King Sasanka – Sri Lankan Writer & Retired Aviation Professional.

  Beyond Ancient Origins: A Shared Future for a United Sri Lanka The overwhelming scientific consensus confirms that Homo sapiens originated in Africa.  From that singular cradle, humanity branched out to populate every corner of the globe.  This profound genetic and archaeological truth renders bitter geopolitical debates over "who arrived first" on any shore fundamentally obsolete. Instead of looking backwards to score historical points, the defining question of our era must be: How do we live, work, and prosper together while fiercely respecting one another’s languages, cultures, beliefs, and traditions? Today, Sri Lanka faces challenges far too severe to waste collective energy on ancient grievances.  Our nation is navigating an unprecedented economic crisis, burdened by a total public debt that sits near US$97 billion, with over US$37 billion in external liabilities alone.  The resulting economic hardships, systemic instability, and deep anxiety abou...

Kaum ( කැවුම් ) is an essential item in the Sinhalese New Year celebration. The people of yesteryears knew Kaum is not only a sweetmeat but can be turned into lifesaving drug too. Well before the western medicine identified the value and usefulness of Penicillin, people in this land knew about it and put to good use of it without calling the substance any particular name. The first Kauma made according to the auspicious time during the Sinhala New Year Celebrations time is dedicated to Fruit flys ( කොදුරු කැවුම ) and hung in the kitchen for days until the surface of it turns into light greenish. Fruit flies are essential in this transformation and with them, they bring in the Penicillium (ˌpɛnɪˈsɪliəm) ascomycetous fungi. The fungi grow on the surface of the Kauma and turning the dark brown colour of the surface of it into a light greenish in a few days’ time. Once that process is completed, the Kauma is then kept in a safe place and use as a First Aid, where all c...

Year 2015 ended not with much to celebrate. Only good thing it had was adding three new phrases to the Sinhala language. “ කලු තඩියගේ බජට් එක වගේ “ (To describe starting something with so much promise but ending up with nothing but Zero outcome). “ සිරිසෙනයි බෙරෙසියර් එකයි වගේ “ (To describe a situation when there are thousands of other burning and pressing issues there to talk about, paying undue attention to something others can’t see in their Naked eyes). “ බුලතාගේ කෙල්ල වගේ “ (To describe a Itchy bitchy daughter of a very (so-called) strict disciplinarian).