The measure of a civilization is not measured by how tall its buildings of concrete are.

As engineers we have been practicing  our trade with the mindset that development is measured with increase in the number of  things our civilization can take for granted. But little by little every discipline of engineering is realizing  the truth in this ancient Native quote, that

"...the measure of a civilization is not measured by how tall its buildings of concrete are, But rather, how well its people have learned to relate to their environment and fellow man." ~ Sun Bear of the Chippewa Tribe ~

And I am working to be a part of it. I don't just want to, I feel like I need to.

Love from me to you...My Soldiers. My Heroes.

From the time I was a mere child of about 6 or 7 years old, my parents used to say I had an inexplicable admiration for the soldiers of Sri Lanka. I remember never failing to wave to each and every single soldier we passed by on Baudhdhaloka Mawatha; while on the way to school, and seeing a quizzical smile light up their faces as they waved back to a a beaming little school child.

There was this one time, when we had a former-trooper as as security guard in our housing scheme and as I recall he was trying to learn English little by little and develop himself enough to get a stable job elsewhere. So I can still vaguely remember teaching him all the English I knew as a 6-year old i.e the English Alphabet. I did this for a couple of my summer-holiday-mornings as I played outside while my grandma did the gardening and what's more is that I even tested him each morning to assess how good a student he was. I was so fond of him I was a bit upset for awhile after he left services as our security guard.

Then there were the times my parents used to joke around that in my previous birth I must have been in the army, because:

1) I didn't use to sit on chairs and sofas to watch TV, instead I used to lie down on my stomach on the floor with my elbows to the ground and watch, little realizing how much it resembled how my soldiers silently spent most of their time on the battleground.

2) I used to faint at the sight blood. Still do.

3) My favorite childhood song was Ran Malak Lesa. I used to sing along to it and watch the video every time I used to catch it while my parents watched TV. I recently found the link on YouTube and thought I'd post it here to treasure it and keep: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDPW0KonYo0

All the anecdotes aside, this is a post just to express how grateful and in love with I am for all those brave souls who put our country and all its children ahead of their own lives. I don't know how you did it,  but I respect you. I don't think I would have ever been able to convince myself to do so and where would we all be if nobody was as courageous as you. Despite the end of The War, remember that you are still loved, you are still very-much needed, so keep fighting the good fight to help maintain Peace and build community. Never fear or be discouraged for we are behind you, always.

No it's not all just talk and no action. As a schoolchild, our Interact Club visited, entertained and provided care packages for some of the Sri Lanka Military serviceman residing at the Ranaviru Sevana, Ragama. I hope to do more whenever I can afford to. Just as an idea, I know that my mother had sponsored a child of a Soldier during the war and so if you want to do so as well, do it. Even though the War is over, these children sometimes don't get much time with THEIR own blood and OUR heroes, so make them feel like they're cared for just like their parents care for us.

*Insert photograph. Yet to capture a beautiful moment with soldiers and a bunch of happy children looking up to them *

Sincerely,
Your Valentine.

Star-struck Kind of Love?

"Stars...They've been walking hand-in-hand with humankind for millions of years. Yet even if it is the one millionth gaze at the night sky, humans are too mesmerized by it to consume enough of it. Most of us want a love like that, but alas, how many of us will actually get that."

Yet to photograph the starry sky in Sri Lanka and title it "The Stars We Walk among in Sri Lanka."

In Memory of Children Lost to a "Warring" Mother-Lanka

Yes, the pun was intended. We were all children born to a Mother who was caught in the middle of what was going to be a long 30-year war amongst her children. I am writing this at this moment in time, because I recently remembered  a bomb blast that took place 7 years ago on the eve of independence day. I am writing to awaken minds once again to all that we lost just from ONE out of several bomb blasts our Mother has endured. I am writing so that we all work together as one, to never let our Mother fall into a state where she will see such horrifying things again.

February 3rd 2008- Fort Railway Station Bomb-blast

A pair of blind parents lost the light to their eyes,
A wife lost her loving husband,
A toddler never got to create any memories with her father,
A sibling lost their first friend,
A family lost its breadwinner,
A schoolchild lost their classmate,
A baseball team lost its players and its coach,
A school lost a handful of its brightest students,
Every child  lost a part of their childhood a little bit too early,
A Nation lost youth that would've one day polished even brighter this Pearl of a Country.

We remember you all and our hearts go out to you my innocent friends. We can still feel at our fingertips, the crippling effects of  the gaping holes left behind in the fabric of life after the war. What is a war? What is a war when we ultimately reconcile in order to co-exist in harmony. Is it just like a poker game, except instead of chips, you dole out human lives until one side regains their conscience and realizes what they're fighting for is not worth the humanity its slowly losing?
People may have different views on wars and their significance, but what I want to beg of each and every individual is, never allow any altercation to get as far enough to let our future generations see again such awful things as we saw in our childhood.

I wonder how many tears of joy our Mother would've cried by now if only these beautiful souls got to live to see the light of day. We all lost so much just from this SINGLE war-time bomb blast in the heart of Colombo. But our Mother, she has felt the excruciating pain of many many more losses  from all corners of the country, be it North, South, East or West. I am glad this war is over and I salute the tri-forces, but let us not see another one. Make our Mother proud, she deserves it after all we've put her through.

Photo courtesy of NCM Lanka

Thank you,
Child born to a War.

January 8th 2015
"The day a nation won independence by wielding the power of inter-dependence. We did it once before on the 4th of February 1948, so let us continue to do so."

 #ONESriLanka

"Nationalities, Religions, Races, Languages, Gender Identities and Sexual Orientations, were never created to be constraints in life. Explore, Embrace and Engender ONE World. It's about time now." - Senuri Jayasekara

Independence day? The 67th independence day? We did endure close to a decade of oppression that we couldn't fight for our independence from, but finally, yes
we made it together as a nation to a day of absolute independence. Independence that would somehow one day nurture Sri Lanka to a state of everlasting democracy. Democracy that would somehow one day nurture Sri Lanka to be once again the most brilliant Pearl of the Indian Ocean.