Sponsor an Orphan

Sri Lanka is one of the worst affected countries from the civil war and natural disasters in the recent past. Thousands of widows and their orphaned children are struggling without a male bread winner.

According our information around 13,000 Muslims appear to be widowed and their children orphaned or displaced in recent times. Most of the orphans live with their widowed mothers and also a significant number are still in various orphanages, madrasas or with relatives and villagers. We believe that orphans should live with their mothers or relatives to enjoy the real love & affection of a family, which would help to minimize their trauma.

You may be aware of a recent event reported from Kalutara..

A Muslim widow (revert), attempted to commit suicide along with her 4 daughters by taking an over dose of sleeping pills.

According to her statement, the main reason for taking such a decision is poverty. She didn’t have any income at all and there was no help either. She then took the easy way out and decided to commit suicide after killing her own children.

With the help of Almighty the whole family escaped death.. Al hamdu lillah now the children are at the Kal-Eliya Islamic Ladies Orphanage with Al- Kafaala sponsorship. The mother is still hospitalised . This is one case which came to light, but there are thousands of similar cases out there, if we only care to look.

Can a Muslim wait doing nothing about it?

Isn’t it our Duty to look after the needy- especially the orphans???

What is the answer??? that we are going to give the Almighty on the Day of Judgment?

We, at Al Kafaala are actively involved in supporting needy widows and orphans. Special attention is given for young widows with school going children as they are more vulnerable to abuse and discrimination . We have a data base of thousands of needy orphans in the island and we are able to look after only around 650 of them. We can do much more if you could give us a hand to help them.

1000’s of orphans are waiting for your support and ours , Can we ignore their suffering????

We must do something!!!!!!!

You can make a change in an Orphan’s life with just US $ 0.50 a day

If you and I don’t give this 50 cents who will wipe off their tears?????????????

Your Friends & Families too can help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Take an orphan under your care now….. and gain merits as a foster parent!

Are you ready?

IF YES , Reply now …..We will give you the details

If not please pray …….for them to find another sponsor

Tel/Fax::+ 0114 204 424,, Mobile: + 94 777 572 935, + 94 773 833 000

Mind Talks

Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz The higher of these two numbers below indicates which side of your brain has dominance in your life. Realising your right brain/left brain tendancy will help you interact with and to understand others. Left Brain Dominance: (9) Right Brain Dominance: (12) Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz

Wiser with age?

Why do we always happen to think that people older are also wiser?

Feelings for a new life!

Wonderfully amazing

Mysteriously quiet

A mixture of feelings…

Fear and delight….

Moments to long for….

Moments of pain and joy….

A new life within me…

Almost unbelievable,

No proof of existence…

Yet true…

Welcome dear one

The worlds for you!

MIND DEATH!

hmmm

Is life about "waiting"?

Make somebody's day!

Say they did a great job!

and the wonderful feeling is mutual...!

hey!

why is there no Men's day?

unfair!

And at the end....

...At the end of it all there is only one question that needs to be answered: “Does it make you happy?”
but before reaching the end there’s a million more questions to be answered!

A. S

Sri Lanka has finally done it right!

Kulfi tastes great!

People have no time anymore!

Life is time...

Resolutions

Better Late than never...

Make less objectives

Spend as little time at home as possible doing office work.

Spend more time with family than with computers.

Breath in and out deep breaths every morning.

Run in open air places.

Go out of Colombo at least once in three months

Throw away the handwork and paintings

Start cooking

Drink less coffee

...Oops I think I just broke that one!

The Sky Beneath Me!

Images from a plane going from Hyderabad to Chennai!

Discovering the Banana leaf

There are many advantages of the green leaf over plates; a few of which are listed below

It saves water... just imagine washing all the plates after your guests leave.

It is hygienic... imagine the number of people who may have eaten on a plate at the restaurant

It is healthy

It uses up the banana tree

It is disposable without any damage to the environment

Go for Green!

The Journey of a thousand miles

From the city of Pearls to Tamil Nadu – Chennai

In Golkonda we were able to see a sound and light show as they call it where the history of all the empires that reigned were outlined. The city of pearls looked nothing like pearls. It was so dusty that I had to have my face covered most of the time. Hyderabad is also said to be famous for its buriyani. Ironically for us fried rice seemed to be much tastier. The pearls were splendid.

Chennai

In January 2004 I visited big brother India’s capital new Delhi. Today, almost three years later I have had the opportunity of getting a taste of the south of India for the first time.

There is so much of variety and differences that it is sometimes so hard to believe that all this is one country. Everything was so different from place to. From the colour of their skin to the language they spoke. Their attitudes and culture however did not vary very much. They were friendly and helpful people; sometimes waiting to get as much money out of you as possible. They take comparatively much less salt and sugar which was not very palatable for us. In tamil Nadu they speak tamil so we didn’t feel all that alien. However the tamil they speak drastically differs from what we speak.

Banglore, Myslre and Ooty

The difference between traveling in Sri Lanka and traveling in India is that a journey in Sri Lanka has a beginning, middle and an end. In India, the journey has a beginning, beginning and beginning. As you can see most of the pics are from a moving vehicle.

Char Mina - view from underneath

Intelligent Word Processes

Since of late I have been documenting content because I know that my head is not the safest mode of transport and storage of information. For this purpose, I have employed the good old Ms Office - MS word processor which is a fairly reasonable tool to support my needs. However, I find that Word is still not adequate in many ways. Comparing it with Open office does have huge short comings. Nope – no one from Sun Microsystems is paying me to say this. (I wish). And I’m not promoting FOSS, I have no reason to do that.

Well though word comes with a dictionary and thesaurus and the very good features like spell checker for the weak spellers like me I am not impressed to find that simple typing errors are easily ignored by most word applications that lack a more intelligent solution. What I would like to see may be in the next version is - the word processor making sense out of the content that I am typing and figure out that a word such as Ass could be a mistype of the word ‘as’. Typing ‘god’ instead of ‘good’ could be a slip of the finger. Of course the popping up of an annoying paperclip will be out of the question but the document can be checked when I exit it and such mistakes can be prompted to the user. May be this is something that open source developers can consider contributing if it is not already on the cards. Other features could be to make summaries of documents or research articles and white papers to save the researcher’s reading time.

I am expecting to see some of it in the future versions and I hope I will not be let down!

WEDNESDAY!

The only lucky day to be the end and the beginning at the same time.
The end of the beginning and the beginning of the end!

Oronym

A term that describes words like "I scream" and "ice cream"? "Some others" and "some mothers"?(Definitions)

Oronym. "...In the case of Toyota and toy Yoda, our brains are faced with "oronyms" – virtually identical speech that can be interpreted in different ways. English is full of these devilish duos. For example, I scream versus ice cream, a notion versus an ocean, and some others versus some mothers..." (extract from the CBC's Words, Woe and Wonder site)

Now is all I have to live

Married one year and two months – a year that went unbelievably fast. Still feels like just a couple of months. Makes me think that I will be looking at my whole life backwards one day and thinking “Oh My god it’s over”

There is only one chance to live… to pick up the pieces and stop wasting my time. I have written a hundred million things, started off at least 20 different projects that I intend completing within my life time, I have dreamt and I am still dreaming of the future realities. I know it’s up to me to start rebuilding and ending things I have started before my life ends…

In many ways it is better to be underestimated than overestimated

Attitude affects it all

One morning I woke up and thought today I will be happy no matter what happens. Did it work? Well… the answer I will leave for you to find out!

There are positives in being negative

In the highlights of life... there is more bad news than good!

Negotiation and conflict management tips

Again this is one of those inventions that I haven’t really bothered to pick up at the book stores. It is not really like you have to be a born good or bad negotiator. You can choose to improve. My father for example is an excellent negotiator and very a very diplomatic person. For him it comes naturally. I, on the other hand say it straight and often the results are not very fruitful. Here are some of the tips from my own invention that I am learning to adapt myself to.

- Never say “You are wrong” If you have to say it at all say “It seems there is a small mistake in this”. Ask yourself which of the two sentences you prefer hearing.

- The best approach is the direct approach and that’s what I would generally agree with but given a scenario that has to work in favour of you, it is better that you don’t get to the point all at once when you have to give a negative message. The inductive approach may be a better choice. Read between the lines in the structure of the above sentence.

- Argue about the subject not about or with the person. It is easier said than done but most conversations turn into bitter arguments because people end up being subjective and defensive rather than objective.

- Forget arguments once they are over. DO NOT bring it up at future conversations.

- Make it seem funny. Humour is always good. But could be a dangerous area for those who don’t have humour coming to them naturally

- Finally and most importantly – admit you made a mistake if you have. People will value you as a person who knows yourself and doesn’t hesitate about admitting mistakes. After all everyone makes mistakes.

100 Reasons why I may not smile at you sometimes

A smile is the cheapest way to improve your looks. A smile is curve that sets things straight. It takes barely a second from our busy schedules. Yeah yeah, been there – heard it all. But there are times that no matter how nice it is to smile you just don’t do it. Nobody thinks much about smiling at a funeral. So like all theories it is only applicable to certain scenarios. Yesterday, it was like I got stabbed right there in the heart when someone asked me straight why I don’t smile. Well, on the positive side it leaves me some subject for blogging. So I stayed back typing this up if it has any worth at all.

1. When I’m walking about I am usually thinking about something too hard to concentrate on anyone around or to notice even things around – I know this is kind of selfish.
2. Sometimes I’m thinking that I’m smiling when I actually am not – I know this kind of weird to imagine.
3. Sometimes I think that people are smiling at someone behind m and I don’t smile in return to avoid getting embarrassed
4. Sometimes I’m smiling all the time so there is no need to improve it when someone actually smiles at me.
5. Sometimes I’m afraid to smile at people I don’t know - this is especially on the streets.
6. I’m too stressed at times to smile.

I can’t think of 94 other reasons except for the fact that I know it is wrong and to those who are strong and kind enough to understand, I am very grateful. I will try my best to smile more often rather than waiting for it to come naturally.

Beyond the tears is the bravery

Last Saturday we were at dinner at queens when I received a call on my mobile phone. The urgency of the voice of my brother-in-law – a rather rare and unexpected caller startled me. It was one of those days when bru hadn’t charged his phone and when I had decided to take a different mobile number in order to be not disturbed for official purposes on weekends. That night a terrible road accident caused my biological mother-in-law to be admitted at the accident ward – something that we still can’t come to terms with. She was always cheerful and full of smiles. She was always so witty and would never complain of the immense troubles that she had to go through in her life.

Deeply shocked we rushed to the hospital disappointed by the regulation that we will not be allowed inside without passes. With great difficulty our efforts got us in.

It was perhaps the first time that I was able to see her without her usual smile on. She had a badly fractured tibia and femur, shoulder bone, a small head injury and some fingers that were beyond rescue. Traumatized by the event no one seemed to be in the right mind to do anything. Adding to the pressure were strict regulations. Underneath it all we kept wondering - why her? Is it because she had the strength to take it…? Is it because it was some kind of test? The answers may never be clear. While the pain for her was unbearable, we had to put up with the regulations and leave her there alone for an emergency operation. At home that night, we were challenged by our own minds to accept something that we thought could never happen to a person like her.

When we visited her at the hospital the next day she was once again her cheerful self and smiling through all the pain. We were impressed by her bravery. She assures us now that she is getting better everyday. Every visit is painful and what the future holds at this point of time is a mystery for us as much as it is for her.

Praying for your speedy recovery…

…our darling mummy!

Jambo - East Africa

It took me time to get used the features of their faces, the very dark skin and the very exotic hair dos to their very unmanageable and extremely curly hair. The city had many posters warning people about a city that has the highest crime rate in entire Africa. Animals were free to explore the suburbs. The weather was always too cold to go out without warm clothing. The people were always so friendly and full of smiles. The days past too fast and in Africa enough is never enough. Many people worked for a living while a few chose to beg or rob. The cost of living was as high as Nairobi is above sea level. Infrastructure and buildings had very little shortcoming in the heart of the city. Food was as excellent as it is here. The roads out of the city were a lot worse. Hardly any children walk alone in the streets… almost no bicycles. Nobody wore any gold. Water melon was as expensive as gold.

It was far too dangerous to take a walk outside. It was fun to cook in the apartment with stuff you barely knew about. Giraffe centre gave you a touch and feel of the long necked beasts that were already going down on their numbers. Pics here

The Travel List

Bru and I sat down together and put down a travel list that we have to complete before the end of our lives (assuming we’d have rather long lives to live). Among the list are the following:

Skiing in the Alps – yet to be done

African Safari – done

Niagra Falls – yet to be done

White water rafting – done

Santhosa Island - done

Great Wall of China – yet to be done

World’s End – Somewhat done.

Taj Mahal – Somewhat done

Pyramids - yet to be done

Holy city of Makkah – Somewhat done

Disney world - yet to be done

Eiffel Tower - yet to be done

Jaffna – may be someday

How many jumps does it take to marry a masai woman?

As we entered the village which exhibited a lifestyle of freedom I couldn’t help noticing the variations that created what almost seemed to be a different planet altogether. A place of aliens... fertile soil that was deprived of growing anything in the fear that animals may harm the people to eat them, homes made of the same fertile matter, children with fly smothered faces and dripping noses, women carrying them wearing a dozen pieces of jewellery… lions less than 300 meters away… life that needs to be seen to be explained.

While we are transported by a block of metal that runs on a polluting gas emitting fuel, they either chose to walk or ride on donkey carts. While we ate processed food and pesticide controlled vegetables they choose to rear their own cattle to eat and drink from it. While we lived in homes that needed constant maintenance and repairs they live in thatched huts that have no electricity or water yet had the warmth of a family and the smiles of the children and plenty of “time” together in a timeless world.

The welcoming dance by the females and the good bye dance by the males was entertainment to us but to them the dance marked special occasions like like weddings, circumcision and the birth of a child. In addition the dance was a moment where men had to demonstrate their masculinity and how high they could jump to reach a beautiful woman they wanted to marry. Women in anklets denote that they are married. Their husbands are allowed as many as 7 wives and the number is usually directly prpotional to the amount of cattle they own. Women of the same village are forbidden for marriage because of blood ties. Therefore women have to be found from other nearby villages. Holidays and working days are planned by each individual at their own convenience. Enough space to live and sleep and play… enough logs and twigs to make a fence to protect the sheep from being eaten by predators… enough cattle to feed a village. No evidence of pain or poverty… Enough freedom to smile…!

(pics on Hi5!)

My most wanted Gadget

???

Up next… My most wanted machine

Strictly for time wasters

the purpose

the purpose of life is to find its purpose

Home! Home! Home!

I so wana go home!!!!

She's Always A Woman

by Billy Joel

She can kill with a smile
She can wound with her eyes
She can ruin your faith with her casual lies
And she only reveals what she wants you to see
She hides like a child
But she's always a woman to me

She can lead you to live
She can take you or leave you
She can ask for the truth
But she'll never believe you
And she'll take what you give her as long as it's free
She steals like a thief
But she's always a woman to me

Oh, she takes care of herself
She can wait if she wants
She's ahead of her time
Oh, and she never gives out
And she never gives in
She just changes her mind

She will promise you more
Than the Garden of Eden
Then she'll carelessly cut you
And laugh while you're bleedin'
But she'll bring out the best
And the worst you can be
Blame it all on yourself
Cause she's always a woman to me

She is frequently kind
And she's suddenly cruel
She can do as she pleases
She's nobody's fool
But she can't be convicted
She's earned her degree
And the most she will do
Is throw shadows at you
But she's always a woman to me

You should not be thinking these things:

You can never be that dream person you wanted to be

Everything that can be achieved has been achieved

There are no such things as dreams

If you rise too high you will fall

Today is worse than yesterday was

Children are not always innocent

There’s no such things as angels and magic and miracles

There’s a limit to what you can do.

Failing many times means you are no good

There’s no place called heaven

You have more negatives

The world will never end

Good things never happen to good people

There is nothing left to invent or discover

Death is better than life

Animals are beneath man

Love is false

Parents are problematic

Friends are better than family

Hunger is better than sorrow.

That best feeling and then the journey of life continues….

There comes that rare feeling that occurs usually towards the Friday; hardly at mid week and never at the beginning. That rare feeling that gives you the time to write up a silly post like this. That feeling that you can go home with knowing that there will be no pending work on your desk when you return the next day. Now that I mention it I believe there may be a few secondary pending issues waiting to be sorted out but all in all you have made it through that tough week and you can go home to where the better part of your life is – your family. Someone once told me that happiness is a journey not a destination which I was almost about believe, just before I happened to bump into a friend. She follows an MBA while doing 45 hours of lecturing a weekwith a pay that you can call fabulous. I was thinking to myself “what for?” Of course it was mentioned that it brings good money… but is life about money? Does everything boil down to that one factor?

When we were schooling, parents, friends and teachers used to tell us that we have to sacrifice our joys for better times later and we did as they told us. It was the same story at undergraduate level. Once that too is achieved, we feel that now comes the time for enjoyment and no more sacrifices – we can’t be more wrong. They tell you that you are young and energetic right now so you can work your life away. Whatever the theories and laws that we learn or follow, the corporate sector exploits people whether we are willing to accept it or not. It does not enhance corporate growth by enhancing individual growth it rather is a fire fighter giving less attention to the greater tacit things in life while ignoring the long term effects and losses caused by it.

If now is the time we need to work and earn and save up as many bank accounts as possible then when are we going to start living? Some say middle age would be the time. Then what about children, parental issues, family and other ongoing commitments that will tend to take our lives? Do we then shift the “living” part of life to old age… when we would have little or no energy at all to live… when it would be too late and time to pack up. That time that sickness and health will be the only major concerns of our lives? Surely, shouldn’t we know better?

Life is to be lived not saved up for later. Now is the time. If you miss it you will lose it forever. Youth is the most wonderful gift and we can either use or abuse it… but whatever are choices are ‘now’ is the time… there’s no point in dying for materialistic gains of this world. There’s no point struggling to pull through. Troubles and problems will always follow us wherever we are or however old we get… the only thing we have, is this moment to make the most of; to live… to spend time with your family even if it be just a short walk in the park because before you know it you will be far to old to walk and when we reach that period of our lives, the fewer regrets we have the better it is. Before you know it your family may not be with you anymore.

Live a balanced life. Follow your heart; do the little things that make you happy; do things that don’t concern work just coz you wana challenge yourself that you can do without it and are a slave to nothing but your own freedom. Love your life and Live it!

Thank God for the weekends!
Even if it is only 1.5 days :(

Of Mice and Men...

Probably one of the very few novels that got very close to captivating my heart was this one. I don’t know if any human being could possibly get past it without having to shed a tear or two. It has a wonderful beginning, middle and an end that dwells into your soul spiritually cleansing you while doing so. Too bad I was not able to yet get my hands on the unabridged version. (I am also still looking for “Grapes of Wrath”) If I don’t find them by the end of this year I probably would read it up on Google books.

The plot revolves around the journey of two men - one not so wise. It ain’t anything like the motorcycle diaries. Ah… but what is a movie in comparison to a book?
At the end John Steinbeck's does not do justice to his characters but he has an extremely effective way of making them very much a part of your life.

I read it when I was very young. I still remember every detail

You SHOULD read it

Sailing on….

After three days at the FOSSed conference I got back to work to find a whole lot of stuff piled up for me to finish. So I guess I’ll have to put in a few more hours to draw to a close thing that perhaps could have been done without had I had the resources around to be slightly more efficient than myself.

Well this isn’t pressure at all. Pressure was what I had to face may be say in my former work place…. Where night or day did not make any difference and deadlines were dead lines. But for me – happiness is more of a journey than a destination… a state of mind perhaps to which stress is an interference so I had choices and like most of the other people around I chose to do what makes me happy. Sometimes I miss the challenges – especially because I miss the courage that comes out of it. May be that there’s a lot that I am losing but there is also immeasurable gains from the loss in sort of a eerie way. Being busy keeps me happy because it doesn’t give me time to worry about things that are botherations in some way to almost all human kind.

Invariably life goes on… We sail along the seas of life that constantly keep throwing us about…. clutching on hard to the oars hoping that we’ll get to some great destination somewhere... and also in the meantime anticipating a future that looks probably almost invisible to us….!

The ∆ of life

At 20

The world opens its arms

Welcoming the knowledge

Smiling at the stupidity

Thoughts, emotions, hobbies and dreams

flooding through the windows

Like the morning sun

The choices are wide

Limitless bravery

Countless contradictions

Divine bliss

At 40

Life is running out fast

Spinning around

Quick make the bucks

Save for the morrow

A song, a book, a comedy and a home

The family person

And the fearless soul

At 60

The world that turned upside down

Turns right up again

Priceless and invaluable, the memories of yesterday

The wisdom, the illnesses, the grey hair

A sunset, a walk, a smile and a little cheer

A crying grandchild

A garden to love

The green of the home

The silence of the heart

31 March 2005

The difference between disease and work is that the former has an end

The softer issues – true or not?

I believe that no matter how advanced technology gets there is still some warmth in seeing someone say “Dear ‘name’” rather than saying ‘hey’ and ‘hello’ and ‘hi’. Hearing your name both orally and in letters makes you feel special and important.

You get sick of Chinese food if you eat it too often.

No matter how hard your heart is you will be greatly affected by seeing a child who is hurt or in some sort of pain.

On a hot day there’s nothing more soothing than a cold shower.

It feels good to talk to about your troubles with someone you trust

Eating out every once in a while makes you happy

You know about all the bad aspects of marriage yet you can’t wait to experience it

No matter how much something is not concerned with you, if its falls under one of your topics of interest there is always something that you can contribute to it.

The most decent looking gentlemen are sometimes the worst perverts

You might not want to accept it but you are very selective about your friends and clothes.

You like singing even if you are really bad at it.

You like traveling around the world but you’re so happy to get back to SL

You speak badly of your fellow citizens but you are thrilled when you meet people from your country abroad

Deal with the problem… not with the person

It doesn’t take much time…

To collect the dirt in a bag in your car and to throw it in a bin when you get to your destination.

To wash your sterilized milk bottles before returning it to your grocer.

To tell your friends to do the same when you to talk to them

To signal a thank you to the driver who stopped his vehicle for you to turn

To smile at the person who is not your friend

To drop a mail that is not a forward to an old friend or relative

To buy a packet of naphthalene balls from a person who is trying hard not to steal or beg

To feed a stray cat occasionally

To help the cashier with your things

To hold the door for somebody with a big bag

To say ‘no’ to a polythene bag that you know you will be throwing away soon

To have fruit juices or mineral water instead of coke.

What’s nice and what’s not?

What’s nice?

You come to understand that it’s not a perfect world with a perfect life so you put up with the ups and downs.

When the choices are limited you choose the lesser of the two evils

You perform

You smile at somebody even though you’re in a bad mood

You remember someone’s birthday

You are honest no matter how hard it is to be

You request rather than command

You feel good about yourself

You deal with the problem

You make the best use of the time you have

You are willing to ‘learn’

You have something to think about

What’s not?

People that you trust let you down

You wake up not wanting to live another day

You’re told around by people you have no regard for

Nobody asks you whether you are happy

You have something to worry about

You don’t have enough sleep

There is something that you have to do but you really can’t get yourself to do it

You take your anger out on people who have nothing to do with it

You have more enemies than friends

You have no time

If you want the rainbow, you have to put up with the rain

New Year Cheer

It feels good to be back at work after a week’s vacation. I thought I would finally be getting my license in the last week of 2005 but we ended up moving house and as usual lots of things don’t end up the way you think they would.

Anywayz… at the new place are lotsa good things and lotsa bad things among which is no more ADSL. So good bye to that and a lot of other things including how much I have been taking for granted the little things that our parents do for us. I miss home so much and no doubt they feel the vacuum of my absence – specially my father whose ears I would fill with my voice from the time he arrives home till he goes to bed.

On the other hand moving out on our own means having to learn lots of new things like remembering to close the main door before going to bed. A fun and joyful experience of setting up all on your own, from managing finances to grocery shopping to what more I don’t know...

I hope that whatever awaits me this year would be good in some way or the other and that we are all able to give and to get more to and from society than we did in the past year.

Silence speaks

You can never understand a friends words If you cannot understand his silence

It just is too much

Too much boredom

Too much Dan Brown

Too much depression

Too much to think about

Too much frustration

Too much hatred

Too much freedom

Too much of nothing to do

Too much time wasted

Too much chaos

Too much insecurity

Too much nonsense

Too many fools

The Greater Gifts

The gift of love

The gift of honesty

The gift of freedom

The gift of knowledge

The gift of purity

The gift of conversation

The gift of sunshine

The gift of curiosity

The gift of bliss

The gift of wisdom

The gift of choice

The gift of light

The gift of life

That’s how it goes

Sometimes they tell you that the more you deal with your troubles the stronger you get every time you pull through one of them. There are those days that everything at work goes all wrong and you go home thinking it’s finally over and then a whole new set of things start going wrong for you. Things so bad… that make you question the reason for your existence.

And of course there are those other times, where life just seems to be a bed of roses and now tired and weary, I’m longing for some sun and a few more things…

The height of belief

Whatever the problem is, IT has a solution for it!

Slavery to the colonial culture

I have met or seen rather, a very few courageous people who have the nerve to stand up against the rest. In case you’re still thinking what I’m on about it’s once again to the topic of attire. Why shirt? Tie? And belt? Why not our traditional clothes? (not to mention the fact that most people tend to find it unspeakably uncomfortable) Would it mean disrespect to someone if you did wear clothes from a different - am I to say ‘your own’ - culture? What can possibly be so wrong about that?

The Indians on the other hand have my regard. They maintain their traditional costumes at least at special occasions and what’s better is that they are proud of it. Them, living in a foreign land will not necessarily prevent them not dressing up in the clothes which are not worn by the majority.

If only we could stop being so chicken…

How important is outward appearance?

These books that are written with the purpose of motivating another individual by those who consider themselves motivated people never really got around doing any good to me. I can never be motivated by some stupid saying or an article or anything that tries to play with your emotions using the weapon of words. Sometimes these are just about speeding up the growth process.

Coming back to the topic… eh what was it now? Oh outward appearance? Dress? clothes? Attire? Hairstyle? Can we touch on accent? How much does it really contribute to the person you are?

Ok so this is how I see it. If you are leading people at the lower level you need to look pleasant enough to do it. Smartly dressed. Hair neatly combed. Polite. And all that following but see if your leading people who will be convinced more by the person you are than your outward appearance you really don’t have to give a damn about what you look like. First impressions matter and people fight hard to make their first mark but once they get their and prove themselves to the rest, outward appearance really becomes a secondary necessity because people respect you for who you are and not what you wear or look like. So for those freaks who put dress before themselves let me say that you can’t get away just being well dressed and it a takes a lot more to leave your footprints behind.

Case closed!

That’s just the way things are. Accept it or die!

Most people tend to “assume” things because other people don’t open up enough!

Makkah and Madina

Haj is the fifth and most expensive pillar of Islam and therefore is compulsory only for those who can afford it. Umrah on the other hand is Sunnah – meaning not compulsory. I spent one April holiday at Makkah for Umrah. It was a very different and interesting experience. Although we had to keep reminding each other that it was no fun ride but pilgrimage, the whole tour was like refreshing the soul and the mind. And who says that pilgrimage cannot be made fun?

The Ka’bah at Makkah was a lot larger than what I imagined it to be. It took us an average of about 20 minutes to go around it seven times and this depended entirely on the crowd that was there. It was nice to actually see what we were facing when we prayed back at home for decades. I didn’t really like the native people much…. but there, you could find almost all kinds of people – the black, the white and the in between. Some were crippled and some were kings. Never seen a large crowd as that before. There were no differences in the uniform or the performance. It was the same for all. Two pieces of unstitched white fabric for men’s attire and women - covered fully except for face and hands. Children cried while the mothers were in prayer. The trip from Makkah to Madina was long and lovely although most parts of it were dry and covered by camel. Madina was much more beautiful. The weather was cool and almost as peaceful and as calm as the people there – a significant difference from Makkah. Dialog roaming doesn’t work there by the way. The food was great. Mutton was the most common meat. There were plenty of books. You can’t take pictures inside the mosque. (In fact you can’t do that it any mosque). The Zam Zam water was always in plenty. We practically lived on it

Somehow I want to go there again. It’s like I didn’t have enough of it. It wasn’t a very long stay. People always keep recalling their experience there. You probably would never face anything like it anywhere else in the world. Most people, this month, are also flying there for Umrah. Sometimes the total crowd exceeds two million. The little city of Makkah although not as highly developed as the rest of the country, does an excellent job of managing this crowd each year. Hopefully I should be able to see my next visit coming, not very far away, Insha Allah.

Zakat

If you have any savings that have exceeded a year, you have to pay 2.5% of it as Zakat for the poor. There are seven categories of people who are entitled to receive Zakat. Zakat is generally paid during the month of Ramadan because it is said that the reward for good deeds in this month is higher. Zakat is compulsory and is the fourth principle in the religion. It’s a good way of investing in the ‘not so well off’ part of the nation annually. People generally value their gold, land and whatever else they have to set aside a potion for this cause. That’s about it from what I know.

Highlights on Umrah - next time around.

How can one be creative?

Don’t be conventional

There are no assumptions in life

Don’t use past experience or knowledge

Wipe the slate clean

Now think anew

The world would definitely be a better place if...

...there weren’t so many chickens around

Part 2 - Cutlery and culture

This time I was telling them about the importance of punctuality. About how it adds to the person you are just like your attire or communication. I had to tell them something so I told them how people in this part of the world have no respect for the other's time. How they say "I'll be there in 15" but you keep waiting for ages. And somehow I brought in the cutlery and culture issue because I thought it may be good for them to know. When I'm almost done with explaining myself, one student from the back decides to voice out his thoughts - "I don't think we have to practice good time management because it's not our culture"

Watch what you laugh at

At an orientation lecture for the newer batches I was caught in a spontaneous discussion in the use of good language and how rare it is getting. I then see myself getting carried away when the discussion leads to eating with cutlery.

People often tend to look down upon a person who may not be aware of the appropriate usage of cutlery. Is it really something to laugh about? It's a question of culture isn't it? You don't really HAVE to know another culture, do you? You visit a country that has left hand driven vehicles, you simply get yourself trained. You don't have to feel bad about asking someone or telling someone how to use something off a different culture. I'm told (the truth of which I'm not sure) that the fork and spoon evolved as a result of a fast spreading plague in the hands. Myths apart, I feel that there is no need for anyone to be embarrassed about not knowing another culture or even language for that matter. It's perfectly OK not to know and to ask or to find out. If you don't know your chemistry before a chemistry exam you should be shot and laughed at but this? Utterly senseless and worthless piece of fact to make humour of.

Sometimes the best way to deal with people’s reaction is to ignore it

These things drive me crazy

Indians are way ahead. They are leading in most parts of the world – US covered!

Their main mode of study – learn everything and anything by heart. Understanding will come later.

So is intelligence merely good memory?

There are more important thing in life than career and work

I’m trying to figure out what

Youth

What’s the next word that comes to your mind when you hear that word?
Fun?
Yeah youth is all about ‘fun’; or is it?

If you asked the youth of today to define fun, may be they’ll say fun is to wear a ring around the belly button, eyebrow or tongue. They may say fun is to smoke and drink around, playing pool, or cruising around the city in elaborate automobiles, tattoos, money, music, movies or friends to hang out with. They might claim that tinted hair or funky and wacky looking outfits are ‘cool’ or ‘fun’. They might even go to the extent of saying assembling a pc, reading or cyber surfing is also a part of fun.

Whatever they say, youth is not the same for all. Youth has meant different things to different people at different times, societies, cultures and other divisions. If you asked the youth of the 60s and 70s what they thought fun was they’d probably say that bell-bottom trousers, or side-burns, cinemas or even fishing was fun. The youth of most parts of the western half of the world prepare themselves to leave home and live an independent life by the age of 13 or 14 whereas the other - if I am allowed to say ‘better’ half of the world - have mothers standing at the door of the homes if their 20 year old sons were late after an evening out. In the days of the old we have also seen people at the birth of youth preparing themselves for war and greater causes that the youth of today cant even bring close to their dreams. Culture influences youth… no doubt! What else does?

The best part of one's life is youth. Hardly anybody can deny that. It is the time when one is healthy physically, mentally and spiritually. It is the only time when people feel the anxiety of taking the keys into their own hands and cruising around world exploring and discovering themselves and the environment, battling to understand, fountains of conflicting thoughts and ideas, captured by love and torn by disagreement and arguments. It is the only time when you have a lot that you can offer to the world. But really how much can youth offer?

How much of the virtually limitless energy, enthusiasm, bravery and courage is lost in worthless sport, idiotic computer games, challenge-less and other futile and vain time absorbers? How many of the million of sparkling youth sit back and watch and wonder around waiting for the aged or adults to take over. Unconstructive arguments about insignificant issues with parents and elders are the order of the day. It is gradually eating up the youth not allowing them to do as much as their potential permits them to. They are too taken up in the lighter issues of life and their youth is completely wasted and before they even have time to reconsider their doings and habits, youth is already gone - finished - leaving them to face the other responsibilities of life such as providing for the home. The ‘invisible hand’ of Adam smith is left to take over the greater aspects of life and society and no man in his good and conscious mind has contributed any fair share to the world except his mere existence and selfish motives.

Youth have a heavier and more significant role to play today as always. They are able to do a much greater deal than to sulk around over messed up love affairs or get the latest software games installed. The society needs them in much larger ways than they are even aware of. They have to be informed of their role and treated that way too. Overdevelopment of a nation also sometimes stands in the way of advancement and empowering of youth if you know what I mean. Parental domination in our part of the world also inhibits the growth of the capabilities of youth today. Even elders need to be educated and informed that the greater part to be paid to the world is expected of the youth. Elders should be playing the role of facilitators and guides rather than teachers and forceful drivers. Children need to be geared to engineer their way through. I’m not by any means saying here that children and youth should not allowed to be what they are and have their fun engaging themselves in vain and unproductive activity rather the point I’m trying to make is that the youth have capacity to do much more on their own without being steered to. They are the ones that lead the path to a greater cause in the existence of mankind and they must by all means given the opportunity, freedom and facility to do it. All we need to do is to recognise their true potential and ignite the fire within them because if we do that their payment to the success of mankind will be unimaginable.

One rule for life!

Never do anything extra for anyone!

I keep telling myself

I keep telling myself...

"Come on, worse things happen!"

Forgive and live

The smartest people sometimes do the stupidest things

Super mum

It was may be a little over five years ago when I came home from school just like any other day. I never actually cried that night. It still remains as one of the most sorrowful nights of my life.

That night - I could not imagine what my morning would be like. I had never spent a night at home without grownups. I didn’t know if she was going to make it. My heart skipped a beat at the words on the phone call. I could barely follow the instruction given - I had to pack her some stuff, she was being admitted. She was bad –very bad. I lost the rest.

While doing what I was asked to, I was trying to imagine what it would be like without her. She was too young. It was a vision that had never crossed my mind before and I was plagued by it.

When I was sick or in a bad mood I would simply curl up in bed with a long face or pretend to be doing something. But she – no matter how healthy or ill she was she would wake up much before dawn, cook, make breakfast, clean up, send us to school and go to work. There were no servants. She did it all by herself. She never complained. I wasn’t much help either. I even fussed sometimes. She would come up with elaborate spreads of her delicious cooking for visitors from all over the world. What I loved best off her deserts was the creamy chocolate fudge. Often we had overnight visitors and when they ask us if he have enough room, mama would just say “as long as there’s room in our hearts there’ll always be room in our home”. Again – it was all her alone.

I never actually got around telling her how much I love her. As we grew up the habit of giving her a goodbye hug before leaving home, slowly died out just like the bedtime stories and nursery rhymes.

When mama came back home from the hospital I just knew one thing in my heart – she was truly irreplaceable and I would never in my life be able to do all that she did as good as she did it. I never realised how much I had until God knocked on my door.

Today is her birthday. Over weeks, I’ve been thinking of stuff to get her and stuff that I could do with her together. May be we’ll cook something or bake a cake. May be I should tell her how great I think she is. May be we’ll play scrabble or go for a walk. Whatever I do for her, for sure will not be enough to show her my love and gratitude. My mind has no capacity to think of what she’s worth of. I hope the Lord will take care of her just like she took care of us.

Acres of love and mountains of joy

Yeah that’s what she gave me

That’s all that I have

Wonderful advice

Some good spanking once in a while

Sweet childhood memories

And much more to come

To carry to my grave

Thank you so much mama

Just Everybody

Everybody knows something that you don’t

Everybody’s got some sort of vocabulary that he/she does not know how to spell/ pronounce or the meaning of.

Everybody is ashamed of at least one thing

Everybody has something to regret about

Everybody made some big mistake in their life

Everybody has to cry sometime in their lives

Everybody needs a friend

And if that doesn’t make you feel any better

You are not everybody

FAQs

Q: Why are your blogs sad?
A: Sorry no answer

Q: How come you walk so fast?
A: Don’t look

Q: So when’s the big day?
A: Soon

Q: Do you like lecturing?
A: Don’t like to call it that but yeah I love it!

Q: Hey, you hardly smile!
A: I’m saving them! :)) (No actually -lost a tooth, unfortunately)

Q: How do you make mountains off very simple topics in your blogs?
A: Just think about it a little more

Q: What’s the worst thing you ever did?
A: It’s definitely not bad enough to stay in my mind

Q: How much did I get?
A: As much as you deserve

Q: How old are you?
A: As old as I look

Q: Can we have an extension?
A: NO!!!

Q: What’s your favourite batch?
A: The one in which I was :)

Q: Do you like us?
A: (I get really lost here)

Guys, it is not easy being a lecturer so please, please think a little before asking me those questions.

Welcoming Alf to blog world!

Hey people, we have a new comer. He was here about a year ago and then left after some bad experiences. Check him out!

I can’t see

But I’m not blind

I can’t hear

But I’m not deaf

I can’t talk

But I’m not dumb

The Thesaurus

Why waste so many words to say the same thing?

Truly Happy!

There is no greater happiness than making someone else happy....

What next?

The tsunami came and left; tearing our lives apart while at the same time bringing us as a nation together. The oceans discriminated none.

However, if one takes the past few months into consideration, just how many troubles have hit the streets in a span of six to nine months? Starting from Shahrukh Khan’s issue, to rallies to strike after strike disrupting normal human life, standing in the way of whatever little progress there is, causing absolutely unnecessary disputes and pain and worst of all demeaning the status of mankind. You wake up in the morning to realise you cannot make it to work only because whatever simple and ineffective modes of available transport are completely non-functional. Parents send their children to school and wait at the gates with heavy hearts to see that the children arrive safely. People double check the locks of their vehicles to make sure they wont be carjacked or stolen off their dead bodies. A peaceful life of no worries and fears is almost unimaginable to us, leave alone the idea of making a home of your own for the future. It seems that the vicious circle continues destroying the joys and lives of many more generations to come!

Lord, I leave it in your hands as I hear your voice echoing that you leave it in mine!

“Business has become the most powerful institution on the planet. The
dominant institution in any society needs to take responsibility for the whole.
Business, however, has not had such a tradition. This is a new role, not well
understood or accepted. Built on the concept of capitalism and free enterprise
from the beginning was the assumption that the actions of many units of
individual enterprise, responding to market forces and guided by the “invisible
10 hand” of Adam Smith, could somehow add up to desirable outcomes. However,
in the last decade of the twentieth century, it has become clear that the “invisible
hand” is faltering. It depends on the consensus of overarching meanings and
values that are no longer present. So business has to adapt a tradition it has
never been throughout the entire history of capitalism: to share responsibility for
the whole. Every decision that is made, every action that is taken must be
viewed in light of that responsibility.”

WILLIS HARMAN, cofounder of the World Business Academy

The Days… are they completely gone?

The salty wind blows upon my face and I stand there staring at the calm of the ocean, recalling the days when we had to go to school in coloured head scarves in order to hide identity. The days when we had months of vacation only because it was not safe enough to be in school. The days when we were so afraid to leave home because of not being sure of getting back home in one piece. The days when we used to be so scared when a loved one was getting late to get back. The days when we were so scared to be outside home after the clock crossed 6pm. The enormous risk that we took in making trips out of Colombo is almost unspeakable of. The days when we were awaken in the middle of the night to the belief that the entire city was being burnt down. The fear of the unknown and the unpredictable height of crime, misery, death and pain. The days when even the lighting of crackers sometimes seemed like the blasting of a bombs. There was almost nothing to think about or wish for.

When people told me about the 83 riots – the dead bodies in rivers, the vehicles been burnt with people inside them - it seemed to be like something that could only happen in movies but I soon realised that I was wrong. It was more than believable, it was visual. I remember the nights when I used to wake up to the scary images of finding the head of a dead body. I would recall happenings from the newspapers and television.

Right here, right now, I’m actually wondering whether those days are really gone or - like the conversion of energy from one form to another - have they only changed to some from physical and mental trauma to some nameless feelings that lingers in our heads and heart making them heavy with the feeling of nothingness….

Lord, give us a future, save us!

Feeling good

Feeling good about yourself all the time can be bad sometimes and feeling bad about yourself sometimes can be good

Looking at the mirror that will tell you exactly what you are

What is more important than understanding other people, is understanding yourself!

There are two sides to me. Don’t judge me by just seeing only one

It could be too late

Always tell a man good things about him before he dies

Reborn everyday

He is most unfortunate who's today is not better than yesterday

Painting pictures with words

I am no expert when it comes to writing but I put some thoughts down on the spur of the moment for a friend. Thought I’ll share it!

People are sometimes gifted with good language skills (grammar, spelling, vocabulary and punctuation). This is difficult to master for most as we end up not paying attention to detail and tend to focus more on the content rather than the context of what is being said.

As for the writing skills (in terms of composition only) - one significant issue is that of emotion and feeling. You have to make the reader feel what you feel. This is easier to do when it comes to prose. Don't think that hiding your feelings is a smart thing to do. You might say that you write something not for the readers' pleasure but for your writing pleasure alone. Hear this - a feeling is most often momentary; meaning when you read what you have written at a later time, that piece of work should have the power of bringing back exactly what you felt like, when you were writing it.

A few writing tips

• The appropriate use of adjectives is very important. It's like the salt in a curry… too little or too much can ruin the entire dish.
• You have also to strike a balance between mixing long and short sentences. They add colour and variation.
• Some people have the habit of writing drafts and revising many times before publishing. I don't know how effective this practice is. For me I feel that if something doesn't come right the first time, it won't come right at all.
• When you write you must also play with the senses and the sensory memory. Use smell, touch and taste to describe places people etc. eg: He slowly opened his eyes while sensing that bad hospital odor that he always disliked.
• Too much and redundant detail should be avoided. Stephen king often puts me to sleep when he describes every detail of a room or a woman's dress. As I said before, the right amount of description is what matters rather than glamorous and heavy words.
• Your opening sentence must always be a blast. You either lose or keep your reader here. eg: She screamed!
• Most importantly (depending on the subject) you need to either express or not express feeling and emotion.
• Avoid vague ideas: don't have the reader thinking what the hell is he talking abt?
• Finally keep it simple: Mahathir Mohamed may be a great thinker but when it comes to wording his thoughts he sure can reach into your heart by just being simple!

Just let me be

Why do people have to keep comparing you with the better folks, if each one is a unique combination of elements and compounds?

~ EMIT TIME ~

Lord, I ask not for more time in my life
But do please give me more time in a day!

He forgot

He never believed in me

He never said any nice words

He never thought I will ever excel

He would say I was rebellious and incorrigible

He made me feel like nobody

He laughed at my dreams

And frowned at my work

On his death bed he said

“I believed in you, but I never showed it”

“I wanted you to be inspired by your faults and not achievements”

“I wanted you to excel through criticism and not praise”

“I wanted you to never give up on yourself no matter what anyone said”

“I wanted you to find out for yourself rather than me telling you”

“I want you to know now that you are so much more than what you ever thought you were”

He lied

He forgot that I had a heart

Do first impressions really matter?

They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression but tell me, how far does first impression matter?

Have you seen some people who are living proof that first impressions can be so wrong? I have, and trust me, the cover of a book can be soooo misleading!