King Sasanka – Sri Lankan Writer & Retired Aviation Professional.

For three decades, I worked overseas, sending hard-earned foreign exchange home during some of this country’s darkest hours. Those remittances weren't just personal savings; they were a lifeline for a nation embroiled in a civil war, a war we eventually won decisively. Now in retirement, I haven't sat back. We’ve taken steps to reduce our carbon footprint and ensure our own energy security. We bought a hybrid car and invested in solar panels for our roof. Today, we don’t owe the electricity board a cent; in fact, we produce what we need and sell the excess back to the national grid. So, when I hear calls for us to "switch off" our fans and lights to save the system, I find it hard to heed such requests. Our household is already a net producer. This isn't the late '80s. We are long past the era of "curfews by chit" and living in fear. Instead of asking citizens, who have already tightened their belts for a lifetime, to sacrifice more comfort, pe...

The Green Secret: Why Curry Leaves Are More Than Just a Garnish If you’ve ever enjoyed a South Indian meal, you’ve likely encountered those small, aromatic green leaves tucked into your dal or sambar.  While many people push them to the side of their plate like a discarded garnish, they are actually missing out on a powerhouse of flavor and wellness. Curry leaves ( Murraya koenigii ) are the unsung heroes of the kitchen, providing a sensory experience that is impossible to replicate with any other herb.   The Culinary Magic: Sizzle and Scent In South Indian cooking, curry leaves aren't just an ingredient; they are a ritual.  They are primarily used to enhance the aroma and taste of a dish.   The Technique: They are most effective when added to hot oil (a process known as tadka or tempering) at the start or end of cooking. This flash-frying releases their essential oils and characteristic citrusy, nutty, and slightly bitter flavor. The...

The Great Purge: Why Your Follower Count Drops When You’re Gaining New Follows (and Why That’s Good News!) Ever have one of those moments?  You’ve put effort into your content, you’ve posted consistently, and you’re thrilled to see a steady stream of "New Follower" notifications.  You feel a surge of pride, ready to celebrate a milestone number. But when you check your actual follower count... it’s lower than it was before. Or, it hasn't budged. Your heart sinks. "What am I doing wrong?" you might think. "Are my new followers leaving just as quickly? Is something broken?" Don’t panic. This is a incredibly common phenomenon, and the explanation is far more positive than you might think.  In fact, it's not a sign of failure—it's a sign of a healthier digital environment. To understand why this happens, we have to look past the raw numbers and understand who is behind those profiles.  The explanation lies in a clever analogy: your socia...

The Star of David in Serendib: The Past, Present, and Precarious Future of Jews in Sri Lanka While Sri Lanka is globally renowned for its Buddhist heritage and colonial tea estates, it harbors a Jewish history that is as old as the Bible and as modern as today’s geopolitical headlines.  Today, the Jewish population is a whisper of its former self-estimated at roughly 300 individuals , mostly comprised of expatriates and business owners.  However, this small number belies a massive cultural footprint and a contemporary presence that has recently become a focal point of national security and diplomatic dialogue. Modern Presence: The Chabad Network and the "Arugam Bay Alert" The modern Jewish experience in Sri Lanka is largely defined by the Chabad-Lubavitch movement , which established its first permanent outpost in Colombo in 2005. By 2025, the network had expanded to five locations, primarily serving the thousands of Israeli surfers and backpackers who frequent the isla...

Beyond the Green Dot: The Essential Guide to Facebook Monetization For many digital creators, the Facebook monetization tab is a beacon of hope.  It's the moment your passion project is recognized not just by your aunt, but by an algorithm capable of paying your bills.  However, there is a profound disconnect between the obsession with reaching those goals and the understanding of the rules, the revenue sources, and the mechanics of getting paid. If you are just chasing a follower count, you are building a castle on a foundation of sand. This guide moves beyond the basics to explain what really happens when you turn on monetization, where the money comes from, and the "rules of engagement" that determine whether you build a career or get banned. 1. The Ecosystem: Where Does the Money Actually Come From? You aren't being paid directly by Mark Zuckerberg for "good job, you posted today."  Your payout is a derivative of two primary sources: corpora...

It’s hard to walk five meters in Colombo or Kandy without seeing those little black-and-white pixelated squares. From paying for your kottu to scanning a LinkedIn profile, QR codes have become the unofficial "digital glue" of Sri Lanka. But while we’re all experts at pointing our cameras at them, few realize that this technology wasn’t born in a Silicon Valley lab, it was born on a factory floor, inspired by an ancient board game. In the early 1990s, the automotive industry was hitting a wall. Masahiro Hara , an engineer at Denso Wave (a subsidiary of Toyota), noticed that the traditional barcodes used to track car parts were failing. Barcodes are "one-dimensional", they only store data horizontally. This meant they could only hold about 20 characters of information.  Workers often had to scan up to ten different barcodes on a single box just to log the parts. The "Go" Inspiration Hara wanted a code that could be read faster and hold more dat...