Life's Realisation

"Live by life's blessings every single day".  Nirmala, you sure lived by this quotation.  You sure had a heart of gold. You were so simple-hearted, kind, loving, caring, and a friend to all. Thank you for being YOU. You sure ran a victorious race on earth and built a glorious intangible legacy. You sure were an example to us all. Well, I used to always see you as an earth-angel. In fact when I used to tell people about you when talking about the Villa, I used to always say "She is nothing short of an angel". Nirmala happily chatting to the elders whom she treated like family You really did not have to do anything that you did, but you chose to do it because helping others and being of service to others brought you pure joy. You were selfless and gave your all to everyone around. You made us all see Christ through our actions. You sure made each person at the David Frances Villa and their loved ones feel as though we were all a part of your family. May your soul ...

A Lament Unforgotten is a compelling song by Sanjeev Niles . In this song, Sanjeev and Pabalu Wijegoonawardane   have fused music from the western and eastern worlds to highlight the intensified pain of the irreplaceable loss of a loved one, which can shatter a person’s inner core.  If you are finding it hard to find meaning in your life, and you are trying to paint a smile to the outside world while you are dying inside, PLEASE reach out to someone and get HELP . Don't let your life get caught to the snares of depression . The following is my message to everyone who is finding it hard to gather the broken pieces in your life and be whole again.  Unforgotten                                  When life robs you                                         and tears your soul apar...

The dawning of each new day is a miracle by itself; but with it brings change that goes unnoticed. After all with each day we are getting a day older, growing up and growing older. Age is just a number so there is no reason to take life too seriously. What is important is that we make the maximum out of life and enjoy it while we can. So make sure that you really LIVE LIFE to its fullest without being too caught up in the rat race of life because,  Yesterday is a memory, Tomorrow is a dream All you have is here and NOW. So LIVE , LOVE and LAUGH ……..

We LAUGH !! We LOVE !! We CRY !! Yes, Life is nothing short of a rollercoaster ride with its UPs and DOWNs. A strange concoction but its REALITY Life goes on without any PAUSE, REWIND, or FAST-FORWARD buttons. At some point in life we have to face the inevitable however hard it may tug at our heartstrings. The more we LOVE the harder it is to let go. As a babe I was jolted with loss; but, an angel came along and loved us as his own. With a heart of gold, he was ever ready to help even a perfect stranger. He was a precious jewel to all who got to know him – He loved with all his heart, never kept grudges, devoted his life to care for others and made the most of life while it was around. I guess the heavens above all of a sudden realized that they were missing an angel and snatched him from us without while he lay sleeping. I look around and all that’s left is a picture. Everyday reality stares us in the face; but, still for all it feels like a DREAM. Nevertheless, I am really thankful f...

There was hustle and bustle in the air while the days kept growing nearer and nearer, but she still couldn’t convince myself that it was all happening before her own eyes. “You are going to miss me when I’m gone” he said, but she replied in her normal carefree spirit “You will be back on swift wings” The penny simply refused to sink in even while she was getting ready and posing for all the pre-wedding snaps; to her it felt like she was only part of the wedding retinue and nothing more. She simply couldn’t come to terms with reality, that her one and only sibling was getting married and moving out. She took her position to walk up the isle. All of a sudden she noticed some of her relations walk into church. “Wonder how they know the couple?” she thought to herself. It only took a flicker of a moment for reality to strike her. She couldn’t stop to reason with her thoughts as the initial hymn was already being played and she had to hold her composure. Every step up the isle only confirme...

“When you get married be very careful as to who raises your face veil. Make sure that, that person is not a widow or a divorcee or a childless lady” he rambled off to me a few days ago. “What’s the big deal?” I said. “It is very bad for the bride coz most of the time, she ends up with some ill fate. Like her marriage will go on the rocks or she won’t be able to bare children or something bad like that” He said. “All rubbish, I don’t believe in all that jazz, whatever that’s meant to be will happen. We can’t change our fate and besides it’s not right to treat people like the plague just coz they are a widow, childless or a divorcee” I said. “Your very head strong” He said. “Que Sera Sera.... whatever will be will be” I remember saying and wrapping up the conversation. ( Que Sera Sera … are the words off an old vintage song ) Are you a superstitious person??? I don’t know about you all but I sure don’t believe in such superstitions even though many of my relatives are quite superstitio...

My graduation ceremony was held last week and I was thrilled coz after all it was MY GRADUATION……... As I kid I didn’t even dream that I would further my studies after my A/L’s. It was not that I wasn’t a studious kid, it was just that I didn’t think so far into the future coz after all life is fickle and I had experienced its reality at a very tender age. Nevertheless, here I was a graduate…. and it felt good. It was as though it was my five minutes of fame. I have to be honest; my gradation ceremony wasn’t as well organized as the other graduation ceremonies that I have been to of my friends. However, nothing mattered to me because in my eyes it was all made complete by my family and my loved ones being there to share my special moment with me. I am truly thankful to everyone who has believed in me and helped me get to where I am today, because I couldn’t have done it without them.

I think to myself “ It’s high time to do some spring cleaning around the house ” so I potter around the house and try to bag up the stuff which aren’t really useful to us anymore. I pick up something to give away and then the part of me that wants to cling on to things says, “ Who knows it may come in use to you in the future and besides if you go to buy it in the shop today it will cost and you an arm and a leg ” and then the other part of me counter attacks my previous thoughts by saying, “ What’s the use of keeping it? You don’t use it any way, so why don’t you give it to someone who can make some use of it before it simply disintegrates in front of your own two eyes and you have to chuck it out as garbage ”. The conflict of thoughts lasted only for a split second, because heart-of-hearts I knew what had to be done… and I continued to bag up the stuff to give away to the poor. My mission is still not complete as there is loads more to sort-out and bag up but I sure was amazed to see...

Whether it be in selecting a course of study or selecting a life long partner, it is commonplace to hear about numerous instances where parents have pressurised their children into doing things against their own freewill. This is simply because parents think that they can rule their children’s lives because they were instrumental in bringing them into the world. I think it is highly unfair, coz after all the children will have to live with the consequences of such decisions in the end. What’s utterly tragic is the fact that generally in certain cultures the parental “Iron fist ruling” tradition keeps reoccurring over and over again, due to it being inculcated in their society and community. All children long for love, affection and understanding from their parents irrespective of whether they are a toddler or an adult. Domineering parents fail to see their children for who they really are and most of the time end-up by paying the high price of loosing them as such children will undoubt...

Here I was at my workstation at office doing my work like a goodie goodie when my mobile rang. I was thankful that I had put it on discrete mode coz my normal ring tone is enough to wakeup the dead. Besides it so happened that some of our company big shots where in a discussion pretty close to where I sat and obstructing the entrance; therefore I didn’t wanna be smart and excuse myself in the middle of there discussion just to take a personal call. So I decided to answer it in my seat itself, but I was barely a whisper on the phone due to the lack of privacy. I was delighted to here one of my good friends from school on the other end of the line….. She immediately understood that I was not in a position to talk so she hung up, promising to call me at home. I was rather curious as to why she called at such an hour so I casually sent her an sms asking her what was up.... only to figure out to my delight that she wanted to know if I could be her bridesmaid. I was simply thrilled and honor...

Sometime back one of my friends mentioned that she had an encounter with an overprotective mum. Apparently when she had asked to carry the baby the mother out of reluctance had given her the baby to keep on her lap and had said to her “Hold him tight and don’t drop him ok….Otherwise I will kill you”. My firend had apparently not retaliated to what was said as she knew that the mother of the child didn’t mean it per say, as they were like sisters. Nevertheless, it had been a very awkward moment because she was shell shocked and hurt by the statement and had to put on a plastic smile to hide her real feelings. There was no doubt that these words that she blabbered unconsciously came from her overly protective motherly instincts and also probably because this was her first born; but I don’t think that, that simply justifies this situation. We live in a wicked world and we have to be very protective of our children as you can never tell what will happen. But at the same time I think that ...

Most young girls and guys when growing up strive to do anything to be noticed and to be part of the crowd. In their minds it’s labelled as the “IN THING” which is fun and cool. Rarely do they stop to ponder as to whether, what they are doing is right or wrong. They always love to try new things just for the sake of being able to boast to others saying that they did it. As a result before they know what starts off as fun soon becomes and addiction which eats away their lives slowly. All people who are slaves and addicts to worldly pleasures have their own reasoning behind their putrid actions. However, little do they know that all their lame excuses are nothing but denial. Many people are quick to point a finger towards a person’s upbringing and friends when they fall onto the wrong path. However this may not be true in all such situations. I believe that everyone has a conscience and the power of better judgement lies within each one of us. Therefore no one can be blamed for another pe...

Out bound training (OBT) has become the new trend in the Sri Lankan corporate sector. Many of us Sri Lanka’s have the notion that the activities that are carried-out on an outbound training are a stupid waste of time, but reality is that it is an invaluable experience. Our company went on a three day outbound training (OBT) recently. I was optimistic and eager to go from the beginning as it was going to be a whole new experience for me. However, many pessimistic colleagues went on the training as though a bull were dragged to a slaughter house, because the company stipulated that participation was compulsory. We had various activities which were aimed to bring out key areas such as Team work, trust, strategic thinking, leadership, responsibility etc. We were taken white-water rafting and also participated in an adventure trek which was competitive and challenging but at the same time it was enjoyable. There where also less physical activities which involved strategic thinking. In addi...

In life you come across various people with different personalities. While, some might have an optimistic outlook to life the others might be dreadfully pessimistic. Therefore IMO these vast spectrum of people can be differentiated on one main factor which is self-confidence . Are there other factors to differentiate such people in your opinion? Self-confidence is not something that you can purchase. It is something that you should cultivate in yourself over the years. In my eyes I think that the lack of self-confidence is the root cause for people to end up becoming puppets whose lives are controlled by others. Pleasing others in order to avoid conflict is the sole purpose in the life for such people. IMO there are two types of people who fall into this category. Some of them are born to be ruled by others as they prefer getting others to make their decisions and others have turn out to be like that due to a traumatic experience in life (i.e. a bad childhood etc.) Do you think that th...

Just as a flower blooms and slowly withers away, all of us who are born into this world are compelled to traverse through the same phases in life. Nevertheless, most of us who are able bodied tend to forget the realities of old age oblivious to the fact that all of us one day will befall the same fate. I guess the grumbling and childlike behaviour of old people tend to make our patience run on a very small tether?? Nevertheless I think that all of us should stop to ponder on what the elderly are really going through . But trust me sometimes its mind boggling for us to comprehend what they are really going through…coz to us it sometimes seems as though they are pretending. This is probably because we are in denial or because we haven’t placed ourselves in their shoes. In my view being dependent on others due to being unable to do things for yourself is probably the most awful thing in life, because being in such a state hits the core of our self-esteem and in most instances sends the pe...

Ralph Fiennes and together with Juliann e Moore who played the leading roles in the movie “The End of the Affair” brought the plot to life with an electrifying performance. This movie was about a passionate woman who was trapped in a loveless marriage which eventually drove her into the arms of another man. The plot of this movie is very real and applicable to some marriages. There are quite a number of couples who live in loveless marriages where there is simply no love in the marriage anymore or in some instances there never was any love to begin with. What brings a marriage to such a deadlock where you are totally oblivious to the feelings of your spouse? Is it lack of communication or is it due to people being too tied up in the rat race of life?? Well, I wouldn’t know coz I haven’t ventured into marriage as yet…. Nevertheless, I think that it is an awful situation to be in. Aren’t we all human beings with feelings??? Can you blame a person who is driven into the arms of another or...

Doesn’t it sometimes really annoy the hell out of you when some people think that they are “it” and boss the rest around as though they were the most powerful person in the universe?? Well, when it come to me such people just make my blood boil… When I look around I have noticed that most of such swollen headed people are really those with the least power. They think that they are “the cats whiskers” just because of the fact that they work for a significant person (i.e. the Ambassador and other diplomats, GM, CEO, minister etc.). Well, some such people are securities of embassies/ big organizations, sectaries to the senior management in an organization/ ministry etc. Don’t get me wrong, im not saying that all such people are like that ! I just wish that all such small fish (metaphorically speaking) with swollen heads will wake up one day and realize that they ought to get a life without being so bitchy… I guess others too may have come across such arrogant people. What do you think of ...

When I look around I see how money destroys people’s lives. It’s as though it creeps into the human system like a thief in the night and then starts eating away like a cancer into the very core of the human value system. I don’t dispute the fact that all of us need money to survive in this world but in reality how much do we need?? Coz the way I see it the more money people have the more they want. Some people even tend to have the perception that money can buy you anything. I don’t agree with such people coz to me it seems a very shallow way of thinking. Happiness and love which are some of the most magnificent gifts in life can not be bought. Some parents work really hard to earn lots of money to give their kids every luxury in life. But at the end of the day what’s the use of it all?? Those parents will only be able to provide materialistically for their kids which is simply NOT ENOUGH. Children need much more by way of love, affection and not forgetting the most important on the li...

To some marriage seems the “Be All” and “End All” and to others it seems a status symbol. Why on earth is that the case heaven only know….. I am not referring to the couples who have been carrying on for a long period of time and then ventured into marriage. In my eyes such people are wise coz I think its best to get to know the person properly before taking that big leap. Many Sri Lanka’s stick to traditions and get married through proposals without getting to know the other person properly. But, I guess getting married via proposals is part and parcel of some people’s culture and I guess their mind frames are trained from their tender years. I seriously can’t see myself ever getting married through a proposal coz there is quite a lot of unknown elements in the picture. Then again it’s not only in proposals that people hardly get to know each other before getting married… Well, I personally have nothing against marriage. Nevertheless, what I don’t get is why on earth people rush into ...

Most of us have been brought up in a manner that we tend to scorn people who don’t belong to our so called social circles. This is so damn stupid as all of us rich or poor, black or white, church goer or heathen, Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim or Burgher are all HUMAN BEINGS…. Why can’t most of us comprehend this fact that stares us right in the face???? Who the hell are we fooling by building up so many man-made barriers between fellow human beings?? Well, all I can say is that such pompous people who consider themselves superior to others are nothing but Pigheaded… Better yet in most occasions it is such people that they scorn that come to their assistance in their time of need. I hope that all of us will take the time to put in that extra effort to treat every human being with respect because you will always reap what you sow….