A hobby widens one’s knowledge

Winner:

There are many hobbies in the world. Collecting stamps, reading story books, bird watching, gardening and collecting feathers are some of them. They are some of the popular hobbies.

Most people have one or many hobbies. I believe that hobbies widen one’s knowledge as the popular saying goes.

Today, it has been proved by many people.

People who live in modern society have a vast knowledge of hobbies. When they want to spend their leisure creatively, hobbies play a very important role.

Reading books is a great hobby as it improves man’s knowledge. Many valuable books have been written on different subjects. If we cultivate the habit of reading , we can read such books and develop our knowledge.It would help us to pass many examinations.

Collecting stamps ,another popular hobby, is said to be a hobby of kings and queens. If we too cultivate this hobby, we can learn about history, great personalities, ancient ruins, animals and important places in the ancient and modern world.

Today watching TV has also become a hobby. However, many, especially children, watch TV programmes that are not suitable for them and get influenced by these programmes.

We must select good hobbies. Some hobbies promote values among people.

Hobbies not only widen one’s knowledge but also make one’s leisure time fruitful. They help people achieve their goals and become successful.

D. K. Gavithri Dilesha Amarasinghe,
Grade 9P,
Ke/Dudley Senanayake Central College,
Tholangamuwa.

The person I admire most

Winner:

The person I admire most is my grandmother. She is 74 years old. She is very fair. She is my father’s mother (paternal grandmother).

She was born in Ratnapura but now she lives with us. Her name is S.G. De Silva. She is an English trained teacher. She helps us in our studies. She was teaching at Oxford International College, Balangoda.She has four children. Three girls and a boy who is my father. She has nine grandchildren. She relates stories to us. She is very loving and speaks kind words.There are ten members in her family; five girls and five boys. She studied at Sivali Central College, Ratnapura. I love her very much.

Nipun Yoshitha Vipulasooriya,
Grade 6,
Lyceum International School,
Ratnapura.

Vel festival

A festival is usually an event staged by a local community to celebrate some unique aspects of their culture or religion. As Sri Lanka has a multi-cultural society, festivals are an important part of the Sri Lankan culture.

Among the numerous such festivals held here, the Vel festival is significant, especially to the Hindus. The Vel festival is celebrated by Sri Lankan Hindus to commemorate the triumph of Lord Murugan over evil powers.

Marking the beginning of this festival, a day or two before the water cutting ceremony of Katharagama, a beautifully decorated silver plated chariot with the statue of Lord Murugan is drawn by a pair of white bulls from the Kathireshan Temple to the shrine at Bambalapitiya.

This special and beautiful procession proceeds along this route with various types of dancers, oriental musicians and people carrying multi-coloured umbrellas, amidst a huge gathering of devotees chanting praises to Lord Murugan. Like at Kataragama, here too we can see people fulfilling vows by rolling on the ground, putting skewers through their faces, being suspended by hooks and hanging from trucks going in this procession.

After a long journey of six miles, the chariot reaches the temple. At this place too there are a number of devotees chanting the praises of Lord Murugan.

The devotees break coconuts, light jos sticks and burn camphor to honour him. The shrine is also illuminated and beautified with leaves of sugar cane, banana, coconuts, beautiful flowers and silk linen.

In the temple the devotees gather with their children to get blessings from Lord Murugan. For two to three days, the whole route is completely covered with a mass of devotees. When the darkness of night peeps into the world, marking the end of another day, the Vel chariot quietly moves to its destination.

The whole area is illuminated with multi-coloured lights to destroy the darkness of the night. Many fire dancers join the sacred procession to honour the Lord with their skills. This brings fun and excitement to everyone’s face.

Bullock carts of various sizes line to obtain blessings from the war god.

Amidst the sounds of Haro Hara, the Vel chariot moves slowly but proudly to its destination marking the end of a long and honourable journey.

P. Shehani Randika Priyamanthi Silva,
Grade 9 - ‘7’,
Holy Family B.M. Vidyalaya, Wennappuwa.

Computers, our electronic friends

Winner:

In ancient times it was a very difficult life for people because they had to do every task on their own. But little by little the world developed and many clever scientists invented machines that are useful for our day-to-day life. Among these scientists is Charles Babbage who invented a computer, which has given the base for the modern day computers.

Many men, with great effort, developed the computer to what it is today.

Computers are important to us in many ways. There are computers which tell us the weather forecast, help in businesses and also help us gain knowledge in many fields. Sadly, many children play games and misuse the computers wasting valuable time. They do not use it to enhance their knowledge.

Let us keep computers as our electronic friends, and not enemies who will spoil our future. Let us use our electronic friends carefully, understanding how to make the best use of them.

Lenmini Thuduhena,
Grade 6B,
Hejaaz International School,
Mt. Lavinia.

A trip to Arugambay

Winner:

We went on a trip to Arugambay in August. It was really an interesting trip as it was one of my dreams to visit this place.

We reached Arugambay around eight in the morning, but we didn’t have to run around looking for accommodation as father had booked two rooms in a big hotel earlier.

The rooms were large with all facilities and we were quite comfortable. We enjoyed the meals including a variety of sea food.

Arugambay lies about four kilometres from Pothuvil between the Lahugala National park and the Kumana Bird Sanctuary. On our way to Pothuvil we drove through the Lahugala National Park.

There we saw a herd of wild elephants playfully splashing water, gripping their trunks and nuzzling each other in the tank. We also saw a flock of peacocks dancing rhythmically, moving round, wiggling and fluttering their bright feathers.

We visited some ancient shrines and temples.

There’s an ancient Hindu temple in Okanda, revered by Hindus. After that we visited Mudumahavihara which is situated about a kilometre from Pothuvil, towards the sea.

It is said that Viharamahadevi landed here and not at Kirinda. There are two statues of King Kavantissa and Viharamahadevi among the ruins.

The sea coast has long stretches of sandy, silvery beaches. The beaches in Arugambay are free from hawkers and beggars.

It is an ideal place for sea bathing for children and adults. We can walk into the sea for miles. We had the delightful experience of watching the sunrise and the sunset from the Arugambay bridge. We stayed there for three days. It was a very interesting experience in my life.

Sanduni Priyankara,
Grade 12 - Science,
Holy Family Convent, Dehiwala

The Dead Sea

Winner:

The Dead Sea is an amazing place. It is the lowest place on Earth, about 1,300 feet (400 metres) below sea level.

It is 34 miles (55 km)long and varies between 11 miles (18 km) and two miles (3km) in width. The sea is 1,400 feet (430m) deep. This unique sea is fed by the River Jordan. There is no outflow; and the exceptionally high rate of evaporation (high temperature, low humidity) produces large quantities of raw chemicals.

These raw chemicals are extracted and exported to many parts of the world for use in medicine, agriculture and industry.The Dead Sea is actually shrinking.

The southern end is now fed by a canal maintained by the Dead Sea Works,a company that converts the sea’s raw materials, particularly phosphates, into commercial products.

Visitors can float effortlessly on the water of the Dead Sea due to its concentration of minerals, which is the highest in the world. The air is extremely dry and temperatures are high throughout the year. The Dead Sea is a popular destination for visitors throughout the year.Floating is a novelty that makes visiting the Dead Sea exciting, but most visitors come for the therapeutic value of the mud and salt water. People with skin disorders and ailments such as arthritis have found relief from treatments using the sea’s natural.

Fathima Aysha Rasheed,
Grade 7 ‘C’ Amana International School,
Kolonnawa.

The Sun and Moon

Sun, Sun, Sun
Shining bright
Up in the sky
As a large ball
It gives heat
And we sweat
It goes down
In the evening
It is red
Then it sinks
Moon comes out
It gives light
Making us cool.

Shashindra Jayakody,
Grade 2 Ehala, Sri Dharmaloka National College, Kelaniya.