We Are No Better Than Them !

We are no better that the " Looters " and the " NATO " boys.

First we send " Looters " to the legislature to represent us.

Then they start plundering and ruling than representing us.

What we do is act like " NATO " boys.

When the next opportunity comes along, we follow the same ritual, like what we had been doing for the last six decades or so.

Let’s get out of this rut and take responsibility for our failures than pointing finger at another real or imaginary.

Remember, “ Improvement beginnings with I ”.

Stop depending on " Looters " to extricate us from this quagmire and act wisely than being another " NATO " boy.

Time is running out guys. ☺

Why have they been dubbed as Battles (සංග්‍රාම​) ?

We are slowly in the Big Match Fever time.

And most of those encounters are dubbed as “Battle of the Golds”, battle of many others colours, Blues, Maroons, Greens etc to name a few.

Why have they  been dubbed as Battles (සංග්‍රාම​) ?

Is it because that after all these events, it is there a very possibility of breaking out flights between two opponents and sometimes ending up in fatalities too?

I think it is time to think differently.

Getting out of this Slave mentality will be the first step towards true development.

Let’s not call them battles anymore.

Think of some other words to describe them.

Those meetings I believe should be used to renew old ties, meet new friends, breaking walls and making new bridges, but surely not for bloodletting after all.

So, what should we call them ?

Can Success be Replicated?

Often, we get to read biographies of many successful people all over the World.

Those stories sell and that is why publishers go looking for them.

But if taken percentage-wise, such successes are even less than 1%, compared to the world population.

Those who read such inspiring stories pick up a clue or two and try to apply in their own life but with very little success or none at all.

Can success be replicated?

Failures are galore and they can be seen everywhere.

Can failures be avoided?

But, if publishers are keen even finding stories which are of total failures, the trend of 1% versus 99% can be changed.

Because, some others have already made those mistakes in their own lives; so the rest do not have to, being well aware of the pitfalls on the way.

Although the odds are less on the side of being successful, the chance of success and or failure has the equal opportunity.

Let's Put Those Sleeping Giants to Work in 2018

Can’t we celebrate the New Year without indulging in setting fire to our very own and hard earned money?

Counting down and then lighting up enormous amounts of money on fire for a few seconds of euphoric fix is a foolish thing.

Partly the media are responsible for people indulge in this kind of irresponsible behaviour.

Ads make sense money-wise and so they want their coffers to be full.

This is where the religious established can play a major role in educating people and also in encouraging them to channel their money and energy for a useful purpose.

Temple and church bells were established to communicate and interact with the masses during good and bad times in yester years.

Let’s put those sleeping giants to good use now instead of letting fools setting fire to money.

Compare the pealing of thousands and more bells to sounds of firecrackers and which one sounds better and more appealing.

Let’s see who will take the lead role now.

Temple, Church, Kovil or Musjeed.

Or all of them as one in 2018.

And Then We Want The World To Be A Better Place

Scene No 1.

We all take our kids on our marketing trips.

Put them on a trolley cart and act as if we are on a race track.

I hit an old lady from behind in the aisle, then whisked past, cursing her without even an apology.

Stop near the "fruits and nuts" section and throw a few of them in your mouth before stuffing a few more in his or her mouth.

Sure enough, the toddler can’t read the notice posted over there.

"Eating is not allowed."

But he/she was just happy about the freebies Papa or Mama had stuffed in his/her mouth.

Scene No 2

One day, we go to see his or her choir practice session and find him or her standing inconspicuously in the very last row.

What happened?

We ask him/her while heading back home.

The teacher says I am too tall to be in the first row.

The next day, the child is sent off to practice with a few cookie jars in a nice reusable bag that we brought on our last overseas holiday.

Don’t forget to give it only to the teacher’s hand.

Pick up time in the evening, and when you reach there, the training session is still on.

Amazingly, our tall kid has now found a place in the front row.

Heading home, he/she was jabbering happily.

The teacher asked where we got those.

I said, in the USA.

Wow!

From that point on, the kid got a reserved place in the front.

What can a few foreign cookies do to someone's self-esteem?


Scene No 3

Then comes the time for proper schooling.

We prepare our kids for the most dreaded school admission interview.

So a mock interview was set up at home.

Pretending you are the principal of the school, we ask, "Where do you live?"

The kid is happy to say the only true and truthful answer he/she ever knew.

But we are happy to interrupt and say "Oh no! Don’t say that

"Say you come from Thimbirigasyaya"

The kid protests with pleading eyes. "But I don’t know where that place is," or "We are from Moratuwa."

Don’t worry about it, it is all taken care of already just say "Thimbirigasyaya" only.

He/she nods but is utterly confused.

Scene No 4

He/she goes to play sports, and one day we find him/her sitting on the bench watching others practice.

Now we know the answer to that dilemma too.

At the next practice session, he/she goes out with a much heavier bag.

And on match day, you see someone else’s kid is on the bench, watching haplessly.

Then we go home and celebrate.

හිලරි සමග නැගිටිමු !

ඇ මිස්ටර් සිල්වා, ඔය ඇමරිකාව පැත්තෙත් සමුපකාර එහෙම තියෙනවද?

මොකද නැත්තේ මිස්ටර් පෙරේරා, මෙහේ තියන ඔය හැම එකක්ම එහෙත් තියෙනවා මීට වඩා ජයට,

අනේ එහෙනම් කමක් නැහැ මිස්ටර් සිල්වා,

මොකද මිස්ටර් පෙරේරා එහෙම කිව්වේ?

නැහැ මම හිතුවේ ඔය ඉල්ලන ඉල්ලන එක පරදින හිලරී නොනාටත් ඉතින් එහෙම එකකින්වත් ට්‍රයි එකක් දාල බලන්න පුලුවන්නේ මිස්ටර් සිල්වා.

Safety First - Whom Are You Fooling ?

After years of neglect, it is a welcoming sight to see the efforts are taken to relay the Katubedda – Piliyandala road.

Traffic has come to snail pace and lots of inconveniences to commuters and many have to re-adjust their schedules due to the unpredictable nature of the traffic density and the speed it flows during peaks.

One thing baffles me, every time when I travel on this stretch of road it this.

The work site has a big board proclaiming  “Safety is First”.

To go alone with the slogan perhaps, most of the workers who are involved in relaying the surface have been given a glow-vest and a hardhat.

But sadly, they all work either barefoot and or with an old pair of rubber slippers.

The workers would have been better off, if they have been given a pair of gloves, safety shoes and a proper face mask, instead of hardhats or glove vests.

Many Overseers and even Engineers there are playing Blind eye to this blatant violation.

Over to you, if any RDA guys are reading.