිඳෙන කල්හි සමාජ සංස්කෘතික ගැටලු හටගනී. ඒ ගැටලුවලට මුහුණදීමට කෙනකුට අසීරුවෙයි. ප්‍රණීත් අභයසුන්දර නම් වූ ගේය කාව්‍ය රචකයා තේමා කරගන්නේ එබඳු අර්බුදකාරී අවස්ථාවකි.

වරදක් කළත් සිතකින් නොවේ

රිදවන්නෙ පළිගන්නෙ ඇයි

ඔබ මෙන් ඇයත් ඇය මෙන් ඔබත්

මට මාගෙ ඇස්දෙක වගෙයි

The mice who ate iron

The trader named Dhananjaya rose to the highest level of riches through hard work. In the first instance he was an exemplary character. As he was getting more gold coins, he thought he should relax more comfortably. So he entrusted his dealings to a close relative.

He gradually got addicted to gambling and drinking. His good manners were vanishing. He had to waste his whole wealth to indulge in luxuries. This went on for years. Finally he realized he is becoming poor and all his friends are leaving him one by one.

"Perhaps I should restart my business," he thought. Dhananjaya had a giant pair of iron scales. He used that to weigh the bulk of cotton.

"I'll first pay homage to a sacred shrine," he thought. Then he went to see a friend who knew about his decline.

"I have not seen you for ages," said his trader friend.

"I've become cashless, but I think I have courage to start my trade once again."

"What can I do for you?" Asked the friend.

"Just one thing. I'm going on a pilgrimage. Please keep this pair of scales with you until I come back."

"That's simple."

"Where's your little son?" Dhananjaya asked. He called his son.

"Son, uncle Dhananjaya is here." The little boy came by. Dhananjaya offered some sweetmeats.

"This is for you, son."

'Thank you, uncle."

Sehwag 219 Runs Scored, India win by 153 runs

Sehwag 219 Runs Scored, India win by 153 runs

අභිමානවත් පියෙක්‌..

ඔරලෝසු කටුව වේගයෙන් ගමන් කරනවා වගේ චින්තාට දැනුණා. දරුවට පාසල් බසය වැරදිලා ගියොත් අද පාසලට යන්න වෙන්නේ නෑ. ඇය තමන්ගෙ අත කඩිසර කළා. මේ අතර සිසිර නිදි ඇඳෙන් නැගිට මුළුතැන්ගෙට ආවා. මගෙ තේ එක..? ඔහු ඇහුවා. පොඩ්ඩක්‌ ඉන්න මම හදන්නම්. දුවට වෙලා යනවා. බස්‌ එක ගියොත් අද ඉස්‌කෝලෙ යන්න වෙන්නෙ නෑ. චින්තා කිව්වා. සිසිරගෙ මුහුණ වෙනස්‌ වුණා. ඔහු කිසිවක්‌ නොකියා ම ආලින්දයට ගියමුත් වචනයකුදු නොදොඩා ගියත් ඔහුගෙ හිත තුළ කිසියම් නොමනාපයක්‌ ඉපදුණු බව චින්තාට තේරුම් ගියා. ඒ වෙන කිසිවක්‌ නිසා නොව ඔහුගේ උදේ කිරි වීදුරුව ප්‍රමාද වීමේ හේතුව මත උපන් අප්‍රසාදයි.

චින්තාට සිසිර පිළිබඳව කලකිරීමට වඩා තමා පිළිබඳව දැඩි ආත්මානුකම්පාවක්‌ ඉපදුණු මේ තරම් කලබල උදැසනක වේලාව සමග හරඹ කරන ඇය පිළිබඳව කිසිදු තැකීමක්‌ නොකොට දියණියගේ කටයුතු වෙනුවෙන් නිරත වීම ගැන සිසිරගෙ ප්‍රතිචාර පිළිබඳව දැඩි දුකක්‌ හිතුණා. 

සිසිර තමන්ගෙ අභිමානය ගැන ඉතා ඉහළින් සිතුවා. පිරිමියෙකු විදිහට පවුල තුළ ගරු සම්මාන ලැබෙනවා මදි යෑයි ඔහු සිතුවා. නමුත් චින්තා හැකි හැම විට ම සිසිරට ප්‍රධානත්වය දුන්නා. දරුවෙක්‌ මේසය අරින්න පෙරාතුව බත් ටිකක්‌ ඉල්ලා සිටියොත් ඇය කියන්නේ. 

ටිකක්‌ ඉන්න පුතේ.. තාත්තට බත් ටික බෙදනකම් 

ඒ වෙලාවට දුව හෝ පුතාගෙ මුහුණ වෙනස්‌ වෙනවා. බඩගිනි වෙලාවට නැත්තං මට වැඩක්‌ නෑ. මට බත් එපා. දරුවො චෝදනා නගනවා. 

ඒත්. මට බඩගිනි නෑ. දරුවන්ට බත් දෙන්න කියන්න තරම් සිසිර ඉස්‌සර වෙන්නෙ නෑ.

Sri Lanka Among 2012 Best Tourist Destinations: National Geographic

COLOMBO, Dec 2 (Bernama) — National Geographic Traveler magazine has named Sri Lanka among top six destinations for world travelers in 2012, focusing on island’s hill country, heritage sites, and pristine beaches.

The magazine, in its Nov/Dec issue, describes that Sri Lanka’s hill country features stunning scenery, tea plantations, and ancient Buddhist temples, according to China’s Xinhua news agency, citing a statement by the External Affairs Ministry on Friday.

“This mountainous, mist-draped realm has long been popular with backpackers and other adventurers for its tea plantations and rain forest preserves, known as the Central Highlands, which recently were added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list.”

“Sri Lanka is a “resplendent isle, and the natural charms of this pear- shaped island in the Indian Ocean that nearly kisses the southeast tip of India are indeed splendid,” the magazine said in a review of its in its best of the world 2012 trips.

Sri Lanka tourism has grown impressively, with a 52 percent increase in 2010 compared to 2009. Arrivals have topped an all-time high of 750,000 and the government has targeted 2.5 million tourists by 2016.

Lighting Niagara Falls has long, colourful history

In this Aug. 27, 2011 file photo, Niagara Falls is illuminated in orange, to honour the late New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton in Niagara Falls, N.Y. The tourism season at Niagara Falls is slowing, but November started the busy season for those who light the falls in colours every night. Two Ontario men, 80-year-old Peter Gordon and 78-year-old Dick Mann, alternate on the controls, working from an illumination tower on the Canadian side of the falls. The 21-spotlight system uses 4,000-watt bulbs that shine with a combined brilliance of 8.2 billion candles. Often, colours are chosen for special causes. (AP)

NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario (AP) — You can’t take a boat ride into the roar and spray of Niagara Falls in the winter, but this time of year offers a different spectacle: Nighttime illumination of the falls in a changing array of colours — red, white, blue, purple, orange, amber and green.

In spring and summer, the coloured lights shine for just three hours, but with less daylight in winter, curtains of colour wash over the falls each night for up to seven hours.

Crowds gather along the sidewalk and railing on Niagara Parkway to see the show as mist rises from the falls and basin in front of them; others watch from the windows of hotels and restaurants on the Canadian side.

The display starts with patriotic themes — red, white and blue for the American Falls, red and white for the horseshoe-shaped Canadian Falls — and frequently includes colours to honour a cause. When Niagara Falls hosted the first wedding following New York’s legalisation of same-sex marriage in July, Mayor Paul Dyster arranged for a rainbow of colours, the symbol of gay pride. On Nov. 16, the falls were lit by white light for 15-minute stretches for lung cancer awareness, a request made by Christine Dwyer, who founded a group called Make Some Noise for Lung Cancer Awareness after losing her best friend to the disease.

Free media seeks SC order to lift ban on websites

The Free Media Movement yesterday filed a fundamental rights violation petition in the Supreme Court seeking the lifting of the ban on five websites in Sri Lanka.

The websites named were Sri Lanka Mirror, Lanka Guardian, Lanka E-News, Lanka News Web andPapparazi news.com

It was cited in the petition that the Director of Information Dr Ariyaratne Ethugala had said that the reason to ban the websites was due to them carrying news defaming to Ministers and VIPs, but it argued that hitherto no complaints had been received to that effect from anyone.

Director of Government Information Dr Ariyaratne Ehtugala, Information Ministry Secretary W. P. Ganegala and Telecommunication Regulatory Commission Chairman Anusha Pelpita were named as respondents.

The petition was filed by Udaya Kalupahana and Sunil Jayasekera.

Courtesy - The Island By Sarath Dharmasena

මා පෙම් කළ ජනපද කල්‍යාණිට හිමියනි මට කළ නොහැක නිගා...

නව දැලි හේනක පෑව වැඳිරි රුව

ලෙස උවමින් දෙනුවන් රවටා

මා පෙම් කළ ජනපද කල්‍යාණිට

හිමියනි මට කළ නොහැක නිගා

සුරඟන රූ සිරි දුටිමි හැඳින්නෙමි

සිත් ලෙස දෙනුවන් බඳුන් පුරා

මා හඳුනන මගෙ හදගත් කලණිය

මට නුදුරුයි සුරඟනට වඩා

මා සිත සුවපත් කරලනු නොහැකිය

සෝ ළතැවුල් දෙයි රැය ද දිවා

නෙත දුටු සුරඟන රූසිරි කුමට ද

හද දුටු ජනපද කලණ නිසා

පද රචනය, සංගීතය සහ ගායනය

සෝමතිලක ජයමහ

 

සංගීතය හා ගායනය එකම පුද්ගලයා අතින් නිමැවෙන අවස්ථා සිංහල ගීතය තුළ හමුවන්නේ ඉතා කලාතුරකිනි. ආනන්ද සමරකෝන්, සුනිල් ශාන්ත, ෂර්ලි වෛජයන්ත ආදීන්ගේ නිර්මාණ තුළ මේ තත්ත්වය කලාතුරකින් දක්නට හැකිය. මේ අතර සෝමතිලක ජයමහ නම් වූ ගාන්ධර්වයාට හිමිවන්නේ සුවිශේෂත්වයකි. අප අතර කීර්තියට පත්වූ ගී නිර්මාණ කීපයකම මේ ත්‍රිපුද්ගල සංයෝගය සෝමතිලක ජයමහ නම් වූ කලාකරුවා අතින්ම සම්පූර්ණ වී තිබේ. කාව්‍යක්කාරයෙකු, සංගීතඥයෙකු මෙන්ම මධුර හඬකට හිමිකම් කියමින් සුගායනයේ යෙදීමේ හැකියාව වූ කලී කෙනකුට කලාතුරකින් දායාද වන භාග්‍යයකි.

එක්තරා විරෝධාකල්ප නිර්මාණයක් ලෙස සැලකිය හැකි මේ නිර්මාණයට පසුබිම් වන්නේ සද්ධර්මරත්නාවලියේ හමුවන නන්ද තෙරුන්ගේ වස්තුවයි.

Dual citizenship for 500 applicants

The Government has decided to grant dual citizenship to more than 500 people, whose applications were pending for more than a year, Immigrations and Emigrations Chief Chulananda Perera said yesterday.

This would be the first time dual citizenship has been granted after the government put the scheme on hold last year pending a review.He said the 500 applicants included both Sri Lankans and foreigners and they were selected from about 1,000 applications.

The move came as the government was formulating new scheme on granting dual citizenship.

He said proposals for the new scheme had been handed over to the Attorney General for advice.

The scheme of dual citizenship had been put on hold to prevent the abuse this facility by people who might pose a threat to national security.

However, since the end of the war, a large number of Sri Lankans who have obtained citizenship in other countries had shown interest in gaining dual citizenship, Mr. Perera said.

The Sunday Times By Chris Kamalendran

Sleep paralysis studied

What do Moby Dick, the Salem witch trials and alien abductions all have in common? They all circle back to sleep paralysis. Less than 8 percent of the general population experiences sleep paralysis, but it is more frequent in two groups — students and psychiatric patients — according to a new study by psychologists at Penn State and the University of Pennsylvania. Sleep paralysis is defined as “a discrete period of time during which voluntary muscle movement is inhibited, yet ocular and respiratory movements are intact,” the researchers state in the current issue of Sleep Medicine Reviews. Hallucinations may also be present in these transitions to or from sleep.

Alien abductions and incubi and succubi, as well as other demons that attack while people are asleep, are implicated as different cultural interpretations of sleep paralysis. The Salem witch trials are now thought possibly to involve the townspeople experiencing sleep paralysis. And in the 19th-century novel Moby Dick, the main character Ishmael experiences an episode of sleep paralysis in the form of a malevolent presence in the room. Brian A. Sharpless, clinical assistant professor of psychology and assistant director of the psychological clinic at Penn State, noted that some people who experience these episodes may regularly try to avoid going to sleep because of the unpleasant sensations they experience. But other people enjoy the sensations they feel during sleep paralysis.

Larry Crowne…A Decent Box Office Bomb!

Courtesy - The Sunday Leader By Sumaya Samarasinghe

Alright, so here comes my rather challenging task of reviewing “Larry Crowne” which was literally killed by the critics after release.

It was called “bland”, “boring”, “simplistic”, “and lifeless”. So what on earth could have possessed me to watch such a box office and critical fiasco? Well for one thing, it is best to formulate your own opinion on films like on people and how one watches a film depends on what is expected of the movie. Is it for pure entertainment purposes, to gain some extra knowledge on a specific subject or because you are a big fan of the actors?

No doubt ‘Larry Crowne’ does not ooze with an ounce of creativity. The plot is predictable to an extreme and does not move away from the rom com happy ending. Those who wish to analyse further could say that it is about a man who re-invents himself and changes his boring destiny late in life. It is about second chances being possible even when the odds are completely against you. Now doesn’t that sounds slightly more appealing than being called boring and bland?

Tom Hanks is the star and director of ‘Larry Crowne’. He also co-wrote this rather unexciting screenplay with Nia Vardalos who seemed to have lost her entire creative genius after coming up with the hilarious ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ in 2002.

Anyway, Tom comes as Larry an ex-Navy veteran who has been working in retail for several years.

When the company downsizes, they decide to let him go due to his lack of educational qualifications. Larry watches his life slowly fall apart as his divorce seems to have pretty much eaten up all his assets and being on unemployment will not allow him to pay his mortgage.

Housewives? Modern women prefer to be called ‘stay at home mums’

London: Modern mothers hate to be called housewives and would instead prefer to be described as "stay at home mums", a new study has found. According to the study, two-thirds of British mothers believe the label "housewife" has "negative connotation" and even "trivializes" their family role — in fact, a third of those who disliked the term even described it as insulting.

The study, based on a survey of 2,000 moms, shows how a woman’s perception of her role at home and within the wider society has changed over the years. Many prefer the "stay at home mum" title because they consider caring for the children to be their primary role and believe household chores are now a shared responsibility with their husbands, the ‘Daily Express’ reported. Liz Day, parenting consultant for Mothercare, which commissioned the survey, said: "Times have changed and clearly mothers feel there are now more modern, and perhaps, more descriptive names that fit their role. There is no doubt the role of a mum has changed with a more shared approach to chores."

Mothers’ attitudes toward their role were examined as well as their thoughts on how they are seen by others. Many believe people look down on them for choosing to stay at home rather than work, says the survey.

Sunday Island