A beautiful reverie

Do you remember Kavya? Some of you may have been introduced to her three years ago...in Chathuni Uduwela’s maiden creation ‘Midnight Intruder’. Now she’s back, again as the heroine of Chathuni’s new book ‘Reverie’.

The book which was launched recently is a collection of short stories and poems. Here too, the various items are brought to the reader through Kavya.

Chathuni has a special relationship with Kavya. As she said regarding her first book, “Kavya is my creation. Today, she and I are one. I see in her an outlet for my thoughts, ideas and much, much more. We are different, yet so alike...we are two, but feel like one”.

Chathuni, a student of Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo, has been writing since she was a Grade 1 student. She started with poems and graduated to stories which appeared in various school publications.

She describes her latest work as fiction(non-factual literature). “Yet the fictitious is irrevocably (unalterably) intertwined with factuality. This is a truth I realised as I wrote ‘Reverie’, and put to use in ‘My Life as a Cup of Tea’.

These, though perhaps not as profound(thorough) as ‘Faucet’ or ‘Maelstrom in a Teacup’, are tales I felt compelled to disclose, for the sake of others and myself .”

The cover design and illustrations in the book have also been done by this versatile(skilled in many subjects) girl. The book carries a introduction written by Principal, Visakha Vidyalaya, Rukmani Gunaratne.

Despite spending a lot of time on her literary creations, Chathuni never neglected her studies, passing the GCE O/L examination in 2007 with eight ‘A’s. She also served her alma mater as a Junior Prefect in 2006/2007.

A strong debator, Chathuni is a member of the school’s English Literary Association and Drama and Debating Societies and has won places at English Day and Inter House Drama Competitions. She has also won the President’s Guide Award from the Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association. – IT

Kandy to get facelift

Kandy is a beautiful city with a lot of cultural and historic significance. It will gain further importance with the annual Esala Perahera of the Sri Dalada Maligawa commencing soon.

As one of the measures of beautifying the ancient city for the festive season, the City Beautifying Committee of the Kandy Municipal Council has planned to install antique lampposts in the streets. The installation of these lampposts has already started; they are a part of the first phase of the project to display the historic value of the town.

The project is estimated to cost around Rs. 3.9 million.

Rs. 2.7 million has already been channelled towards the project by the Kandy Municipal and Urban Councils while the remainder is expected to be funded by the business community in the area.

The beauty and might of the ocean

It is said that all life started in the oceans. The earliest known forms of life are believed to have developed in the oceans and made their way to land as they were evolving. So the oceans of our Earth could rightfully be termed as the origin of life.

Being an island nation, we know the beauty as well as the bounty the ocean brings us. We know and understand the power of the ocean. We also know how the gentle ocean can unleash all its wrath and fury on us. The ocean is never too far from us.

Although we don’t need a special day to think about the ocean, which is so much a part of our lives, World Ocean Day celebrated on June 8 or around this date sometimes, gives us an opportunity to increase awareness about the ocean and how it affects all life on Earth.

The event will be observed this year for the 15th consecutive time by many aquariums, zoos, museums, conservation organisations, schools and businesses. The celebrations are spearheaded by the Ocean Project and World Ocean Network. This year’s theme is ‘Helping our climate/Helping our oceans’ with special focus on the world’s coral reefs.

The World Ocean Day was conceived in 1992 during the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It gives an opportunity to recognise the importance of the underwater world.

The main objective is to create awareness about the ocean and the life in it, how our actions affect it and how we are all inter-connected. Through such awareness, the organisers hope that people will want to conserve the ocean for present and future generations.