My eyes - I can’t believe.

I was up late the past few nights, just thinking and absorbing what was happening around. It’s so depressing. What’s making it terrible is that unlike murder, war and crime - there is no one to blame.

Our motherland has been massacred by the uncontrollable forces of nature. As people slowly wipe away their tears and pick up the pieces to start over, we struggle to keep our aid efforts high and flowing not just for a few weeks and months but in the long-term as well.

We never pause a minute to appreciate the wonders of Mother Nature around us. The water cycle, the food pyramid, the planet rotation, the setting and rising of the sun, the seven layers of the atmosphere – how well it has been planned and designed. But the moment a disaster such as this occurs we all go around bad mouthing the terribleness of what has occurred. Man is so ungrateful. We have taken everything around us for granted so much that it takes such a large disaster to occur; for us to appreciate details that have been made for us. A little thing going wrong in the middle of the Indian ocean and such a terrible tragedy.

Our close relations and loved ones lost their lives last Sunday. They were on vacation A little boy of three was the only one saved from his family of five. There are so many such children wondering about crying for a lost mother or father or a sibling. I now keep thinking of those homeless folks, orphaned children – lost and deserted waiting for a grain of rice or a decent toilet to go to. I keep thinking what if we were chosen instead of them – in a place that cannot be reached, night after night and day after day waiting, waiting and only waiting...

The phone lines are always busy - from consoling loved ones to face their loss, to organizing helicopters to the lands which have no roadways. My heart hurts at the thoughts. People are dropping their stuff here to be given to relevant authorities. When I look at it, tears come to my eyes. Our brothers and sisters - all those dear people suffering from this - our prayers are with you and we are doing our best to reach you. Our friends from abroad are sending over whatever they can. We feel your pain too. Don’t loose hope… Hang on with whatever you have. Let us be patient and Better times will come soon, Insha Allah. Every time it rains there also is a rainbow somewhere that we often don’t notice. And we shall smile again…

Today there’s no salt in the markets, the fishmongers are struggling to make a living, disease and infection are spreading rapidly, there’s a shortage of stocks for medicine, the secondary effects of the quake are awakening. How important little things can be. Never should we ever take such details for granted. My dear friends and family though we may have made mistakes and even had arguments about various issues in various matters, let us remind ourselves that we at this time must join hands in this joint national effort. I guess we were all too emotionally involved to think correctly. Now as we wipe away the tears and bandage the wounds and pick up the pieces to start over for a new Sri Lanka the mind slowly takes over from the heart…

Why laugh at Language errors?

English is a very complicated language with entirely exaggerated grammar rules that are not even uniform to all words and sentences. For example why is ‘laugh’ and ‘plough’ spelt similarly but pronounced entirely different? If the ‘I’ is before ‘E’ except when following a ‘C’ when the sound is “ee” then why is “Being” spelt the way it is? A word such as orphan has such a complicated spelling when it could have simply been spelt as “Orfan”. Why do most words have silent letters? If the letter is silent, why have it at all? Just imagine how much ink and paper would be saved if we spelt “psychology” as “sycology” and “Physician” as fizician? How easy English would be. How do you “read” the word ‘lead’. “He batted well” but what about “cutted”? Why is “ch” different in “chocolate” and “Christina”? I could think of millions of crooked and looked examples but this post isn’t about the impossibility of changing English it is rather about possibility changing our selfish selves.

It’s perfectly alright if we Sri Lankans make mistakes in our English. After all we are expected to study in Sinhala or Tamil medium and then suddenly expected to change over to English at tertiary education level. However it is agreed that we must work hard at preserving our national languages. Our national languages are our identity and pride and we must do our best for it. It must be compulsively thought in every school. After all – English will survive what’s so ever. English is definitely important. Many multinational companies function in English. The World Wide Web is in English. Many programming languages use English syntax. The point about this post is that we need not be ashamed of making grammar, spelling and pronunciation mistakes when we write and read and we must not be afraid to speak it. People will laugh but it is through mistakes that we can learn. There is no prestige in being able to speak well the international language. It is not a language of the posh and the famous. Why do we think of it like that?

In many countries English is spoken in totally pathetic ways. Those people’s mistakes are often accepted may be due to the colour of their skin or the money in their pockets or God knows whatever else. Our society is so cruel to laugh at us. Everyone has the right of communication and we all have our own faults to look at and correct before pointing fingers at others – three fingers definitely point back at you. Do not find fault and laugh about others – they may not have been blessed as much as you. As the saying goes… ask a question and you’re a fool for a minute, don’t ask and you’ll be a fool forever. So let us please exploit this language incorrectly or not in whatever ways or means. Let us not be a slave to our pride.

Facts about friends

We often see people forwarding soppy mail about friendship everyday. I wonder why. If friends are so important and so precious do we really need to be reminded about each other’s value? Isn’t it crazy? Why not we limit our mailing to things that are really worth reading about? Email isn’t to waste our time; it is, to save it instead. The time spent on getting rid of junk mail may be reduced if we did give some thought about what we send our friends and colleagues. Anyway here are a few TRUE facts about friends.

Friends are the ones who
are NEVER to busy to help
When you feel sad they feel sad too
They may not admit you’re a friend until you call in sick one day and they miss you like crazy.
A friend never admires or praises you….
if it’s not the truth.
He/she tells you exactly what you and your family is
You argue very often with a friend
His/her opinion counts
You buy a new outfit, and you like to know if he/she likes it too
Giving is the best... sharing is Better! You share rather than give…
You can share almost anything except boy/girl friend and You don’t really want the bigger piece
You can be a kid… and he/she is not going to say ”stop acting like a child”
You can trust him/her with your deepest secrets.
You can read your journals together
You don’t have to be scared about confessing
You can always easily say sorry and make up after a fight
You forgive each other even if it’s hard at times
You can tell what the other person is thinking
You can go out together even if you are broke
They get jealous sometimes but they don’t show it. They are happy for you in spite of it.
You can be a really bad singer but he/she will still listen.
You feel so free that you can’t even tell when he/she is a friend
You can visit anytime
You can give a gift that’s not very expensive but still full of feeling.
You could look him/her in the eye and say “Hey buddy, I think I like you” and they wouldn’t get the wrong idea.
No matter how far they are, they’d always call.
If she/he asked you to sing for him/her, you would even if you are not in a mood to.
If he/ she left a message on your answering machine you WILL call back no matter how late or tired.
If you say to a friend that you are not going to a party coz he/she is not coming, you MEAN it.
If you tell your friend to go fly a kite you mean it and he/ she gets it that you are pissed.
He/ she never gives up on you
When you’re sad, he/she might fool around and make you angry only because feeling angry is a lot better than feeling sad

Every member in your family and classroom and work places can achieve this status. It is especially important to be friends with the people at home – siblings and parents. Achievement is realized by doing tasks that are challenging. And it is indeed challenging to make friends with the ones that we think that we love every day and night but not really sure.

F – Faithful and free
R – ready for anything
I – invaluable
E – Everlasting
N – Never giving up
D – Devoted till death

This list is getting too long. I’m sure there’s much more that I cannot think of coz I’m so sleepy now but if these characteristics are present in the ones you associate with…you’re lucky and YOU SURE GOT A FRIEND!!! It is however very hard to find all of the above characteristics present in one person, the objective should be to adjust and correct a few details here and there. This is way longer than I expected it to be.

The Season!

The long awaited vac is finally here and it sometimes makes me realize how much people at work become a part of your family as much the ones at home. Friends are the family you choose for yourself. Happy holidays and hope some of us who have work at home will enjoy it and get it over with. I wish time will slow down a bit just like I keep wishing for all those things that will never happen. Hope is what holds the heart together! Anywayz have a good holiday and remember to bring back something to talk about!
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UNKNOWN!

Ok so recent research and discovery shows that only 9% of the human is visible to the human eye. Of course I heard this from a source of which the reliability level I’m not entirely sure of. However this means that most of what we see, hear and think is not exactly what it is. It may mean that we only see a fraction of time and what is beyond is unknown and also that even the universe is a fraction of what it actually should be. Why are so many things left unknown? And why is man so slow to find out that he does not know. Learning stops the moment you think you know! The fact is there is nothing that we know. There are always more than two sides to a coin. Two plus two is twenty two and not four. So what’s the whole point in teaching and learning various sciences. Aren’t we like conning to ourselves? How pathetic? The only option is to go on with the world because if you try to stop and make a noise then friction happens and everything goes against you. It’s silly and it’s stupid and it’s also way too crazy for the sensible minds in us!

The Vote of Thanks

I'm putting this up for some people who requested me to do so...

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Ladies and Gentlemen…

As the curtain falls on yet another memorable event at APIIT, the institution which made us change from students fighting deadlines to professionals ready to face competition in our respective fields, my heart is heavy and my mind runs down the memory lane.

Our freshmen year at APIIT, the syndicate rooms, parties, debates, charity work, matches and music are milestones which have all contributed towards making us useful citizens and well trained professionals of this country. We leave them behind and enter a world of competition perhaps to get lost in the corporate battle field and never to meet some again. Some will be entrepreneurs as we have already seen, some will be corporate VIPs, and others will be academics and researchers. No matter where they will be they will shine because of APIIT.

The end of one marks the beginning of another.

When we are at the threshold of our professional lives after the convocation this evening, it gives me immense pleasure to express the heartfelt appreciation of the graduates of 2004, to all those who made this day a reality unique and memorable.

Our Chief Guest, Professor Mendis, we are indeed thankful for your presence here and for a very inspiring address given by you, sir. Your words of encouragement will undoubtedly motivate us to reach for greater heights.

Professor Peter Reynolds - Director of the International Office, Staffordshire University has honoured all of us by gracing this occasion despite his busy schedule. I thank you for being with us today and sharing our joy.
Ms. Liz Hathaway -Faculty Head of Partnerships, and Mr Glyn James - Faculty Partnerships Administrator, both of the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Technology, Staffordshire University, thank you for being a part of our convocation. Hope you will have an opportunity to enjoy our sunny beaches and some traditional curry while you are here.
APIIT Malaysia which I had the good fortune to visit a few months ago, has always been a source of encouragement and support to all of us staff and undergraduates alike, and today I’d like to extend our thanks to Mr. Gurpardeep Singh of APIIT Malaysia for being here for us. I also extend a special thank you to Dr. Parmjit Singh, Managing Director of APIIT Malaysia though he is unable to be with us this evening.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Now I reach closer home.

There is a special group of pioneering personalities whom I wish to thank, this evening. They have worked quietly behind the scenes providing us with the opportunity and the environment to acquire knowledge to suit the demands of the 21st century. APIIT Lanka has become the benchmark for standards and facilities for undergraduate education in Sri Lanka because of their vision, dedication and commitment.

Ladies and gentlemen lets give a big hand to Mr Osman Kasim, Chairman of APIIT Lanka, Mr. Aboo Yusoof and all other Directors of APIIT Lanka, our former CEO Dr. Ifthikar Ismail and the present CEO Dr. Pitigala-Arachchi, for providing us this opportunity for excellence.

A very special thank you to Mr. Rakitha Wickramaratne, a key figure of the Alumni for all the assistance rendered. Industry representatives and well wishers we thank you all for your presence to make this day truly memorable.

My fellow graduates, we are today the proud owners of a degree. It is a privilege to have our degrees awarded by the prestigious Staffordshire University. This could not have been possible without the hard work of our dedicated team of lecturers, administrative and support staff.

Academic members of the faculty, you have certainly done proud the noble profession. Your deadlines, dedication and attention to detail seemed like the rock of Gibraltar then. All the sweat and tears have borne fruit and we hope that we did you proud too. Thank you my dear lecturers and each and every member of the non academic staff for your care and dedication for teaching us to face the real world with competence as well as confidence.

This evening I wish to pay a special tribute to an angel among us. She received her degree posthumously. On behalf of the family of APIIT we pray that she reaches the highest level of heaven and that the earth rest lightly upon her. I refer to none other than Pariza Jaliel who left us so suddenly and so young. Mr. and Ms. Jaliel, your grief is ours too. She will remain evergreen in our hearts throughout our lives. Though words are no consolation, our prayers are always for her.

Finally my dear friends I wish to dedicate my career and thank some people for whom our success will always mean much more than what it is to us. Thank you my dear parents and all other parents, our brothers and sisters whose tears of joy will flood this auditorium today. Our achievements would not have been possible if not for the love, care, understanding and sacrifices made by our parents and the family in order to give us the opportunity to read for a degree at APIIT. We will not fail in living up to your expectations. APIIT has taught us that.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I also wish to thank many others who’s names are too numerous to mention but have contributed in many ways to make the events of this evening a success. Forgive me if I have missed out any of your names in spite of making tremendous contributions to our achievements. It is not intentional. Thank you one and all once again for all kinds of everything and much more.

Congratulations and good luck to the graduates of 2004!

God bless.

Good Night to all of you!

With the help of my beloved dad!