Happy Christmas To You (Lost 1982)

A Romantic ‘Winter’sTale’

If the title conjures up Shakespearean lords and ladies on stage, then stop right there! ‘Winter’s Tale’ is the 2014 movie directed by Akiva Goldsman and based on 1983 novel of the same name by Mark Helprin. The fantasy romance stars Colin Farrell, Jessica Brown Findlay, Jennifer Connelly, and Russell Crowe.

Love is a miracle

In 1916 Peter Lake (Farrell) is a thief who recently fell out with his mob boss Pearly Soames (Crowe) and now trying to escape New York. As a demon, Soames is trying to stop individuals from using the “miracle” they are born with, and he suspects Peter will use his one on the red headed girl he is in love with, because Beverly is dying of consumption. To prevent him, Soames poisons her and Peter is unable to use his “miracle” to save her. A fight with Soames makes Peter fall into a river and he is believed dead.

In 2014, Peter is still alive, physically unchanged but without any memory. Beverly’s love for Peter made him her “miracle”, allowing him to remain frozen in time till he performs his “miracle”. A chance meeting with a little girl, Abby, in the park bring back fragments of memory. Her mother Virginia helps Peter research at the library and they find old photos that bring back his memory completely. At dinner that night, Peter is startled to find that Abby has red hair and that she too is dying (of cancer). Realizing that his “miracle” was meant for Abby, he takes Virginia and Abby to where Beverly died but is confronted by Soames. They fight and Peter wins, just in time to use his “miracle” to save Abby from her last seizure. She is completely cured and Peter leaves Earth on a flying white horse, to join the stars.

Arcs of light and bad dialogue

On the good side, the movie is beautiful, possibly the most beautiful movie of 2014. The arcs of lights lancing across the room is a sight that’s not easily forgotten. The costumes and make up was perfection, making every scene look like it’s out of a picture book. The set design with its attention to period detail is fabulous, in short, Oscar nominee for best production.

Sadly however, everything else about the movie just fails. Despite the all- star cast, the acting is just a tad bit too earnest, as if the characters are trying to convince themselves of their story. When coupled with bad dialogue we’ve heard fifty times before in rom- coms, it all just goes from bad to worse. The flirty tea- drinking scene is cringe- worthy in its scripted- ness and the “What’s the best thing you’ve stolen yet?” “I’m beginning to think I haven’t stolen it yet” is too careworn in sentiment to feel sweet, as it’s meant to be.

The plot is convoluted and unbelievable. We’ve seen fantasy movies work its best magic (Harry Potter, anyone?) but the plot line in ‘Winter’s Tale’ leaves too many loop holes even for cinematic suspense. Why is baby Peter’s arrival in NY so significant? What on earth was the boiler scene? Why aren’t Peter’s mechanic skills shown more? How does body temperature drop as fast as the heart rate? Even with artistic license, some of the gaps are inexcusable.

Light and snow were major themes in the movie. While the symbolism behind light was extracted till dry, snow barely got a mention. Nor did it appear between the lines.

For a movie with ‘Winter’ in its title, it expressed very little of its potential meaning. Part of the reason was possibly that cinematography was focused too much on light while snow was ignored.

At the end of the day, ‘Winter’s Tale’ is more an emotional journey, an escapist fantasy that lets the audience forget reality for a while, believe that good always triumphs over evil and that beautiful people are so meant to be together. It’s not worth the price of a movie ticket, but a DVD or torrent should be just fine. 

Courtesy - Daily News By Asuka Randeniye

http://www.dailynews.lk

නත්තල් ගස

යුරෝපා ජාතිකයන් සදාහරිත ශාකයන් බොහොම පූජනීයත්වයෙන් සලකනු ලැබුවා. දෙසැම්බර් මාසයේ උදාවත් සමගම ඇපල් දොඩම් , චෙරි . රෝස වැනි ගස්‌ අලංකාර කරමින් දේව ගීතිකා ගායනය කිරිම සිද්ධ වුනේ ක්‍රිස්‌තු උපත මෙම උඳුවප් මාසය සමග සම්බන්ධ නිසයි. ක්‍රිස්‌තු උපතට පෙරාතුව මේ අන්දමින් සරසන ලද ගස්‌ '' ක්‍රිස්‌තු ගස්‌ '' විදිහට සැලකුන අතර ක්‍රිස්‌තු උපතෙන් පසුව මෙම සරසන ලද ගස්‌ '' නත්තල් ගස්‌ '' විදිහට සලකනු ලැබුවා.

පුරාණ කාලයේ නත්තල් ගසක්‌ නිවසට පැමිණියේ වසරේ කෙටිම දිනය විදිහට සැලකෙන දෙසැම්බර් 21 වැනි දිනයි. බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයේ සිරිතකට අනුව නිවසේ සියලු දෙනාම අත ගසා ඇතුලට ගනු ලබන අත්ත නත්තල් දිනයේදි පුලුස්‌සා ලබා ගන්නා අලු සහ අඟුරු නිවසේ ආරක්‌ෂාව වෙනුවෙන් ලබා දෙනවා. ස්‌පාඤ්ඤ වැසියන් මෙම ගස මල් සහ ඉදිකටු වලින් සරසන අතර යක්‍ෂ ආත්මයන් දුරු කරන බලයක්‌ මේ ගස්‌වල අන්තර්ගතව තිබෙතැයි විශ්වාස කරනු ලැබුවා.

ජර්මන් ජාතිකයන් දෙසැම්බර් 24 වැනි දින නත්තල් ගස ඇපල්වලින් සරසනවා. ආදම් සහ ඒවගේ තහනම් ගසේ ගෙඩි සිහිපත් කරමින් නත්තල් ගස රතු සහ කොළ ගෙඩිවලින් සරසනු ලබනවා.

1851 වසරේදී ඇමරිකා එක්‌සත් ජනපදයේ නිව්යෝක්‌ නුවර වීදි වෙතට මෙම ගස රැගෙන ආවේ '' මාර්ක්‌ කාර්'' නම් තැනැත්තෙක්‌

රෝම ජාතිකයන් ''සැටර්න්'' දෙවියන්ගේ උත්සවයන් වෙනුවෙන් මෙම ගස්‌ යොදා ගත්තා. 1605 වසරේදී ජර්මනියේ ''ස්‌ට්‍රාස්‌බර්ග්'' රාජ්‍යයේ අලංකාර ලෙස සරසන ලද නත්තල් ගසක්‌ දැක ගන්නට ලැබුණ අතර 1610 වසරේ මේ වෙනුවෙන් කුඩා සැරසිලි යොදා ගත්තා. බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයට සරසන ලද නත්තල් ගසක්‌ හඳුන්වා දුන්නේ වික්‌ටෝරියා රැජිනගේ ස්‌වාමිපුරුෂයා වූ ඇල්බට්‌ කුමරු විසින්. ඔහු වින්ඩ්සර් කාසල් රජ පවුලේ සැමරුම වෙනුවෙන් නත්තල් ගසක්‌ යොදා ගත්තා.

1880 වසරේ නත්තල් ගස්‌ වෙනුවෙන් ස්‌වභාවික ගස්‌ වෙනුවට කෘතිම ගස්‌ යොදා ගත්තා. යුද්ධ කාලයෙ ජර්මනියේ ගස්‌ කැපීම තහනම් වූ නිසා කෘතීම නත්තල් ගස්‌ යොදා ගත්තා.

තවත් ජනප්‍රවාදයකට අනුව ක්‍රි.ව. 719 වසරේදී '' ශාන්ත බොනිපස්‌ '' තුමා ජර්මනියට පැමිණි අවස්‌ථාවේදී ජර්මන් වැසියන් විසින් වන්දනීයත්වයෙන් පිදුම් කළ ඕක්‌ ගසක්‌ කපා දමන ලදී. එතැනින් සුදු ලොත ගසක්‌ මතු වුණ අතර මෙය ඇදහිල්ලේ සංකේතයක්‌ ලෙස පිළිගනු ලැබුවා.

නත්තල වෙනුවෙන් වූ සංකේතය විදිහට තරු සැලකෙනා. ෙ-සු බිලිඳා බලන්නට රජතුන් කට්‌ටුව දිසාව දැන ගත්තේ තරු ආධාරයෙන්ය. නත්තල් ගසේ තරු පර්යේෂකයන් විසින් ''අවුරා '' යනුවෙන් හඳුන්වන බල්බයක්‌ නිපදවනු ලැබුවා. මෙහි තිබෙන (ඛෑD) ආලෝක විමෝචක ඩයෝඩයන් දැල්වෙන්නේ නත්තල් ගස වටා ඇති කරන චුම්බක ක්‍ෂෙත්‍රයන් මගින් වෙන අතර ඒ වෙනුවෙන්ම විශේෂිත උපකරණයක්‌ තිබෙනවා. මේ වෙනුවෙන් රැහැන් අවශ්‍ය නැහැ. ඒ වගේම ලැප්ටොප් පරිගණයකින් හෝ ජංගම දුරකථනයක්‌ යොදා ගත හැකියි. බල්බ දැවී යැමේ අවදානමකුත් නැති නිසා මේ තාක්‍ෂණය නත්තල්ගස පමණක්‌ නොවෙයි වෙනත් කටයුතු වෙනුවෙනුත් ඉතා සාර්ථක ලෙසින් යොදා ගත හැකියි.

ලෝකයේ විශාලතම නත්තල්ගස 2014 වසර වෙනුවෙන් බ්‍රසිලයේ නිර්මාණය වුණා. මීටර් 85 ක්‌ උස මෙම නත්තල් ගස රියෝද ජැනෙයිරෝ නුවර කලපුවක ප්‍රදර්ශනය වෙන අතර මෙය දැක බලා ගැනීමට ලෝකවාසි සියලු දෙනාටම පසුගිය දිනක අවස්‌ථාව ලැබුණා.

පුන්‍යා චාන්දනී ද සිල්වා - Sunday - Divaina

විශ්වීය මිනිසා - මහාචාර්ය තිස්ස කාරියවසම්

මරණය ස්ථිරය. එහෙත් අප සියල්ලෝම ජීවත් වන්නේ එය බොහෝ ඈතකය යන කල්පනාවෙනි. කිසිවෙක් සිය ජීවිතය කෙළවර වන දිනය දනී නම් ඔහු කුමක් කරනු ඇත්ද?

අප රැකියාවක් කරන්නේ, ගේ දොර ඉදිකරන්නේ, අනාගතය ගැන සැලසුම් හදන්නේ මියෙන දවස නොදන්නා නිසාය. අපගේ මුළුමහත් ක්‍රියාකාරීත්වයම තීරණයව ඇත්තේ ඒ නොදන්නාකම මතය. කිසිවෙක් තමන් මිය යන දවස නිශ්චිතවම දන්නේ නම් ඉන්පසු ඔහු අතින් කිසිවක් නොකෙරෙනු ඇත. කිසිවක් නොලියවෙනු ඇත. සමාජීය ක්‍රියාකාරීත්වය නවතිනු ඇත.

එහෙත් එසේ නොවූ මිනිසෙක් ගැන මම දැන සිටියෙමි. හේ උගතෙකි. මහර්ඝ බුද්ධිමතෙකි. ඥාන ගවේෂකයෙකි. සෑම සංවාදයකම කේන්ද්‍රයේ සිටි මතධාරියෙකි. ඥාන ගවේෂණයේ, අවශ්‍යතාව නිරන්තරයෙන් අවුළුවා තැබූ අපේ යුගයේ ජීවත් වූ බුද්ධිමතුන් අතලොස්සෙන් අයෙකි.

මේ වසර අවසන් වීමට ප්‍රථම තමන් කරා මරණය එන බව මහාචාර්ය තිස්ස කාරියවසම් දැන සිටියේය. සුවදුක් විමසූ විටෙක ඔහු ඒ බව අපට ද කීවේය. වකුගඩු බද්ධ කිරීමෙන් ජීවිතය තවදුරටත් දික් කර ගත හැකි නොවේදැයි ඇසූ විට ඊට එතුමන්ගේ පිළිතුර මෙබඳු විය. “තරුණ වකුගඩුවක් බද්ධ කළොත් තව වසරක් දෙකක් අල්ල ගෙන ඉන්න පුළුවන්. ඒත් එයින් පරිත්‍යාග කරන කෙනාට අවදානමක් ඇති වෙනවා. මගේ ජීවිතය දික් කරගන්න තව කෙ‍නෙක්ගේ ජීවිතය අවදානමකට දාන්නේ ඇයි. මට දුක වකුගඩුවක් පරිත්‍යාග කරන්න ආපු තරුණයා දැකලා මට හිතුණා. ඒ නිසා මම මැරෙන්න තීරණය කළා.” ඔහු කිව්වේ උපහාස දනවන ආකාරයෙනි.

නිරන්තර ශාස්ත්‍ර ගවේෂණයක යෙදී සිටි මෙම කුශාග්‍ර බුද්ධිමතා ඒ වන විටත් නිම නොකළ වටිනා බුද්ධිමය කාර්ය කිහිපයක නිරතව සිටියේය. එය අවසන් කිරීමට හෝ ඔබතුමා ජීවත් විය යුතු නොවේදැයි අපි විමසා සිටි විට එයට එතුමාගේ පිළිතුර වූයේ “අපි ලියන දේවල් කියවන උනන්දු වෙන පිරිසක් ඉන්නවද “ යන්නයි.

පිළිසඳරේදී එසේ සැහැල්ලුවෙන් පැවසුවත් එතුමා දිගින් දිගටම අධ්‍යයන කාර්යයේ යේදී සිටින බව ඔහුගේ කන්තෝරු මේසය පෙන්වා දුන්නේය.

මහාවංශය නිදහසින් පසු පරිච්ඡේදය රචනා කිරීම, නූර්තී, නාට්‍ය හා නර්තන ඉතිහාස ලිවීම රෝගීව සිටිමින් ඔහු අතින් ඉටුවු කාර්යය සමහරකි. මෙම ශාස්ත්‍ර ගවේෂණයේ එක් කඩඉමක් ලෙස නොබෝදා එළිදුටු “එල්ෆින්ස්ටන් යුගයේ සිට නෙළුම් පොකුණ දක්වා” රංගශාලා ඉතිහාස සංග්‍රහ කිරීම දැක්විය හැකිය.

දේශනය අවසන් කර මානව මානවිකාවියන් පිරිවරාගෙන එතුමන් සුමංගල ශාලාවෙන් පිටතට පිවිසෙන දසුන නෙතට රසදුනකි. එහි සිට ජයවර්ධනපුර විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ සිංහල අංශයට ඇත්තේ පියවර 30 – 40ක් දුරකි. මේ දුර යාමට මහාචාර්යවරයාට පැය භාගයක් වත් ගතවේ. එයට හේතුව සිසුන් මතු කරන ප්‍රශ්නවලට පිළිතුර නොදී මඟ හැරයාම ඔහුගේ ක්‍රමය නොවීමය.

මහාචාර්ය තිස්ස කාරියවසම් ගතානුගතික බුද්ධිමතෙක් නොවීය. එසේම ඔහු මුල් සිඳගත් ප්‍රාඥයෙක්ද නොවීය. ඔහුට සම්භාව්‍ය සිංහල සාහිත්‍ය පිළිබඳව මෙන්ම නූතන අපරදිග සාහිත්‍ය පිළිබඳ විචාරාත්මක දැනුමක් තිබුණේය. ප්‍රාකෘත භාෂාවන් ඇතුළුව භාෂා කිහිපයක් මැනවින් දැන සිටියේය. නව දැනුම සොයා යාමේ හා පර්යේෂණයේ අවශ්‍යතාව ඔහු තරම් දැඩිව අවධාරණය කළ වෙනත් උගතෙක් ගැන මම දැන නොසිටියෙමි.

බොහෝ උගතුන්ගේ දැනුම ශාස්ත්‍රීය ඥානයට පමණක් සීමා වූ වපසරියක් තුළ මහාචාර්ය කාරියවසම් ගේ සේවාව වැදගත් වන්නේ ඔහු බැවහර ඥානය යොදාගන්නා ආකාරය කදිමට දැන සිටීමය. බුද්ධිමය කාර්යයේදී ඔහු දැඩි ශික්ෂණයකින් යුත් පුද්ගලයෙකි. කැපවීමෙන් සේවය කරන්නෙකි. තමන් විශ්වාස කරන මතය වෙනුවෙන් තිර ලෙස පෙනී සිටින්නෙකි. එම සිරුර තුළ මහාචාර්ය තිස්ස කාරියවසම් නම් බුද්ධිමතාට අමතරව ශුර පරිපාලකයෙක්ටද ජීවත් විය හැකි වූයේ එම දක්ෂතා නිසාය. ජයවර්ධනපුර විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ උපකුලපති ධුරය, සිංහල අංශයේ අංශාධිපති හා පීඨාධිපතිධුරය ඔහු හෙබවූ තනතුරු කිහිපයකි. ඊට අමතරව ශ්‍රී ලංකා රූපවාහිනී ‍සංස්ථාව හා පුස්තකාල සේවා මණ්ඩලය ඔහු සභාපති තනතුර දැරූ ආයතන දෙකකි. මෙයට අමතරව වර්තමානයේ සෞන්දර්ය කලා විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය නමින් හඳුන්වන එවකට සෞන්දර්ය කලා අධ්‍යයන අංශයේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ ධුරයද එතුමන් හොබවනු ලැබීය. මෙය ආයතනය ස්ථාපිත කිරීමේදී එතුමන්ගෙන් පුරෝගාමි කාර්යයක් ඉටුවිය.

“ජීවිතය කියන්නේ එකිනෙකා කපාගෙන ඉදිරියට යන පංච ක්‍රීඩාවක් නෙවෙයි. බොහෝ දෙනෙක් උත්සහ කරන්නේ අනෙකා යටපත් කරගෙන මතු වෙන්නයි. නමුත් මම උත්සාහ කළේ පාරවල් කිහිපයක් සොයාගෙන යන්නයි. මේ මඟ දුෂ්කරයි. ඒත් අනර්ඝයි.” පැමිණි මාවත එතුමන් වරෙක ආවර්ජනය කළේ එසේය.

සාහිත්‍ය, සන්නිවේදනය, ජනශ්‍රැතිය, ලලිත කලාව, ඉතිහාසය ආදී ‍ක්ෂේත්‍ර රැසක පැතුරුනු දැනුමක් එතුමාට තිබුණි. මේ ක්ෂේත්‍රයට ඔහු දායක කළ දැනුම ඉතා පෘථුලය. එය වළකන්නට රෝ සතුරාට නොහැකි විය. ප්‍රතිකාර ගන්නා අතරතුර පවා නිරන්තරයෙන් කෞතුකාගාරය වෙත යමින් හේ එහි පුස්තකාලය පරිශීලනය කළේය. පර්යේෂණ කටයුතු තවදුරටත් කරගෙන ගියේය. අවසානයේ එයට තිත තැබිය යුතු දවසක් එළඹිණි.

දිනයක් හැර දිනයක් රෝහල වෙත පියමං කළ යුතු දවසක් උදාවිය. එවිට ද ලැබෙන සුළු මොහොත හේ ශාස්ත්‍රීය කටයුතු සඳහා යෙදවූයේය. ග්‍රන්ථ පරිවර්තනය කළේය. ලිපි සම්පාදනය කළේය. දේශන පැවැත්විය. කෙටියෙන් කිවහොත් බුද්ධිමතෙක් නිරතවිය යුතු කාර්යයෙහි අවසන් මොහොත දක්වාම යෙදුණේය.

මහාචාර්ය තිස්ස කාරියවසම්ගේ බුද්ධිමය ව්‍යායාමයේ ප්‍රමුඛ කාර්යය වූයේ පර්යේෂණයන්හි යෙදීමය. ඔහු පර්යේෂණ සහායකයෙක් ලෙස මහාචාර්ය එදිරිවීර සරච්චන්ද්‍රයන්ගේ ශාස්ත්‍රීය මෙහෙවරට දායක විය. මහාචාර්ය සරච්චන්ද්‍රයන්ට ඔහු වැනි සහායකයෙක් නොලැබුණේ නම් කිසි විටෙකත් එතුමන් අතින් “සිංහල ගැමි නාටකය” වැනි නිබන්ධනයක් නොලියවෙනු ඇත. යක්දෙස්සන් විසින් පටලවා ගායනා කළ කවි නිවැරදිව සටහන් කළ හැකි වූයේ කාරියවසම් විද්‍යාර්ථියාට ඒවා ලඝු ලේඛන ලෙස සටහන් කරගත හැකි වූ නිසාය. මහාචාර්ය කාරිවසම් නොගිය කෝලම් මඩුවක්, නාඩගම් පොලක් ‍නැති තරම් ය. උඩ, පහතරට හා සබරගමු සම්ප්‍රදායන්ට අයත් ප්‍රමුඛ රංගධරයන් හේ පුද්ගලිකව දැන සිටියේය. මේ දැනුම කැටිකර ඔහු ග්‍රන්ථ රැසක් රචනා කළේය.

යටත් විජිත යුගයෙන් මෙපිට දේශපාලන, සමාජීය හා සාමයික ඉතිහාසය පිළිබඳව ඔහුගේ දැනීම විශ්මය දනවන සුළුය. සියම්, අමරපුර හා රාමඤ්ඤ නිකායන් බිහිවීමට බලපෑ හේතූන්, ඒ එක් එක් නිකායන්ගේ විශේෂතා, ශාන්තිකර්ම බලි යාග පිළිවෙත් ගැන, සන්නිවේදන ප්‍රවණතා ගැන, නූතන විචාර වාද පිළිබඳව මහාචාර්ය කාරියවසම් තරම් පර්යේෂණ කළ වෙනත් විද්වතෙක් තවත් නැත. මේ ඕනෑම කරුණක් ගැන පරිපූර්ණ විස්තරයක් කිසිදු ලේඛනයක් නොලබා නිරවද්‍ය ලෙස පැවසීමට එතුමා දැන සිටියේය.

ඉහත දැක්වූ කරුණු සියල්ල අදාළ වන්නේ එතුමාගේ බුද්ධිමය සේවාවටය. ඉන් බැහැරව විශ්වවිද්‍යාල පද්ධතියට අයත් මෙන්ම ඉන් පිටස්තර, සිංහල හෝ දමිළ යනාදී කිසිදු ආකාරයක වර්ගීකරණයකට ලක් නොකොට උපකාරය අවශ්‍ය පුද්ගලයාට උපකාර කිරීමේ පුරුද්දක් එතුමන්ට තිබුණි. මේ සේවාවන් එතුමන් අතින් ඉටුවූයේ නිශ්ශරණාධ්‍යාශයෙනි. අප මහාචාර්යවරයාණෝ ඒ සඳහා ප්‍රචාරයන් බලාපොරොත්තු වූයේ නැත.

“බුද්ධිමතා, භූමියේ සීමාවන් හා කාලයේ සීමාවන් ඉක්මවා යමින් සෑම කල්හීම, සෑම දෙනාගේම ගෞරවයට පත්වන්නේය” යන පැරණි කියමන සැබෑ කරමින් එතුමන්ගේ නාමය සදාකල් පවතිනු ඇත. එහෙත් ඔහු අතින් ඉටුවූ සේවය ඉටුකිරීමට අනුප්‍රාප්තිකයෙක් බිහිවේද යන්න නම් සැක සහිතය.

චන්දන ජයවීර - Dinamina

Phobias, detrimental to one's performance

It appears fair to say that almost every individual in the world acquires a phobic horror of something or certain situations which may sound perfectly normal.One may argue that these phobias or fears are unfounded though he may fail to justify his own fear of something normal or natural.

It is obvious that people “fear” certain things for some inexplicable reason and the possible causes for these fears fall beyond general explanation. There is a popular tendency to associate the phobias with the things and situations in the previous birth of a person.On the other hand, phobias are more conveniently linked with specified bitter or horrible situations in one's childhood.

However, these extreme, irrational fears create a great obstacle for a person's life. A phobic horror of something may spoil a person's renown and reputation when he acts totally out of line with the expectations of those around him.

People with claustrophobia strongly fear enclosed rooms or confined places. Most probably a child who has been confined in a room by way of a punishment may develop signs of claustrophobia as he grows up. As they claim, they feel as if the walls of the closed room would close in to them till they are choked to death.

Exposed

A person with agrophobia strongly dislikes a public or open place because he feels that he is “being unnecessarily exposed” or is vulnerable to attack or criticism from those who observe him in the open place. An agrophobiac is naturally inclined to live obscurely and to keep himself aloof from society.

There are people who have a repugnance to animals. They have zoophobia. They are either governed by a repulsion or strong horror for specific animals or have developed a dislike for all animals including those that make lovable pets. Here, arachnophobia is the fear of spiders whether they are venomous or harmless.

Technophobiacs strongly detest the modern technological advancements and highly respects traditions and conventions.They seem to fear that the modern technology might disrupt the lifestyle that flourished in the past. A similar phobia is Xenophobia which indicates strong fear or dislike for foreigners. A Xenophobiac might suspect that a person from another country would devalue his own culture and plunder the priceless things which appear as the national heritage.

Demonophobia (fear for demons) and Paediphobia (fear for dolls) represent peoples baseless fears for imaginary creations and inanimate objects.

A person with paediphobia may fear not only the horrid dolls in movies but also the models of robots and puppets operating with human actions.

Accordingly as Sigmund Freud says, this fear originates from the notion that a doll or a robot would come alive and wreak havoc on humans. At the same time Paediphobiacs detest and fear small children and even infants and do not like to touch a baby.

A person suffering from this phobia strongly detests and fears the human features added to an inanimate object (such as a doll, a robot or a puppet).

A person with Pentheraphobia (fear of the wife's mother) and novecaphobia (fear of the stepmother) practically suffers much in modern world. Most married men loathe to imagine how a mother-in-law could have poisoned their wives against them.

Phobia

This is also a certain type of mental disorder which accounts for a considerable number of divorces. Also, a novecaphobiac may be constantly plagued by the feeling that his stepmother would alienate his father from him.

People suffering from social anxiety disorder or social phobia can get extremely nervous on being with people or surrounded by people they are familiar with.

Such people are continually troubled by what others possibly think about them or whether they are criticised or evaluated.

However different persons strangely fear different and ordinary things.

One may have a phobia for driving, speaking before a large gathering, being on a higher elevation, travelling in the bus, meeting strangers or building up new friendships. Whatever the phobia may be, it threatens and undermines a person's grace and personality. Fortunately, phobias can be permanently cancelled out by various forms of therapy.

Since phobias-whether simple or serious are a noticeable threat to the personal performance, it is vital that effective therapies should be applied. Phobias are definitely a serious threat to society.

These irrational fears can be removed by hypnosis or systematic desensitisation. Here desensitisation is a process of gradually desensitising a phobias of any type to the situation or the particular environment which has generated the phobia in him. Speaking to the victim for a long time and giving him positive thoughts will erase, to some extent, the phobias planted in him.

By Amal Hewavissenti - Sunday Observer

Human emotion in three faces

Nilendra has an unusual approach in the case of feature film making; parallel to his television career. It is an anti-hero characterization of three under-privileged youths living in different social strata. They become more emotional when the war against the brutal terrorist group has been brought to an end. The three friends, all of a sudden, decide to go to the north which was saved from the terrorist control. For what purpose? To have a bath in a tank at Chalai in the northern province!

That itself shows the ridiculous way of thinking pattern and their act.

From there onwards, the theme makes a twist to a number of events that makes a drastic change in the lives of these three anti-heroes! Nilendra's theme is related to the backdrop of the whole country which is celebrating the war heroes who ended the terrorist menace.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the three fellows become - not the merry makers of the given opportunity - victims of unexpected dilemma!

This is not a formula film of Indian origin, but of a western influence. Therefore it seems to be a novel experience to Sri Lankan cinemagoers. Nilendra's casting is also above average which exhibits his professional discipline.

The three main characters played by Kumara Thirimadura, Sarath Kotalawala and Namal Jayasingha is a change from the typical heroes we get to see often in Sinhala cinema. Kamal Addaraarachchi, Anoja Weerasingha and Swarna Mallawaarchchi are differently characterized. That is the positive attitude of professionalism. The filmmaker is aware of the fact that the Sri Lankan cinema should have different ways and means in the entertainment industry instead of the formula film.

A filmmaker shall not just throw away the trash in the name of feature film! It is still a big struggle in filmmaking.

Nilendra has the potential to go ahead with more experience. This is enough achievement that he must have a clear vision.

His visionary attitude must develop into more progressive thinking.

He should focus more - an in-depth study - on social issues at the grassroots level.

That is why I feel that the film's social thinking is a bit confusing. 

www.dailynews.lk - Piyasena Wickramage

Stop the violence NOW!

In a couple of days, women across the world will take to the streets and public platforms to air their views on a subject that they have long been familiar with - so much so that it has become part of their daily lives: namely, Gender Based Violence (GBV). Living in a world where almost every fabric of society has been infiltrated by acts of violence, where civil wars, ethnic conflicts, honour killings, and moral decay have collectively contributed to the rapid rise of unsafe environments, women have never been exposed to so much violence as they are today.

This has been borne out by recent studies by researchers, sociologists and feminists who have not only shocked us out of our comfort zones with their startling statistics, they have shown us how violence impacts on women’s health, their personal relationships, their marriages, their families, and stifles their potential talents and skills to the country’s development.

Of late, such violence has escalated by leaps and bounds, as thousands of women caught up in civil war and displaced from their home, live in refugee camps enduring unbelievable hardships.

Their situation is compounded by the fact that all of them married or single, old or young, are completely at the mercy of the military personnel guarding them, who sexually abuse them taking advantage of their extreme vulnerability. Added to this, is the fact that women now dominate the labour force in most countries including Sri Lanka.

Although this is a positive reflection of their advancement towards true emancipation, it also puts them at risk to sexual harassment at their place of work. The numerous instances reported of female garment workers in the Free Trade Zones who are sexually abused while returning home at night, is an example of this rising tide of violence against women.

Age

Age is no barrier to Gender Based Violence. Newspapers are rife with instances when even elderly women in their 70s and 80s have been sexually harassed.

Domestic violence victim

Whether travelling by bus, train a single woman is often marked as the ideal candidate for eve teasing, vulgar comments and even rape by the opposite sex. In neighboring India eve teasing recently led to the death of a university student who couldn’t endure the continued remarks cast by her own male colleagues.

Similar incidents have been recorded in other countries including Sri Lanka where a young woman who was stalked by a youth finally turned her wrath on him by hitting him with her phone and injuring him. Even travelling on a plane could end up with disastrous results.

From nonagenarians (and even centenarians) to adolescents and girls still on the brink of attaining menarche, no female it seems is safe from such abuse today in our society.

The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) has reported that by August end this year, the number of complaints it had received for this year alone on child abuse amounted to 6,973 of which 1,477 were for violence.

In addition, the NCPA also received 324 complaints of rape and 327 complaints of sexual harassment. Although male children are also included in these statistics, the girl children who have been abused sexually outnumber them by far.

Facts

No less startling are the facts and statistics that have emerged from the most recently researched edition on GBV in Sri Lanka, by the Women’s Health Committee of the SLMA which sheds light on why and who the perpetrators of such violence are in most instances.

Abuse - A questionnaire given to female undergraduates after a lecture on child abuse showed that 12.3 percent of females had been abused in childhood - their abusers being a brother, uncle or father (De Silva 1998).

Incest - A study in 2002 conducted through institutions dealing with victims of incest in the Central Province revealed that the typical incest victims were girl children below 12, the abusers being an older family member, often her father, stepfather, uncle or an older brother.

Sexual abuse - Police records of 2003 showed the majority of victims of grave sexual abuse (seduction, rape, incest and procreation) were 78 percent girls, especially those under 16 (Ministry of Health 2008).

Harassment - Newspaper articles on the nature and magnitude of harassments to women and girls in Lankan society (Weerakkody and Kumaara 2007) revealed that sexual harassment was most prominent in 88 percent of under-aged girls, rape being the commonest form of abuse.

Domestic violence

Of all these acts of violence, Domestic Violence (DV) is the most widely prevalent form of abuse inflicted on women. That this form of violence occurs mostly within a marriage and is perpetrated within the four walls of their own homes, is even more tragic.

Domestic violence never stops, as the perpetrators rarely report such acts. In the course of this non ending battery of violence, women are beaten, kicked, burned, choked, cut with knives, their hair shorn, their faces mutilated by acid thrown at them by jealous husbands, stem from often trivial and unreasonable causes.

The big question is WHY? Yes, why do women stay in abusive relationships, even at the risk of being maimed and killed, and the lives of their children traumatised? A feminist explained: “It is directly related to our patriarchal society and rooted in the patriarchal notion that women do not deserve to enjoy the same rights as men.

What they don’t seem to realise is that women constantly subject to domestic violence affects their health, their rights and the children who are the future citizens of this country. There is thus an urgent need to address the GBV at national level and to carry out national surveys on vulnerable female groups islandwide”.

Causes

Causes for GBV have been linked to many factors. A CENWOR study of 2001 links incest among girl children to their absentee mothers.

“An increasing number of girl children of migrant women remain unprotected and become victims of incest, unwanted pregnancies and illegal abortions.” A psychiatrist echoing this said, “Domestic violence has a trigger effect. A child who sees his father beating his mother is likely to do the same to his wife when he grows up. It is a vicious cycle we need to stop right NOW,” he said.

For all those now preparing to observe another day to Eliminate All Forms Of Violence Against Women, it is time to fight the negative social forces that leave women open to violence and for all women in leadership positions to combine their efforts and opportunities towards this goal.

Only then can violence against women become a thing of the past.

By Carol Aloysius - Sunday Observer

How to deal with your boss

Nothing good can come from a yelling match:

Bad bosses - whether ogres, control freaks, jerks or bumbling fools - can be found in all organisations. They are no laughing matter when you have to face him or her every working day. Having a bad boss can make your work life a misery, but it can also make you sick, both physically and mentally.

Having worked for nearly four decades in the corporate sector, of which first half with a number of not-so-inspiring bosses including tyrants and hypocrites, and the other half as a boss myself, I’ve identified three types of bad bosses and also trade secrets of how to handle them.

Who are these three are the top “bad boss” characteristics:

Micromanager

This type of a boss plays an excessively large role in the work of the subordinates. Instead of letting the team members use their own judgment, the boss makes every decision or dictates every step to take. This can be especially frustrating to capable workers, turning an interesting task into boring work.

Neglecter

This type is on the other end of the spectrum. Unlike micromanager, they fail to give any directions at all. The subordinates feel that their boss is ignoring them. As a result, they feel that they have to guess what their bosses want.

Yeller

A boss who gets angry and abuses his or her workers is probably the worst type of “bad boss.” By yelling at or otherwise belittling his or her employees, an abusive boss fosters an environment of fear. There is no excuse for this behaviour - yet abusive bosses can be found in all sorts of organisations

If you have one of these three types as your boss, it can really siphon out the enjoyment from what might otherwise be a rewarding career, and wondering whether you should begin searching for something new. Before you take that decision, let us see what you can do about it right now.

Managing the bad boss

Let me give you five tips.

Don’t act immediately. Maybe you will want to fight back. You may think of writing a blistering review of your boss and e-mailing it to the CEO. Those thoughts aren’t necessarily harmful. But thoughts don’t have to lead to action. Your boss may be small-minded, two-faced, spineless, and technically inept.

But would a dramatic gesture be worth the lost salary? Is it worth a hole in your résumé, the one you’ll find difficulty in explaining for years to come? This isn’t the economy to choose pride over practicality.

Play the game. You were been unfairly smeared. But don’t let it turn you sour or sloppy. And don’t let your boss get to you, either. Nod and smile when he delivers another self-serving sermon. Maintain a “can-do” attitude, like you have your dream job. Respect and defer, even when trust is lost. You’ll have to work with plenty of bad bosses over your career. You may as well start practising now.

Fix the micromanager. If your boss is a micromanager, first make sure that he or she isn’t merely responding to your own poor performance. If you have shown that you cannot perform good work without heavy-handed supervision, your boss may feel that he or she has to constantly look over your shoulder.

In that event, when a relatively unimportant assignment comes up, ask your boss to grant you additional responsibility “just this once.” If he or she agrees, put forth extraordinary effort to ensure that the project exceeds the expectations.

If your boss micromanages your entire team, you can be confident that it’s not just you. Your next step should be to sit down with your boss and talk about his or her overbearing supervision. It is not an easy task. You may fear that your boss will take your criticism as an attack or otherwise identify you as an “enemy.”

Don’t be scared. In my experience, this type of bosses often respond well to constructive criticism from their subordinates.

Clarification then and there

Many micromanagers have an underlying fear that something will go wrong if anyone is given managerial discretion. You can address this fear by frequently sharing information throughout the course of an assignment. Don’t wait for your boss to ask how things are going; instead, send a daily email with status reports and next steps. This helps reassure your boss that, in fact, everything is under control.

Fix the ‘neglecter’. To fix the ‘neglecter’ type’s problem, you’ll have to be very self-asserting to get your boss’s attention. If you receive an assignment with unclear goals, ask for clarification right then and there. Don’t leave your boss’s office or hang up the phone until you are satisfied that you know what you need to do.

During the course of the assignment, you should also communicate more frequently with your boss. For instance, if you send your boss a key email every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 4 p.m., he or she will know that it’s important - and be more likely to respond to it.

If that doesn’t work, try to speak face­ to­ face with your boss about getting more direction.

Be specific about what you need and how your boss can be helpful.

Fix the yeller. The only way to deal with a yelling boss is not to take personally the fact that he or she regularly loses self-­ control. The boss’s unacceptable behaviour has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with his or her own problems, which you can’t fix.

Nevertheless, your behaviour may unwittingly push your boss’s “hot buttons” and trigger a stream of abuse. If you want to stick it out with such a boss, try to identify what those triggers are. Does your boss go ballistic if you arrive five minutes late or if your desk is slightly messy? If so, the simplest solution is to avoid behaviours that invite your boss’s wrath.

But this strategy won’t work if your boss plays the blame game and gets angry whenever an assignment turns sour. You can try to explain the key causes and suggest how you will address them in the future. You can try to brush off abusive behaviour with self-control.

Unfortunately, many abusive bosses know exactly what they’re doing. They’ll push and push until they meet resistance, at which point they’re likely to retreat. The only way to succeed with such a boss is to stand your ground.

Insist that your boss treats you with respect. Be specific about how his or her abusive behaviour is affecting your work and which particular actions are intolerable. But whatever you do, keep your cool; nothing good can come from a yelling match.

If you fail in your all remedies, there are a couple of alternatives. They come with no guarantees, but they may be worth considering.

The first is to wait it out. Bad bosses can be like bullies who eventually get tired of harassing people, particularly once they realise that it won’t get them anywhere.

A boss’s bad behaviour is visible to others, so hanging in there, without complaining, will be viewed positively. And over time, a bad boss may even self-destruct and lose credibility.

The second alternative is to seek other options, both inside and out. Use the situation as an opportunity to reassess your career, your work-life priorities, and how you define success. In the long run, the bad boss will liberate you to pursue another direction.

By Lionel Wijesiri - Sunday Observer

With gun as motif

Thanha Rathi Raga was beautiful crafted, exquisitely executed, prodigious, extraordinary, remarkable cinema - suspenseful, joyous to watch, delightful to enjoy, the masterful command of the cinema being displayed in every frame, the narrative molded with loving hands.

The slow beginning, the establishing of context and character... the motifs and notes to the drama to come, carefully or (or craftily?) planted; working at multiple layers, each layer reveals, in succession, enjoyable cinema, suspenseful cinema, cinematic misfortune... cinematic revelation.... cinematic tragedy.... in varied cinematic facets as it addresses a range of emotions while drilling down to reveal, in every sense, a representation of the national tragedy that has enveloped the (Sinhala?) nation over the 30 years.

A nation which 'accidentally' found a 'gun' and did not know what to do with it, passing it from hand to hand until the country was engulfed. All that and more packed into 2 hours of thoughtful and eventually, heart wrenching ethos and pathos. The build up to a crescendo of the great human tragedy (of our nation?) that seemed without an end.

The story unfolded, leaving an echo of so much to think through, a tale told with warmth, love and understanding of the human condition, played by artistes, a gripping narrative structure built by the script writer/s (?) combining with texture and rendition of the visuals of a very high level of cinematographic consistency and skill and unlabored, smooth, editing - they all added their own special dose of skill and artistry to the blend.

The cinematography amazed me with its consistency of texture and craft, albeit with a few brief lapses. I have seen such evenness very rarely. An evenness which is testimony to a superb grasp of the craft of cinematography, contributing so much without intrusion. Editing bore hallmarks of Ravindra Guruge's consummate skill and again made his silent contribution to the blend. Heenatigala's art direction was meaningful: each location and site 'artfully' chosen and arranged. The opening credits, like the cover of a book, laid out tastefully, setting the mood.

A remarkable achievement, not only because it is a 'first' film but irrespective of a 'first' because it is wonderful cinema, with the stamp of a mature hand, with none of the stumbles of a 'first' film. All in all wonderful cinema, exquisitely rendered.

Sri Lanka needs this kind of cinema every kind of good cinema I suppose but certainly this cinema that is rare, occasional to be exceptional, because it is vision and insight translated into cinematic artistry of a high order. 

www.dailynews.lk - Dr D B Nihalsinghe

Writing Better Emails

In 2013, there were 3.9 billion email accounts, and more than 100 billion emails sent each day are mostly business correspondence. We all find ourselves reading or writing emails and they often convey a lot about ourselves, whether we like it or not. So it makes sense to write emails sensible and professionally, to project a positive image.

Here are some helpful tips to writing better emails.

1. Stick to the same email address and use a standard email address from Gmail, Outlook or Yahoo.

2. If you have a cheesy email address, (e.g. namerox101!) then it is best you move along with the times.

3. Use logical subject lines - Convey the message in a single line and use names and dates. For example, if you are writing to inquire about an appointment the following subject line may help: Appointment for Dr. Smith on October 25th.

4. Write to the point - People increasingly read their emails on their mobile devices. In fact, 69% of Gmail and Yahoo mail was read on a mobile device. Meanwhile, 30% of consumers say they read their email exclusively on mobile devices. These screens are generally smaller than those of PCs, so there is less space available to convey the message. As a rule of thumb, say what you have to say in about 150 words. If you want to check your email, you could use a service like five.sentenc.es to make sure you are not going above the limit.

5. Write concisely with proper grammar (activate spell-check!).

6. Use a clear email signature.

a. Name

b. Positive

c. Contact information

i. Address

ii. Phone Number

iii. Office Hours

7. Social Media Contact Information

8. Use the 24-hour rule - Read quickly and aim to send out a response within 24 hours. If you need more time, send out a quick email informing the sender that you are looking into the email. e.g., “I received your email. I shall look into it in detail and respond later. Thanks!"

9. Re-read before sending - read your emails at-least twice before sending. A spell check alone is not enough. If you are the impatient type, activate an email delay function (available on Gmail).

10. Write with a respectful tone - This means that unless you personally know the person, emoticons (e.g. =D) are not allowed.

11. Be careful of using features like Reply All, CC, and BCC

a. Reply all - do not use this unless you absolutely have to as many people find this extremely annoying. This is best used to set up meetings or perhaps discuss an important concept but not for casual conversations of office banter.

b. CC - this is the FYI function of your email. Keeping someone else up to date on the proceedings.

c. BCC - this is for sending bulk email and you do not want everyone's email address to be visible in the To or CC line. This is best for those forwards you just need to send or risk death. If you are Bcc’d on an email, then never use the Reply All function.

12. Sometimes emails may get lost or accidently deleted. So it's okay to send a quick reminder if the person has not responded within a reasonable amount of time (generally +24 hours).

If your conversation thread gets too long, you may want to edit the subject line to keep things fresh.

dailymirror.lk

How you can learn to love exercise

We all know that exercise is good for us. We join gyms, start running, buy home workout DVDs, all in the quest for a fitter, slimmer, more toned body and improved health. But after a few weeks our interest wanes, we skip a session or two, life gets in the way and then we stop altogether. After a while we tell ourselves we really should do some exercise and then the cycle starts all over again. Regular, long term exercise feels like an elusive goal.

If this sounds all too familiar and you wish you could fit regular exercise into your life without it feeling like a chore, Joanne Henson, author of ‘What's your excuse for not getting fit?’ has some advice: Understand that exercise doesn't have to be unpleasant Many fitness professionals talk about workouts as if they're of no value unless they leave you gasping for air, covered in sweat and sore for the next few days.

For example, Crossfit, High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and obstacle races like Tough Mudder - are all about how hard you can work and what you can endure. But absolutely any exercise is better than no exercise - even at a moderate level.

Also, exercise is not a punishment! If you use exercise to punish yourself for what you've eaten, you're never going to enjoy it or feel motivated to do it.

If you love it, you'll do it. So what do you enjoy? Do you like exercising with a friend or do you need to exercise alone? Do you like being outdoors, or do you hate being cold and wet? Do you need variety or do you like the familiar? Do you like high energy activities or something more calming? Keep trying different forms of exercise until you find something which you enjoy - how about hiking, belly dancing, martial arts, ballet, yoga, rowing, boxing, climbing, swimming? Exercise doesn't have to involve joining a gym or running. There'll be something out there which you'll find more fun, more satisfying and more motivating than what you've done before.

Ease yourself into it

If you're new to exercise, or starting again after a long period of inactivity, there's no need to go all-out straight away. Your body won't thank you for going too hard too soon, and the pain, struggle and post-workout soreness will just reinforce any belief that exercise is unpleasant. Take it easy for the first few times - you can always work a bit harder next time, and the next time, and the time after that...

Make it a habit

What do fit people have in common? They exercise regularly and consistently. So make it your priority to establish the habit first - you can concentrate on increasing your level of fitness later. If that means getting yourself to a gym but doing only ten minutes’ exercise per session for the first month, that's fine.

If you get there three or four times each week, you're establishing a routine. Then you can turn your attention to improving your performance.

Pick the right exercise for your goal

One of the reasons people go so hard and give up so quickly is that they are looking for a quick fix, and when they don't get one, they become disillusioned.

Be patient, give it some time, and remember that exercise has long term, ongoing health benefits beyond body shape. If you have a specific goal, and you're going to invest time and effort in exercising, make sure that time and effort is well spent.

What is it you want to achieve? Be honest with yourself, and if necessary get some advice on what would be most effective.

For instance, if you want to tone up your bingo wings, target that area with resistance training rather than go running.

Track your progress

One of the positives of regular exercise is experiencing improvement and progress. If you didn't see any improvement, you'd eventually get disheartened.

So track each small improvement to keep your motivation levels high. For example, if you do your usual run today, and do it fifteen seconds faster than three days ago you wouldn't be aware of this unless you had a stopwatch, or used an app on your smart phone to time your run accurately.

If you knew you'd knocked off 15 seconds you'd be more likely to go out again in two days’ time to try to knock another 15 seconds off.

Exercise does take time and effort, but if you find something you enjoy, establish a habit and track your progress, you'll find it will get easier to stick with it and your body will reward you. You'll look better, feel better (mentally and physically) and be better able to live a happy and active life. What once felt like a chore will feel like a pleasure.

- MNT

සංසාර සිහිනේ...

නෙළාගනු බැඳි හන්තාන සිහිනේ

දරා නෙත් අග දොවා සිත් මල්

ගොතනු මැන ළඳුනේ

සංසාර සිහිනේ...

වැහි පබළු යට රගමඬල මැද

ඔබේ දෑතේ තුරුලු වන්නට

බිසෝ හැර ගිය ළසෝ රගහල

අමාවක අඳුරේ

නොයනු මැන ළඳුනේ...

වඩින තුරු සද දුරින් ඉන්නම්

තරු ඇදුරු පෙම් ගී අහන්නම්

සොඳුරු ඒ සද දියේ එන්නම්

ඉඳිනු මැන සොඳුරේ

හන්තාන අරණේ...

ගායනය - පණ්‌ඩිත් අමරදේව සහ උමාරියා

පද රචනය - ජානක සිරිවර්ධන සංගීතය - අරුණ ගුණවර්ධන

ඇසෙන්නේ අප්‍රමාණ මිහිරකි. ඒ මිහිර උපදවනා සුසංයෝගයේ අරුමය විටෙක අප මවිත කරවයි. සිංහල ගේය සාහිත්‍යයේ අප්‍රමාණ සලකුණ වූ පණ්‌ඩිත් අමරදේවයෝ වෙණ නද සරි ස්‌වකීය මියුරුසර පුබුදුවා ලති. ඒ උමාරියා නම් යොවුන් ගායිකාව සමඟය. මුලින්ම මේ සුගායන සංයෝගය පිළිබද යමක්‌ ලියා තබනු වටී.

අමරදේවයන් ඇසුරු කිරීම, ඔවුන් හා ගැයුමක්‌ ගැයීම, ඔවුන් වෙත තනුවක්‌ නිර්මාණය කිරීම, ඔවුන් වෙනුවෙන් පද පෙළක්‌ ලිවීම මේ රටේ ගී කව් රස විඳිනා ඒ ඇසුරෙහි නිර්මාණකරණයේ යෙදෙනා සෑම සහෘදයෙකුගේම සිsහිනයකි. එවන් වූ අමරදේවයෝ නූතන ගී ගැයුම් රැල්ලේ පා වී එන උමාරියා නම් යොවුන් ගායිකාවගේ ප්‍රතිභාව පිළිබද පමණක්‌ සලකා, අතිශය මියුරු ස්‌වර රටා තුළ සුසර වන මහා බරසාර පද පෙළක්‌ ඇය හා ගැයුමට එක්‌වෙති. පණ්‌ඩිත් අමරදේවයන් විෂයෙහි අප තුළ අප්‍රමාණ ගෞරවනීය හැගීමක්‌ උපදවන්නේ මේ ප්‍රවේශය ය. අපේ නිර්මාණ සාහිත්‍යයේ යුගපුරුෂයෙක්‌ ලෙස සම්භාවනාවට ලක්‌වන ජීවමාන මහා ගාන්ධර්වයා වූ හේ ප්‍රකට කරනා මේ ප්‍රගතිගාමී චින්තන විලාසය, එහි ගැබ්වී ඇති ගැඹුර ඇත්තේ අපටත් වටහා ගත නොහැකි දුරකය.

අනෙක්‌ පසින් ස්‌වකීය ප්‍රමාණය හඳුනනා තරුණ නිර්මාණකරුවෝ යම් නිර්මාණයක්‌ සදහා අමරදේවයන් හා එක්‌වීමට ලද අවස්‌ථාව ස්‌වකීය නිර්මාණ ජීවිතයේ ලද අපමණ වු භාග්‍යයක්‌ කොට සලකති. උමාරියා නම් යොවුන් ගායිකාව එය ගනු ඇත්තේ කෙසේදැයි යන්න පිළිබදව අපට වැටහීමක්‌ නොවේ. එහෙත් උත්පත්තියෙන් ලද දුලන ප්‍රතිභාවේ යහ භාවිතය පිළිබද මුල්ම උත්කෘෂ්ට අත්දැකීම ඇය ලබා ඇත්තේ අමරදේවයන් හා ගැයූ මේ ගැයුමෙන් බව අපගේ හැගීමය. ඒ ගැයුම එපමණම රමණීයය. සහෘද රසවතුන් ආනන්දයෙන් පුරවා ලන්නේය.

මේ පද පෙළ ජානක සිරිවර්ධන නමැති කාව්‍යක්‌කාර රසවතාගේය. ඔහු තරම් සුකර ලෙස මානව සම්බන්ධතාවන්හි ගැබ් වූ අතිශය සියුම් වූත් ගැඹුරු වූත් විචිත්‍රත්වය රසාලිප්ත පදපෙළකට හසුකරගන්නා කවියෙක්‌ අපේ කාලයේදී හමුවේ නම් ඒ ඉතා විරලවය. 

ජානක සිරිවර්ධනයෝ කවියෙක්‌ වූ මියුරු කතාකාරයෙකි. විටෙක හේ අපේ මියුරුම කතාකාරයා වන්නේය. මලී, අත්තම්මා වැනි රටක්‌ රසවත් කළ දීර්ඝ රෑපවාහිනී මාලා නාටකයන්හි නිෂ්පාදකවරයා ඔහුය. මේ වෘත්තීය කතාකරුවාගේ විචිත්‍රත්වය වනුයේ ගීයක පදපෙළක්‌ නිර්මාණය කිරීමෙහිද ද ඊට පාදක වන කතාවක්‌ සොයා යැමය. ඒ ඇසුරෙහි චිත්ත රූප මැවීමය. ඒ මියුරු කතාවේ මානුෂික සංවේදනයන්හි චමත්කාරය උකහාගෙන රූපවාහිනි මාලා නාට්‍යාවලියකින් කිවයුතු කතාවක්‌ අතිශය දැනුවත් භාවයකින් තෝරාගත් පද තුළ ගැබ් කර කාව්‍යයක්‌ නිර්මාණය කිරීමය. "හන්තාන හීනේ" පද පෙළෙහි යටිපෙළේ ගැබ් කළ එවැනි විචිත්‍ර කතාවක්‌ තිබේ. ජානක සිරිවර්ධනයෝම ඒ රසපූර්ණ කතාව අපට කියති.

"අමරදේවයන් වෙනුවෙන් ගීයක්‌ නිර්මාණය කරන්නට හැකිවීම අතිශය භාග්‍යයක්‌. අමරදේවයන්ගේ ඉල්ලීම මත ඔහු වෙනුවෙන් ගීයක්‌ නිර්මාණය කරන්නට ඉඩ ලැබීම සැබෑ ලෙසම අප්‍රමාණ භාග්‍යයක්‌. අරුණ ගුණවර්ධන කියන මා කල්‍යාණ මිත්‍ර යොවුන් සංගීතඥයා මාර්ගයෙන් මේ යෝජනාව මා වෙත එනවා. අමරදේවයන් ප්‍රාර්ථනා කරන්නේ නව ගී පද රචකයෙක්‌, ප්‍රභාන්විත යොවුන් සංගීතඥයෙක්‌ හා ගායිකාවක්‌ සමග එක්‌ව ජව සම්පන්න නිර්මාණ කාර්යයක යෙදීම. යුග ගීතයේ ගායිකාව ලෙස අප යෝජනා කළේ උමාරියා නැමැති යොවුන් ගායිකාව. "

CHILDREN PORTRAY INNOCENCE AND PURITY

Children’s and Elders Day 2014:

“Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.” 

- James A. Baldwin

Children and elders are innocent. They should be treated with love and affection. Elders are the carriers of knowledge and experience. Elders are first and foremost teachers and role models. They are vital in the teaching process from infancy to adulthood.

Every child is regarded as a treasure. They make this world beautiful. Children are so valuable. They are pure and innocent. Children are said to be like wet cement, whatever falls on them makes an impression. They are the future of a country and it is only by taking care of them and guiding them on the correct path that discipline can be instilled in a country.

In Sri Lanka, International Elders Day and Children’s Day are both celebrated on October 1. The United Nations General Assembly voted to establish October 1 as the International Day of Elders from October 1, 1991 on December 14, 1990.

Elders’ Day is celebrated by raising awareness about issues affecting the elderly, such as senility and elder abuse. It is also a day to appreciate the contributions that older people make to society.

Togetherness

The United Nations’ (UN) Universal Children’s Day was established in 1954. Universal Children’s Day is celebrated on November 20 each year to promote international togetherness and awareness among children worldwide. UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, promotes and coordinates this special day, which also works towards improving children’s welfare.

Children’s Day is an event celebrated on various days in many places around the world. International Children’s Day is celebrated on June 1 and Universal Children’s Day is on November 20. The International Children’s Day had its origin in Turkey in 1920 and later in the World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva, Switzerland in 1925.

On December 14, 1954, the UN General Assembly recommended that all countries should introduce an annual event from 1956 known as Universal Children’s Day to encourage fraternity and understanding between children all over the world and promoting the welfare of children. It was recommended that individual countries should choose an appropriate date for this occasion.

At the time, the UN General Assembly recommended that all countries should establish a Children’s Day on an “appropriate” date. Many countries respected this recommendation and the Universal Children’s Day has since been annually observed on November 20.

On November 20, 1959, the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and on November 20, 1989, it adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Since 1990, Universal Children’s Day also marks the anniversary of the date that the UN General Assembly adopted both the declaration and the convention on children’s rights.

Universal Children’s Day is part of the work carried out by UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund. UNICEF’s logo consists of an image of a mother and child, a globe, olive branches and the word “UNICEF”. All parts of the logo are in UN’s blue color, although it may be presented in white on a blue background.

Rights

Many schools and other educational institutions make a special effort to inform children of their rights according to the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Teachers stimulate their pupils to think about the differences between themselves and others and explain the idea of “rights”. In countries where the rights of children are generally well-respected, teachers may draw attention to situations in countries where this is not the case.

In some areas UNICEF holds events to draw particular attention to children’s rights. These may be to stimulate interest in the media around the world or to start nationwide campaigns, for instance on the importance of immunisations or breastfeeding.

Abuse takes place at home, in school, in institutions, at work, in the community, in armed conflict and natural disasters. Much violence against children, such as corporal punishment and sexual abuse, remains legal and socially approved in many countries.

The violence children face takes many forms, such as exploitation and abuse, trafficking, physical and humiliating punishment, harmful traditional practices and recruitment into armed forces and groups. Growing up with violence and abuse seriously affects a child’s development, dignity, and physical and psychological integrity.

It is the responsibility of every single person to safeguard children while taking care of the elders in society.

By Husna Inayathullah - Sunday Observer 

Many happy returns of the day LOST 1982. Have a wonderful year ahead.

රළු වදන් කියයි

රළු බැලුම් හෙළයි

සිත දුකින් පිරෙයි

පිහිතුඩක් පපුතුරෙහි

ඇනෙනු සේ  හැ‍ඟෙයි

සුළු වැරැද්දක් මහා මෙරක් ලෙස දකියි

අපහාස චෝදනා ගඟක් සේ ගලයි

මුදු වදන් කියයි යළි මුදු සිනා සලයි

මහද නළවා යළිත් ඔබ සෙනෙහෙ පුදයි

සෝ සුසුම් වේදනා

දුර ඈත ඇදෙයි

ඔබට මා මට ඔබ 

නැතිව බැරි බව හැ‍ඟෙයි.............. 


(Lost 1982)

Wicked and witty!

Finding Fanny

Five oddballs venture on a journey to find a long lost lover. The journey is no cake walk because it is scattered with obstacles and humorous incidents. Homi Adajania's English and Hindi satire has wit, heart and is beautiful till the last frame.

'Finding Fanny' is about seeking out a long lost love. Five individuals who are poles apart go on a road trip to find Fanny alias Stefanie Fernandez, the love of Ferdie's life. A postman in a quaint Goan village, Ferdie is shattered when he receives his love letter unopened after 46 years. He discloses this to his best friend, Angie, who resides with her mother-in-law, Madame Rosalina. Both ladies are widows and live a lonely existence with only a cat for a companion.

The meaning of love

Angie decides to help Ferdie reunite with his ladylove. The three along with Savio Da Gama, Angie's one time best buddy who has had an irritable crush on her for years, and Don Pedro, a talented painted who is fascinated with all things big including Madame Rosaline, embark on a road trip to find Fanny. Though whether they do find her or not seems to be the question in everyone's mind at first. The journey leads them towards an extraordinary path of discovery. Many home truths are uncovered as the miles fly by. Each individual finds out the meaning of love and many even find it at the end.

The story is off beat and is mainly aimed at those who love artistic productions. Humour arises out of everyday situations. The emotions displayed by the characters seem real. We can imagine ourselves faced by such situations and being overcome by similar feelings. Another striking element in the movie is that each and every character is well defined and manages to shine at some stage. Though these are all A-list actors in the cast, they manage to stay within the parameters of their characters. The film mostly belongs to Naseerudin Shah who plays Ferdie's role. Not only is he the character who launches the action by revealing his passion to Angie, his haunting eyes and clouded expressions speak volumes.

He can be unmannered in one instance and as bashful as a school boy in the other instance. Pankaj Kapur is a contrast to him and has some of the most humorous dialogs. Arjun Kapoor plays an arrogant mechanic who swings between emotions. His character sinks in gloom even after he has achieved what he desires.

A diverse flavour

Deepika Padukone looks angelic on the first frame and carries on the act but many a time we have seen a daredevil behind her character. Such a shock is apparent when we see her choosing a chicken and killing it to cook a meal. She oozes confidence and holds her own against everyone including the veterans. She has proved the fact that she can even wow the audience out of her comfort zone as the much sought after Bollywood heroine, seductress and girl next door.

Dimple Kapadia give a stunning performance as an obnoxious widow. She displays a tough exterior which hides an insecure persona. This is probably one of the best characters she has been handed over in years. Anil Mehta's cinematography is worth a mention because he has captured the rustic splendours of the Goa landscapes in all their glory.

The little Goa village where the action takes place makes a pretty picture. Its sun-dappled paths lead us to the protagonist of the tale as well as the other characters who support him. 'Finding Fanny' is not a comedy yet it will surely put a smile on your face. Wicked, witty, weepy and wild, the film is an original that many would enjoy and find memorable.

Adajania may have set the foundation for extraordinary productions through 'Being Cyrus' and 'Cocktail', but 'Finding Fanny' brilliantly mixes black humour and entertainment together in just the right doses. Adajania evenly keeps up the anticipation over whether Ferdie meets his beloved before giving a smart ending to the story. More than the climax the journey itself keeps the viewers hooked.

The film is of a diverse flavour from the typical Bollywood films. It has no melodrama as such or the typical boy meets girl and wins her over romance. Therefore 'Finding Fanny' would not appeal to all, especially fans of masala entertainers. This is a piece of coming-of-age cinema.

මේ නගරය මා ඔබ හෙට දකින නගරයයි

ගමක්‌, නගරයක්‌, පළාතක්‌ සංවර්ධනය කරන අතරවාරයේ, තවත් නගරයක්‌ "තැනීම" එතරම් පහසු කාරණයක්‌ නොවේ. බොහෝ දෙනෙක්‌ එසේ කරනවා තබා සිතන්නටවත් බිය වේ. එහෙත් පරදවන්නට බැරි යෑයි කියූ ත්‍රස්‌තවාදය මුලිනුපුටා දැමූ රටකට එවැන්නක්‌ බැරියෑයි කියන්නට බැරිය. ඒ නිසාම "නගරයක්‌ තැනීමේ" කාරණය ආරම්භ කෙරිණි. එය එසේ මෙසේ නගරයක්‌ නොව මුහුද ගොඩකර සාදන නගරයකි. නම්කර ඇත්තේ පෝට්‌ සිටි (PORT CITY) නමිනි.

මුහුද ගොඩකර තනන මේ නගරය හෙක්‌ටයාර් 233 ක භූමි ප්‍රමාණයකින් යුක්‌තය. පසුගිය සැප්තැම්බර් 17 වැනිදා නිල වශයෙන් එහි ඉදිකිරීම් කටයුතු ඇරඹිණි. මේ සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘතිය එතෙක්‌ මෙතෙක්‌ අප රටේ සිදුවන සුවිශාලතම සෘජු විදේශ ආයෝජන සංවර්ධන යෝජනා ක්‍රමය ලෙස සැලකීමෙහි වරදක්‌ නැත.

අමාත්‍ය මණ්‌ඩල පූර්ණ අනුමැතිය යටතේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා වරාය අධිකාරිය, මහජන චීනයේ චයිනා කොමියුනිකේෂන් කන්ස්‌ට්‍රක්‌ෂන් සමාගම සමග එළැඹි අවබෝධතා ගිවිසුමක්‌ පරිදි චයිනා හාබර් ඉංජිනේරියන් සමාගම විසින් කොළඹ "පෝර්ට්‌ සිටි" ව්‍යාපෘතියේ ඉදිකිරීම් සිදුකරනු ලබයි. ශ්‍රී ලංකා වරාය අධිකාරියේ ව්‍යාපෘතියක්‌ ලෙස ක්‍රියාත්මක වන මෙම ඉදිකිරීම් ආයෝජනයන් සඳහා ශ්‍රී ලංකා ආයෝජන මණ්‌ඩලය (BOI) විදේශ ආයෝජන සඳහා පිරිනමන බදු සහන ද ලබාදේ.

මෙම සුවිසල් ආයෝජන සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘතිය ආකාර කිහිපයකින් රටට ප්‍රතිලාභ අත්කර දෙන්නකි. ඉදිකිරීම් අංශයේ සියලුම ක්‌ෂේත්‍රයන්හි පුහුණු නුපුහුණු ලාංකීය ශ්‍රමිකයන්ද තාක්‍ෂණවේදීන්, ඉංජිනේරු හා ගෘහ නිර්මාණ ශිල්පීන් ඇතුළු ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන් අති විශාල පිරිසකට නව රැකියා අවස්‌ථා උදාවීම එහි ප්‍රමුඛතම ඵලයයි. එපමණක්‌ නොව එමගින් හිමිවන වක්‍ර රැකියා අවස්‌ථාද බහුලය. 

"පෝට්‌ සිටි" ඉදිකිරීම් නිමාවූ පසු එම "නගරයේ" සංචාරක, ප්‍රවාහන, ක්‍රීඩා, හෝටල් ආදී පරිපූර්ණ නගරයක අංග ස්‌ථාපිත වනු ඇත. එමගින්ද රැකියා අවස්‌ථා ගණනාවක්‌ බිහිවේ.

"පෝට්‌ සිටි" සාමාන්‍ය නගරය අත්‍යවශ්‍ය අවශ්‍යතා ලෙස හඳුන්වන විදුලිය, ජලය, සන්නිවේදන මහා මාර්ග ආදී සමස්‌ත යටිතල පහසුකම් වලින් සමන්විත පූර්ණ සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘතියකි. 

පෝට්‌ සිටි ව්‍යාපෘතියේ සමස්‌ත ඉදිකිරීම් අධියර දෙකකින් සිදුකෙරේ. පළමු අදියරට දියකඩනය ඉදිකිරීම, ඉඩම් ගොඩකිරීම, පූර්ණ වශයෙන් අවසන් කිරීම හා සංවර්ධනය කළ හැකි ඉඩම්වලින් හෙක්‌ටයාර 75 ක ප්‍රමාණයක යටිතල පහසුකම් සංවර්ධනය කිරීම සිදුවේ.

දෙවන අධියර යටතේ ඉතිරි සංවර්ධනය කළ හැකි ඉඩම් හෙක්‌ටයාර 95 ක ප්‍රමාණයක යටිතල පහසුකම් සංවර්ධනය කිරීම සිදුවේ. පළමු අධියර වසර තුනකින් නිම කිරීමට යෝජිතය. පූර්ණ අධියරයන් නිම කිරීමට වසර 8 ක පමණ කාලයක්‌ ගතවේ.

එපමණක්‌ නොව යෝජිත වරාය නගරය කොළඹ දකුණු වරාය සඳහා ඉදිකෙරෙන ලද දියකඩනයෙන් ආරක්‍ෂා වේ. අලුතින් ගොඩකරන "පෝර්ට්‌ සිටි" හි ආරක්‍ෂාව සඳහා කිලෝ මීටර 3.25 ක දිගකින් යුත් ගොඩබිම හා සම්බන්ධ නොවන දියකඩනයක්‌ ඉදිකෙරේ. 

එම දියකඩනය සඳහා අවශ්‍ය මූලික අධ්‍යයනය අන්තර්ජාතික ප්‍රමිතියේ පරීක්‍ෂණාගාරයන්හි මේ වනවිටත් සිදුකර අවසන්ය. 

මෙම වරාය නගරය (PORT CITY) ආසියාවේ පරිපූර්ණ වාණිජමය කේන්ද්‍රස්‌ථානයක්‌ බවට පත්කරමින් ගොඩනැගෙන්නකි.

නිවාස හා කාර්යාල සංකීර්ණ, සුඛෝපභෝගී හෝටල්, ක්‍රීඩාගාර, ජල තීරු, මාවත් හා උද්‍යාන පමණක්‌ නොව ගොල්ෆ් පිටියක්‌ හා "ෙµdaමියුලා වන්" තරග ධාවන මං තීරුද මේ තුළ සැකසේ. නගරය තුළ ඉදිවන විශාල ඇළ මාර්ග පද්ධතිය මෙම නගරයට විශාල අලංකාරයක්‌ එක්‌කරන්නකි.

කොලොම්තොට ආසියාවේ අසිරිමත්ම නගරය බවට පත්කරන්නට වරාය නගරය (PORT CITY) හැකියාව ලැබෙනු ඇති බව අනිවාර්යය. 

අප ආණ්‌ඩුවේ විවේචනයට බඳුන් කළ යුතු තැන් විවේචනය කරන අතරවාරයේම සාධනීය දේ අගය කළ යුතුය. මේ කිසිවක්‌ "හම්බන්තොට" ගෙනයන්නට කරනු ලබන සංවර්ධන ක්‍රියාදාමයන් නොවේ. මේ නගර මංමාවත්හි අසිරිය නියමාකාරයෙන් අතිවිඳින්නේ එහි විපුල ඵල නෙලන්නේ අප නොවේ. ඉදිරි පරම්පරාවය. ෙµdaර්ට්‌ සිටි ඒ ගමන් මගෙහි එක්‌ කඩ ඉමක්‌ බව කිව යුතුය.

CHINA MARITIME SILK ROAD A BOON TO SRI LANKA

A view from Sri Lanka’s capital of land curving into a sea once famed for its pearls now shows giant yellow digger trucks piling boulders. It’s another show of China’s increasing global influence.

Once fought over by European powers, Sri Lanka is now benefiting from the attention of Asia’s biggest economies, drawn to its Indian Ocean location along some of the world’s busiest sea-lanes. The Chinese-financed $1.4 billion “Colombo Port City” project is its largest foreign-funded investment on record.

President Xi Jinping, who has sought to restore China’s prestige and historical links along the “maritime Silk Road” through Southeast and South Asia, arrived in Colombo yesterday, shortly after a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Deepening ties with East Asia would aid its recovery from 26 years of civil war.

Dushni Weerakoon, head of macro-economic policy at the Institute of Policy Studies in Colombo said, “Sri Lanka stands to benefit from its growing economic links with each of these countries, but it will also require a careful balancing act on the political front.”

Singapore competition

The Port City will be built by a unit of state-controlled China Communications Construction Co. (1800) on 233 hectares (576 acres) of reclaimed land, an area slightly larger than Monaco. The offices, hotels, apartments and shopping centres will draw as much as $20 billion in investment over about 15 years, according to ports authority chairman Priyath Wickrama.

“The government wants to convert Sri Lanka into a maritime center,” Wickrama said in an INTERVIEW at his office overlooking the project area and adjoining port, which is also part-funded by China. “We can give some competition to Singapore and Dubai, which are running out of capacity.”

The unsolicited investment will boost JOB creation as China will bring only “expert category labour,” Wickrama said. Sri Lanka will own rights to 125 hectares of the reclaimed land and 20 hectares will be held by China Communications, with the remaining 88 hectares leased to the company for 99 years.

Colombo’s port is the only one in South Asia that can accommodate 18-metre deep draft vessels, putting it in position to serve the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and some African states, said Parakrama Dissanayake, former chairman of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in Sri Lanka.

‘All-Weather Friend’

China last year overtook the U.S. as Sri Lanka’s largest trading partner after India, and has described itself as an “all-weather” friend.

Chinese government lending to the island nation has increased 50-fold over the past decade to $490 million in 2012, compared with $211 million combined from Western countries and lending agencies.

India has focused on development and reconstruction in the north, which was affected by the civil war that ended in 2009. As many as 40,000 civilians died in the conflict, according to a 2011 report from a panel appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, most of whom shared ethnic links with the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

“Both countries have mutually important strategic interests” in Sri Lanka, Deshal de Mel, senior economist at Hayleys Plc in Colombo, said of India and China. “Whilst it is probable that China’s interests in Sri Lanka are largely strategic and commercial in nature, particularly in terms of logistics and access to resources, it is inevitable that India will feel a degree of insecurity.”

‘Completely non-transparent’

Unlike previous infrastructure projects undertaken by Chinese companies in Sri Lanka, the port city is financed by equity from China Communications or funds raised through it, with no commitment or guarantee from the Sri Lankan government.

Silk Road

Besides Sri Lanka, Xi also visited the Maldives on this trip, which he called “an important stop of the ancient maritime silk road” in an article published in local media. Xi will travel to India tomorrow.

Asia’s biggest economy, which will import more than $10 trillion of commodities and invest more than $5 billion overseas in the coming five years, is committed to peaceful development, Yang Jiechi, a State Councillor and the country’s former foreign minister, said in Beijing in June.

Xi last year unveiled plans to build a maritime Silk Road, referring to an ancient series of land routes that connected China to the Mediterranean Sea, linking traders, priests, artists and explorers. Details on the project are short and may be fleshed out at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Beijing in November.

The project will attract “big Western” companies to Sri Lanka besides Chinese investment, Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundera, told reporters in July. “It may be a Chinese built city, but it will be a catalyst for growth overall.”

Source: Bloomberg Internet Publication