This is My Clothesline !

Good old days, every house (should I say almost all) in the villages had a fair amount of front garden as the land was not an issue then and they were spread well in any village.

One thing distinctive in the beautiful front lawn was in one corner of it, there were Clothes Lines to put their washed linen to dry under the sun.

No Gizmos, like Washers and Dryers then and all were hand washed and dried under the Sun always.

This clothesline was used subliminally to showcase one’s possessions and status symbol as well.

Fast forward a few decades to the front and things have changed quickly.

With the population, explosion gizmos have taken over the world.

Houses are so close to each other now that one can hear his or her neighbour snoring in the nights and not many front gardens anymore.

With this change of scene, the Front Lawn clotheslines too have gone missing.

For a period of time, many were lost not knowing how to expose their stories and wealth, of course subliminally with the missing clotheslines in their front lawns.

Then the Social Media platforms have come and taken over the world today.

Nowadays it has become the vogue and it has surely replaced the much loved and much missed front lawn clothesline.

Today, many use them as their clothesline and use them for the same subliminal purpose.

Sometimes, someone washing his or her and or someone else’s dirty linen is visible but the majority still uses it for the same purpose as a few centuries ago.

For one purpose only and that is to subliminally showcase one’s wealth and status.

Those who had no big front lawns with clotheslines then do not know what to do with these Social Media lawns now other than being envious, resentful and bellicose.

This is my front lawn clothesline now but I do not hang other’s washed dirty linens here.

Instead, I showcase my Mood and Wealth here.

But if my clothesline upset any in any way, it only tells who they were real and not me.

My clothesline, my moods and my wealth.

පර සුද්දෝ vs පර සිංහලයා !

ක්‍රිකට් ලෝක කුසලානේ වෙලාවෙත් " පර සුද්දෝ " කියලා සුද්දන්ට බනින්න තරම් අපි අමන ජාතියක් වෙලා.

සුද්දෝ ආවේ අපේ රටවල් වල තියෙන සම්පත් අරන් ගිහින් පොහොසත් වෙන්න කියන එක රහසක් නෙමෙයි.

ඒ උන් ආදරේ උන්ගේ රටට නිසා.

අපේ රට හදන්න කියලා ආපු රටට ආදරේ කියලා කියන අපේ කට්ටිය මොකද කලේ?

උන් ඉස්සරා දනින් වැටිලා රස්සාවල්, වරප්‍රසාධ ඉල්ලන අය ඇයි " පර සිංහලයා " කියලා මුන්ට නොබනින්නේ ඇයි?

මේකට උත්තරය හොයා ගත්ත දවසක අපි දිනුම්.

නැත්නම් එක්කෝ පර සුද්දෝ කිය කිය දිගටම උන්ටම බැන බැන එහේන්ම කකා බිබී ඉදන්, මැච් එක දවසට විතරක් ලංකා කොඩ් වනමු.

නැත්නම් සුද්දා ගෙන් ලැබෙන ආධාර එකෙන් කකා බිබී 2500 ට වැඩි ඉතිහාසය ගැන ලොකු කතා දෙමු.

තිරණය තියෙන්නේ පර සුද්දා ගාව නෙමෙයි, අපි ගාව.

Missing Gentlemen in Gentlemen's Game

When we were in primary level, an extraordinary thing happened while watching a cricket match between Alma Mater and St Benedict’s College and it was played on the home soil.

One batsman was given out by the umpire and it was a time when there were no reviews and re-appeals sort of things.

So he had to leave.

But after he left, the team Captain had a chat with the other team members and with the consent of the officiating umpires decided to recall the batsman who was given out as the team felt that the catch was not taken cleanly.

The Captain walked into the visitor’s den and invited him to come back and have a go again.

This drama took little time and the match was held and not many were aware of what was going on in the middle of the ground.

When the captain and the opposite side player were walking back to the pitch from the pavilion only many realized, what had really happened and there was a dying and disappointing moan from many corners of the ground.

The guy who had a second life took the opportunity well and started hitting the ball all over the ground and one huge six ended up, one bounce into the garden of the former MP for Moratuwa, Mr Ruskin Fernando.

His Cavalier fashion of batting ended again in the same fashion but taken cleanly this time after reaching the century mark.

He walked back to the pavilion happy and not dejected like the previous occasion, after shaking hands with the entire team and the officiating umpires.

After watching the World Cup match between Sri Lanka and the West Indies, I could not help thinking about where the Gentlemen in this gentlemen’s game are now.

Technically speaking, that runout is all legitimate but Isuru Udana should be ashamed of trying to take the credit for it and Dimuth Karunaratna for not letting the batsman continue by revoking the initial decision.

It was the Sportsmanship lost there and not the West Indies.

I was thinking, we should have more Ray Fernandos’(Captain of my Alma Mata) among us today.

Degree of Any Sort

Degree of Any Sort

Blind hunger for a Degree of any 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 wants to hold on to something

Whether the capacity is there or not.

Instead, engage the society in a useful manner

Not always endorsing everything

Encourage intellectual rivalry

Stop following trends

And be different.

Ones who seek this path

May end up sans a hood or a cloak

Few photographs to adorn the walls

At the end of the day.

But when the push comes to shove

Sharpness earned in such a manner

Will hold their ground better

Than the ones bought cheap 

On street corners.

Human Protectors

Why some dare to cross lines

Wade waters

Conquer seas

With the intention of

Protecting Gods (or and even Goddesses).

Do Gods (even Goddesses)

Need humans as their

Protectors or

Why cannot they do it themselves?

Why not leave humans to protect

Their own kind

From murderers to rapists to wife beaters

To you name it.

What is our role here

Sometimes I wonder

Is it

To protect Gods (or even Goddesses)

Or

Protect our own kind.

This was something I wrote a few years ago and thought of reposting again after yesterday's bombing in Sri Lanka.

සිංහලයා මෝඩයා කැවුම් කන්න සූරයා

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 cuts and bruises are treated with by squeezing a few drops of oil into the affected area.

There is another saying concocted by the British that Sinhalese people are a foolish lot and they are only capable of eating Kaum.

සිංහලයා මෝඩයා කැවුම් කන්න සූරයා.

This saying came into being during battles with the British.

While searching bodies of the Sinhalese soldiers died in battles, the British have discovered that everyone was carrying a small pouch containing a few Kaum, so they presumed that Sinhalese were no good soldiers and only fond of eating Kaum, even during battles, not knowing that those pouches were indeed their life saving First Aid kit in the battlefields.

So Kaum is not only a sweetmeat prepared on a very special occasion and also a lifesaving medicine for the people of this land.

New Facilities at MMC

Makumbura was another sleepy village along the High-level (Colombo – Batticaloa Highway) road a few decades ago but suddenly came under the spotlight, when the Kottawa-Galle Highway (E01) was planned.

Makumbura got the first Entry / Exit point to the E01 Expressway then and everything started to change rapidly.

While the construction was going on, another place a kilometre away from the Entry / Exit point was commissioned to have a weighbridge to weigh in the heavy construction materials being brought in for the project.

Once the construction was nearing completion, the weighing facility got another life.

With the help of Japanese government grant, it was converted to a new Multi-model transport hub, the first of its kind in the country and seven more to be followed soon around the country.

With this novel concept of Multi-Modal Transport Hub, Makumbura got another facility.

In an era where everyone is concerned about the wellbeing, the newly laid Walking Path and exercise pad behind the main terminal building is the icing on the cake, so to say.

The Walking Path is well paved and well lit as well.

The rainwater drain adjoining the path is a good place for those who love Bird Watching as many marshy land birds and a few migratory birds can be seen there.

With the impending rains, the water level is to rise and so will be the bird population.

And preserving its serenity will be everyone’s responsibility.