𝑾𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝑾𝒂𝒊𝒍 ( දුක් ගන්නා රාළ )

Finding cure for AIDS, Ebola and or cancer Would be like climbing an ant’s hill Compared to Finding cure for Hypocrisy, which is of Himalayan proportion. Nalanda, Bamiyan, WTC Sydney and Peshawar too Sadly have joined the list now. The list getting longer And no cure in sight At least a respite? Unless we call a spade a spade And take the bull by the horns.

Favorite stuffs on mobile devices Headsets on and lost to the world Missing out on the birds chirping Rustling of leaves in the wind Child’s laugher or Chiming of distant bells. Detail plans First is more elaborate than the other Assuming always If A fails Then B would take over instantly. Efforts to be in Control Trying to vet everything And every time Takes the fun out of living. Life is a gift Something to be enjoyed un-vetted Unwrap it and be amazed Not knowing what’s in there Makes living interesting.

ගුරුතුමි - හා කියමු බලන්ඩ හමුදාපති කෙනේක් නැතුව යුද්දයක් කරලා දිනපු එකම රට මොකක්ද කියල? ළමයා - මිස් ඇමරිකාව, ළමයා - මිස් රුසියාව, ළමයා - මිස් චිනේ වත් ද ? ගුරුතුමිය - ඔලුගෙඩිය ..... මේ ළමයින්ට මෙච්චර ඉක්මනට අතීතේ අමතක හැටි. මතකනැද්ද අර කොටි කියලා බයවෙලා හිටපු පුස්පැටවු ටිකට මොකද උනේ කියලා. කෝ දැන් මීක් කියලා සද්දයක් තියෙනවද. ඔය ඉන්නේ හොදට රජ සැප පිට කිරි බිබී. කෝ ඒ කාලේ හමුදාපතියෙක් හිටියේත් නැහැ නමුත් යුද්දේත් කම්මුතුයි නේ? ළමයිනේ මතක තියාගත්තොත් හොඳයි .....  මේ රට කියන්නේ තමයි " මාරලන්තය ".

Are We Ready The above was written a long time ago and there is a likely big political change is on the card soon. Are we ready for this change?

A few years ago at the annual book fair at BMICH, I saw a small girl browsing through lots of books and finally settled for a translation of one the famous Russian writers of yesteryears. She turned to her parents with pleading eyes. Mumbling something to her ears, parents put the book back down gently on the heap and ushered the pleading girl away from the counters. I asked my wife, “ Should I give her some money or buy her that book ”? “ Do not embarrass the family and they may not even like it ”, my wife warned me.

A few senior boys and their thugs stormed into the school during interval/recess time to beat up a classmate, when we were in grade 10. We did not say nor do anything to avert but watched in shock as we did not know what to do. The chemistry subject was the period immediately after the break and as the master entered the class, we knew that he was not in a mood to teach. He was silent for some time and we waited for him to say something. Then he asked all of us a very simple question. "What kind of young men are you, watching your fellow student being beaten up by thugs on the school premises and doing nothing?" There was no chemistry lesson that afternoon and some enjoyed the break but a few started pondering the incident seriously. Having enjoyed success the previous day, the seniors and thugs revisited during the interval with the idea of bashing the poor fellow up a little more. What happened thereafter is well known in the school history and that was the last time we had...

What hopes can we have What inspirations can we get From the message and belief, If innocent aid workers And journalists Are being killed in cold blood To protect the message? What are they so afraid of now? And what have they been trying to stifle for centuries? Freedom of expression Or the desire of living beings To have something better Than their prevailing conditions. I count my blessings today Because I was born a Buddhist And exposed early to Buddha’s teaching, Especially the Kalama Sutra. Kalama Sutra set me free And it can set anyone free.

When you resort to cold blooded killing of your own people, while crying at the top of your voice for the world to hear, “ My neighbour is killing my people ”, it does sound bigotry to me. Sadly, today this world is full of such bigotries.

Human feces and snakes were all I dreamt last night, Elders say those are good signs, Just before a windfall of some sort to come, Many have seen them in their dreams, What would be my next windfall?

We were at each other’s throats  100 years ago, Two fissions and two cities obliterated, And almost annihilated the population 69 years ago. Vietnam, Cambodia and Rwanda a few decades back, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria are still burning, And not forgetting Gaza. We go for other’s throats When more than half of the population is looking for something to eat, To quell their hunger. Nuremberg trials and international court of justice, United Nations. What have we learned from history? Just to shake hands and issue flamboyant press releases In front of 1000 flashing bulbs and Nothing.

Blind hunger for a Degree of some sort, Irrespective of whether the much needed grey matter Perseverance, discipline and or endurance Are there or not, is something sad to watch. Fly by night Colleges and Universities Springing up at every street corner is fuelling the frenzy Making everyone want to hold something Whether the capacity is there or not. Engage society in a useful manner Not always endorsing everything. Encourage intellectual rivalry Stop following trends, and be different. One may end up sans a hood or a cloak Few photographs to adorn the walls At the end of the day. But when push comes to shove Degrees earned in such a manner Will hold their ground better Than the ones bought cheap on street corners.

Decency is what, our parents taught us While we were growing up It should be in every man’s bones Like You & Me Resting in our marrows. Decency is the bone marrow Of living society. Marrow starts a war as and when The defence of the body is breached Kills and destroys the harmful Invaders. Decency should work the same way What marrow does for the body. As and when society is threatened By indecent invasions Do not wait for others to cast the first stone Or to fire the first salvo. Let decency Our parents taught us Let decency Imbedded in our bones Come to rescue and save society of Becoming indecent, insensitive and intolerant. Decency is the bone marrow Of society. Decency is what, our parents  taught us While we were growing up.

Clad in a saffron outfit does not make one a Buddhist monk automatically.  Ordination is just a Ceremony of affirmation and having ordination too does not make anyone a Buddhist monk automatically either.  There is a clear path to be followed, if one needs to be really qualified to be a Buddhist monk. That is to follow the path of a Bodhisattva.  A Bodhisattva is a person who devotes his or her life to the Buddhist way.  The vows focus on doing compassionate deeds, striving to benefit every human being and seeking enlightenment.  Not setting fire and or pelting others’ places of worship.  Then you become a hooligan and or a murderer than a monk.  The saffron outfit will not protect such people.  During the recent incidents in the South of Sri Lanka, I see the Social media was awash with many postings, some in favour and some against for the actions of hooligans in saffron outfits. Among the Against lot, I found an interesting number of Buddhists a...

Clad in a saffron outfit does not make one a Buddhist monk automatically.  Ordination is just a Ceremony of affirmation and having ordination too does not make anyone a Buddhist monk automatically either.  There is a clear path to be followed, if one needs to be really qualified to be a Buddhist monk. That is to follow the path of a Bodhisattva.  A Bodhisattva is a person who devotes his or her life to the Buddhist way.  The vows focus on doing compassionate deeds, striving to benefit every human being and seeking enlightenment.  Not setting fire and or pelting others’ places of worship.  Then you become a hooligan and or a murderer than a monk.  The saffron outfit will not protect such people.  During the recent incidents in the South of Sri Lanka, I see the Social media was awash with many postings, some in favour and some against for the actions of hooligans in saffron outfits. Among the Against lot, I found an...

Should Sri Lanka have Blasphemy Laws? Such laws are already in existence in many parts of the World. Should Sri Lanka have religious police too? Such institutes too are already in existence in many parts of the World. Then again you have to ask yourself two important questions. The first one is to protect what, such laws are needed now. The second one is who will oversee the implementation and execution of the laws to the last letter in a fair manner. Thinking aloud on social media, like most of us do these days will not take any of us anywhere unless we find the right answers to those two very important questions? Have a dialogue with yourself first, before venturing in to start  " thinking loud " on social media platforms. 😓

A text message received from my daughter on the Father's Day celebrations made me think of you. How do I start was my dilemma? You were a man of few words. I got more of your physical appearance than my other siblings but the quality of a few words, I was not endowed with. The younger brother has received it from you and you know God has very mysterious ways of working and assembling things around. You showed us the length and the breadth of the country by taking us to various places during school vacation times but I knew that your world was just confined to within our shores only then. But you showed us the World in a different way by introducing and encouraging us to read at a very early age. That way you managed to take us far beyond your physically confined shores. I still remember that every week you used to bring at least two books from the Office Library and we were on them like the vultures on a carcass. That early induction to reading made us wanted more...

Every street corner has now been turned into a place of worship by some object worshiping idiots by placing some objects of their fancy. The next thing you realize is the blaring noise coming from there, day and night, disturbing the peace around and polluting with singing chanting and preaching etc. Then what follows is more encroachments and useless expenditure on face-lifting decorations. The whole country is now being turned into a religious frenzy den. But the euphoria of the ostentation is short-lived when one switches on the Television News Channels. Robbing, muggings, raping and killings are galore. Where have those teachings gone, I wonder?

Like everyone else, authorities too sometimes take decisions, not basing their mind but heart. The important thing to look for on such occasions is to look for the intention behind such decision and if the intention is right, then no one should be blamed unfairly. Recent deportation of a British woman from Sri Lanka, simply because she had a Buddha Tattooed on her arm is getting so much attention especially in the social media sites. Most posters, post things in some way related to this incident without expressing their true intention of posting such postings or expressing their true stand on this issue. If you ask me what my position on the deportation of that woman, I say it was a foolish decision. Some years back, a pop singer was denied entry because the local authorities feared his behaviour towards the most revered figure of more than 70 % of the people in the land amounting to nothing but disrespectful and allowing such a figure into the land could create chaos. In d...

What are we celebrating? Can someone tell me, please? Per Capita income is less than the US $ 2000 Not even 3% of the GDP is invested in Neither Education nor health. Spend more than SLR 100 Million a day Just to glorify one person only Corruption is endemic And we are at the bottom end of the list With Sudan and Afghanistan etc. Winning T20 is not worth celebrating I will join the crowds on the streets Only when we beat Sweden and Singapore In the list of least corrupt nations or Invest at least 6% of the GDP in education and health Limit spending to glorify one person And uplift the Per Capita Income At least to the US $ 5000. Those are worth Celebrating and not just a T20 win And who will remember it in a few weeks' time What are we celebrating? Can someone tell me, please? (My political ranting).

The Sri Lankan Cricketers (both Male & female) flew out recently to take part in the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh. The Male Cricketers were all in their suits and were escorted to one of the premier lounges in the Transit area. The Females were given a shabby Blue T-shirt and were allowed to wander around. Do they represent a different country and why there is such obvious mistreatment for the female cricketers?

My first ever overseas trip was made a couple of decades ago and during that trip I visited a friend of mine in Paris, who was staying just a stone’s throw away from the famous " Arch of the Triumph ". As I entered the building he was staying, something posted at the entrance caught my attention, though my French was no better then, than now. It said “ NO PETS, NO CHILDREN & NO LOUD MUSIC ”. When I asked why such conditions, my friend explained that many staying in that building were professionals who, after busy day at work did not like to be distracted during their private times. It was little confusing for me to grapple this idea and get some sense out of this novel arrangement. Later, I came to know that it was not a novel idea only found in France but something many eagerly have embraced all throughout the Europe and in North America then. The whole building was surprisingly quiet and ideal retreat for meditating monks even, I thought then. After spending a few ye...

I was flabbergasted to read following when I accidentally came across following headlines in one of the local newspapers recently. .       With tourists in mind, India relaxes visa norms,          Protest after Manipur girl is raped in Delhi,         Court orders arrest of ex-health minister in sexual assault case, .       Kejriwal to “go to any extent” for Lokpal bill,         Devyani seeks dismissal of visa fraud case in US court. Needless to say,as a Sri Lankan, I was aghast to learn that we are not so welcomed in India as we are not included from the list of 180 countries that have been granted relaxed visa facility. I am equally amazed as to why are they (Indians) so afraid of Sri Lankans,  where women are being raped in broad day light in their capital city;  fraudsters are being given diplomatic immunity to carry on with their nefarious...