Veteran Writer W.A. Silva

One of the greatest writers in Sri Lanka, Wallewatta Arachilage Abraham Silva was born on 16th January 1890. From his young age, he improved not only in Sinhala, Pali and Sanskrit but also English. He entered the field of Sinhala literature at the age of 16 by writing the novel Siriyalatha. It is a love story between a pretty orphan girl who worked as a servant in a mansion and the son of a very rich land owner. W.A. Silva won the hearts of many people with this novel.

He also wrote other novels such as Lakshmi, Hingana Kolla, Handapane, Juli Hatha and Kele Handha. Most of these novels have been made into films. His trilogy of historic novels such as Sunethra, Wijayaba Kollaya and Dayiwa Yogaya brought him great honour as a historical novelist. Not only that, he was considered as the father of the Sri Lankan historical novel.

W.A. Silva was an exceptional writer and his books were read by both children and adults. Extracts from his novels have been published in school text books. He was not only a novelist but also a great short story writer, journalist and an excellent literary critic. He was also a good friend of Martin Wickremasinghe, another popular writer of that time. He died on 3rd May 1957, and as long as his literary works remain, he’ll be immortal in the hearts of readers.

Sandavi Jithmini Rathnayake,

Grade 10,

Pushpadana Girls’ College, Kandy.

Our well–being

People of today’s society are fighting only for their rights. They neglect their duties and responsibilities towards the society that they live in. Therefore, well-being is very important. The well-being of a society depends on people who are responsible and duty bound. So we must cultivate good habits and behaviour in each and everyone for a better society.

Sahas Bimsara

Kumarasiri,

Grade 5,

NCEF Buddhist College,

Mulleriyawa.

Foot pilgrimage to Kataragama

Pada Yatra is a two-month pilgrimage from Jaffna to the Kataragama shrine dedicated to God Skanda. Mostly Hindu devotees come to Kataragama, but people of other religions too participate. Pada Yatra takes place in the months of May, June and July.

The commencing ceremony is held at an auspicious time. Pada Yatra covers about five miles a day. The pilgrims rest at a place of worship where they receive alms.

They arrive in Kataragama for the annual Esala festival and Perahera. The pilgrims are mostly dressed in yellow clothes.

D. Yasoj Shri,

Grade 7, Digana International School,

Kandy.

My friend

My friend is Vinudi. She is nine-years-old. She is in Grade Four. She lives in Veyangoda. She has two brothers. Vinudi likes cake but she doesn’t like bananas. She is thin and can run fast.

Her father is Rohana. He is a businessman. Her mother is Ruvini. She is a housewife. She is a good girl. I love my friend.

M. Ishara Maduwanthi,

Grade 4,

Hiripitiya Primary College.

Diabetes

Nowadays the word ‘diabetes’ is widely used among people all over the world because many are suffering from diabetes. Not only adults but also newly born babies have it.

Diabetes is not caused only by eating sugary food. It is also caused by stress and lack of sleep. After a person gets diabetes, he or she has to be very careful and control their food. They should also be relaxed and have rest most of the time. Some people take medicines for diabetes and sometimes these can lead to kidney related ailments. So people should be very careful and have a control on what they eat.

Peshma Shanmuganathan,

Grade 8,

Ecole International School,

Digana.

Poson Poya

We celebrate Poson in the month of June. Buddhism was introduced to Sri Lanka on Poson Poya day, by Arahath Mahinda Thera. He was the son of King Asoka of India. King Devanampiyatissa was the ruler of Sri Lanka at that time. Arahath Mahinda Thera came to Mihintale. King Devanampiyatissa was hunting a deer. Arahath Mahinda preached his first sermon and became a good Buddhist. Later people in Sri Lanka became Buddhists. This is how Sri Lanka got the greatest gift of “Buddha, Dhamma”.

Poson Poya is very special to all Sri Lankan Buddhists. Many people go to Mihintale and observe “sil”. We light oil lamps and lanterns. Buddhist flags are hoisted in every house. Pandals are erected in all the cities. Poson Poya reminds us of Arahath Mahinda Thera.

Thihansa Vimukthi Alutwala,

Grade 2,

Asian International School,

Colombo 5.

My most favourite cartoon character

Naruto Uzumaki is my most favourite cartoon character. He is a character from the anime cartoon series “Naruto Shippuden”. Its original language is Japanese but the English dubbed version is also there. It’s an inspiring story about the world of Shinobi and most of all the struggles and hardships of young ninjas. The main character is Naruto, an orphan boy who is cornered and looked down on due to an enormous amount of power within him. He can go on rampage if he loses something most precious to him or gets angry.

But Naruto wishes to control the power which lies within him and become the Hokage (leader) of the village. He is acknowledged by everyone and known as Naruto and not just an orphan who has a weapon within him. So Naruto trains hard, confronts his fears, fights his rival and soon becomes the Hokage of the hidden leaf village.

Joshua Mark Albert,

Grade 8,

Carey College, Colombo.

My hobby

A hobby is what we do in our spare time. People have many hobbies such as reading story books, gardening, collecting stamps and much more. My hobby is collecting pictures of birds. It is a very interesting hobby. Every evening I collect pictures of birds and paste it on my book. On weekends and holidays I take photos of birds in my garden in the morning.

My sister and brother help me to collect pictures of birds. I have many pictures of parrots. My favourite bird is the woodpecker. I like my hobby very much.

Samandhi Soysa,

Grade 5,

St. Jude’s College.