Bird's eye View

"Swing low, sweet chariot
Coming for to carry me home,
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home."

If you haven't experienced the thrills of the 2003 rugby world cup finals then you wouldn't understand how important that song is to people. During that time I was supposed to study for my A/L exams but we couldn't resist an excellent game of rugby and of course an absorbing game of 'One Bump' cricket with my buddies back in the day. 
Last week I had the privilege of going to Johnny Wilkinson Country a.k.a England. Since I was a kid I was very interested in visiting the country as it had so much history, with people, places and most importantly the buildings. 
I never expected to be in England this soon in my life but I guess it had to be done. The first impression was that, despite the wet, cold, damp nature it is a Pretty country. The architecture is simply mind blowing. People -there were so many of them- were much friendlier that I expected. I had the honour of visiting the Oval couple of times and Millwall football club, which has beautiful inspiring story of working with the community. 
My normal day would involve a lot of walking, this made me go around the city attractions with lovely decos at Oxford street for Christmas, Ofcourse, Greenwich time thing, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace to wave at the Queen - if she had spotted me could've invited for a cup of tea. ;)







Met few friends after along time and managed to catch up over a meal, which was very special because everyone is super busy in London so need some luck to find time.












As I mentioned the place is full of history, the museum simply keeps you "wow" remark consistent for atleast 2 hrs. That's all the time I had for it, I must tell though they've definitely brought the entire countries and cities in their ships to their museum. I'm not kidding!

With the history comes our dearest friend Will, who has his own Globe close to the London Bridge. I managed to grab a ticket to stand and watch 'Cymbeline' for 10 pounds. It was surreal to be inside the globe and a little intimidating. The authenticity was simply astonishing as they only used candles to bring about the effects. I felt so blessed to witness a play in that quality. Guess what! during the break of the play, the lady who ushered me met me and asked whether I'm comfortable where i was standing. And i replied that i was comfortable. Then she explained that there's a lady who wants to go home and wanted to give away her ticket away. i offered to pay but it was an unsuccessful attempt and it was a 38 pound ticket, which i got for free! And Guess what again! it was right infront of the bloody stage - front row seats!! I thoroughly enjoyed the play thanks to her generosity. And I wish I could've taken a picture though.

On the way back in the plane, as I was trying to relax, accommodating the rules of the plane I heard a familiar voice addressing the passengers. This was the voice of the Captain asking everyone to chill and have a good time. Guess what again! He was my uncle! Even though I sent him a message the stewardess couldn't deliver it as she was super busy. However, making a pleasant surprise, he was loafing around the plane and I managed say Hi. Eventually I had the opportunity to have a bird's eye view on the landing, which definitely a result of an extended luck I had. 

All in all, I learned one important lesson after this trip - If you have some luck, "Stretch it"! it can't be that bad.

Super Heroes in the Ordinary World - #2 Crazy Platty

This blog post is about Manesh Jerome Christhumani.
He likes to be known as a Professional Trainer. But to be honest he can be many things - a singer, musician, Preacher, Batsman, keeper, bowler, social worker you name it. For me he's a really good friend, in fact he is one of my best friends.

Our history goes back to the school days when we used to be in the same class. We both did science subjects for our A/L's without a clue on what's going on. That's why we used to hangout with several other friends at Manesh's place - Studying ofcourse ;) We were very focused on passing the exam therefore we visited his place on a regular basis. Anyhow conveniently ignoring the outcome I’d like to mention that none of us were really worried about it.

Even though our lives had different pathways leading to different directions after leaving school, almost all the time you'd find him being very active and very busy. I've never seen him say 'no' to people unless it's food. Despite this hectic lifestyle , Platty (that's what I call him now) and I always managed to find time to hangout.

Platty has many significant qualities, he is genuine, honest, loyal etc. But most of all you cannot ignore his Big Heart. He's one of the most generous people I've ever met. Its sometimes overwhelming to comprehend. When we were in Australia, We did a lot of shopping in K-Mart, I managed to keep my luggage down to 1kg less than the quota but he - had 25kg extra luggage buying gifts for people, over using his credit card. He only bought himself a bag for 2 dollars to take those gifts.

Anyway for me his best quality is his optimism. At one point in my life due to several twists and turns I had very little self esteem, I never believed in myself to do anything. But he saved my life by bringing in some positivity. His simple encouragements inspired me and made me realize I can be at a better place than where I was at that time.  Now, I've become somebody with those humble beginnings.

You may question me, Why is he a super hero? Its simple really, because he has the power to inspire people including myself. Now that is something hard to do.

Super Heroes in the Ordinary World - #1 Super Dad and Super mom

I'd like to indicate that this blog post and the series that falls under this tagline "Super Heroes in the Ordinary world" would be a celebration of the people who've inspired to be a better person in life. So to start up, If I have any innate good quality that I can be proud of, is simply because of my Mom and Dad. They would always be my #1 Heroes.  I'm always thankful for everything that they've done so far and what they continuously do for me.

I can still remember, back in the day when the world produced great music, back in the 80's when my sister was a new born baby, how Dad would wake up everyday for every cry that she would make in the middle of the night. Most of the time, when she was hungry - believe me she cried alot! He would respond to her with a kind gesture. Tirelessly he would go to the pantry to make some milk at this God forsaken time. Back then, even though I couldn't read or write I realized how awesome my Dad was.

My Dad is a rare breed he could sing beautifully complimenting every song he sings. Apparently he used to be a great party animal singing to every neighborhood he would move into. This happened before he met my Mom ofcourse. Now he only gets to sing to my mom. Mom believes its his privilege. ;)

Did I tell you that my dad is a rare breed? Well he is! he could just look into any electronic machine and diagnose what wrong with it just by observing the noise. He has trained so many people to find employment opportunities and to earn a good living including his brother. Unfortunately I have very little knowledge of what he knows best. So its true - "Farmer's son wont always end up being a Farmer" in this case a Technician's son have absolutely no idea about lengthy wires and circuits.

My dad is a very straight forward guy that gets him into trouble all the time, his Kryptonite is his own aggressiveness but all in all he is delicate like a flower. He wont hesitate to help the needy. He would even go to extent of giving his own meal away if required. I've seen that happen plenty of times. I'm different - if I have a tasty meal I wont be as graceful as him, but I’ll try to share.

Super Dad

Now being grand parents, My Mom and Dad still continue to be awesome by giving it all to Rocky. My Dad has become a walking laundry because Rocky poops alot. on the other hand when everyone is dead asleep my mom becomes a walking a jukebox singing to Rocky who wakes up at odd hrs. The commitment of both my Mom and Dad has always overwhelmed me. They'd always be my Super Dad and Super mom.

Super Mom

Right-Wrong Motivation?

Its 1.24 am my time, sitting on my bed writing a blog post having little motivation ofcourse, because I'm on sick leave. I chose not to move around this week, since my illness is contagious and didn't want to spread it around so that people would blame or curse me afterwards.

I was motivated to stay at home because I'm a responsible citizen/ Friend. I was motivated to write this because of the overwhelming FB likes ;) (I wish i am right!)

Likewise people get motivated for so many reason,

for money

for fame

for honour

for pleasure

for food

for love

you name it, people get motivated for all sorts of weird stuff too. But what is really motivation though? 

Motivation is in my understanding, something that drives you, energizers you to perform an action. Some people need external influences and some can self motivate, however the trick is whether you are motivated for the right reasons.

Right and wrong can be very subjective, it differs from person to person, to the situation you are in and your current mentality therefore having a broader perspective will make you a wiser person. A person who can evaluate right from wrong or wrong from right.

Let see this demonstration,

Buddha says , "Mind is everything, what you think, you become"

Prophet Muhammad (swt) says "strive always to excel in virtue and truth"

Bible says "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."

These are three different quotes, but the common factor is that it speaks of the human mind. However, if you label it Buddhist, Islamic and Christian you may only understand it in one perspective, with a narrow understanding but if you combine all these together it says, 

"Mind is everything, keep your heart with all vigilance. what you think you become therefore strive always to excel in virtue and truth, for from it flow the springs of life"

won't it make you a smarter person? isn't it a pretty awesome quote?

Think again - what motivates you?

Awesomeness in the Land Down Under - My Family

It's Pretty strange to be back home, in Sri Lanka. Sitting on the familiar chair wondering what in the blue hell happened for the last 3 weeks. To be honest, It was a life changing experience. 

I can't imagine how it feels so unfamiliar to work with the stuff that I lived with for 30 years. It feels strange, I miss my mattress that I slept on, in Essendon at Larry's place. I miss my home in Melbourne. I fell in love with the place simply because it loved me back, like - a lot! The comfort in the blankets to the warmth in the house itself, living with 4 awesome people made me not miss home back in SL - at all. Now it feels strange to come back.

I miss my Lunket Brother, Manesh aka Platty, the guy who has earned a lot of my respect for being a loyal friend for all these years. From naughty days in schools and even 10 years after, he has simply been awesome. Whenever we have a conversation, he's the only guy who gives me self belief, and then I go "Yes I can!".

I miss my Lunket Sister, Thevuni aka Roo, the girl who is my wing woman. She is the awesomest girl I know. For the good times and bad she has always been in my corner - laughing or crying, It doesn't really matter, because she gives me strength to move forward like Jesse the Eagle ;) well a little better than that I reckon. 

I miss Jasmine, well she'll be here next month so it's an opportunity to hangout and spread some awesomeness around.

Most of all I miss my dearest Larry and  Cynner! I'm truly blessed to have you guys in my life, you guys are too awesome! The hospitality, the warmth and your kindness just blew my mind. It sincerely gave me hope to be a better person. I can still clearly remember the first question that I asked you guys was " where are the people?" because the roads were empty compared to Sri Lanka, but who needs people when Australia has you guys. 

I can also remember when we had Sake one evening - A Japanese Milk, I asked Larry "Aren't you gonna mentor a young guy- with all your knowledge?" well, to be honest you inspire me, your kindness, generosity and people's skills can never be matched with anyone I know of - so if you have a vacancy please do let me know, I'll be honoured. You can be Mr.Miyagi and I can be the Wombat kid. :D

Buddha says, be kind, be generous, be honest, be sincere - your consistency of having these attributes proved to me that people in Sri Lanka have a lot to learn from you guys. Your qualities go beyond any pious Buddhist, Hindu, Christian or a Muslim in this country. The World needs to learn from you. You better be ready!

It feels awesome that this trip to "Harmony week in Australia" happened and it has been two days since it ended, now in my familiar room, its still strange to be back, one question, did you guys cast a spell? or is it just Vegemite?  ;)

This post is dedicated for you - Larry, Cynthia and my Lunket Family - to show my gratitude and to say I love you and I miss you guys a lot.

But (In Arnold Schwarzenegger's Accent) " I'll be back!"

I Hate Politics

I'm an ordinary man, coming from an ordinary family. I never had privilege of benefiting anything from any politician in this country. I had to work hard to get to where I am today. Of course my friends helped me out, they are not politicians either. In fact I work for a youth Movement, I like to call it a an organization that is Apolitical, even though we address a political subject - Reconciliation. I'd like to boast about it a little bit here, yes we do a great job bringing together young people to interact, to make friendships, which is the base of reconciliation. People criticize us for various things, despite the criticism we actually do real work. 

Keeping aside my affiliation to be Apolitical, I'd like to write on behalf of myself, about what I think on the current political situation. I will not be recommending any politician that people should vote for, like the majority, I believe people will vote for the person they want to bring in to power. That being said there are few things to watch out for, you should do your own analysis before you go and vote. I'll be voting based on the following factors as they are top priority for me, also I strongly urge everyone to vote this time around, or any other time for that matter simply because if you fail to do it, someone else will definitely vote - on your behalf. Now that’s a fact. Okay let’s look into the factors I consider,

1. Current political environment - I don't like the fact that people get opportunities just because they are politically affiliated. Majority of the Sri Lankans I know hate politics, so what about them? Is it fair to be less privileged/or experience a double standard just because you don't have a political standpoint or a political angel?

2. The War ended in 2009, do we have Peace in this country? Are we enjoying freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of expression etc

3. Bank Balance - personal experience/reflection, In 1998/99, When I went to school Dad gave me 50 rupees as bus fair. I managed to save 30 rupees everyday and sometimes more. In 3 months I bought my first guitar. But now I have no money as savings. Why? I earn now don't I? But what in the blue hell is going on?

4. Transparency in Politics - Like myself majority of Sri Lankans don't like to be politically affiliated, So we are inclined to ignore subjects like the constitution, parliament budget etc. We think it's not necessary for everyday life. I think its absolutely a questionable attitude, It is mandatory that we understand these terms so that people in power can't fool us. I'm glad this time around general public voice out their opinions freely, also they have the opportunity to seek for the truth through new media. This inquisitiveness should grow for the benefit of the country.

5. Discipline of the politician - I went to a school where students were known for their discipline. This might have worked in my head over the years, however, discipline is key to understand the character of the person. whether he/she is respectful, knowledgeable, loyal etc.

Given these five things, I also believe that politicians are like - really good actors/performers. They make people believe in so many things, however there are few who are relatively honest and respectable. You can pick and choose the good ones out of all the rotten ones. It is not an easy task, its definitely a challenge. There's no time to be ignorant, you simply have to do it yourselves.

Today we are in crunch time, cannot ignore the fact that the entire nation depend on our votes to elect the right person to lead this country for the next five to six years. So do your duty, make your vote count. Be vigilant, you have the power to decide - Don't make people take that away from you. Be wise. I hate politics but Sri Lanka is home and my family,  so I will vote.