Winner: Myself

My name is Amisha Manjari. I am eight years old. I live in Chilaw. I am in Grade three. I have a sister. She is Senuri. My mother is Rushanthi. My father is Prabhath. He is a banker and my mother is a housewife.

I can run fast. I like apples very much. I like to wear frocks. My favourite breakfast is buns and I have rice and curry for lunch.

My ambition is to be a nun one day.

Amisha Manjari,
Year 3B,
St. Mary’s Primary Balika Vidyalaya,
Chilaw.

Winner: My favourite TV program

My favourite TV program is Ben Ten. It is a cartoon series. It is telecast on Sunday at 5 p.m.

Ben Ten is a beautiful cartoon program. I like it very much.

N. Hanshani,
Grade 5,
WP/Maddegedara TV,
Nauththuduwa,
Matugama.

Winner: The value of newspapers

Newspapers are found all over the world. They are published in many languages. We get newspapers early in the morning. They are useful because they give us all the news in the world.

In our country newspapers publish all the latest events in many languages. When we read the newspapers daily it improves our knowledge about many things of the past and present.

The newspaper is a very important link between the government and the people.

H.M. Dinidi Amaya Kumarasiri,
Grade 7A,
NCEF Buddhist College,
Mulleriyawa New Town.

Winner: How to be happy

Happiness is a shy bird. If you try to catch it, it will fly away. It is better to set a trap and look the other way. It is the same with pleasure seekers. You must not waste money, it can do wonders to make life pleasant. Yet the rich are sometimes unhappy while the poor can sing. The source of happiness simply cannot be measured by wealth, and even those who will never be rich can still be happy.

We should have a hobby to fill our leisure hours. A man who has not learnt to use his leisure time, will not be happy. Games, sports, music and reading are some leisure time activities.

The kingdom of happiness is like the kingdom of heaven. A millionaire may be unhappy in a palace, while the poor man may be happier in his hut.

The secret of happiness lies in unselfishness, kindness to others, humility, a clear mind, a clear conscience and an upright life.

There is a saying which tells us about happiness. “The mind is its own place and of itself, can make a hell of heaven, a heaven of hell.”

Ushini Kahandawaarachchi,
Grade 8,
Rathnavali Balika Vidyalaya,
Gampaha.

Winner: A strange dream

Sharma and I were in a dense forest reading a jungle book. Suddenly, I heard a roaring noise similar to that of an aeroplane. We looked up. Then we saw something very bright in the sky. I was moving very fast.

Suddenly a bright light fell on us. Then we were lifted by the light. Both of us were very frightened and we screamed loudly and embraced each other tightly. Later we knew that we were in a flying saucer.

It was a huge place. At once a strange person appeared in front of us. It was not a human but an alien. It had a big head, three long hands, two short legs, a green coloured body and a big mouth.

Then it started coming towards us. We were very frightened and began to run. While we were running the strange creature pursued us.

Suddenly a group of aliens jumped on us. Then we screamed loudly. Just then I woke up. When I got up all my family members were looking at me. As I was feeling shy, I buried my head under my pillow.

W.D. Shanika Rasangi,
Grade 9A (EM),
NCEF Buddhist College,
Mulleriyawa New Town.

The joy of reading

“An idle mind is the devil's workshop.” So, we should keep ourselves occupied during our spare time and the best way of doing so is to cultivate the reading habit. 'Reading maketh a full man,’ said Sir Francis Bacon. One who acquires the habit of reading never feels bored. He is the proud possessor of the wealth of learning which is more precious than gold itself. 'A little learning is a dangerous thing.’ Hence we should widen our knowledge by reading selected books.

There are many kinds of books. In the first place, there are books of the hour, which are popular for the time being. Books of travel and novels belong to this category. They give us delight and information. But novels and stories alone are not enough.

There are many great works on history, biography, science, religion and philosophy, which we ought to read. Then there are books, which have a permanent value and interest. The Bhagavad Gita, the Ramayana, the Thirukkural and Dhammapada are only a few examples of such books. They not only impart knowledge but also enrich our mind and make our lives sublime.

They teach us eternal truths.

No student should fail to read Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography Experiments with Truth. The discovery of India by Nehru is another precious book. The immortal works of Shakespeare, Milton, Shelley, Tolstoy and Bharathy should be read over and over again. Books are indeed our best companions. They make us wiser, nobler and more cultured. Human life is short. So we must make the best use of it by reading good books.

S. Vinoj Kumar,
Grade 11A,
KM/STR/Sri Korakkar Tamil Maha Vidyalayam,
Sammanthurai,
Ampara.

Dumbara Knuckles forest

The Knuckles forest in Dumbara is in the wet zone. It is spread around 15 kilometres from Laggala to Urugala and this is yet another world heritage site in Sri Lanka.

The forest includes several mountains, which resemble the knuckles on our hands.

That is how this forest got the name knuckles.

The forest is one of the nature's wonderful creations. You can see lots of animals, rivers and flowers that you have never seen before.

F. Aysha Rasheed,
Grade 10B,
Amana International School,
Kolonnawa.

My ambition

People have ambitions in life. My ambition is to be a scientist. Nowadays everything in our life is governed by science.

Becoming a scientist involves a lot of hard work and dedication. I admire scientists such as Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton.

As a scientist I would like to invent something new for mankind. We would then be able to live more comfortably. I will invent new things for life.

My parents always buy books for me on science and take me for science exhibitions.

I must work hard to achieve my ambition as a scientist.

H.S. Shervin Salaah,
Grade 3A,
P/Zainab Muslim Girls’ Primary School,
Puttalam.

My Sunday School

My Sunday School is Sri Sambuddha Jayanthi Daham Pasala. It is in Kaduwela. There are classes from Grade one to Dharmacharaya.

There are Sunday schools which teach the Dhamma in English and Sinhala. One is Wisdom Daham Pasala and the other is Sambuddha Jayanthi Daham Pasala.

There are about 1,000 students and 35 teachers in my Daham Pasala. I love my Daham Pasala very much.

K. Thevindun Damsith
Grade 3A,
Sri Sambuddha Jayanthi Daham Pasala,
Kaduwela.

My mother

My mother is Fareesa. She is very kind and pretty. She cooks tasty food.

My mother loves me a lot. I love my mother very much.

Fathima Safiy Sahib,
Grade 1,
Al Hakeem Muslim Maha Vidyalaya,
Colombo 12.