'Cause Pigs can Fly

 The Nation Everyone is so busy getting ready for 2014, or the future, that they have forgotten the year that just flew by us all. Before you make your list of New Year resolutions or buy a planner for the New Year, it is also important to look at 2013 or the ‘Old Year.’ What did 2013 mean to you? Since we are all making lists anyway, here’s one more you can and should make. Divide the paper and label one column as good and the other as bad. However, this is not where you list down all the good and bad things you did this year. Instead, write down every good, or happy memory, and then the unhappy memories. Maybe you found a new job this year. Met some amazing people. Read quite a number of good books. Spent quality time with your family. Managed to work but also have fun too. All the events you attended; concerts, meet ups, parties. Add all the memories to the list. It would be easier to go month by month. What happened in January, February and March and so...

Do you know where your food comes from? The kitchen is the wrong answer. Where does the milk in cartons come from? Are they imported? Or do they come from our own cows? Is it even cow milk? Fonterra's Anchor New Dale recently organized a factory tour for all those interested in seeing the place. Of course, one couldn't just walk in and they made sure the visitors respected the regulations and procedures followed in the premises. After a brief explanation about the company, and their many products, we all enjoyed a cup of set yogurt. Here I learnt that I was in an odd minority. According to Anchor, most Sri Lankans eat and prefer set yogurt. This of course explains why stirred yogurt is difficult to find. Anyway, the factory tour then started. While Fonterra boasted about the machines used to mix and pack milk and other products using very little man power, it also reminded us that soon enough, the machines will take over. We have become so lazy, so unwilling to actually wor...

For me Christmas was never about church or Jesus or Christianity. I wasn't raised a Christian but I did and still do celebrate Christmas. Sure, my father is a Christian, which is why when my brother and I were young, we decorated the tree and waited for Santa Claus. Christmas was a happy time for us, lunch at either my aunt's or uncle's and lots of fun. However, since I was very small I understood that Christmas wasn't a Buddhist thing. My grandmother, I think, once gifted a copy of a Ladybird hardcover on the Christmas story to my brother and I loved reading it. It told me about Joseph and Mary and the Three Wise Men. I knew that what made me a Buddhist prevented me from being a Christian. My father would go to church early Christmas morn, and we would wait for him to get back home to open our gifts. I never wondered why I never went to church with him. However, those were happy days, when all we fought over was what to have for breakfast or which TV show to watch. ...

Dec 10 - Animal Rights Day - Animal abuse awareness Animals often suffer horrendous amounts of abuse and neglect and they have no one to complain to, no authorities to go to. Organizations like Adopt a Dog Sri Lanka and Embark do fight for animal rights and try to win for dogs the love and safety they deserve. However, most organizations focus on dogs and cats, and thus many other animals continue being victims of their cruel masters. What is animal cruelty? What are their rights? Do animals need rights? What makes us, humans, different from animals? Is it the ability to talk? Or our intelligence? There have been many heroic acts by animals, and these are clear indications of their intelligence or at least understanding of the world. Animals feel, and they love. They may not read books, or start wars, but like humans, they are life and they matter. However, people turn a blind eye to the plight of animals. They are used as lab rats, and for doctors-in-training to p...

A boy was recently sexually abused by a male prisoner in Borella. Ceylon Today reported the story in around 200 words. Recently, papers were full of stories for the Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Women’s Day too gave way for many stories. When we say Gender Based Violence, its assumed to mean violence against women. However, the story of this boy reminds us that it isn’t only women who are abused and harassed. Males too are abused and the worst part is that, they can’t even tell anyone about this. I’ve seen young boys looking uncomfortable in buses thanks to the women who sit next to them. I’ve seen men look around helplessly as a woman’s body is pressed onto his. And they can’t protest because, well, aren’t men supposed to enjoy it? Do we not say a woman loves with her heart and a man with his…? And what kind of a sissy would say no to a woman’s body against his even if this woman is sweaty and bulgy? Or worse, even if this man has no interest ...

 The Nation Free Exploring your options, whiling away your time or university requirement; all those fancy terms means just one thing; you have a full time job. Maybe you aren’t there on a permanent basis, and maybe your boss told you that your work hours are flexible. In fact, I’m sure you were told you can even work from home. However, chances are, you spend five days a week, from morning till evening in an office. We are young, eager to work and of course easily fall prey to the vultures. They patiently wait for the time of the year when a child’s school life comes to an end and quickly snaps at them. We are nervous and scared and still learning. We don’t know how much work is required of us and we are still trying to figure out how to survive in an office. There are things we must do, and things we shouldn’t. Know your bosses. Who do you answer to? Age doesn’t mean seniority and you must know whose orders you should follow. However, respect everyone, and don’...