Why women are into ‘self-harming'

In general, ‘self-harming’ is the result of an inability to cope with problems in healthy ways. A person might have a hard time in regulating, expressing or understanding her/his emotions.

‘Self-harming’ or ‘Deliberate self-harming’ is also known as ‘self-injury’ which is a term given to those who deliberately harm themselves. The most frequent form of self-injury is skin-cutting. Normally, the cuttings are not too deep. In addition, it includes burning, overdose, scalding, punching, banging, or bruising their body in some way. Some pull out their skin and pick their skin.

Self-harming might bring a momentary sense of calm and a release of tension, yet, it follows the feelings of guilt and shame and the painful emotions might return after the particular incident.

Causes of self-harming

There is no definite cause for a person to act like this. It is more or less like a symptom of other mental disorders. According to DSM-IV-TR Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), ‘self-harming’ categorised as a symptom of Borderline personality disorder which is a subtype of Personality Disorders. It can also be due to physical abuse, sexual abuse or eating disorders, low self esteem and perfectionism.

Review: Nowhere in Africa

NOWHERE IN AFRICA/NIRGENDWO IN AFRIKA

2001 GERMANY 138 MIN COLOR 35 MM

DIRECTOR: Caroline Link

GENRE: Historical Drama

AWARDS: 2003 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

2003 Golden Globe nominee

In German with English subtitles; some English

US Theatrical Release: March 2003

US DVD Release: Sept. 30, 2003

Nowhere in Africa/Nirgendwo in Afrika

Out of Africa, German style

There are a few inevitable “Out of Africa” moments in Caroline Link's NOWHERE IN AFRICA. The German film is also about a European woman who confronts a very different way of life on a remote farm in Africa, but this German movie is also about the German past. Its German perspective links a time and place that few people would expect to be connected. NOWHERE IN AFRICA is based on the true experiences of a Jewish girl whose family was forced to leave Nazi Germany and start a new life in Kenya.

Silas Kerati as Jogona andKaroline Eckertz as the

teen-age Regina.

Photo: Zeitgeist Films Ltd.

In 1938 the real-life Stefanie Zweig was six years old and living with her parents in Leobschutz, Upper Silesia (then part of Germany, now in Poland). Her Jewish father was a successful lawyer who was compelled to give up his comfortable, prosperous life and move his family to Africa to spare them the disaster he saw coming in his homeland. Zweig later wrote two books about her experiences in Kenya (Nirgendwo in Afrika) and in Germany after her return (Irgendwo in Deutschland).

Caroline Link's NIRGENDWO IN AFRIKA film, based on Zweig's autobigraphical novel of the same name, focuses more on the adults in the fictional Redlich family, but their daughter Regina still plays an important role. As the Nazis increase their persecution of the Jews in Germany, Jettel Redlich (Juliane Köhler of “Aimee & Jaguar”) heads off to Africa with her daughter to join her husband. Once in Kenya, Jettel (YETT-el) at first does not adapt well to her new and exotic evironment, and she refuses to accept the reality of what is happening to Jews like her back in Germany. On top of his own difficulties, her husband Walter (Merab Ninidze) has a hard time convincing her that they may have to be “nowhere in Africa” for a longer period of time than she thinks. It is painful to watch the culturally insensitive Jettel discriminating against the native Kenyans in much the same way the Nazis discriminate against the Jews.

Lea Kurka as the young Regina

and Sidede Onyulo as Owuor.

Photo: Zeitgeist Films Ltd.

While dad is doing the best he can to survive and mom is resisting at almost every point, their young daughter eagerly begins to absorb the language and culture around her. Once the war begins, life for the Redlichs gets even more complicated. As German nationals in British Kenya, the German Jews ironically find themselves imprisoned, albeit under far better conditions than in the Nazi death camps. Soon, however, Walter is eligible to join the British army and he goes off to fight the Germans.

සෙනෙහෙ පුදන්නම් හිත නොරිදනවා නම්.

කඳුළ නිවන්නම් නෙත නොතෙමනවා නම්

තනියට ඉන්නම් තනි නොකරනවා නම්

මතකයෙ ඉන්නම් අමතක නොමවේ නම්

සෙනෙහෙ පුදන්නම් හිත නොරිදනවා නම්

මල් පූදින්නේ දැඟිලි අතරේ

තැලී පෙලී මියෑදෙන්න නොවේ

සෙනෙහෙ පුදන්නේ සෙනේ ලබන්නයි

හිත රිදවුම් සඟවන්න නොවේ

සඳ පායන්නේ හිරු නැති ලෝකේ

ඝනදුර දුරු කරවාලන්නයි

සෙනෙහෙ පුදන්නේ අඳුරේ තනි වූ

හිතකට එළියක්‌ ලැබ දෙන්නයි

පද රචනය - තනුව - අශෝක කෝවිලගේ

ගායනය - ප්‍රියානි ජයසිංහ

ආදරය... හරිම සුන්දරයි.... පවිත්‍රයි... ආදරයේ සුන්දර බව... පවිත්‍රත්වය ර¹ පවතින්නේ දෙදෙනාම එකිනෙකා ගැන එක හා සමානව හිතනවා නම් විතරයි... දෙදෙනාගේම හැඟීම් එක හා සමාන විය යුතුයි.. හරියට තරාදියක්‌ වගේ. තරදිය සමබර වෙනවා වගේ තමයි දෙදෙනාගේ ආදරයත්. එක පැත්තක්‌ අඩු වුණොත් සමබරතාවය බිඳෙනවා. ආදරයේ සුන්දර බව පවිත්‍ර බව අඩුවෙලා යනවා.

Life and its purpose

“...Nothing comes from nothing, 

Nothing ever could. 

But somewhere in my youth or childhood, 

I must have done something good.”

The above words are taken from a song in the motion film, ‘The Sound of Music’ a musical extravaganza. The composer of the song has given credence to the Buddhist theory of cause and effect which in the realm of ethics is known as Kamma. Kamma means action and Vipaka its effect, result or return. An explanation of Kamma taken from ‘The Path to Purity’, a commentary on the teaching of the Buddha runs as follows -

“According to the seed that is sown,

So is the fruit you reap therefrom. 

Doer of good will gather good, 

Doer of evil, evil reaps. 

Sown is the seed and planted well, 

Thou shalt enjoy the fruit thereof.”

Kamma is a law in itself which operates in its own field without the intervention of any external agency. Taking as a fact that nothing comes from nothing, let us go into the origination of man and man’s purpose.

Christianity admitting the possibility of an ultimate origin attributes everything to the fiat of the Almighty God. Should that be the case, then man’s consciousness and life-force are endowments from the same source. It then follows that the whole of mankind should think alike, act alike, experience alike, grow alike, decay and die alike. However, the reality is that no two persons are identically alike physically and mentally, with each one working out one’s own destiny.

According to the science of physics nothing is created. Things arise out of causes and conditions. Consciousness and life-force being energies they cannot be created.

The merrymakers

This group of young people was known as ‘Bhadra Vaggiya.’ They lived during the Buddha’s time. ‘Bhadra Vaggiya’ meant ‘a group of intimates.’ The group was of 30 young men.

Most of them were closely related to kings. They used to meet once in a way to have a light talk. They wanted to make merry all the time. One day the boss summoned the whole group.

He came to know that there is a vast area full of trees and creepers in the city of Kimbulwath, the birthplace of the Buddha. There is a beautiful lake too, which is said to be divine.

“Why don’t we go there and have some fun? Who is going to join?”

No member disagreed with the boss. They all liked to join.

“But what about our partners?” Asked one young prince.

“That is simple. They can join us too.”

Although they all agreed, some of them remained indecisive.

“What is the problem?” The boss asked.

“Some of us are unmarried, though we have girlfriends. Can they come too?”

“Of course why not? We all belong to the same royal heritage.”

But then there was another issue. One witty young man posed a question.

“I do not have a partner. I am single.”

“So, what is the problem?”

“Can I come with a girl, whom you do not know?”

Boss was careful in responding to that question. In the first instance he looked at the others’ faces. They all looked as if to say it is all right.

“If others won’t mind, so won’t I,” said the boss.

Dame in waiting - The Lady:

After Meryl Streep donned Margaret Thatcher's avatar in The Iron Lady we get a series of biopics rotating around historic figures. Luc Besson's The Lady is another such attempt. It is based on Myanmar's politician and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Suu Kyi's attempts to bring democracy to her homeland are partly framed in flashbacks through her ailing husband's memories. This is a unique feature of The Lady because it is not actually the protagonist who recalls the past but a loved one closely linked with her story.

Back in Myanmar after a considerable stint aboard, Suu Kyi is encouraged to stand in the country's free elections. Despite winning a popular mandate she is placed under indefinite house arrest by the repressive regime. Meantime her devoted husband, Dr Michael Aris, and two sons find all means to free her from the clutches of the tyrants. Their actions resulted in her winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. A deeply moving moment in the movie shows the desperate Suu Kyi listening to her elder son, Alex's, speech and crying with joy as she plays the piano.

The love story, running in the backdrop of the horror-stricken environs brings a tear to the audience's eyes and the end in which Suu Kyi is liberated after almost 15 years of house arrest seems bittersweet because her freedom is hard won. She had to give up years form being with her family and is cut out from the outer world. Her days are spent amid yearnings and hardships but she never breaks down before the regime.

Michelle Yeoh gives life to people of Myanmar democrat and dissident Aung San Suu Kyi . She lives up to her role in every possible aspect from walking before armed guards to sporting flowers in her hair. She carrys herself off with quiet elegance that is a striking contrast to the behaviour of the tyrants which she hopes to replace with freedom.

Unlike most biographical movies The Lady touches a cord in the viewers' hearts because it shares the extraordinary love between spouses as well as captures the pulse of a woman who sacrificed her person happiness for her people. Cinematographer Thierry Arbogast's visuals too are a joy to behold. He has incorporated some colour to what would otherwise have been a bland tale. One of the main drawbacks of The Lady is that Suu Kyi is shown to be invincible and almost godly. Besson does not project any gray areas in her character.

This makes her seem less human and adds an artificial touch to the production. Even though Besson has tried to cover up this aspect by the conversation that Suu Kyi has with Aris in which we are told that her flaws are being quick-tempered, impatient and stubborn, we do not see these qualities coming to the fore at any stage.

To You.........30

මං ගොඩක් ආදරය කරන, ආදරණීය ඔයාට
මං ඔයා ළඟ ඉන්නව කියලා
ඔයා දැනගන්නෙ කොහොමද?
හැමදේම රස්නෙ. හැමදේම ගල්වෙලා වගේ තියෙන
හුළං පොදක් නැති ආස නැති රැයක
ඉස්සෙල්ලම එන සීතල හුළඟක්
ඔයාගේ කම්මුල් ඉඹගෙන යනව නේද?
ඒ මං ඔයා බලා ගන්නවා.
මා ගැන හිතන්න.
බඩ පිරිලා බඩගින්නෙ වේදනාව නැතිවෙන කොට
සතුට ඇවිත් තනිකම බිඳල දානකොට
මා ගැන හිතන්න.
මං පොද වැස්සක් ඔබේ මූණට ඉහින කොට
ඒ වැස්සෙන් පොළොවත්
වේළිච්ච දුඹුරු පාට ගහ කොළත් තෙමන කොට
ඉස්සෙල්ලාම එන පිරිසිදු වැස්සක සුවඳ
මං ඔයාව සෝදලා පිරිසිදු කරනවා.
මා ගැන හිතන්න.
ජීවිතයේ නපුරුකම්වලින් ඔයාගේ ඇස් බයවෙන කොට
බැහැගෙන යන ඉරේ ඉස්සෙල්ලම එන
මඳ බැල්ම වගේ මං ඔයාව සනසනවා.
එතකොට ඔයා මගෙන් අසාවි
ඔයා කොහොමද දන්නෙ ඔයා මං ළඟ ඉන්නවා කියලා?
ඒ මෙහෙමයි.
ගිනිගෙන දැවෙන ඉර
ඔයාවත් පොළොවත් පුච්චන කොටත්
වැලිවලිනුත් දුවිල්ලෙනුත්
ඔයාගේ ඇස් වැහිල යනකොටත්
ඔයා මට ආදරේ කරනව නම්
තනිකම බඩගින්නත් එක්ක එකතු වෙලා එනකොටත්
හිතේ සතුටක් නැතිකොටත් ඔයා මට ආදරේ කරනව නම්
තොල් පැලෙනකොට, දිව ඇලෙනකොට, උගුර හිරවෙනකොට,
වතුර තියා මිරිඟුවක සේයාවක්වත් නැතිකොටත්
ඔයා මට ආදරේ කරනව නම්
උහුලන්න බැරි වේදනාව දරාගෙනත් හිනාවෙවී
ඔයා මට ආදරේ කරනව නම්
ඔයා හුඟක් ආදරෙන් රැක බලාගත් වස්තුව මං ගත්තමත්
ඔයාගේ ඇස් පෙනීම නැතුව ගිහිං අන්ධකාරයේ ගිලිලත්
ඔයා මට ආදරේ කරනව නම්
මං ඔයා ළඟ ඉන්නව කියල මට දැනගන්න පුළුවන්.
ඔයා දකින හැම දේම
ඔයාගේ කනට ඇහෙන දිවට නහයට, ඇඟට දැනෙන හැම දේම
අයිති මටයි.
ඉතිං දැනටමත් මට අයිති ඒ දේ
ඔයා මට දෙන්නෙ කොහොමද?
නමුත්
ඔයාගෙ ආදරය කාලය පටන් ගන්නත් කලින්
ඔයාගේ ආත්මයේ අයිතියක් හැටියට මං ඔයාට දුන්නු ආදරය?
ඒක මට ආපහු දෙනකොට
එතකොට මට දැනෙයි ඇත්තටම ඔයා මගේ කියල.
මං ඔයා ළඟ තියෙන දුක නැති කරල
සතුට එතනින් ගෙනත් තියන්නම්.
ඒ තමයි මම.
මං ඔයාව සතුට පිරුණු තැනක තියන්නම්
හැමදාටම.
මං හැම තිස්සෙම ඔයා ගැන හිතනව.
මං ඔයාට ආදරෙයි!

The Devil Inside; A Swing And A Miss

The Devil Inside is presented as assembled found footage that follows twenty-something Isabella Rossi (Fernanda Andrade) as she reunites with her mother, Maria Rossi (Suzan Crowley), and searches for an exorcist that can free Maria of a long-running demon possession. Maria has been locked away in a Catholic psychiatric ward, following an attempted exorcism that resulted in the murder of three people 20 years prior. Some moviegoers will no doubt be ready to compare The Devil Inside to the 2010 film The Last Exorcism – since the film also features unique locales, documentary-style filmmaking, body-contorting horror sequences, and a weighty religious side-arc.

The exorcisms in the film deliver some intriguing moments, but while there are definitely a number of jump scares throughout The Devil Inside, overall the ‘scariest’ points tend to be less ‘frightening’ and rely on expectation and tension more than in-your-face frights.

For better or for worse The Devil Inside spends a lot of time developing the primary characters – especially how the two main exorcists in the film feel about the Catholic Church.

Along with the primary narrative arc involving Isabella, the movie spends a lot of time developing side stories, all for very little payoff.

සළුපිළි සිරුරට ඇලෙයි පිට මිනිස්‌සුන්ට පෙනෙයි

ඔබ තෙමෙයි කියා බයයි

වැසි වසියි සුළං තදයි

කුඩයට ඔරොත්තු නොදෙයි

සාරිය පිට මඩ ඉහෙයි

මුහුණට හිරිකඩ වැදෙයි

සුදු මුදු මදහස මැකෙයි

මිරිවැඩි තුළ දිය පිරෙයි

පය ලිස්‌සා බිම වැටෙයි

සළුපිළි සිරුරට ඈලෙයි

පිට මිනිස්‌සුන්ට පෙනෙයි

සඟවන්නෙමි ඔබ මගෙයි

දිව එන්නට මට හිතෙයි

පද රචනය - මහාචාර්ය සුනිල් ආරියරත්න 

සංගීතය - ගායනය -

විශාරද එඩ්වඩ් ජයකොඩි

පෙම්වතෙකුට තම පෙම්වතිය මැණිකක්‌ ඔහු ඇය රැකගන්නේ හරියට මැණිකක්‌ රකින නා රජිඳෙක්‌ වගේ... ඇගේ ඇඟට මැස්‌සෙකුටවත් වහන්න දෙන්නෙ නැහැ... තවකෙක්‌ ඈ දෙස බලනටවත් ඔහු කැමැති නෑ... මේ ආදරයක්‌ ඊර්ෂ්‍යාවත් එකට එකතුවෙලා...

ඔබ තෙමෙයි කියා බයයි

වැසි වසියි සුළං තදයි

කුඩයට ඔරොත්තු නොදෙයි

සාරිය පිට මඩ ඉහෙයි

මොරසූරන වැස්‌ස... සුළඟත් සැඩයි. කුඩයක්‌ යටින් කොහොමටවත් යන්න බෑ... මට බයයි ඔයාව තෙමෙයි කියලා. පාර පුරා පිරි තියෙන මඩවතුර ඔයාගේ සාරියට ඉහුනොත්.

මහාචාර්ය සුනිල් ආරියරත්නයන්ගේ සංකල්පනාවක්‌... අත්දැකීමක්‌ වූ අපි මහැදුරන්ට සවන් දෙමු.

මේක ජයවර්ධනපුර විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ අත්දැකීමක්‌. අපේ ආචාර්යවරයෙක්‌ ආචාර්යවරියකට ආදරේ කළා. ඒත් එයාලට එකතුවෙන්න බැරි ප්‍රශ්න වගයක්‌ තිබුණා. ඇය සරසවියට එන්නේ යන්නේ බසයෙන්. ඒත් ආචාර්යවරයා යන්නේ ඔහුගේ වාහනයෙන්. දවසක්‌ හොඳටම වැස්‌ස. ආචාර්යවරයා වාහනේ ගමන් කරද්දී දැක්‌කා ආදරවන්තිය. ඉක්‌මන් ගමනින් ගොස්‌ බසයකට නගිනවා. අහස කළු කරලා. තද සුළඟ. මොරසූරන වැස්‌සක පෙර නිමිති. වැස්‌ස වහින්න ඔන්න මෙන්න වගේ. ආචාර්යවරයාට ඇය ගැන දුකක්‌ හිතුණා. අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම බසයෙන් බැස යද්දී ඇය මේ වැස්‌සට හසුවේවි... ඈ තෙමෙයි කියා ඔහුට බියක්‌ දැනුණා. මේ වැස්‌සට කුඩයක්‌ ඔරොත්තු දෙන්නෙත් නෑ. සාරිය පුරා මඩත් ඉහිරෙයි. මට තියෙන්නේ සාරි දෙක තුනයි... ඈ දවසක්‌ කී කතාවක්‌ ආචාර්යවරයාට මතක්‌ වුණා... ගීයට පාදක කර ගත්තේ ඔන්න ඔය අත්දැකීමයි.

ප්‍රේමයත් වෛරයත් අතර පරතරය RAAZ -3

'රාස්' හින්දි චිත්‍රපට පෙළේ තෙවැන්න දැන් ප්‍රේක්ෂකයන් හමුවට පැමිණ තිබේ. වික්‍රම් භාත් ගේ අධ්‍යක්ෂණයක් වන ‘රාස්-3’ මහේෂ් භාත් හා මුකේෂ් භාත් යන දෙදෙනාගේ අධ්‍යක්ෂණයකි. බොලිවුඩයෙන් නිපැයෙන අද්භූත කතා සහිත චිත්‍රපට පෙළක් වන ‘රාස්’හි පළමුවැන්න තිරගත වූයේ 2002 දී ය. එහි දෙවැන්න ‘රාස්- ද මිස්ට්‍රි කන්ටිනියුස්’ 2009 වසරේ දී තිරගත වුයේය. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ උපන්, රූප සුන්දරියක හා බොලිවුඩ් නිළියක වූ ජැකොලයින් ෆර්නැන්ඩෙස් ද ‘රාස් -3’ හි රඟපාන්නීය.

සහන්යා ජනප්‍රිය නිළියකි. ජනපි‍්‍රය නිළියක ලෙස පමණක් නොව ඇය සම්මානනීය නිළියක ලෙස ද හැඳින්වීමට පුළුවන. ඇය රඟපෑ සෑම චිත්‍රපටයක්ම පාහේ සාර්ථක වූ අතර සම්මාන සඳහා ඇගේ නම යෝජනා වූ සෑම අවස්ථාවකම ඇයට එම සම්මානය හිමි විය.

ඇය පෙම් බැන්දේ කඩවසම් චිත්‍රපට අධ්‍යක්ෂවරයකු වන ආදිත්‍යටය. සියල්ල අවසන් වන්නේ තරුණ නිළියක වූ සන්ජානා සිය පළමු චිත්‍රපටයේ රඟපාමින් ප්‍රේක්ෂකයන් හමුවට පැමිණි විටය. සිනමාවේ සියලු දෙනාට සහන්යා අමතක වී යන අතර ඔවුන් සියල්ලන් තම චිත්‍රපටවලට සම්බන්ධ කරගන්නේ සන්ජානාය.

අසාර වූ මහ පොළව මමයි ගලා බසින දිය දහර ඇයයි

හෙළයේ මහා කවියා මහගමසේකරයැයි මම නොබියව පවසමි.මගේ පෞද්ගලිකත්වය අනුව ඔහු මගේ ජීවිතය වෙනස් කළ පුද්ගලයෙකි. උසස් පෙළ විද්‍යා අධ්‍යාපනයෙන් හෙම්බත් ව, මා පැතූ ආදරය ද නොලැබ මංමුළාව සිටින මොහොතක මට අහම්බෙන් ඔහුගේ පොත් ඇස ගැටිණි.

එයින් මා කෙතරම් මෝහනය වී ද යත් මා විද්‍යා අංශය අතහැර කලා අංශය තෝරාගෙන සරසවි වරම් ලදිමි. පසුකාලීන ව මා කළ බොහෝ නිර්මාණ සඳහා මට එතුමන්ගේ ආභාසය ලැබුණ බව හදවතින්ම පවසමි.

ගීත බවට බොහෝ විට පත්වී ඇත්තේ සේකරයන්ගේ කාව්‍ය සංකල්පනාවන් ය.සේකරගේ කවි ඇසුරු කළ අමරදේවයන් ඒවා ගීත බවට පත්කරන්නට ඇත.මේ ගේය කාව්‍ය රචනය සඳහා ද මුල් වන්නේ “හෙට ඉරක් පායයි” නමැති කෘතියේ සේකර විසින් රචනා කරන ලද කාව්‍ය සංකල්පනාවකි.

ජීවිතයේ බොහෝ පරාජයන් ලැබු පුද්ගලයකු තම පෙම්වතිය හෝ බිරියගෙන් ජීවිතය ජයගන්නට වෙර දැරීමක් මේ අනුභූතියේ අන්තර්ගතය.

බුද්ධිය හා භාවය එක්තැන් කරන ආකර්ෂණීය වූ සංකේත මාලාවක් යොදා ගැනීමට සේකර සතු හැකියාව මෙහිදී කැපී පෙනෙයි.මුළු කාව්‍යයේම අරුත ආරම්භක දෙපදයෙහි අන්තර්ගතය.

“පාළු අඳුරු නිල් අහස මම යි

ඈත දිලෙන තනි තරුව ඇයයි

ජීවිතයේ අපරිමිත වූ පරාජිත භාවය “පාළු අඳුරු නිල් අහස”නමැති රූපකයේ අන්තර්ගතය. ඒ අඳුරු අහස ආලෝකවත් කළ හැකි තරු කැටයක් ඒ අහසේ ම දුරින් දිස්වෙයි. ඒ ඔහුගේ ආදරය දිනු තැනැත්තියයි.ඇතැම් විට එවැනි ගැහැනියක ඔහු ළඟ නොඉන්නට පුළුවන.තමාට එළියක් දිය හැකි ආදරවන්තියක පිළිබඳ මනඞකල්පිත හීනයක් පමණක් ඔහු සතුව තිබෙනවා විය හැකිය. එය යුගයෙන් යුගය ඔහුගේ හදවත ඉල්ලන එහෙත් තාමත් ලැබී නැති බලාපොරොත්තුවක් පැතුමක් ද විය හැකිය.

“යුගයෙන් යුගයට හදවත් ඉල්ලන

බලාපොරොත්තුව පැතුම ඇයයි”

Austrian media promotes Ceylon Tea and tourism

Radio Vienna, an Austrian media network channel, ran a two-hour live broadcast on Sri Lanka on Sunday, 16th September 2012 as part of its most popular prime time breakfast event.

The programme had several components including an introduction on Sri Lanka, a Sri Lanka Quiz and comments from specialists on tea, travel and leisure. Most questions related to Sri Lanka’s heritage sites, nature parks, beaches, food and culture.

The live broadcast opened with a brief interview with Ambassador Azeez, Sri Lanka’s envoy in Austria, who took the opportunity to invite Austrians to visit Sri Lanka and enjoy its beauty and hospitality. Responding to a question on Ayurveda, Ambassador Azeez highlighted its many benefits and urged Austrians to take advantage of this authentic, time-tested system of healthcare and treatment.

The winner of the quiz was awarded an air ticket to Sri Lanka by Radio Vienna, with travel arrangements facilitated by the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Austria.

Earlier on, Ambassador Azeez participated as a guest at a gala event organized by the Hornig Group of Companies in the Styria State of Austria. At the event celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding, he was interviewed on-stage on the speciality of ‘Ceylon Tea’. The Horning Group, which had first introduced Ceylon Tea in Austria and in the neighbouring region, received a special citation from Hon. Franz Voves, Governor of Styria, who graced the occasion as the chief guest, for its contribution to the expansion of trade.

http://www.onlanka.com

Sheep among wolves

The sheep family lived happily in that grassland adjoining thick jungle. The family of sheep consisted of a father, mother, two sheep kids and a newborn sheep who just managed walk about with its mother. Very often the sheep father used to warn his family about some impending disasters.

“You should be aware of a certain wolf who would come to our grassland. If that happens, the wolf would kill us. That will be our end.”

The members of the sheep family listened to what he said. But they seem to be living in a mood of relaxation in the vast grassland. They would from time to time watch

for the impending disaster.

“But I ask you to be only vigilant and do not be afraid. This may or may not happen. We should not be a prey to the wolf. We need to live happily.”

The newborn sheep kid did not understand a thing about what his father said. He went on clinging to the body of his mother. The father sheep had not only warned them

to the wolf, he also taught them how to be tactful in their hiding.

“I can run faster than a wolf,” said the father sheep, “your mother too can run faster.”

“But what can this little one do? He is still a tiny bundle.” Said the mother sheep.

“But surely you cannot do everything at the same time.” Father sheep said in a prophetic tone.

It so happened that the sheep father got to know from a reliable source that the wolf and his wife are roaming in the vicinity of the grassland together with a several

Brave: Conquering tradition

Tastefully scripted and beautiful to look at, Pixar’s latest production, ‘Brave’ is a colorful fantasy fairytale opens with a touching prologue which promises many great things to come.

Indeed that is what takes place on screen as the movie unfurls enchanting its beholders scene by scene. Set in the Scottish wilds, Brave conveys the plight of young Princess Merida, a lively young girl who is unwilling to let go of her tomboyishness to transform herself into the traditional mould of a princess.

Despite having a loving family, good looks and a trouble-free kingdom, Merida desperately wants to change her fate. The only obstacle that is standing in her way is Queen Eleanor, her mother. Once she discover that the only requirement to the tournament which decides her future husband is to be the firstborn of one of the kingdom’s leaders, she enters into the competition to win her right to control her freedom.

Once this attempt fails Merida clings to straw and seeks helps from a witch that she had met in the woods. She asks the witch to supply her with a spell which will ‘change’ her mother and release her of her conservative views. Of course, the plan backfires because it is not the ‘change’ of heart that Merida expects in her mother that takes place but a change of appearance.

This turn of events leads them on an adventure which brings the mother and daughter close together. There are some genuinely funny scenes like in instances when Merida has to confess her plan of trying to ‘change’ her mother to the Queen who, by now, has taken the form of a bear! The triplets’ mischief too brings a few laughs.

The Piano

Date Released: 11/19/93

Running Length: 2:01

Rated: R (Nudity, sex, violence, mature themes)

Starring: Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, Anna Paquin

Director: Jane Campion

Producer: Jan Chapman

Screenplay: Jane Campion

Music: Michael Nyman

Released by Miramax Pictures

The Piano is about passion, the most basic and primal element of human nature. No matter how thick the veneer of civilization is, or how deeply-buried beneath layers of social repression those latent emotions are, passion ultimately cannot be denied. This is something that the three principals of this movie learn in various, often unpleasant, ways.

In the mid-1800s, Ada (Holly Hunter) arrives on the stormy shores of New Zealand, a mute bride sold by her father to a British emigrant named Stewart (Sam Neill). In addition to a normal assortment of baggage, Ada brings with her eight-year old Flora (Anna Paquin), her illegitimate daughter, and a piano. Initially, Stewart declares that the piano is too bulky to move from the beach, and resists bringing it to his house despite Ada's wordless pleadings. Next, he sells it to fellow Englishman Baines (Harvey Keitel), a man who has embraced the local Maori ways. In addition to the piano, Baines wants a reluctant Ada as his teacher. When he offers her a deal to get the instrument back, she is unprepared for the price she must ultimately pay.

The Piano has powerful emotional themes resonating through it, all dealing with the release of repressed passion. Baines, who has embraced the native Maori methods of living, no longer clings to the values of British society, and is therefore quite capable of expressing himself freely -- which he does, albeit in some strange ways. Stewart, however, views the Maori with suspicion and hostility and, in clinging to the tenants of English society, refuses to allow himself to feel until one violent moment when everything comes pouring out. Ada, hampered as much by her lack of voice as by social pressures, is yearning to break free, and only through Baines does she find the courage to do so.

The case of the dairyman

"We have been your milk consumers for such a long time, but we are sorry to see your supply is becoming dilated."

"Take my word," said the dairyman, "I am sorry to hear those words. I have never heard such a complaint."

"May be, but this is the truth."

The dairyman was worried. He was in an enigma. What am I to do in this plight? I have the best of cows. They have been supplying milk for quite a number of years. Why has this happened? He discussed this with his wife, who could not believe what's happening.

"What are you going to do now?" Asked the wife of the dairyman.

"I want to get a sample of the milk and show it to the vet."

"That's a good idea."

The dairyman was delighted for a moment. I should meet the best vet in the village. He went looking for one.

"What brought you here?" Asked the physician as the dairyman entered the house with a bottle full of milk. The dairyman explained the matters, and laid before him the problem he has encountered.

The vet, having listened to the dairyman, examined the milmk by drinking a cup.

"I can visualize one thing," he said.

"What's that?" Asked the dairyman.

"Are the cows scared about something?"

Hancock : Power of coherence lacking

Peter Berg's attempt at making a superhero genre movie falls short because he dallies in too many conventional scenes and less logic.

Hancock runs through its original tale for the first half of the movie. Though he has the city's best interests in mind John Hancock's drunken attempts to stop crime ends in more damage than good. This alienates and wins the wrath of the people who wish to see him being kicked out of the city. Hancock's attitude does not help his image much either and he plunges into depression due to his own sense of not belonging to the society.

Then out of the blue, help comes his way. Saving the life of a public relations man, Ray, becomes a life-changing experience for Hancock since Ray helps him undergo an image makeover. He helps him to rehabilitate into a dependable champion who actually get things right for a change. Several light comic events in which Hancock learns how to say 'Thank you', serve time on an outstanding warrant, learn how to take off and land without damaging surroundings follow. We even see a costume made for the superhero-to-be which reminds us of Wolverine's attire in The X-Men. Just when things were settling down in town, peace is shattered.

The mystery which remains from the first half of the film on why Ray's wife, Mary, keeps her distance from Hancock comes to light in the second half of the movie.

Will Smith plays the lead role as Hancock. In another actor's hands it would have been difficult for the audience to warm up to Hancock but Smith's inherent likeability comes to the fore in this movie. Though we are antagonized against him in the beginning, he manages to win our respect through his transformation.

Parents can help children achieve a healthier lifestyle

Reducing television viewing may be an effective strategy to prevent excess weight gain among adolescents, according to a new study released in the September/October 2012 issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behaviour.

Findings were based on a one-year community-based randomized trial that enrolled 153 adults and 72 adolescents from the same households. During that year, researchers from the University of Minnesota, School of Public Health Obesity Prevention Center conducted six face-to-face group meetings,sent monthly newsletters, and set-up 12 home-based activities. In addition, each household agreed to allow researchers to attach a “TV Allowance” to all televisions in the household for the one-year study period. Television viewing hours, diet, and physical activity levels were measured before and after the intervention.A clear association was observed among adolescents between reduction in TV hours and decreased weight gain over one year. The TV hours’ impact on weight gain was not significant for adults. These findings suggest that television viewing is a risk for excess weight gain among adolescents. The implication is that parents who limit their adolescents’ television viewing may help their adolescent maintain a healthy body weight.

According to national survey data [NHANES] 2003-2006, about 31 p.c. of US children and adolescents are overweight or obese, therefore finding the causes for weight gain in this population is growing increasingly important.

According to Simone A. French, PhD, principal investigator of this study and the Director of the University of Minnesota's Obesity Prevention Centre, “We tried to intervene on behaviors that are related to energy balance, such as television viewing, sugar-sweetened beverage intake, physical activity, and consumption of packaged convenience foods. Although the individual contribution of each of these behaviors to excess weight gain and obesity may be small, it is important to examine their possible role individually and together in promoting excess weight gain. Associations between these behaviors and risk for excess weight gain may differ among adults and adolescents because of their different physical and social developmental stages.”

“This study is an important piece of evidence that reducing TV hours is a powerful weight gain prevention strategy parents can use to help prevent excess weight gain among their children by changing the home environment and household television viewing norms.”

- MNT

The Expendables – 2

Expendables 2... the heroes fire big guns and blow bodies and property to bits, while never taking a scratch themselves.

The Expendables has always been an attractive prospect for action movie fans: big-name action stars of eras past (and a few of today) unite on the big screen for a movie made in the vein of ’80s and ’90s machismo flicks. With names like Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Statham and Jet Li headlining the marquee, the first Expendables should’ve easily lived up to its easy promise of violent fun, complete with winking allusions and resurrected one-liners.

Unfortunately, some shoddy direction (from franchise creator Sly Stallone) held The Expendables back from fulfilling its potential, which is why director Simon West (Con Air) is under even greater pressure to make The Expendables 2 live up to an even higher bar, set by the promise of even more action movie icons; bigger, bloodier tongue-in-cheek violence; more winks to the past canon of action flicks, and even smarter twists on cherished catch phrases.

West proves to be a much more competent and steadier hand at the helm, and as a result, Expendables 2 is visually and technically coherent enough to set the movie on the exact ground it needs to be: where its cast can dive in with both feet and enjoy playing up their images as on screen icons of aggressiveness. Does that mean the film is a superiorly crafted piece of genre entertainment? No. It’s still an overflowing river of macho-cheese with half a plot, bad acting and some truly shoddy camera work at times – but if vintage macho-cheese is what you’re after, this movie delivers a big heaping plate of it – much more than the first film, if that can be believed – and features some ironically awesome onscreen moments.

එදත් මගේ දුක් ආයාචනයට මේ ලෙස මට හිනැහෙන්න ඇති

මේ පේ‍්‍රමයේ පරාජය විඳගන්නට පුරුදු විය යුතු කාලයකි. පේ‍්‍රමයේ නාමයෙන් කෙරෙන පළිගැනීම්, මිනීමැරීම්, තර්ජන, සියදිවි නසාගැනීම් පිළිබඳ ආරංචි වැඩි වැඩියෙන් ලැබෙයි. ඒ තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණයේ දියුණුව නිසා ද නැතිනම් සංඛ්‍යාත්මක වැඩි දියුණුවක් නිසා ද යන්න සොයා බැලිය යුත්තෙකි.

ගීතය අද ප්‍රබල සන්නිවේදන මාධ්‍යයකි. ඒ නිසා එයින් සමාජයට සිදුවන හා සිදුකළ හැකි බලපෑම විශාල ය. එබැවින් චිත්ත ආවේග පාලනය කළ හැකි ගීත සාහිත්‍යයක අවශ්‍යතාව තවදුරටත් වැඩි වැඩියෙන් දැනේ. අජන්තා රණසිංහයන්ගේ මේ පදමාලාව ඒ සඳහා කදිම මානසික ඖෂධයකි.

මෙහි අන්තර්ගතය වන්නේ ද ආදරණිය හමුවීමක් හා ශෝචනීය වෙන්වීමකි. විරහ වේදනාවෙන් තැවෙන්නේ තරුණයා ය. මේ වෙන්වීම සංසාරගත උරුමයක් සේ ඔහු දකියි. ඒ නිසාම ඔහු දැන් ඒ වේදනාව අත්විඳීමට සූදානම් වෙයි.

මේ අයුරින් අපි සංසාරේ

ආදරයෙන් හමුවන්න ඇති

මේ අයුරින් අපි දවසක් දා

සසර මගදි වෙන්වන්න ඇති

සාලිය අශෝකමාලා, පේ‍්‍රමයේ දිග්විජය ලැබු අතීතයක පවා තමා පරාජිතයකු වන්නට ඇති බව පෙම්වතා සිතයි. ඔවුන් ඔවුන් ඉදිරියේ තිබු කුල ප්‍රශ්නය පේ‍්‍රමයේ නාමයෙන් ජයග්‍රහණය කරද්දී සිටු කුලයක ඉපදුණු තමාට තමන්ගේ පේ‍්‍රමය ජයගන්නට නොහැකි වූ බව ඔහු සිතයි. අද තමා විඳින වේදනාව එදා ද විඳින්නට ඇති බව ඔහු කල්පනා කරයි. එහෙත් කිසි විටෙක මේ පෙම්වතාට ඇය කෙරෙහි වෛරී හැඟීමක් හටගෙන ඇති බවක් නොහැඟේ.

සාලිය මාලා පෙම් බැඳි දා මා

සිටු කුමරෙක් වී ඉන්න ඇතී

ඒ සිටු කුලයේ කුමරිය වී ඔබ

මේ ලෙස මට රිදවන්න ඇතී

මේ ආකාරයෙන් ආත්මයෙන් ආත්මයට ඇය ඉදිරියේ පරාජිතයකු වෙද්දී දෑසින් හා හදවතින් ගැලු කඳුළු එක්වී මහා සාගර හැදෙන්නට ඇත. එහෙත් මේ අහිමි පේ‍්‍රමය වෙනුවෙන් හඬා වැටෙන්නට ඔහුගේ දෑසේ තවත් කඳුළු ඇත. එහෙත් ඒ වගක් ඇය නොදනී. ඔහුගේ ආදරයේ තරම, ඇය කවදාවත් හඳුනා ගෙන නොමැත. ඒ නිසාම සංසාරයෙන් සංසාරයට විරහ වේදනාව ඔහුගේ උරුමය වී තිබේ. ආදර පූජාසනය මත පුදන පේ‍්‍රමයේ අසෙනිය කුසුම් සදාකල් මිලාන වන්නේ එබැවිනි.

අපරාජිත යැයි ඔබ පිදු පේ‍්‍රමය

පුදසුන මත පරවෙන්න ඇති

සාගර ජලයත් මදි හඬුවා මම

ඔබ හින්දා ඔබ දන්නෙ නැති