𝑾𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝑾𝒂𝒊𝒍 ( දුක් ගන්නා රාළ )

After seeing a Facebook advertisement for one of the paint manufacturers in Sri Lanka, I called their head office to see if I, as a walk-in customer, could also claim the same discount offered to online buyers. I was refused, but on my insistence, I was connected to their sales department, and a young lady executive picked up to reiterate that the offer is only for online purchases with free delivery, as stated in the advertisement. My rationale was that since it is a walk-in deal, the delivery portion of online shopping goes away, so the company benefits in the end. Knowing that these frontline sales staffs have little authority in taking decisions, I asked her, without offending her, to check with the senior sales team and give an update on the request. Surprisingly, after a few hours, she returned the call to inform me that the offer was only valid for online purchases, and it was confirmed by her senior management.  I thanked her profusely, only because giving an update by call...

A couple of days ago, I realized that I was unable to buy any stocks using the platform access given to me by the broker firm, and when they were contacted immediately to know the reason why my ability to buy was brought to near zero rupees, the reply I received was astonishing and alarming. My current portfolio is worth a couple of million rupees and has a healthy unrealized gain worth another couple of million rupees, yet the broker firm was not willing to give me any usable buying power. The reason they give is that many have bought shares on credit and are not willing to settle their dues. When asked as to why not “force sell” available shares of such people and recover their dues, they had no answer. I have spoken to a few more stockbroker firms and they all have the same song to play, which means that there is a very big credit exposure across the board but either instructions or guidance received from the governing body regulating the market activities and or their own managemen...

There are no good or bad people in this world, but there are happy and unhappy people. Some stay in their chosen corner forever, but some oscillate between the two extremes from time to time. That is when the unexpected or unimaginable happens in the world. We are all, whether we understand or not, unique storytellers. Some tell it openly, others in whispers, and the rest silently. Some stories, whether said in silence, whispered or loudly, are inspirational. So, if every happy storyteller could inspire another to have a chance to go from being unhappy to happy, it would be a positive change. Therefore, I end this note with an open-ended question. What is your story? Think about it. ඔබේ කතාව කුමක්ද? මේ ලෝ කයේ හොඳ හෝ නරක මිනිසුන් නැත, නමුත් සතුටින් හා අසතුටින් සිටින මිනිසුන් ඇත. සමහරු තමන් තෝරා ගත් මුල්ලක සදහටම රැඳී සිටින නමුත් සමහර විටින් විට අන්ත දෙක අතර දෝලනය වේ. අනපේක්ෂිත හෝ සිතාගත නොහැ කි දේ ලෝ කයේ සිදු වන්නේ එවිටය. අපි සියල්ලෝම, අපට තේරුණත් නැතත්, අද්විතීය කතන්දරකාරයෝ ...

At a time when all seems lost and gloom is engulfing the Sri Lankans financially, politically, and sportingly, a person of Sri Lankan descent winning the Booker prize recently is something worth celebrating. However, the euphoria was short-lived when a pirated version of the book started doing the rounds on many social media platforms. Some readers, with limited resources, were happy to be able to get their hands on it very cheaply to quench their thirst, and some are annoyed because it amounts to stealing, according to them. Further, it is denying the owner his rightful return for years of research and work to get the idea into book form. Yes, it is a valid argument, but what is the alternative to meeting at the halfway point so both needs can be met? It is no secret that while publishers are making a killing on such successes, the real owner gets a paltry sum as the writer’s royalty. Many publishing houses present the same book in many ways. Electronic access, hardbound and paperback...