To our Sri Lankan Cricket Team...

Dear Sri Lankan Cricket Team,

During an era where shitty politics was an ice breaker at boring parties, where every news headline was about a number of soldiers killed by LTTE, where people were scared to go by public transport not knowing whether they will get down alive.... Sri Lankan Cricket happened... changing the lives of millions of people who had forgotten to celebrate a victory...

On this day 16 years ago, roads were empty, shops were closed, everybody were somewhere to watch the match which every Sri Lankan knew that will be a win. A heart beating, nail biting moment and with a ton of unbelievable level of confidence. The 17th March 1996 was a day when victory stood still and when champions were born... A fairytale was re created...

From Arjuna a fearless cool captain to Mahela the best captains with courageous breed of cricket have come a long way with ups, downs, disappointments, tears and smiles... Cricinfo become the home page to many pc’s, TVs are switched on in offices, crowd in front of every singer mega or abans and empty roads are proof to hopeful Sri Lankan hearts awaiting another fairytale...

After every match there are hundreds of status updates on facebook... We may give different opinions on how Mahela could have changed the bowlers, criticism on how upul tharanga could have batted, accusations on Malinga for match fixing, enormous love for Nuwan Kulasekara or hating Chamara Kapugedara for all its worth still display the belief we have towards a team we always loved... the hopes of winning another game with dignity just like we used to back in 1996...

Losing a match still can ruin our day, winning a match can still make us look like idiots smiling stupidly the next day after a thrilling win...you have been our source of inspiration for the past few decades, a reason to unite us as a nation, made us smile during some of our darkest days in history... we want you to win again & AGAIN like you did on a day like today 16 years ago... we want mind blowing batting, magical bowling, heart throbbing victories many more years to come...

It is okay to lose, but play with grace and dignity which will overshadow the win... we will still be there in the crowd filled with flags, blue t-shirts with bongos and drums, filled with off key baila singing, yelling till our throats taste blood to the last ball because for us its much more than just a game... Because it will convince us that Sri Lanka can be greater than what every politician promised, it will give us power to believe in belief which will defeat probabilities...

We demand fairytales everyday because we believe that you can do it again.... !!!

Awaiting another day like today, to celebrate as champions again,

from :

a fan who will never up ;)

Ronique - a place where hearts overruled minds....

The first teacher, the first class, the first friend… the first’s will always leave that special footprint in our hearts… also a first job….

Ronique....69..., ward place.…. purple…… orchids… the big white coloniel house…. wooden stairway… fingerprints… soo many memories… so much of life and love which flowed by to forget…

It was not just a job for most of us…. it was a dream of one person which everyone of us shared… a baby of one person of all of us try to nurture… a wish we all wished for and a belief we all had faith in…

Its just like yesterday, the good old days of getting updated on missed episodes on teledramas, gossiping about bosses while displays…. eating ashani’s toast in mornings….. fights between himaya and arosha….., niranjan’s classic tie collection….. eating anuradha’s lasgna…. make up orientations for me and gail by malika and anuradha….

Marketing meetings…., ashani’s daily presence in our room to come in and scold how loud the department was atleast twice a day…. somaratne’s crush on anuradha…., fights between finance and marketing followed by a stressed out katty….., sessions of teaching Katty Sinhala slang…., singing in marketing room when shamilal is not in office…., gail’s dancing lessons…., crazy birthday surprises…loong lunch hours which annoyed shamilal... spying and stalking... GOSSIPPING.... ;)

Launches at Lady Hilton…. launches and launches… Little Ronique…. MITHUN who introduced bribing to work and who became one of the women…. daily drama at designers room… a confused naughty kasun, a mischievous laughing warna a yelling himaya everyday was a cherry on the cake for us… (ohhh plus the red underwears)

Grand arrival of toby who I thought was the love of my life…. Avurudu ulela where Niranjan became “Avurudu Kumaraya” and how Kanchana got scolded by Somaratne for carrying away a board :P

The looks on faces when Himaya got a huge paper weight during Secret Santa …. when Mithun got a plastic bunch of roses for Secret Valentine and a letter by shamilal to Chandrani which we were all dying to read but never got a chance…. When shamilal realized we stole his blue couch… :P

Kanchana my first boss who taught me punctuality... made me watch world news because i didnt know who Condaliza Rise... I go prepared and on time for any meeting is the scolding I got from him… and the training, the confidence and trust he had in me keeps me going even today…

Shamilal, NOT my first boss but my favourite boss….. taught me ABC’s in marketing…., he was a brother I never had …. Not many bosses will be shell shocked when you cry and sweetly do something to cheer you up… he will always be the best boss anyone could ever ask for…

The reason I joined Ronique will always be Kanchana, my first boss…. But the reason I stayed for two and a half years will always be Shamilal….

Dear Ronique,
joining you will always be the best decision I made….,
you gave me
my first job which made me dream beyond boundaries….,
the best teacher I could ever wish for, an inspiration to last a lifetime…
the best boss I could ever ask for…
a brother whome I can wake in the mid night on a random day and jabber nonsense with… (mithun this is u :P)
a sister who forgets I exist….. (most of the time :P )
a lifelong friend whom I can count on for a hug when im feeling down….
i owe you for everything i've become today....

Today we all have moved on…. working hard to live our lives…. for what we still believe in … its never going to be the same… but we knew despite everything one day it will be a memory to look back and smile…
and today it makes me smile looking back at the
Great times
Fights….
Laughter, ball fists, banging on tables and screaming….
Messed up plans to tensed meetings....
Anger, Disappointments and Drama….

My home away from home for two and a half years…. an extended family I will always love…. the place which taught me that a career is not a job… the moments I spent will always stay a part of me….those days will always make me smile.... when i feel tired, sad and think i have no strength to go on....i think of the times i had at a place where beauty transcends time to make me alright….

In a world where fake people, lies, drama, backstabbing exist....in a world where values were measured only in rupees and cents....in a world where minds overruled hearts and souls..., so much love was shared... so much of memories existed... and still does...

coz
Ronique was a place where hearts overruled minds.... :)

pacheee......

Here I’m writing as promised on ur birthday…. Sweetie ur full of soo much of action and drama…. A note would be an understatement, I would have created an entire soap opera like “Praveena” if I had a sponsor to back me up with…… :P

The Carefree….. Naughty….. Tom Boy…
Your hair was like a helmet on a head, so we used to call it helmet cut,until you convinced us that it was Shah Rukh Khan’s hair cut in dilwale dulhaniya lejayenge LOL… because of u jabbering about him soo much, I started liking SRK (and now u dont like him because he is by ) you were one of the most kiddish annoying ones to be around with…. You used to draw tippex on our hands in class, again Hoshala was the innocent victim coz I drew on ur hand from the pen when u did that…. U used to sneeze loudly in class and once the entire class got scolded from 3K coz of that…. u dragged us when it rains to the corridor so we could do “dekho barish ho rahi hai” and run when a teacher passes by….
U used to know every dance step of Shah Rukh Khan and we had a time when we couldn’t stop you from dancing for “chaiya chaiya” in Kotmale during the trip…. Ur laugh was so infectious when u start giggling u make everyone around u join in…. u were rude and used to laugh at all of us all the time…. When nips ate all our food, when hoshala gets into a backstreet boys mood or maybe at a class monitor…. also when 3K’s dentures popped out while scolding the class… Remember the day I got slapped? Everyone were too shocked to do anything but stare u were the first to start laugh out loud…..

“Queen of my heart”, the pretty thing that every guy wanted to date…… ;)
I am soo tempted to write the list of admirers and the stories around….. but since its like attempting suicide I shall just highlight in point form…. ;)
Remember the guy who wrote on the walls of Shakthi “queen of my heart” :D
Remember the guy who came running to talk to u with polished shoes mesa dekak and banku dekak peralagena…
Remember the guy who drew a portrait of you on ur birthday….
Remember the guy with super pink lips…….. :P
Remember the guy who gave u a puppy? The one who drove behind u all night……? (sorry babes he will always be my favourite)
Remember the guy who was looking like Dino Morea? I truly thought he would be the one for u….
Weird Chinese guys…..
and then the pilot….. :D
Well technically, u had athletes, engineers, doctors, artists, bankers, designers etc……. and pilots :D

“pachi ge idala idala daivaye liyawila inne ara cheena kola da danne naa neda?” – Nipunika Solangaarachchi (sorry pachee I had to quote this… btw his name is Tyron)

Strong… determined…. Powerful London chic….
You reached into a new life when you were in London alone…. U believed in yourself, you fought for what u believed in, you struggled, you survived….

“Some things in life doesn’t come in golden platters, at times like that, we are left with our heart, soul determination along with a strong will power to carry us through all… if we can listen to our heart and walk towards our soul….., we can survive….”

I was and will always be proud of you for how you’ve walked through these months in your life with dignity and strength….. it was hard and it always will be to look back, but I know you will look back one day and smile at that phase in your life which made you stronger….
The tears, the pain…. the trauma …. will be ur biggest strength one day…..,
and then u can smile and say “it was worth the pain”….. and u will…., that’s my promise to u….

“she has a heart so good, every time she listens to it she ends up falling in trouble….”- Akila Kodituwakku

The Impatient Reckless woman who carries her heart in her sleeve :p
You coming back to Sri Lanka made us happy, and finally all my favourite people were back in the country… Babes you are the most reckless driver iv ever seen, the violent, careless woman who gets what she wants one way or the other….. I wanted to kill you that day when you drove all over Colombo till 4pm to find that restaurant to stalk “you know who”

“paaluwa okkoma makune pachi lankaawata awama thamai” – Nipunika Solangaarachchi

You taught beauty tips and grooming techniques to Nippa, (well you had to scream to make her do all those….. :P) (well aki and I are yet to practice things u taught us, neda aki?) Mostly…u taught me how to follow my heart and not give a damn about what the world say….to fight for what I believe in… and to STALK PEOPLE :P

“Pachee is not like a friend, she is more like a little sister who needs to be protected…., I always think “pachee ko? Monawa karagena da danne naa….”
- Hoshala Rajapakse

“Being with pachee is just like going on a wild crazy drive, just like when she is in the driving seat…. I’m tensed, I’m worried, I’m practically praying…. till she reaches a destination…., im not sure where she will turn, when she will break or when she will reverse…. :p“
- Nipunika Solangaarachchi

“she has been there for me, to thread my eyebrows, to go dancing, to sleep, to cook..….. she is so close to me and a part of my life…. im always looking out for her coz I don’t know what on earth she will be upto…. im proud of what she is today”
- Akila Kodituwakku

Pacheee…….,
I’ve never seen any other woman who stops to look at a “hot pair of alloy wheels” and with such a cleaning disorder…. (I know my room is a mess and THANK YOU for cleaning it on a weekly basis :)
You are very impatient u drive me mad, extremely unpredictable that every time I get a call from you I think “oh god I hope she is ok” you are one of the most caring and loving women I’v ever seen, you don’t give 100%, you give 200%..... and u expect same from the ones u love….
You carry your heart in your sleeve, so honest and true to yourself that you get yourself into a huge mess… u kick me randomly while sleeping, you poke me and wake me up when u want to talk about “ahem” and u stress me out so much I need a redbull if I spend two days with you at a stretch….
You are the best example of who knows how to screw situations in grand royal style….. :P and you are also the best example to follow your heart too much and end up in shit…. and the best example to follow your heart despite all blames you get to unscrew situations you screwed up by mistake… (the best quality I see in you and I will always be proud of you for going that extra mile to make an apology…. and fix back things you broke accidentally )

You are wild, you are crazy… too much to handle…. and should be handled with care…. Highly inflammable and explosive… and needs to be handled with caution….

You are one of my most favourite people in this whole world…,
One of the best gifts I could ask for,
I feel blessed to have you as a part of my life…. (although you give me heart attacks and shocks every two days)
Being with you makes me stressed….., makes me mad….. makes me happy and makes me MYSELF….
I will always be there beside you like I’ve always been, no matter where you wanna go…. (since we’ve been to hell a couple of times, preferably anywhere else)
From ironing my hair to cleaning my room, from watching stupid hindi movies to dancing to tamil songs….. from talking about old crushes to stalking men who haunt us…
you have been,
THE BESTEST BEST FRIEND i could ever ask for…..
I love you a lot…… (just saying : incase u haven’t realized it)

"what if..."

Letters to Juliet, Cliche it is, but moved me....

haze quoting the letter from Sophie to Claire to u.... go follow ur heart :)

"'What' and 'if' two words as non-threatening

as words can be....

But put them together side-by-side and they

have the power to haunt you for the

rest of your life....

'What if?..... what if?..... what if?

I don't know how your story ended....

But I know that if what you felt

then was true love then

it's never too late....

If it was true

then

why wouldn't it be true

now?

You need only the courage to

follow your heart...

I don't know what a love like that

feels like...

a love to leave loved

ones for,

a love to cross oceans

for...

but I'd like to believe if I

ever felt it....

I'd have the courage

to seize it , Claire....

And if

you didn't, I hope one day that you

will....

All my love,

Juliet"

Dearest Nippa…. (How the brown haired girl I hated so much became my best friend )

Ok here im writing again inspired by how u guys motivated me to write when I complained about bed resting for I don’t know till when…

And since pachi gave me permission to write about Nippa first, here I go…..

Dearest Nippa…. (How the brown haired girl I hated so much became my best friend… )

Can u believe its just 17 more days to go? And a new beggining of your life is gonna start… damn… we are not kids anymore, hold it… we are growing old aren’t we…. :P

I still can remember this tall brown haired girl in school, (grade 3 we were I think) who was standing in front row with socks upto her knees… “we are not allowed to wear socks like that” I wanted to come and tell you… then I thought “maybe teachers are favouring her because she has brown hair”

Then few months later, u joined our school van… you were LOUD… I was horrified, how can be a person so loud… ? I wasn’t the loudest anymore… remember how we had to wait outside school till the van came pickin those slutty Lindsay girls? Once I asked you to hold my water bottle till I tied my shoe lace… that’s how we became friends….

But not for long!!!! Soon there were two teams in the van, one for u and one for me….

We were forced to sit next to each other in the van… last seat, last row…. Remember? i had gotten a new suitcase to take to school (for some crazy reason that was in fashion those days) and the next day u bought the same….. u copied me!!!!!! and the very next day…., I bought a different bag…. Hmpfffff…….

17 more days darling…. I’m excited… for u….hold it, im elated!!!! U should lose that double chin soooon, I agree with aunty on this, take my braces that ll help you starve in style like I did ;)

I couldn’t believe my eyes when we became class mates in grade 9…. The seat next to you was the only one vacant so I had no choice… I thought “crap…..” Didn’t realize it was fate back then….. but now I know it was ;-)

it didn’t take us long to fight again….

U ate all my food… !!!!

u liked Nick Carter!!! Nick??? How could someone like that mushroom haired pumpkin faced guy??

u told me Steven Gately was GAY!!! How could u ever……… say that??? (well you were right and I was heart broken later….. )

Remember that awful fight we had in the middle of the class? Anurika miss had to settle it… I was annoyed and u were outrageous….. the entire class laughed out loud…. I changed seats… and sat next to Hosh and Pachi…

And that’s when I became best friends with pachee…. (now that’s a another story :p)

Its less than 3 weeks….. and ur gonna get married!!! it was one of my dreams.… to see u as a bride next to the man u love….

Grade 10 trip to Kotmale was one of the most unforgettable trips…. apart from me getting slapped (that’s a different story again) that’s when we became enemies to best friends… During the camp fire, remember Anurika miss came and dragged us together in middle of the bon fire and said

“you two better be friends again….. enough of your stubbornness and nonsense”

I remember saying “im sorry… can we be friends again…..?” I couldn’t hear what u said coz the entire class clapped and cheered…. (now im thinking, why did I apologize??? Ur the one who ate my food :p) and seriously what did u tell that time?

but it will be the best apology I made in my life…. It always will be….

So then the brown haired girl became my best friend …

we still had fights…. But luckily for me, u had pachee to fight with since then… and I became the good one between u two ;P (I still am, and I still secretly enjoy the fights between u two…. evil laugh)

You ate our food!!! And instead of me, pachee started fighting with u :p (Hoshala was too innocent to fight and became the innocent victim of gastritis…. )

and we used to talk loudly annoyed, “the way she eats she better marry an iron man one day…. naththan honeymoon eke kota uda thamai“

a best friend can never curse…. even a curse will become a blessing…. and IRON MAN he was…. Who ran a marathon half of a City… handsome enough to suit you, sensible enough to stand by you and strong enough to run half a mile carrying you….. I knew it since the first day that he is the one for u….and didn’t u blast me off when I told u that…. :P nikan neme… with your famous word F…. (Prasad u owe me a HOT bestman for all this praising ;)

The brown haired girl I hated became my best friend…., the best friend I counted on and was protective over…. I still can remember how I get annoyed when boys used to tell “aaaaaaah nangie kondey malakada kaaala da??” I told off a guy at shakthi when we went for classes…. Thank god it soon became a fashion to colour hair or I would have bashed a few guys by now ;)

I still remember how u came to my place on my worst birthday ever when thaththi was sick and I was at home with him…. (since then u always came over every birthday), How u used to listen when I cried… and how u blasted and shutted me up when I didn’t stop crying….

We had to take turns to console and comfort each other…..yell and scream to convince each other…. sometimes 1am in the night or sometimes 6am in the morning…. We grew up… a part of us still are….

We got punished in school, we danced in the rain, we got attacked by crows everyday at canteen, we got harassed by school buses, we fought, we have practically killed each other, we have bitched about all men we knew (oh we do that still), we have laughed till we fell off the bed, we have cried till morning for silly reasons, we have slept together (as in not how it sounds), we have exchanged bras, we have secretly dressed in changing rooms with ugliest cloths and taken pictures to get blasted and almost arrested for shop lifting… and the list will go on….

Dear nippa,

I never thought the brown haired girl I hated so much would be the best friend who would come from Kalubowila to Nugegoda during a lunch break to give me medicine when im sick….

Never imagined that the brown haired girl I hated the guts out was the first person ill call when I got scared in hospital seeing my scans and reports….

I never even dreamed that the brown haired girl would be my best friend and psycho therapist to control me whenever I lost it…. (well this continues….and u still scream to prove a point)

I never thought that the brown haired girl who ate my food back then, would sit on the hospital bed with me and force me to eat that horrible food when I was sick…. (well I know what pachee is thinking, “hey its hospital food that’s why… :P )

I never thought I’d end up being the bridesmaid of that brown haired girl I hated soo much…

Remember how I had to yell at you couple of times to convince you he is the one…. :P (yes Prasad she is stubborn) u owe me a life time for this babe :P (yes yes I know that u will remind me where I should be when I lose track…. :)

Dearest Nippa,

the sister I never had, my best friend who yells at me to put sense to my head,

my psycho therapist who gives me medical definitions so I cant argue back,

my doctor who tells me the truth even though it will freak me out….,

Deciding to become friends with you in grade 10 is one of the best choices iv made in my life….

I’m excited….. I cant wait to get out of bed to go shopping for the big day, to wrap cake, to go for final fittons…. I cant wait…. to see you dressed as the most beautiful bride….

So here I am counting days…. Looking forward…. 17, 16, 15, 14….… I cant wait!!!!

true love does exist.... :)

Can anyone give a definition of what true love is? Unconditional? Conditional? Well… people do, but most of it seem too unreal and magical…

We were told that ordinary girls like Cinderella had Prince Charming falling for her….. (well she wasn’t ordinary… she was too pretty so she was hidden or something)… Then stories about a princess kissing a frog and he turns to be a prince… (seriously who were we kidding?? Too bad she didn’t have to kiss every frog in the pond to realize who the right frog is) then when we grew up we learnt about Elizabeth Bennet… who had Mr. Darcy to sweep her off her feet… Then came Mills and Boons, the total “I had a secret childhood past, that was why I was acting like a jerk” stories…. Then we grew up more and believed in Nicholas Sparks… the guy who wrote “a walk to remember” “note book”, “dear john”….

Married couples freak me out, honestly…. Except for a very few blessed ones… the phrases we hear very often “after 5 years love dies away and what you are left with is compatibility…” hmmm… maybe that’s why the corny movie lines doesn’t last… but then, how are we to know?

How does it happen? True love? Does it exist? If it does, will it last? Soul mates exist? I didn’t know….

Well… now I know it does… coz I met this exceptional person who proved me wrong…. A man who has been in love with his wife for the past 35+ years…

Usual start for a common love story… He was a tall dark handsome guy with a dimple and she was one of the sweetest ladies you can ever meet…. they met at work, they became friends… he dropped her home everyday…. Yes and eventually they fell in love… Then their families got to know… after a bit of fighting between families finally they tied the knot…. They were blessed with two daughters… lived happily ever after…. for 30 years… It’s a common love story, I know… until…

In March 2002 she was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time…. It was hard and it was not going to be easy he knew… she knew it too… this time was hard…. and it was..

He was worried about the two daughters, so was she…. One was about to sit for her AL examinations and the other was a final year student in Law College…. They went on for 7 months… just like that…

In October 2002 she had to undergo an operation…. She had lost weight, she had lost her hair (almost all of it) she was fragile…. but she was in her high spirits… her eyes were bright and her laughter was still live…

But she was suffering…. More than her, he did… When the reports started getting worse day by day, he knew her days were numbered… But he was the strength to her and his daughters…. He was his usual self, he dropped his daughter off at classes, picked her up… made breakfast… made dinner….

And then she started getting worse… One night in October, before she was taken into hospital… before she was unconscious she said “thaththi, mey paara nang maawa goda ganna bari wei”…. He didn’t say anything…. Just smiled….

She lied in ICU for two nights while almost every organ in her body started to fail…. He was still strong, he was concerned about the visitors… he was concerned about his daughters, told them every detail of her last few minutes…

On 9^th October evening, doctor came out and asked them all to come in… and he had to switch off the machine… He was still strong, making calls, working every minute till the funeral ended…

Late that night he came near her wardrobe and selected the best white saree she had…. “where is the wig?” And picked her wig… “we need to put the wig … that’s how she will be remembered to everyone…not like this” she had the most beautiful hair, thick black and silky, I realized … He gave her jewellery to the daughters…., “ill keep the wedding ring” he said…

He cried the day of the funeral…. He knelt down near her corpse…. Then stood up and hugged the two daughters….

He never got back to the normal state… he does what he has to do…makes breakfast, makes dinner…. still takes care of his daughters… but he lost the spark, long time back…. He didn’t seem complete… He wasn’t…. he never will be….

After 9 years I visited him in hospital to see him lying on a bed…. While I was watching him, I realized that he has two wedding rings in his hand….. when he was getting his injections, he was clutching his hands….. when I looked closely I realized, one was his and the other belonged to her….

“He never took it off since ammi passed away…” his daughter said….

Now I know, true love does exist… around us, in front of us… everywhere… its just you need to see it, you need to feel it, you need to realize it…. to believe it :)

p.s. - his daughter has been my best friend for the past 21 years….