Winner: Life in the village

The village is a rural area away from the busy town. In any country the village is charming because it is where we get natural beauty. Without a doubt we can see that a calm and quiet life can be led in the countryside.

The necessity of man is food and water, so the village gives us fresh water as well as fresh food.

The farmer in the village supplies all of us with fresh food.

Being in the village he leads a happy life without the troubles we have in the polluted city. City life is artificial with unnecessary burden.

Life in the village is calm and quiet.

The real villager is humble and unsophisticated. He is helpful. He hardly does any harm to others. We must appreciate village life.

Asma Begam,
Grade 6,
UNH International School,
Wattala.

Winner:

Sunset, an awesome feeling

The beach is awesome and a colourful mixture of sounds and sights of a sunset on Sunday evening particularly. The first thing that meets the eye of a person is the number of vehicles that line on the road.

There are cars and motorcycles that have come to the beach which is a cacophony of sounds with children screaming, parents calling them and sea gulls wheeling overhead.

From time to time the welter of sound and the crash of waves against the rocks arise. The wind which blows from the sea becomes a tone for the sea waves to roll on to the coast and return to the peacock blue water.

The twilight starts glowing softly while the Sun is ready to finish his day’s program.

During the sunset, nature assumes a freshness and brightness. My senses enjoy the serenity of the sunset. The eye-catching scene arrives while the sun is getting ready to set. The silhouette of the birds chirping and flying to their own houses is an emotional feeling that arises within a fraction of second. As an act on impulse my eye catches the people around me. It seems that some fishermen are trying to sail the boats while others are trying to pull out their overloaded nets. No sooner did the women seem to be in a hurry to peep out to the nets. They make a huge struggle. Seeing all these I thought that this might be a dream that seems to happen in front of my eyes.

The scene seems to be mesmerising. The slight darkness of the sunset creates a feeling of joy and tranquillity in me. The pleasant breeze, the sweet smell of salty water mixed in sand and the sound of the waves crashing against each other completes the scene of a perfect sunset that I always love to see. And when the empire of the dark simmers to rule I hear mother calling.

E.W.Krishani Wasana Perera,
Grade 11,
Jennings International College.

Winner:

A film I like most

My favourite film is Boys over flowers. It is woven around a school. The main characters are Geum Jan-di, Gu Jun Pyo, Yoon Ji Hoo, Yi Jeong and Song Woo Bin. There are many characters in it. It is a Korean film.

Geum Jan-di is the headstrong daughter of a dry cleaner and she attends the exclusive Shinhwa High School through a scholarship because of a brave deed she had done. Gu Jun Pyo is the leader of F4 team and heir to the Shinhwa Group, one of the most powerful businesses of South Korea.

Yoon Ji Hoo is a member of F4 and grandson of the former President of Korea. Yi Jeong is a member of the F4 team and he is a skilled potter and his family owns the country’s biggest art museum.Song Woo Bin is also a member of the F4 team and his family runs a large successful construction company. It is telecast on weekdays at 8.30 p.m. It is very popular among children. I like to watch this pleasurable film.

Mahelee Tarindi Muthumala,
Grade 8D,
Agamathi Balika Vidyalaya,
Panadura.

Winner:

A rainy day

It was very hot in the morning. The sun was shining bright. There was no rain for two months. All were expecting rain.

In the evening the sky was cloudy. There were dark clouds. It started lightning and thundering.

Birds were flying to their nests. I ran to take the clothes on the line. My mother pulled off the plugs in the house and I closed the doors and windows. It started drizzling. Then it started raining heavily. I heard the ‘pitter patter’ sound of the rain drops falling on the roof. My twin sisters started singing “Rain, rain go away, come again another day,” as they couldn’t go out to play. Suddenly the lights went off.

I looked out of the window. Some people were hurrying to their homes. They were carrying umbrellas. The trees were moving as if they were dancing. The win was blowing fast. A lot of dried leaves were falling off the trees.

Some people collected the water. The drains were full. Some children made paper boats and started sailing them. It was very cold. I like the rainy days, as it is not hot and the whole environment looks fresh.

Sanjula Sayuri Ranathunga,
Grade 7F,
Maliyadeva Balika Vidyalaya,
Kurunegala.

Winner:

Example is better than precept

Actions are more important than the words we speak. An action is easier to do when it is practically shown than doing it after detailed instructions.

When I see my teacher behaving in a kind and loving manner, I find it easy to become kind to others and to love myself.

On the other hand, if my teacher is harsh and unkind it will be difficult for me to decide on the right thing.

Today I can read and write because my teachers did the same for me over and over again.

There is an old saying, “Practise what you preach.” It refers to those who are in the habit of telling others what to do and what not to do without doing it themselves.

I should not expect others to do things right if I don’t do it right myself.

It would be proper either to stop telling people what to do and what not to do, or to start and make a habit of practising what a person wants to preach about.

A very good reason to do so, is found in the saying; “Example is better than precept.”

Pravesha de Silva,
Grade 8,
Good Shepherd Convent,
Panadura.

The dengue menace

There are lots of dangerous diseases in the world. Dengue is one of them. It is a fatal disease found all over the world. Today many people suffer from dengue because they are not aware of it.

If we are aware of this disease we can take precautions. We should destroy mosquito breeding places. Dengue is transmitted by infected mosquitoes.

There are three main types of mosquitoes. They are Kiulex, Anopilas and Edis.

Edis is the mosquito which spreads the virus. Dengue virus does not spread from person to person.There are many symptoms of dengue. Some of them are sudden onset of fever, headache, body aches, joint pains,loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting and development of skin rashes.

We can eliminate this problem by eliminating mosquito breeding places. It can be done by cultivating good habits such as removing garbage.

There are some precautionary measures that can be taken. Some of them are wearing long sleeved clothes, using mosquito coils and electric vapour mats and insect repellents over the exposed parts of the body.

If we take steps to eliminate mosquito breeding places we can make this world a better place to live in.

A.P. Akshi Nethani Rohith,
Grade 8,
St. Mary's Convent,
Matara.