'Cause Pigs can Fly

They killed themselves over such trivial things. One died because her mother confiscated the mobile phone she got from her boyfriend. Of course, these people, now dead, all found themselves at the edge of the cliff. They thought they had no choice but to jump off. Of course, we can't judge them. But here's the thing. We are looking at the wrong reasons. These acts that are blamed could have been what make them drink that poison, let the rope tighten or slit their wrists. It could have been what gave them that final push after months of being bullied, being under so much pressure and stress and of course depression. I'm not one to Romanticize death. And I'm not one to say you should kill your self when you still have time left. However, there are two things to consider here. There is a thing called ayu kalaya which basically is how much time we have to live. One could have an ayu kalaya of sixty years while another has an ayu kalaya of twelve years. So it could just be t...

The Nation Somewhere during the end of December 2012, I visited Sigiriya for the first time. The climb threw me into an ocean of feelings that confused and suffocated me. It was a journey that made me realize how easy we are to replace. It was a journey that made me realize how terms like Amma, Thaththa, Duwa and Putha are special. I’ve only called one person Amma, one person Thaththa and so on. In fact, I’ve never called more than one person Athamma, Seeya, Mama or Nanda. Others who were also my grandparents, aunts or uncles, were either addressed by their names followed by Seeya, Athamma, etc or were addressed by synonyms, for instance Achchi instead of Athamma. Background pic by Kevin Fernando However, I’ve been called Duwa by many people, not just my parents. My grandparents, uncles and aunts and a few other grown ups call me Duwa. There are also the strangers I’ve met, friends of my parents and teachers, to whom I will always be a daughter. Somehow, while I ...

Like most, I didn’t know of Esther’s existence until after she passed away. I watched a few videos where Esther was mentioned, I wrote a very short post on one Esther Day and besides that only knew that Esther was a nerdfighter who died of cancer. It was sad that such a young and beautiful girl was dead, but she wasn’t someone I knew, and so, I never showed much interest in her life. Then I ordered This Star Won’t Go Out for some unknown reason. I thought it was a small book with lots of pictures and didn’t really want to pay Rs 2,300 for it. Then I got a call that the bookstore was to deliver the book, and I again asked my self if it was worth it. So on Wednesday, I finally got my copy of TSWGO and I was over the moon. The book is heavy and lovely and just perfect. You know they worked hard to create this, designing each page so beautifully. There are enough pictures, letters and drawings by Esther to know the book truly belongs to her. And there are enough words ...

 Nation Free Valentines’ Day is now of the past and you may no longer be suffocated by stories of gifts, cards, candy, chocolate and dates. You can now breathe because all your friends who are in relationships are also now tired of talking about just how cute their gifts were. The status updates and tweets about Valentines’ Day are safely buried under more important matters. However, happiness is still not yours if you are yet to meet your Valentines’ Day celebrating friends since Friday was a holiday. Now there are those who celebrate February 14, and there are those who don’t. The latter consists of those who believe that one shouldn’t celebrate love just once a year, and also those who are labeled as ‘Forever Alones.’ Forever Alone is a title given to one who has been single for a very long time, and who could safely look forward to a future with no special someone. Of course, it’s a label that is used in a funny manner, although it could also be used as an insu...

 The Nation Free I dislike kids. And even more than dislike, I’m scared of them. However, when my mother told me she was taking the kids she teaches, six years olds, to the zoo, I wanted to go. I’ve wanted to go there for years and finally the golden ticket was in my hands. I wanted to go, even if it meant I had to spend time with some kids. Sitting in their classroom, everything was okay. Of course this was the calm before the storm, because a few minutes later two boys came to me and told me another boy was crying. And there he was, crying away. The kids kept waiting for me to do something, and all I could do was quickly walk away to my mother. This was a clear indication that the day was about the get worse. During the bus ride to the zoo, I couldn’t help smiling at the innocent remarks of the kids. They were so excited to see the outside world. What was even nicer was how, even though they had just had breakfast, their main concern since getting on to the bus w...