Dice - Random thoughts by Hiran

Puss in Boots (Shoes!)

2007-10-09T09:17:00.000+05:30

Someone left this behind at our gate......

Kumar at his best ;) lol

2007-10-02T22:35:00.000+05:30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlFF98dM8sA

Magic with my SI S3 .... I think its cool!!!

2007-09-04T11:58:00.000+05:30

Using colour separation.....

Red

Blue

Going at 128mph vertically upto 456 feet!!! WOW!!!

2007-08-26T10:23:00.000+05:30

It was just an awesome day for me! One of my things to do in life was be on ONE roller coaster! Instead today I went on 5!!! 5 awesome rides!!!

Us being the adventure freaks, the moment we stepped in SIX Flags park, we chose the tallest ride we could see, called the "Kingda Ka", well we called it the "Booster!!!"

You are propelled on a horizontal straight track to 128mph (a world record for a roller coaster) and sent on a 90 degree turn straight up and then straight down as well to 456 feet!!!!!

Sanka and myself got on the first seat!!! While coming vertically down we were sooo scared!!! I couldnt even scream!! I started screaming after we were back on the horizontal track!!! WOW that was amazing!!!

See the simulation (click the video link, requires flash)
http://www.sixflags.com/greatAdventure/rides/Kingdaka.aspx

The stats for this roller coaster

Top speed	World Record at 128 mph
Elevation	World Record at 456 feet (45 stories)
Length	3,118 feet
Duration	50.6 seconds

More pics will follow soon...

Some nice pics I took

2007-08-24T08:53:00.000+05:30

It was dark except for the light on the far high risers.....

Playing around with my SI S3 - High exposure!

2007-08-14T10:13:00.001+05:30

Just took this pic, its past 12 mn in NJ..... I like it... wanna take more of this type of pics!! Couldnt go to sleep without uploading it!! lol!!

Cultural differences

2007-08-12T23:43:00.000+05:30

Come to think of it, we shouldn't feel so alien to the US culture, most of the things we consume, watch, enjoy come from this country... yes I agree you can not judge a country and its people from that, but it gives you some indication....

Anyway I like to observe the differences in people's behaviour when I go to another country.. in the US I was quite surprised.

People over here are loud, they speak loud :) On my first day I thought they were shouting at me, not they are not. Now I am loud too, and its fun!

They are quite friendly, at the super market we bumped into quite a lot of people who just came up and spoke to us.... on my second day here my friend was helping me to shop, she said "no this wont suit"... and there was a young pregnant lady beside us, she smiled and told me "yes, she is always right"... There are quite few incidents like this, it was a pleasant surprise to me. I always thought the opposite of this.

Then on the roads, even if its green, vehicles stop you to cross, respect to Pedestrians is MAXIMUM! Only a few Asians who drives cars DO NOT respect that. They never stop on the crossing lines, but a few Asians (mostly Indians, man its flooded with them!) do not do that.. lol. Most of them think we are engineers, this is again because of the all the Indian who have migrated here. On our first from the airport the cabby asked me "so are you an engineer?"

When you go to shop, and if you are choosing something... others wait till you have finished, they dont come barging in trying to shove you off! I like that part very much, cos I back at home I usually do that and it annoys me a lot when people try to sneak through....

Yesterday while in a queue at Macdonalds there was an Indian chick with her husband or bf I guess... so there were two queues.... I was on the left of her.. she saw us clearly... there was a big black woman in front of me... she got her stuff and I went to the counter give my order, this Indian chick all puffed up goes... "hey there was only one line!".. I replied loudly "no didnt you see there is another???!!" and everyone else started saying "yes!", why... didnt she have the guts to say it to the black woman? lol!!! She just shouted at another Asian! lol... I found that funny

Its a relaxed atmosphere on the weekends, people enjoy life to the maximum... they relax, most of them read books,,, lot of book readers in parks, in the subway,.... and there are tiny little fury dogs everywhere, I guess people buy little dogs because of space problems...

if you are walking down the pavement or anywhere (even in a building) you should always keep to your right on that path... :) And if u r standing on an escalator you should always stand on the right... so that people in a hurry can use the other side.

There are beggars who demand money, they say a nice little story like "why dont you help someone else other than yourself today"

They say in New York you get 3 types of women, 'A', 'AA' and 'AAA' while in the rest of the country you get 'A', 'B' and 'C'. :) This is what one of my friends told me.... lol.... so far it seems true! :)

I have not seen that much of black people doing white collar jobs, so to say.. I havent seen any in my office or going up the elevator in that building. The blacks I have seen are all either security guards or helpers...

People of mexican and spanish origin do odd jobs like cleaning, all the cleaning people I have seen so far during my brief stay here are either spanish or mexican'

Someone who has been living in the US might laugh at my comments.... I have just been here one week, will stay for another 3 weeks I guess.... so waiting to see if my first impressions of this country change!

A tribute to Bush on the streets of Brooklyn

2007-08-12T23:04:00.000+05:30

On our way to Brooklyn bridge there was an old man selling these pics... :) Wonder who buys them...!

View from Empire State building!

2007-08-12T19:31:00.000+05:30

Wow it was amazing, the elevator goes from 2nd to 80th floor in 55 seconds, thats the fastest I have been on an elevator (our apartment's one takes half that time to go from 1st to 7th!!!, lol)

We had to wait in a queue for about one hour to reach the top. So much of people coming in, I think the daily income must be running into millions of dollars!

The view is just worth the wait, you can see for miles and miles.....

We took the subway (the Path, pronounced like cat!) from Exchange Place (NJ) to WTC. They are still laying the foundation at WTC!! Walked from WTC to Empire state, just for the fun of it. Along the way we made stops at Brooklyn bridge and a museum. It was a long walk, but interesting... to see different types of people on the streets of NY. You get all sorts :) and soo many visitors....!!

Anyway here as some pictures...

East side

North

South, Statue of liberty is visible
(in line with the letter 'b' on visible!)

Encounter of the wierd kind!

2007-08-11T02:35:00.000+05:30

This happened to me on my second day in New Jersey (its my first time in the states). Since we lost half of our luggage my friend lost his medicine (yes a bad thing in a country like this where medical treatment is hard to get!)

We went to a few pharmacies trying to find this medicine called "bactrim", maybe I spelled it wrong... so we were going around to a few places, CVS which is kind of a big pharmacy chain didnt have it. Then we went to another smaller pharmacy (maybe here they dont call it pharmacy... anyway) and met this Chinese looking fella, he was an US citizen...

When we asked for this medicine, he was a bit confused and asked again. Then he came out of his desk near us and then said "Who recommended this drug?".. so we explained.. then the bugger went on to say "In this country we dont sell this drug, in 3rd world countries they still do sell it, it has a lot of side effects" (maybe true, drug companies do not care about developing countries, its a testing ground).... Then he started giving his own medicine to us.... Obviously I would have said "No thank you!" and left if it was in Sri Lanka! Since I was in not so familiar territory and since it was my first day I didnt say anything.... Okay the interesting thing was his medicine, he said take ginger and boil it in water and mix it with coke and drink... mixing anything with coke is not a good idea... he said its his own research and he is still working on it (a small time pharmacist is saying this)... we didnt want to make a scene so we said okay okay... and tried to go away..

Then it got stranger! He said "Where are you working?" I said I am here on a business trip, I work for a software company back at home... then he goes... "I studied computer, from this country, where it originated, I studied from the people who invented it, so give me your business card so that I can send my CV!"

This guy was closing to his 50s, a pharmacist.... God Bless all those people who buy medicine from that shop!

My new SI S3!

2007-08-08T06:11:00.000+05:30

I am not a pro, I just opened it and got these shots of the view across the Hudson river from my apartment!

Morning in New York

2007-08-05T17:02:00.000+05:30

Just woke up... 7am... took a picture with my camera phone (this is why I need to buy a camera ASAP!)

View across from Jer city of New York, across the Hudson river

Lost baggage!

2007-08-05T11:37:00.000+05:30

It was awful after a long trip, a long wait in a queue to clear emigration and customs... and then to go see that one of your bags is missing!!! Then I walked over the British Airways baggage reclaim at JFK, there was a long queue but I thought that must be for something else cos it cant be the case that soo many people lost their luggage! BUT then I realized they were waiting to claim their luggage!!! My god! there were close to 60 people in that long queue, so we joined it, waited waited waited to find out one guy coming out with a list of names of people who lost luggage which British Airways CANT TRACK!! They basically dont know where the luggage is! My name was also there!! Luckily it was my casual cloths, all my formal where and other stuff was in another bag which I had BUT my friend lost the bag with all his formal wear...

Clearly BA has a problem to loose luggage of soo many people! Its just crazy! This has not happened to me before, well I have just traveled abroad twice before... but clearly something was wrong... some eastern european was asking one BA official "So when can I get my luggage?" he just so loudly and rudely said "I dont know, dont ask me, I can only say if it is here or not"... well in a way what the man says is right, but he doesnt have to be mad about the fact that people ask that question! Its a question anyone would ask!

So have to do some shopping tomorrow... buy cloths AND buy a camera!! Waiting to get my hands on a 12x optical zoom!

Traveling in Business Class!

2007-08-05T11:30:00.000+05:30

Now this is called "Flying", my first time in Business class... man so much leg space and they treat you so well too... I came to New Jersey on a business visit to meet one of our company's clients.... came on Sri Lankan airlines to London and British Airways to New Jersey... the total trip was roughly about 1 day including a 4 hour transit, so it was good! Food wise what ever the class you fly, airplane food IS airplane food!! lol! The British Airways business class section was awesome, it was like separate cubicles, you can plug in your laptop and work or watch movies, that is if it worked, during our whole trip the BA on board entertainment system was not working...

Anyway Business Class was a whole new experience for me!

Lakdasun - Images of Sri Lanka

2007-07-16T09:09:00.000+05:30

A site worth looking at... beautiful (high res) photographs of Sri Lanka (mostly nature) and you can use the images for free! (but please adhere to the site owner's simple copyright rules)

http://www.lakdasun.com

Customer Service - "What's your mobile number?"

2007-06-24T14:31:00.000+05:30

I heard that Dialog was giving broadband services to the greater Colombo area, so just to confirm this I called Dialog customer care... its crazy! Forget about the long menu (I am used to that), its strange how the customer care people respond in their monotonous robot like manner with the same set of questions....

So they greet you (saying good afternoon or whatever) then when you say the problem, it SEEMS like they completely ignore that and ask for your name? Then they ask for your mobile number as well... totally unrelated information to my question. Why do they have to stick to this process? (taught to them by someone who actually doesn't use the service)

If the query is related to billing then ask for the god damn number, otherwise for what? Anyway the customer care dude told me Dialog BB is not yet launched

Anyway then I looked up the internet for Dialog BB customer care number 077 7676767. it rang and then it said 'user busy'. OKAY maybe Sunday is a bad day to call but then at least have a recording saying it closed, seemed like it was somebody's personal phone number?

Its good they have stopped all the TV and Radio commercials claiming to be the best service team!

"This is how the world fucks Africa!"

2007-06-21T23:36:00.000+05:30

"So who has committed murder?...... No there are no murders in Africa! only regrettable deaths! And from those deaths we derive the benifits of civilization..... benifits we can aford so easily because those lives were bought so cheaply!!"

The Constant Gardner is a story about a human rights activist and her husband trying to uncover a government/corporate scandal! A compelling story! Loved it!!!

Movie -http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387131/
Book - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Constant_Gardener

2007-06-20T14:08:00.001+05:30

Lost....?

2007-06-04T00:05:00.000+05:30

What to do (next) in life? Go for a MBA, go for an AIESEC internship, stay at the same place? I am not quite sure at the moment! :) Really lost! Soul searching did not actually help! I am a person that makes quick sudden decisions (which has worked all the time) cos if I think I tend to think a lot!

So when will the next quick decision be... no one knows including ME!!!!

Colombo City

2007-05-27T22:55:00.002+05:30

Some old images I got via email... cool!

Wonder if No 50, Galle Road, Colombo still exists (should be!) Need to find out where this is!!!

No 50, Galle Road, Colombo

Kollupitiya

My "Things to do in life" list :)

2007-05-27T19:53:00.001+05:30

1. Live in another country alone! (not migrate!)
2. Ride a roller coaster! (Yes I still have not done that)
3. Do bungee jumping! (that too)
4. Watch a cricket match at the MCG or WACA in Australia (Sri Lanka beating the Aussies)
5. Start my own company
6. Trek through Europe (dont think that is possible)
7. Change people's attitude towards the positive side about Sri Lanka!
8. And of course find that someone special in life :) (not so easy!)

Well this should/will change as I get older!

Apparently Aravinda's Ferrari crashed - see pics

2007-05-16T17:21:00.000+05:30

Don't know if its his, must be though... who else own a Ferrari in Sri Lanka? :)

"Don't build expressways, it will just increase road accidents"

2007-05-10T15:29:00.000+05:30

What a way to solve problems? This is what RDA chairman M.B.S. Fernando had to say! To quote (from LBO)

"Road Development Authority (RDA) chairman M.B.S. Fernando also made thestartling suggestion that he prefers keeping roads in their present dilapidated state....

Improving the roads would only encourage speeding, creating more "death traps" which kill more people each year than the ethnic war."

Way to go!!! This is what we need!!!

Hey you know what lets stop importing cars altogether?? Eh??? Then no one will get killed!!

Just NO MORE COMMENTS!!

Me aggressive? Rarely!

2007-05-06T23:08:00.000+05:30

But there I was, standing on the zebra crossing in the middle of the 3 lane baseline road where minimum speed is 70kmph for most vehicles.... raising my arm in an act of aggression to a car that was speeding towards me! Not planning to stop for pedestrians to cross! (by the way I drive too, and I stop for pedestrians IF they are crossing on a zebra crossing OR IF they are stranded on the middle of the road)

It was not just me who was crossing a few other people too! And this damn idiot came speeding towards us, luckily we all knew the idiot was not gonna stop, as it came closer I made a FACE and raised my arm! Why the hell cant you stop? That was what was going through my mind!!!!

Please guys BE good drivers, I know its hard to do so in Sri Lankan roads, but if everyone tries to outsmart and make their own rules we will all be simply............. 'Ass holes'!!

Movies I watched: The Last King of Scotland

2007-05-06T21:12:00.000+05:30

Western influence, Corruption, Opposition oppression, Dictatorship, a true story that took place in Uganda where the military took control of the country (seemingly through the influence of Britain, I need to watch again to make sure of that... but anyway).

Amin, the military general that took control of Uganda in 1970 and ruled for 8 years before he was overthrown by his own people speaks about the rich history of the country, its potential, how super powers are trying to oppress Ugandans and paints a picture of a country that will grow to be a super power in Africa, standing on its own feet! People are wild and crazy about this (of course) in hope of a better life! But too much power corrupts anyone and the general resorts to abducting and killing his own people and listening to a few around him.

The general loves Scotland and calls himself "The last king of Scotland". The story revolves around a young doctor who travels to Uganda to work for a NGO and ends up working for the general.

The film has some gruesome scenes so if you are not into violence and torture maybe you should not watch it, but this documentary type of movie was one of the best I have watched this year!

Air raids, rain and migrating?

2007-05-04T23:02:00.000+05:30

So the recent discussions I have had with people have been in the lines of migrating to another country (not that I am of that view) because of the recent incidents that have taken place in Sri Lanka! Truly sad, but then again it's their choice and their view of the country.

Those of you who read this post might see me as a total idiot or something else... Firstly I do not like the idea of living in another country, whatever they say you will be a second class citizen over there and I really don't like to be so, I am sure no one would... Secondly in my small world I would like to do something positive and contribute to Sri Lanka! Right now of course I am working for a company (a totally Sri Lankan company that is a world beater!), earning money and thats about it... but somewhere in my unwritten plan that contribution to Sri Lanka part is STILL there!

So yes the week so far has been a bad one, we lost the world cup (but thats just one game), LTTE bafoons did a air raid (with their little but effective toy plane - and a DOG died too!!! :P, it could have been you and I am not joking), We have had floods in Colombo and the most unfortunate incidents have happened, people have died in vain and its just a headache to get to work these days!!

So the air raids, its good that it happened (I hope it doesnt happen again) so that our people in Colombo know that there is a WAR going on in this country, this is what the people who live in Jaffna, Anuradhapura, Batti go through almost everyday, you hear stories of people saying they cry and run when they hear artillery fire (but you really dont feel for them, do you?) There has been emails going around where one Chris Gibb from SaveTheChildren (Security Coordinator) has said this among other things (such as comparing Colombo to Iraq)

"The fact is we are in more danger from this Anti-Aircraft fire than we are from the bombs being dropped by the LTTE. What goes up, has to come down, and these bullets have to come down; sometimes on top of people injuring them.

I imagine on Saturday most people stood near windows or outside watching this display; in future don't, stay inside, away from windows.

To make the situation worse there were some indiscipline Police and Military firing their T56 or AK47 personal weapons from the streets in to the sky. If you are stood on a roof, you could be hit by this shooting, so stay inside."

Okay yes, you might have got killed or most probably injured, I personally was really worried and we all ran upstairs and was "hiding" thinking it was a ground attack! Especially since we heard the explosion at Kolonnawa really well...

Just because one toy air craft flew by doesn't mean you will have to leave the country, and you live in Colombo! Not in the North-East, where this is almost an everyday event

Now the floods.... I am sure any other major city would have experienced the same thing if it rained like this! Not just Sri Lanka!

Okay now we get into the politics of it, BUT first I must say, I am not one of this so called 'Sinhala-Buddhist' extremist and no I did not vote for Mahinda, I have voted once in my life and that was just for Ranil when I first got my voting rights... that said... not having any political side I can see all this hatred towards the country is coming because people hate Mahinda Rajapaske, true you can hate him for the waste he does with public funds, large cabinet, perks, jumbo tours, money printing and soon maybe failed promises...

Lets just keep all that aside for a moment, what can you do? what can I do? What can we do to make a difference? :) Small it maybe (okay for me I guess start using my vote!!? would be a nice beginning) but seriously... what can we do, especially as young people? Migrate, most would say :) Why bother, the country is going down the drain and I don't wanna be a part of it.

Its just sad that people think like that, thats all :( True some of things that happen are really "funny" and depressing, but should have hope and of course not just hope, do something about it!

My Dear Irene Khan

2007-04-30T01:34:00.000+05:30

"The LTTE hijacked our campaign!"

Oh my god did they?? .... Poor you, you little baby.... I am so sorry that happened... Didn't mummy teach you about naughty terrorists that say one thing and do something else?

2 weeks after the FAILED AI campaign "Sri Lanka play by the rules" it seems Irene Khan wants to be friends with the people of Sri Lanka! Sri Lankans all over gave AI a bashing they didn't expect! Emails, hate blogs, protests, news articles... all Sri Lankans united!

I am sorry Ms. Khan, if you were not smart enough to realize that the LTTE would do that, you are not smart enough to be the head of that damn organization let alone come down to Sri Lanka to monitor Human Rights!!

Well done guys... and I hate these pundits that talk after everything happens!!

2007-04-30T01:22:00.001+05:30

Before anything else... what if Sri Lanka won the toss? and what if Dilhara managed to clicng on to that low return catch from Gilchrist? What if umpires called for covers before the pitch got wet? What if it didnt rain at all? Would Sri Lanka have woken up to Sunday full of Celebrations? Most probably.... :)

I am happy with the performance of our heros! They never thought they will loose, they chased down that imposing total set up by Gilchrist magnificent innings with determination and authority, but chasing at a rate above 7 is always risky... soon as you loose a wicket the run rate jumps up...

It was a good performance, Sri Lanka beaten by one man, Gilchrist who decided to turn the heat up just at the right time... he had a pretty ordinary tournament for him but the wicketkeeper came to the party just at the right time....

2011 awaits us.... and much more cricket in between.... and especially Sri Lanka's tour down under early next year for 2 test and a tri nation tournament...

Oh and I just happened to read the "Reality bites" blog, you seem to have a very limited memory.... Dilhara won us the Super 8 match against England... if you say England was never meant to get that far, well they did and Dilhara had the nerves to bowl that last over, that last bowl! I am sure you would have said why didn't they chose Dilhara instead of Maharoof IF Maharoof got wacked that day... :)

These Hindsight PUNDITS!! I HATE THEM!!

And the pundits (on hindsight) will say...

2007-04-29T00:37:00.000+05:30

Right now Australia are 249 for 2... Malinga is bowling.... 3 more overs left.... I still have hope that Sri Lanka will win because its one hell of a batting wicket! But that doesnt take away anything from the magnificient innings ever played in a world cup final...

2 things went against Sri Lanka, one the match being reduced to 38 overs.....in 1996 we would have just loved it, cos we had an awesom batting line up then, we still do now but it has not been our strong point, the other of course was the toss...

So if Australia wins the Pundits will question Sri Lanka's decision to rest 3 key players and they will have a good time at it. I read in someone's blog that or in a cricinfo article that Mahela will be praised for that decision if Sri Lanka wins....

Sri Lanka wins OR will be criticised heavily...

But whatever happens that was a good decision, its just that it did not work out......

Anyway Jayasuriya and Mahela still to bat, anything can happen! :)

Any Malinga bolwed another magnificent over...:)

The Land of the Lions

2007-04-26T18:24:00.000+05:30

Superb graphic!

"Hi!... I am Russel"

2007-04-26T10:13:00.002+05:30

"Sri Lanka's cricketers are so humble man, thats why people like them... over here the sport [cricket] is bigger than the players, in India the cricketers are bigger than the sport itself" thats what my friend Abhishek (he is an AIESEC intern in Sri Lanka and I'm an ex-president of AIESEC in Sri Lanka) told me when we met at a dinner at Barefoot.

As always cricket is the topic at any social gathering, and there was Tomi (Finnish guy, also an
AIESEC intern) who had come home after the SL V NZ semis and said "WE WON!" Abishek or Shek was telling me that once he met Russell Arnold who was a friend of one his (Shek's) friends. Arnold had just come up to him and said "Hi! I am Russel", Abhishek said he was a bit shocked
and surprised to see that a national team player was so friendly and down to earth. This was at a public place and no one seemed to bother or go after Russel, he said if it was in India the crowds
would have just mobbed the player!

The important thing is that in Sri Lanka Cricket is bigger than the players!

I remember once I was walking down the road with some of my friends and I saw Sanath on the other side of the road driving along and stopped at the traffic lights, I was all excited to see him and started waving and he gave a big smile and waved back! :)

And he was not wearing Sunnies!!!

The Morning After

2007-04-25T16:40:00.000+05:30

No its not what you think..... Its about Cricket. Everyone wanted a holiday today, to rest and sleep and enjoy the highlights again of the semis.

The Lions were hungry and they murdered the kiwis... Superb and Clinically done. Wondered what went through Mahela's mind when he woke up that morning, how he planned... I read an interview done with Kumara Dharmasena on the '96 triumph! And how Aravinda came to the dressing room after the Aussie innings, straight away padded up and asked Pushpakumara to get him an ice cream and sat without talking to anyone... and someone who passed him by had said "Ara is not going to get out today!"

Its very interesting to know the mental preparation these players go through, I am sure Mahela's epic innings was built on some preparation like that... maybe someday he will share with us...

Cant wait till Saturday! 28th of April 2007! Good thing the next day is a Sunday! :)

Will another Premadasa era come? A better one of course....

2007-04-23T22:44:00.000+05:30

Sajith Premadasa..... How long has it been since Ranasinghe Premadasa was assassinated? I cant remember, I was small then but I remembered the fact that people celebrated his death, how ironic? I was too small to have a poltical view on the whole thing, but when I started understanding all this politics nonsense I figured that many people wished for another premadasa era....

Some say Mahinda is trying to be a Premadasa, but I think he has his own style....

Anyway I have been sort of impressed by Sajith Premadasa, I remember him kneeling down infront of his father's coffin crying.... he seems to be a visionary leader in the making, has a long way to go, but he talks sense and most of the time does more than what he says... at least from what I have observed....

So I am happy in a way that Sri Lanka's future will have some good leadership.... hopefully he will be given enough space to come up in his party...

By the way I am not into any party... I must state that, I have voted just once in my life (the other times I was not registered to vote because we didnt submit the forms or something) and yes I did vote for the UNP, which I am ashamed of right now, at that moment it seemed a good decision given the fact that CBK was selling the country to her relations and friends... CBK I think was the worst president we had (and they say never give the country to a woman!.... okay now most of you would react to that) BUT its true, women never forget like men, they smile as if everything alright but they never forget,.. and I know all you women out there agree to that fact! Even the strongest and smartest woman around would have that....

Why I am ashamed now? Because UNPs short sighted leadership has taken Sri Lanka into this dreaded CFA that has basically torn the country apart (okay okay you die hard UNP fans or supporters dont send me comments on that one...) its true, the UNP just wanted short term solutions and if the UNP ruled another year Prabakaran would have had his own palace and maybe his own private jet by now.

Boring topic on a day where Sri Lanka take on the Kiwies hey??? :D

Can we PLEASE stop talking about cricket?

2007-04-23T09:05:00.001+05:30

NO!!! :D

I would be the first to say that if someone asked that question... who can stay away from it, all Sri Lankans across races and religion, the rich and the poor, talk about it, I guess thats why I read today on the Sunday Times and the UNP has decided to postpone its island wide protest campaign till the world cup is over.... funny isn't it? Everyone seems to forget all the troubles they are going through if its cricket! So what happened last week??

Well done sir!

Some people hate the fact that Kumar Sangakkara has an accent and what some call an ego. But from the very begining he started playing for the Sri Lankan team I loved his style of play and when he started talking to the media I loved the way he spoke. Yes he has some sort of an accent and yes he seems to have an ego, but who cares has long as he delivers results and speaks intelligently, gone are the days where we used to hear "boys played well" (no offence to the cricketing greats who used to say that, you cant blame them, they turned the wolrd on its head by bringing Sri Lankan cricket to the international level by infuse fighting qualities in the team)

Anyway Kumar Sangakkara has very strongly hit back in his article for CricInfo at the pundits who declared the ICC should "investigate" into Sri Lanka leaving Murali and Vass on the bench for what they called a crucial game in the world cup.

Actually one of my friends said that after reading that article she has more respect for Kumar Sangakkara, someone she used to hate!

All rounder rested in ahead of the semi-final

So the kiwies also employed Sri Lankan tactics? Leaving out Jacob Oram and Shane Bond saying they were unfit to play? There was no "Crying in the Chappell" this time around... Its funny how different nations are treated differently...

Sri Lanka INVENTED the concept of "pinch hitting", the rest of the world followed suit, In this world cup Mahela delayed the power play but they recognized Australia's "brilliant" Ricky Ponting as a brave and smart captain to delay power plays, now Sri Lanka decided to play some mind games (fair enough given that its the World Cup) with the opposition and it seems other teams are also following suit.
'
I guess we should just thank all the critics and the people that miserably fail to recognize Sri Lanka's true talents and innovations... this is what motivates Sri Lanka, this is what happened in 1995/96 when the Aussies targetted Murali..

I hate these people!

There are these so called pundits among us that laugh and comment on the performance of some of the cricketers in the team and they fail to recognize their contributions... one such person I know said that they should take out Russel Arnold, given the fact that Arnold comes to bat at No 7 (or maybe 6) and is always either rebuilding an innings OR trying to score quickly (with an average over 35), and that he can field well and roll his arm when needed is more than enough for him to be there! Replace him with Marvan?? NO! If they do that its a mismtached replacement. Arnold played brilliantly in the game against India to score quickly and get a respectable total for the bowlers to defend! People just dont remember that.

I felt like asking this person to go and play out there, they talk with such an ego as if they can do a better job!

This is WAR!

2007-04-19T09:18:00.000+05:30

This is for all those of you who question the decision by Sri Lanka to leave out Murali and Vass, this is for Ian Chappell that was practically complaining about the fact that Sri Lanka didn't field the best eleven against Australia.
(http://content-sl.cricinfo.com/db/MULTIMEDIA/200/223.1.mp3)

First of all for Ian Chappell to boldly state that the ICC should question the decision by Sri Lanka, is baseless, how can a governing body enforce such laws or regulations on team selection for a country that brought a 15 man squad to play in the tournament? If they are to put such "rules" (I am not sure they can be called rules, maybe ethics) whats the benchmark for it? Maybe every team should play the best team when they play the top 4 teams? why not the top 5? or is it just the Aussie pussy cats?

Australians must have been surprised, shocked, dismayed and their plans gone down the drain when Sri Lanka decided to keep away their most lethal weapons. One may ask why didnt we leave out the batsman then? Well as you can see for Sri Lanka it has been the bowler who won the matches and its very dificult to target batsmen than bowlers.

This tournament is like winning a WAR and Sri Lanka has gone there to WIN IT! When its WAR you do not put out all your cards on the table for the opposition to have a good look and I guess Ian Chappell and Co are very unhappy that the Aussie team didnt get a chance to practice against the Sri Lankan bowling attack, to test out their plans. They will have to test their plans at the Final itself.

Did Sri Lanka play to loose? I dont think so. Sri Lanka just pulled out a major upset in the team selection and now we know who is upset about it.

So Mr. Chappell please dont cry and say the most idiotic things a person of your stature can say... think before you speak! Sri Lanka is here to win and its only us who can beat the Aussies. Aussies are not that great! They will learn how to loose from the Sri Lankans!

13 days to go and Sri Lanka is HOT!

2007-04-15T13:59:00.001+05:30

13 days for the final and tomorrow will be what most people call a showdown between the two best teams in the tournament! And who else can beat Australia other than Sri Lanka. Australia have been ruthless in their style of winning and its left for Sri Lanka to take them on and teach them how loose, cos they have forgotten how to do it and a loss will create so many questions in that team!

The Lasith Malinga "injury" is a mind game played by the Sri Lankan team management, policy is do not expose your trump card to the teams that you are going to meet in the semi final and the final! And the Sri Lankan skipper and the team manager has used this "injury" to create some sort of uncertainity in the minds of the opposition, long gone are the days when the Sri Lankan cricket team was "caught up" in the mind games played by other sides, now we have our own! Its a good tactic!

Some changes in the side for tomorrow's game? Why not take on Malinga Bandara and rest Farveez Maharoof? Malinga B has done well against the Aussies and the wicket for tomorrow's game seems to be slow and low., its a pity that such a talented cricketer can not make it to the final playing 11, the only reason is Sri Lanka has soo many spin options.

All of Asia is behine the Lions from the tiny island nation, the Sri Lankan people need this win! They deserve it!

I found an ardent supporter, an Indian blogger on cricinfo site, http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/current/url/278461.html

And again Mr. Nevile De Silva has given AI (Amnesty International) another earful and something to think about, http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/current/url/278461.html

All good stuff!
Its good to be Sri Lankan!

Cooking?

2007-04-14T23:07:00.000+05:30

Who said cooking is hard? Nope its not, especially when you have the internet to download recipes and a microwave to do all the rest!!

So I made (with the help of my mother, but I MADE it!!) I made Pasta (yeah yeah its easy, but you should taste what I MADE!!) and a vegetable medely (hey thats what the recipe said) and sweet 'n sour chicken (okay it might not go well with pasta)...

But cooking is not hard! Its fun! (well its fun when you do it once in a while, cant imagine cooking everyday!

The pictures dont look good, but anyway...

Vegetable Medley, this is before it was cooked!

Pasta, okay it doesnt look good since the picture colors look wierd BUT it was so tasty! 4 other people agreed!

Someone once told me... :)

2007-04-14T12:30:00.000+05:30

"Our friendship is like wine,
it gets sweeter as it gets older...
-So you are getting older
and I am getting sweeter :)"

Original and Nicely written :)

HL_FKZC_VD_LDS... :)

2007-04-14T12:15:00.000+05:30

I was glad too... :)

Random Pics

2007-04-14T11:56:00.000+05:30

My car's odometer! Its been just 7 and a half months!

EYE!, my phone's camera effects!

More effects, a trishaw parked at the temple. A real pain in the ass if you are a driver of some other vehicle, but then again I have seen even bigger vehicles trying to do the same stunts!

Styrus's wide ball

2007-04-13T21:01:00.000+05:30

Scott Styrus must have learnt the basiscs of cricket from a different kind of coach when he was little, because for him a ball should be a wide even if it hit the bat!!! :D It was a very lucky day for Scotty boy where he had a few close calls...

Sangakkara managed to grab on to catch on the leg side off the bowling off Vaas but the apeal was turned down by the umpire... Scotty boy was "brave" enough to ask from the umpire for a wide! I am sure he is better off trying to improve his cricket knowledge rather than trying in vain to grow a beard!

Anyway whatever happened Sri Lanka took 2 points by beating New Zealand in a highly proffessional performance, a real team effort!

If there is any team that can beat the Aussies it is Sri Lanka, the two countries have had a history of rivalry... and the Sri Lankans are ready to stop the Aussies from taking the World Cup for the 3rd consecutive time. Its a Sri Lanka Vs. Australia final, and Sri Lanka Vs South Africa and Australia Vs. New Zealand semis!

Rainy Colombo

2007-04-13T20:42:00.000+05:30

Borella, where I get on to our office shuttle (van!)

Somewhere passed the parliment

VisualDNA Test

2007-04-11T09:39:00.000+05:30

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

I sent AI these questions... maybe they will answer if they are responsible enough :)

2007-04-09T18:13:00.000+05:30

These are the questions I sent them, you also do that by going to
http://web.amnesty.org/contacts/contact_us/eng-000

Link to Play by the rules campaign - http://web.amnesty.org/pages/lka-020407-petition-eng
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I would like to know the rationale behind the attempt to carry out "SRI LANKA PLAY BY THE RULES" campaign during the on going criket world cup 2007. Please answer the following questions (if you have nothing to hide)

1. Do you believe carrying out such a campaign during the world cup will affect the performance of the Sri Lankan cricket team? Its a YES/NO answer.

2. Why isn't AI carrying out a similar campaign against countries like Zimbabwe and Pakistan during the world cup along side this?

3. Why isn't AI not going for similar campaigns against governments which similar or much worse human rights records in other sporting events?

4. Doesnt AI have any other platform to talk and educate the masses apart from sporting event?

5. Does AI believe its morally and ethically correct to carry out such a campaign against a government during *a sporting event* where there is no official government representation?

6. Is AI playing buy the rules?

Irene Khan, Brett Lee, Amnesty International and The Cricket World Cup

2007-04-08T21:02:00.000+05:30

Nevile De Silva who writes the column "Thoughts from London" on the Sunday Times (Sri Lanka) has given a earful to Irene Khan and the organization she directs, Amnesty International. Have you ever heard in the history of sports where an organized group (such as AI) attempting to carry out a campaign against a government for its human rights record. Lets just say for arguments sake that the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has a horrendus human rights records and the pussy cat LTTE is so good and respects all human races, still is it called for or is AI 'playing by the rules" when it comes to staging a campaign against the GoSL at the cricket world cup where a multi-ethnic team from Sri Lanka is one of the top favourites to win the cup this year?

Among the many reasons for them to do so maybe the international attention that the world cup has, okay but is a sporting event a proper platform for this kind of acts?? Already the world cup has had its fair share of unfortuante incidents, does it need more? What about Zimbabwe? What about Pakistan? What about other countries that take part in olympics or the fott ball world cup that has worse HR records than the GoSL? If this is right why doesnt AI go there "educate" the masses? Maybe the world knows enough about those countries... Only reasoning is the AI heads have sympathy for the LTTE or they get funding indirectly from LTTE sources... after all Irene Khan must feed her family!!!!

Tied to this maybe Irene Khan and Asia Pacific Director (I think Poornima Sen) are soo dissapointed that India and Pakistan were thrown out of the world cup that they want to do the same to the Sri Lankan team? maybe they used the LTTE funding. sympathy and mixed that with their intention of throwing Sri Lanka out of the world cup to do this!!!

Maybe they didnt want the world attention on Sri Lanka for its glory of winning another world cup (like n 1996, and not its human right record) to be shown to the world... so they wanted the Sri Lankan team out of the world cup, what better way to kill 2 birds with one stone! Carry out a campaign against Sri Lanka and also the LTTE, but obviously more attention will be on Sri Lanka since there is NO CRICKET TEAM from the Fantasy Ealam Nation of the LTTE!!

Bret Lee has already taken part in the promotion campaign by signing one of the many soft balls which read "Sri Lanka, play by the Rule!" (No mention of LTTE, aha that cos they are not a legal entity, so AI cant do anything about it! Crazy Idiots!) I am sure Brett Lee had other intentions when signing that soft ball and not just the HR situation in Sri Lanka! He knowns if there is a team that can beat Australia in this World Cup its Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka only! So why not put that talented team down mentally by being part of this "nice" campaign???

Due to the good work of the Foriegn Ministry of Sri Lanka and the ICC not allowing AI to carry out the campaign a major upset in the World Cup was averted! Otherwise the world cup 2007 would have been known not for Cricket but the death of Bob Woolmer and Irene Khan's child play!

News item on the Sunday Times 8th April 2007, (Sri Lanka) showing Bret Lee with a soft ball (this is not Nevile De Silva's colum)

Movies I watched: The Holiday

2007-04-08T00:39:00.000+05:30

Well its almost two and a half hours and it looses its "intensity" in the middle but its good. A nice movie if you are not in a hurry...

Its about two women from two very different life styles, one living in England is madly in love with a guy who she went out with on and off relationship who announces at a company party that he is getting married and the other a very succesful move trailer producer who throws her cheating boyfriend out of the house...

They exchange houses through a web-site (and in this movie they actually used google search engine and not a fake one!!).

Its about people falling in love, suddenly realizing they were looking too far when love was just standing infront of them... its nice, enjoyable and has a happy ending.

Jude Law (from Alfi - and I didnt like that movie), Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet and Jack Black play the main roles...

I would rate it 2.5 of 5

Movies I watched: 300

2007-04-08T00:03:00.000+05:30

Do NOT BUY IT, its NOT WORTH IT!!!

So much hype and nice looking screen savers, trailers, impressive website... but it sucks!! It really does suck! Maybe it had too much of hype, about how 300 spartains defended there tiny kingdom defeating waves and waves of enimies...(Frankly I cant remember the name of the enemy :D)

Its all CG (Computer Graphics) the whole movie was shot infront of blue/green screen, I am sure of it! And its overdone... I mean you know its CG whereas maybe TROY also had it but you never knew it was CG, it was sutle... not overused...

The whole film is dark and gloomy, they defeat thousands and thousands of advancing enimies....

I dont have anything else to say than, DO NOT WASTE YOU MONEY AS I DID!
LOL!

Sri Lanka! Do we appreciate our own?

2007-04-07T23:40:00.000+05:30

I was thinking today... and this is really a random thought.... a book by Micheal Crichton called "PREY"... while reading it, it suddenly occured to me how highly people in the US thought of themselves...

Why doesn't Sri Lankans think highly of themselves? Why do not we see people appreciating local club cricket, why isn't there a massive following to that in this cricket crazy nation? Why isn't the local athletics meet or the South Asian Games not eargerly followed by us? (But we follow the Soccer World Cup with much enthusiasum)... Why? There are soo many examples which at this moment do not come to my mind... Look at the US or any other so called developed nation... within the country or region they appreciate the local talent, recognize them reward them, take them as role models, kids have heros.... but over here in this part of the world its not so.. for someone to be recognized we need the stamp from the international community that he or she is good, thats why only cricket is popular in Sri Lanka and not the national sport Volleyball.... oh did you know that it was Volleyball, I mean the national sport of Sri Lanka? Do you laugh why it is called the national sport?

What went wrong where? Our history paints a different picture.... did we loose all this after being colonized and treated like slaves by three western countries? Did they take away the pride we had in ourselves? I think they did ...

As long as we do not appreciate our own we will not develop as a nation! Its simple, look at yourself, if no one appreciates you at your work place will you work harder? will you try to innovate and do things better? or will you just do an 'okay' job?

Start appreciating!

My brother was telling me the other day when we were talking about how crazy and mad the Indians are of their cricketers? And we laugh at them saying they are mad, brainless people..... well maybe... most people who would protest on the streets are not that educated... but my brother was saying... maybe thats why India has developed nuclear technology, sent rockets to space, builds their own military weapons, builds theire own cars,..... its because they want to win, they want to be the best and they higly appreciate what they have.... and when they loose they dont like it. Maybe the less educated people react on the streets when the criketers dont do well, but maybe all Indains have the knack to be the best, world beaters!!!

Fun Quiz: What type of car are you?

2007-04-04T10:54:00.000+05:30

Never thought these types of quizes will come to this, comparing you to lifeless objects!!! Anyway so the test say this about me (its just 12 YES/NO questions)... its all about having a good laugh!

I'm a Chevrolet Corvette!

You're a classic - powerful, athletic, and competitive. You're all about winning the race and getting the job done. While you have a practical everyday side, you get wild when anyone pushes your pedal. You hate to lose, but you hardly ever do.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

The Wanna BEs

2007-03-25T17:15:00.000+05:30

It was good to see Sri Lanka thrashing India and sending them back home out of the 9th Cricket World Cup. The myriad TV shows, Web postings, blogs had India dubbed as one of the favourites to grab the World Cup, Indian cricketers took part in fancy fashion shows, CricInfo had Dravid, Ponting and Lara on one of its cover pages as if to say these are the hot 3 contenders.....

One TV show on this WU produced by NDTV (an Indian channel) rebroadcasted here by a local channel has a panel of experts and the host seem to bulldoze his way through to get answers that showed India are favourites... India never was in this world cup chase.....

Surely Sri Lanka has spoken with their team performance, we dont need to be glorified!

The Semi Finalist will be Australia, Sri Lanka, South Africa and New Zealand...

Movies I watched: Sankara

2007-02-23T18:59:00.000+05:30

Brilliant! Brilliant since most people do not understand it, this is not a movie about song and dance and a few good fights (although I like those movies too), this a movie that attempts (and a very good attempt at that) to depict the human mind, how uncontrollable it is, how difficult it is to control your mind. I will not ruin the movie for you by showing how brilliantly the director/script writer - Prasanna Jayakody has depicted the 'thoughts' of the young monk. The movie has minimum dialog. Most people will not get the movie and will think its a waste of time and money. Some people were happy to see the end of the movie, but there were quite a few who really got the deep meaning of it.

Web: http://www.sankarafilm.com/

Archery!

2007-02-05T17:27:00.000+05:30

I tried my hand at Archery at the Colombo Race Course grounds last Saturday. For a beginer I think I was not so bad , at least I hit the board the target was on and didnt kill any birds that were flying about!! Its not so easy as you see in Robin Hood you know!! hehe... Need some strength to pull that bow string and send the arrow flying! I ended up hurting my left arm since the bow string kept hitting it as I was not holding it properly!

Again my cool camera phone can do burst shots, 4 in quick succession! So my friend Alex was able to capture the arrow leaving! Pretty Cool!

Thats Janaka in action!

Thats Alex

The RELEASE!!! I meant the Arrow you idiot!! Nice pose ha??? Dont worry although I look so animated I didnt manage to hit the bull's eye ;)

My k608i Panoramic pics

2007-02-05T17:11:00.000+05:30

My Sony Ericsson has this cool feature, you can take panoramic pics and the phone's software stiches them for you! But since the camera is just 1.3 Mega Pixels I cant do much, but the shots are pretty neat!

From Habarana - 2007 January

"Clickerty Click! Baba Trick!!" ... hehe... Thats Lashan CLONED!!

Archery - Alex shooting!

The 12 universal dreams!!!

2007-01-14T15:34:00.000+05:30

In my quest for knowledge I used google to look up on dreams!!! (dont laugh!, where else do you look? Library? Well in a library you dont find a search engine plus if u want to search for a word in a document u certainly catn press ctrl+f to find it in a book...!! yes I am sure you have tried to do that while reading a book and wanted to find something, I have and I am not embarrased to admit it cos ... I think this requires another post)

So apparently there are 12 universal dreams/nightmares according to this article, http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/03341/248376.stm

I wont list all of them but the first one is being chased or attacked! It seems 80% of the people dream about it.

People try to interpret dreams but I think its a natural phenomena that occurs in our brains to re-wire and strengthen certain experiences and knowledge required to survive. Strengthening the connections reduces reaction time in life threatening situations. Okay I read this in some book :-) So now dont go trying to interpret what you saw, just let it go!

Maldivians Originated from Sri Lanka?

2007-01-14T12:43:00.000+05:30

Well I have heard about it by chance while switching through TV stations (I think) on a show on Sri Lankan history that during king Parakramabahu the Great's (Maha Parakramabahu) time a ship wrecked in the islands of Maldives and they were stranded in the island. Wikipedia confirms this,

"According to Maldivian legend, a Sinhalese prince named Koimala was stranded with his bride – daughter of the king of Sri Lanka – in a Maldivian lagoon and stayed on to rule as the first sultan from the House of Theemuge. Prior to that Malé had belonged to a group of people today known as the Giravaaru who claim ancestry from ancient Tamils (Tamilas)"

Also Maldive's official language is Dhivehi, an Indo-European language related to Sinhalese, the language of Sri Lanka.

Whats the Story? Mornig Glory?

2007-01-08T23:48:00.000+05:30

Why the hell do I say that sometimes, when someone asks..."So what the story?" I once said that when someone asked something important with that exact phrase... of course I was tired and sleepy after staying up overnight on for an urgent issue with a few others... I guess I was trying to be funny (in a very bad way) or just too sleepy...

So where did this come from?? Then I remembered its from one of the songs by Oasis, titled "Morning Glory"!!!!

Oasis - Morning Glory

All your dreams are made
When you're chained to (your) mirror with (your) razor blade
Today's the day that all the world will see
Another sunny afternoon
(I'm) walking to the sound of your favorite tune
Tomorrow never knows what it doesn't know too soon 

Need a little time to wake up
Need a little time to wake up wake up
Need a little time to wake up
Need a little time to rest your mind
You know you should so I guess you might as well 

What's the story morning glory?
Well
(you) need a little time to wake up
Wake up well
What's the story morning glory?
Well
Need a little time to wake up
Wake up 

(Cos) all your dreams are made
Now you're chained to the mirror with your razor blade
Today's the day that all the world will see
(It's) another sunny afternoon
Yeah I'm walking to the sound of my favorite tune
Tomorrow doesn't know what it doesn't know too soon 

Need a little time to wake up
Need a little time to wake up
Need a little time to wake up
Need a little time to rest your mind
You know you should so I guess that you might as well 

What's the story morning glory?
Well
Need a little time to wake up, wake up
Well
What's the story morning glory?
Well 

Need a little time to wake up, wake up
Well
What's the story morning glory?
Well
Need a little time to wake up, wake up
Well
What's the story morning glory?
Well?

Me and Octo!!!

2007-01-08T23:02:00.000+05:30

Eight is my lucky number, well it first began when my mother said that when you add up your date of birth it gives your lucky number.... so it became a habbit for me later on to add a number that had some meaning to me to see if I was lucky! And I certainly was.... well I guess I only remember the occasoins which I was lucky in

Okay here it goes... now this is going public.. on the internet!!

My Date of Birth is 26 August 1981
2+6=8, August is the 8th month, 2+6+8+1+9+8+1 added until it becomes a single digit is 8!

My National ID card number adds up to 8
My O/L examination number added up to 8
My A/L examination number added up to 8
The letter 'H' is the 8th in the alphabet

There is so much more but I wont say those, because the last time I said all that my office colleagues teased me to hell (but I love them, it was real fun to laugh at those insane jokes they made! :))

So wikipedia has a seperate page for eight, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8_(number)

Some extracts from that are,
- A fallen or lying down 8 is used to represent infinity in mathematics. This interpretation of 8 may be related to the representation of the caduceus (where two snakes form several figure eights) as stability or balance of opposing forces.

- The atomic number of oxygen is eight

- In physics, the second magic number

- The Noble Eightfold Path in the Buddhist faith has eight steps

- The Dharmachakra, a Buddhist symbol, has eight spokes

Sri Lankans and Discussions....

2007-01-08T22:42:00.000+05:30

I think Sri Lankan people are really good at making/holding discussions... they just love to talk and talk and talk... I am saying this by actual experience in my 25 year life!!! (lived 1/3rd of it, man I am ancient!)

Lets say you are embarking on something new, or want to make a change, or want to get ideas from people on some existing situation... talking begins and it becomes random and moreover more than 90% of the ideas put across are negative... with words like "won't, no, don't, hard, difficult.." coming out!

Why is this? I wonder... can anyone give me a logical reasoning?? And one negative thought leads to another and another until everyone fails to see anything positive! A really good example on this is when we had a discussion about "Education and its important to a country:Sri Lanka" in a discussion that had AIESEC members, Alumni and corporate people... in the end none of the people were able to see anything good in the existing education system in Sri Lanka! I dont think its soo bad....... (okay I was also part of this discussion)

People it seems love to complain as well....

Actually come to think of it, people at all levels of the society are like this....

We need to change this and it begins from ME!! (yeap I will and has been trying hard, but I lack skills in convincing people!)

Making money on Metacafe

2007-01-08T14:10:00.000+05:30

Did you know about the site metacafe? Check it out on www.metacafe.com. Its a cool site where you can upload videos and you get paid for the number of hits you get on the video/s.

So in the hope of making money I uploaded my first video... its nothing much, good for a starter I guess.. Please check it out :)

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/374293/easily_design_your_own_fonts/

2007? - part one

2007-01-07T22:12:00.000+05:30

Just another day, another month, another new year... another!!! People talk about new year resolutions some keep it simple while others go to the extreme...

As a nation what do we have to look forward to? The New Year has already seen two attacks on innocent civilians killing nearly 30 people! The LTTE supremo virtually declared war last year in his annual "hero's day" speech saying the Government of Sri Lanka has launched "state terror" in innocent tamil civillians....

It is clear that the LTTE leadership will not enjoy the benifits it does if a political solution is made and this is one of many reasons why they are backing away from such a solution, but ialso f you speak to people who are from jaffna you will also realize that some tamil people really do believe that the Sri Lankan government will not bring any good to them.... they have seen their fathers brothers being killed and they will fight just because of that...

So the government has to build go faith in the hearts of the tamil people, this can only be done if the government backs away from extremist allies thats "supporting" it, stops abductions of innocent tamils (more than fifty people have been abducted within colombo city limits mostly tamils. If a government can not assure the security of its people in its own area and say they are investigating and can not find who these kidnappers are that is total bullshit... I can not believe people can put up a straight face and say these things to the people who voted them in,,, but then again politicians are born to do that...

As expected the UNP-SLFP alliance has been limited to just a piece of paper, whether it was Ranil Wickremasingha's cunning plan to stop people from crossing over to the government and to protect his leadership position in his party is debatable but right now it certainly seems so... or maybe it was an attempt by President Mahinda Rajapakse to show his extremist supporters, especially the JVP that he has support elsewhere...

But all in all what the people of this tiny island nation wish for is for genuine political leadership and peace.

As long as monks keep on saying the two words "Sinhala Buddhists" in the same sentence (I am a buddhist myself by the way - at least by birth), as long as the old generation doesnt learns to trust tamil people, as long as they dont start teaching both languages in schools, as long as innocent people are abducted, as long as war is a big business, as long as their are traitors in the military, as long as the benifits of development does not go to areas outside of colombo.... we will remain to be the same, a country with lot of potential and people with hope! I guesss thats enough for politicians!...

More to come... later... :)

Angels and Demons!

2007-01-03T13:51:00.000+05:30

The theme of our Annual Company get together this time was Angels and Demons, its my first since I joined MillenniumIT 6 months back... the previous theme had been "The Matrix".. (yeah as in the movie!, boring? no I dont think so)

Well this time people were really into the theme, to my surprise... I actually expected people to come just in red and blakc or white... but they had made wings, masks, face paint!! But one thing I expected was more Demons than Angels and that was spot on! I guess being a Demon you can do more things with the costume and all PLUS its a chance to be bad!!! :D hehe....

It was a super party, went on till 5am in the morning thanks to our DJ Thanujika who works for MillenniumESP. I dont know the guy personally but he once let us in for free to Onyx, he DJs there on Fridays and Saturdays (I think)

See... these are the consultants... dont they look sooo damn crazy? Can you actually trust what they say?? :D (OF COURSE!)

Do you think I look a bit strange over here?? Well I had face paint on, which i removed but it seems it was not totally removed... !!! And that our dead Gehan, we all love him! (okay not in a gay sort of a way of course!)

Songs I like - Far Away ~ Nickelback

2007-01-03T01:07:00.000+05:30

I have always loved alternate rock music, creed was the best band for me... but there are soo many... l
ike coldplay, nickelbakc, damian rice, matchbox 20, third eye blind, linkin park....

This song, Far Away is from the last album by Nickelback (I realised just today that its actually spelt,
Nickelback and not Nickleback!) Nice song, I love it!

This time, This place
Misused, Mistakes
Too long, Too late
Who was I to make you wait
Just one chance
Just one breath
Just in case there's just one left
'Cause you know,
you know, you know

[CHORUS]
That I love you
I have loved you all along
And I miss you
Been far away for far too long
I keep dreaming you'll be with me
and you'll never go
Stop breathing if
I don't see you anymore

On my knees, I'll ask
Last chance for one last dance
'Cause with you, I'd withstand
All of hell to hold your hand
I'd give it all
I'd give for us
Give anything but I won't give up
'Cause you know,
you know, you know

[CHORUS]
So far away
Been far away for far too long
So far away
Been far away for far too long
But you know, you know, you know

I wanted
I wanted you to stay
'Cause I needed
I need to hear you say
That I love you
I have loved you all along
And I forgive you
For being away for far too long
So keep breathing
'Cause I'm not leaving
Hold on to me and, never let me go

Movies I watched - Buttefly Effect 2

2007-01-03T00:52:00.000+05:30

Decided to change the title from 'Movie Critique' to 'Movies I watched' cos I am actually not a critique!!~! That said I watched a ton of movies.... and cant figure out where I should start... okay with a movie that I really didnt understand.... whether it fell into the category of science fiction, just fiction or comedy!! (well not really comedy)

See I buy movies like most people by reading the story line on the back of the cover OR when other people say its a cool movie! I bought this cos other people said its a cool movie... now I know what I should do when I go ahead and buy movies... never listen what others say are good, or at least make sure that the person who says the movie is good has the same taste as you!

Okay about the movie...

The Butterfly Effect 2
Can you change your PAST with out destroying your future?

Simple answer to the theme is "No its not possible". The movie dissapointed me maybe because I had other expectations... The story revolves around a guy (I am not bothered find out the name of the character or the actor) who survives an accident that leaves his girl friend and 2 other close friends dead. After recovering he gets this ability to look at pictures or photographs and "travel back in time" and relive that moment. Through this he is able to change what happened before.....

Okay this idea is cool, but the story line is not strong enough in the way I expected it to be... he just changes some moments in his life that brings back his girl friend, makes him vice president of his company and so on.... the message the movie is trying to deliever is also cool, it basically says you just get once chance in life, make the most out of it, u decision will change everything in the future for the best or worse....

But the movie has two many sex scenes (not that I am complaining) that really doesnt add any value to the story... and one is with two men (okay they dont show much)

The movie ends with the guy making the ultimate choice to get back together with his gf, where he dies! But he fathers a child and the at the end they set the stage for "Butterfly Effect 3" where his son also seems to have got the ability to travel to the past by looking at photographs!!

I rate it 1.5 out of 5

Movie 'Critique' - Constantine

2006-12-19T15:42:00.000+05:30

Constantine
Staring Keanu Reeves and Rachel Weiz
Directed by Francis Lawrence
“Hell wants him, Heaven won’t take him and Earth Needs him’

The story revolves around Mr. Constantine given the gift of seeing both worlds; hell & earth and being able to see half breeds Angels and Demons that walk on the Earth. It’s a gift that he didn’t want to have and in an attempt to escape from it he took his life but failed.

A Visit to Hell!

He chooses the path of banishing half breed demons and sending them back to hell, because of his attempt to take his own life heaven won’t take him and his last chance is be pardoned for his attempt on his own life.

The story is about Satan’s son wanting his own kingdom and thus trying to cross over the Earth plain to establish it. The Ultimate sacrifice earns Constantine the right to be in Heaven and Earth is protected by Satan’s son.

Great Movie to watch!

I rate it 4.6 out of 5

Movie 'Critique' - Match Point

2006-12-17T17:15:00.000+05:30

Match Point
Passion Temptation Obsession
Staring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Scarlett Johansson
Directed by Woody Allan

Story is set in England (so you got to deal with the British inflection) where a young ambitious tennis player, Chris Wilton (played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers), from a village background joins a upper class London tennis club as a trainer. He becomes the trainer of a wealthy young businessman, Tom Hewett (played by Matthew Goode), who runs their family business. They soon become friends and Chris gets introduced to the wealthy family and to Tom’s sister, Eleanor Hewett (played by Penelope Wilton), who instantly finds Chris attractive. Soon they start dating each other and Chris meets Tom’s fiancée Nola Rice (played by Scarlett Johansson), which becomes a fatal attraction.

Nola (Scarllet) and Chris (Jonathan)

The story line is simple and the movie seems to be monotonous at times (for me) but the suspense of what happens to Chris in the end is what keeps the movie going. It has a surprising ending as the director ‘fools’ us with his initial story of a tennis game and at Match Point; if the ball hits the top of the net it can go either way, if it falls on your side you loose if it falls on the other side you win!

Scarlett Johansson plays a stunning role with Jonathan Rhys Meyers in this movie tagged “Passion Temptation Obsession”. The New York magazine describes it as “A Marvelously Sexy Thriller”

I rate it 3.5 out of 5

Secret Santa....

2006-12-15T16:39:00.000+05:30

This is the most hilarious gift (in my opinion) that I have got, although many people actually say its really nice and really useful! How this came about what one brilliant person at office suggested that we play "Secret Santa", where you write your names and draw lots and each person gets to buy a gift for someone, I of course had an easy time thinking of a gift cos it was for one of our Project Managers, so I got him an organizer/journal!

So I was expecting maybe a t-shirt, perfume?, a tie?... a book?? .... a set of DVDs! (how boring?? :D), but this sort of gift I never expected....

Most people got those stuff, t--shirt, perfume, ties, book, someone got a FLASH LIGHT!!.....

So at first I shook the box to feel what was inside it.. I thought its definetly perfume... then I opened it ... it was a nice looking shiny metal case...

Thats the box!!

So,, okay its not perfume.. I couldnt guess what it was.... so I opened it...

OKAY!!!!!!!!!!!................Its a GROOMING SET!!!!! :D :D
So People say it will be useful when I am travelling.... okay. :-)
Thanks Secret Santa (I know who gave it to me!)

Super Hero Test!

2006-12-11T19:30:00.000+05:30

Your results:
You are Green Lantern

Green Lantern		70%
Supergirl		65%
Spider-Man		55%
Catwoman		55%
The Flash		55%
Superman		55%
Wonder Woman		50%
Robin		47%
Batman		45%
Iron Man		40%
Hulk		20%

Hot-headed. You have strong
will power and a good imagination.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

Friends at work..

2006-12-09T15:13:00.000+05:30

So Business Analyst, Consultants call them whatever you want... these are some of the most crazy people that work at MillenniumIT, capital markets division. Work is tough and challenging, but these people are the most coolest, craziest and smartest people you can find. When I joined in the total number of consultants was somewhere around 18, I remember that number because we put it in the b'day card we made to Lalin, the head of Capital Markets consulting, he is the one who hired me! Back then (this was in August) we thought 18 was too much, now we have grown so much that we dont sit in one table at lunch! We simply cant do it, so now although we work in the same building we dont meet each other much often, which is sad.

As soon as I joined we went on a trip to a place called "The Fishing Hut", in Maskeliya if I memory serves me right,... it was fun... some pics from that.

This is not the whole lot, but starting from left (Seated), Anuradhi, Amani, Alex, Mithila and Sudewa. The MEN standing are (from left), Tahir, Gehan, Prashan, ME, Indika and Charitha

Inside one of the Huts, telling ghost stories I think or playing pictionary!! :D

TRAPPED!!!!!!

My work place

2006-12-09T14:19:00.000+05:30

So I am writing to this blog after a long long time, I think after 6 months! Well I recently completed 6 months at my first real permanent job! Hurray! As a Business Analyst in a truly Sri Lankan company! So what... I am proud to be working in a fully Sri Lankan company that is doing wonders! We are becoming a force to be reckoned with in the software industry of Automated Trading Systems! Yes its MillenniumIT!

It has been a good 6 months, not 6 months without any problems, but it has been good. I have always wondered while I was in AIESEC whether I would be able to work at one place for a long time, sometime back it suddenly occured to me that things might be getting routine and boring at my new job! Yes you get up, come to work and do the same thing. I wonder how people in the Planet live, doing the same job over and over again!!! Whats the point!!
But then I learnt its up to you to make it interesting, its up to you to do different things! My father told me, the job is your secondary thing in life, make everything else first priority and change what you do, then you wont get bored, pretty good advice! :D

But MillenniumIT is a good place to work at, all young people, lead by a relatively young CEO... :) I think the average age over here is 25, 26.

Some pictures of our nice, cool, modern work place!!!

Main Building, HQ

Inside Main Building, HQ

10th Anniversary Celebrations! It was one awesome night!

Outbound training!

2006-04-12T18:25:00.000+06:00

I work part time for Adventure Asia, an outbound training company... was asked to come for a training for NationsTrust Bank 2 weeks back.. after a long long time (almost one year),, it was fun to be back with the guys... its owned by peter, an Australian.. who worked in Nepal before coming down to Sri Lanka to start Adventure Asia... he is cool guy, stresses a lot on how to deliever the sessions and all.. and it has never been enough .. for me at least...

it was fun.. a new experience for me.. especially the raft building and going with them in the river.. it was soo cool.. and i was very tough, to the rules!! my team was not so happy about it.. always complained i was tough, but i said i am not here to be their friend, i am here to teach them (haha!)

but in the end they were soo happy, cos they came first!! yeah way to go BULLS!!! you guys were a great bunch!

the team bulls and me!!

Graduation Day!

2006-03-17T13:05:00.000+06:00

7 months ago we wrote our final exams.. then went for jobs, of course I went to work at AIESEC! Which is also a JOB (although most people dont see it as one!, when I say I am in AIESEC, they ask so what do you do proffessionally?, so then I explain to them how proffessional we are!...hehe and it goes on and on..)

So our graduation or the convocation ceremony was held last wednesday (two days back) at BMICH... it was a long and kind of sleepy event! (apart from the part where I went up the stage and watched my friends get their garlend from the Chancellor!)... but it was great to meet up all the batchmates, friends, not so friends and the rest!

From my 4 years in the University it was the first time I saw our Chancellor, the world renowned Dr. Ray Jayawardana, from hearing his name and reading about his work the impression I had was that he was a young guy! But he was really old and walked with the help of a walking stick, but he has a great personality and he is very humble.. looks more like Sir Arthur C Clarke., who was our first Chancellor. Being the person he is he said he is trying fill in the big shoes let by Sir Arthur C Clarke as the Chancellor of the most prestigous university in Sri Lanka, the university of Moratuwa.

Here are some pictures...

Madhuraka, Pabasara, Duleepa, Saminda, ME and Prasad! All these buggers are from Electronics and I did Computer Science! (Well I had no choice).. these are the people I studied with in the 1st year!

Me and my brother, he of course graduated way before me, but we got a picture togetherr with the cloaks!

My Parents! Proud ones at that! ;)

So thats how it was! Just reminds me that we are getting older taking on greater responsibilities in life!

Hiran

Great Fun at Clancys!

2006-03-10T18:18:00.000+06:00

It was our night out to celebrate securing jobs at 2 top Sri Lankan organizations.. myself and Asanka... I hope Asanka exuses me for saying this,.. I got myself in as Business Analyst at MillenniumIT while Asanka got a major offer from OrangeEletric with the most amazing benifits I have heard for the first job in the corporate sector (of course working in AIESEC is the first job.. but thats our own thing!)

Both of us are starting work on 5th of June, both of us got these offers while working in AIESEC and working for it... we didnt think so much about securing these amazing posts way ahead of our term being ended.. we went to these companies to raise partnerships for AIESEC and we got them as well!!

So few of us went to Clancys, it was not the best night at Clancys,, not much of a crowd in and cos of that the band didnt play soo well.. but all in all we had a good time! It was also the bye bye party for Sabine and Roxana after spending a long long time in Sri Lanka as AIESEC Interns...

Here are some moments..

Asanka, Rox, Pavel.. ME! in a circle!! going round and round on the dance floor!!

So much into the song that was played.. cant remember what it was!

Juriaan??

Dancing away!!

WildFire Jammnig away..

It was great! I guess times like this will be less when we all start working from June onwards...so now is the time to enjoy things to the maximum!!

Hiran

"You are Hired"

2006-02-23T17:16:00.000+06:00

It was a not a usual Thursday morning, since I got a call 2 days back while in a meeting with a few 3rd year students from University of Colombo about setting up AIESEC in their university. The call was to ask me to come for the 2nd interview at MillenniumIT.

So I didnt go to office this morning, instead went to meet Darshi, she is going to Latvia on a 2 month AIESEC Internship, I went to give her a CD.. came back home.. read the newspaper about Geneva Peace Talks.. got ready and went to Malambe..

Man, I have never been able to put the tie on by myself, but today as if from some magic I was able to put my tie on without any mistakes!! Then reached Malambe in 20 mins!!! The interview was scheduled at 3.00pm I was there at exactly 2.00pm, on the dot!!

I was the only one there... was waiting, saw and met a few batch mates, walking pass me..

Then Lalin and Ajit (the Director) came in at 2.45, AJit said to me "just give us 2 mins", I gracefully said "yes no worries".. then Lalin came in said it was nice to meet me again, and took me into the boardroom where Ajit was seated, I greeted him, he said this wont take long.

So he asked me what I was doing and said that I might have to repeat somethings I told to Lalin in my 1st interview. So I repeated about AIESEC but said things in a more detailed manner... then he asked me why I wanted to be a consultant and why at MillenniumIT when there are soo many other companies.

I said that I believe I can contribute my best as a consultant since I have a sound techincal background with a 2nd class upper in Computer Science and also especially bcos of my experience in AIESEC. One year full time and 3 years part time...

Then they said, "okay you have impressed me enough, you are hired"... I was like... (in my head, excuse me, I just started, and its was only 5 mins of interviewing and you say I am hired!!)... but I said, "really? thats it?".. then Lalin said, "Yeah I told you we are not that sophisticated",,, but I still couldnt believe, it, I was about get up, sat back on the chair.. waiting for them to get up, Lalin noticed this I think and he just started to get up and I also got up, said THANKS with a BIG SMILE ON MY FACE, Ajit said see you soon, then Lalin and myself came out, he said he will give me a call tomorrow morning to talk about the next steps. He asked me if I am still interested.. mannn of course I AM!!

One of the happiest days in my life!!!
www.millenniumit.com

Hiran

We had Fun

2006-02-21T10:25:00.000+06:00

[Typos, dont mind them, if u r intelligent enough, you can understand what I am saying, there might be a 'a' missing or a 's' missing.. dont bother about it too much ;)]

It was great fun when 18 of us set off to Polonnaruwa, the 2nd Capital of Sri Lanka and a place where lots of world heritage sites are present.... 6 Trainees and 12 locals set off Friday night by Train from Fort.. we were to switch trains in Gal Oya Junction BUT everyone was asleep and I suddenly woke up.. seeing the words Maho Junction got everyone off the train!!! :D

It was all done in a hurry and about 8 of us got off while the train started backing away... while the rest were in the train... it was a big mistake by me and I was EMBARAAASED totally!! But the train backed off and came back (it was changing tracks) so we all got back in and I heard the most nicest and funniest comments about me!! and my leadership and bla bla.. it was sooo embarrasing!! hehe... but then we called it and ICE BREAKER to get everyone ready, since all were sleeping... hmm.. I am expecting more comments in the coming few days as well... well I guess I gave everyone something to really really remember and talk about, so thats cool.

Finally we got off at Gal Oya Junction, waited for about 40 mins to catch the next train...

> All of us making fun out of Abhishek..... cant remember what we told him though... hmm..

Christian, Dasha, Ego, Rasmus, Juriaan and Abhishek at Gal Oya

Then we caught the next train to Polonnaruwa.. it was great.. the morning sun breaking through and fresh air blowing on our faces it was a real break from the polluted...

Then we arrived early morning (at around 7am) in Polonnaruwa Railyway station and went over the the railway bungalow which we were to stay at, left our bags there and was ready to hit the road.. to see the ancient wonders..

The place we stayed at.. it was great since it was totally free

Then we boarded a local bus, thinking that it would be a 10 minute ride to the Polonnaruwa town where we were to collect our bikes.. but it was a very slow slow bus, we could have out run it for sure..

Kavitha, Ego, Dasha and Sachi in the SLOW bus.. Dasha impatient!! :D

At the entrance to the old city area.. in how cool looking mountain bikes.. great deal, only 175 Rupees per whole day per bike!!

The remains of the 1000 room palace of King Parakramabahu the Great. Kalinga Maga the Southern Indian invador burnt it down and this is what remains.. its marvelous... we were building skyskrapers while the rest of the world was in the jungle... the palace housed 2 of the king's queens and 300 women.. the dude was having a Royal time for sure!! hehe..

Myself, Dasha, Asanka and Juriaan.. oh there is Abhishek on the left as well, man I didnt notice u,.. looks like an ordinary local (it has its advantagous, believe me)... and Asanka what is that pose man? Trying to be girly girly?

ORANGE!! Juriaan, ME and CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY Christian... he was in his own world during the whole trip..

Looking at Royal shit once was.. they used it to every month as fertilizer for the gardens... but without the jokes,, this is really great, shows that the civilization was really ordered and advanced in technology and hygine.

Bebbaas having fun.. near the Parakrama Sumdra Tank, watching the Sunset and sipping beer.. the trouble they went through to get beer...

After all the fun in Polonnaruwa, we went back to our 'home', some slept while some played drinking games till about 12 (I slept;)).. next day morning I woke up everyone at 6, they were cursing me from inside... (I am sure of it), and Malinga who had fun in the night put on Mosquito Repelent on his tooth brush and was walking around about to brush his teeth... he is one crazy dude!! hehe...

Next day, we were off.. the day was totally unplanned, I had heard of this Pink Quatz mountain called "Namal Uyana" and we were on our way to find it... so we got on a bus, the ticket was 45 rupees, so that meant it was a long journey, luckily everone got seats apart from a few.. on the bus Malinga and Eranda were chatting to some local girls, Malinga was a talker.. he was pretending that he failed O/Ls and everything and saying to those girls they are lucky to be doing an external degree bla bla... we were enjoying his funny chats... he is one crazy guy with no care for anything at all...

Then our bus broke down.. and we were pushing soo hard... but couldnt get it started.. :P.. hehe check the pic below...

Not the best actors.... Malinga is crazy!! (he is in those funky shorts, pushing ME!@@#@$@#$%)

But in the end we managed to reach Kakirawa town, we had to hire a van from here to go to Namal Uyana where south-east Asia's largest Pink Quartz Rock is at... but on that Sunday there werent any sort of vans for hire... so we being soo bright and intelligent hired a lorry!!! It was the best thing we did.. unplanned trips are great, cos your plan wont get messed up!! Then we finally came to Namal Uyana had lunch and started to trek through the jungle..

NAMAL UYANA

A welcome break from polluted Colombo City, in the middle of huge trees, this was so great, fresh water springs along the way, cool air, sound of wild birds... Awesome

Climbing the pink rock!.. but where is the pink???

Here is the pink!

The lorry that we came in.. getting ready to go back.

It was great... these times will never come again, the jokes, the chats, the fun, the friends... it was great... :)

First MCP of AIESEC in Sri Lanka

2006-02-20T11:55:00.000+06:00

The Very First MCP of AIESEC In Sri Lanka (1995/96) and her Husband (PAI 1994/95) came to AIESEC office with their two children to see how AIESEC is doing after 10 years...

It was a great to meet her, who had the courage to set up AIESEC in Sri Lanka with many difficulties.. she was in Australia before 1995 and come to Sri Lanka for the International Congress '95 and then took over as the President.. the theme of her term was "Dare to Dream"

She came to Sri Lanka just before Christmas 2005...

Some picture...

Dinoshi, Shanthini, Padmaka, Sifaan, Dommy, ME and Suchith.. MCPs of AIESEC in Sri Lanka (3 are missing)

everyone at the gathering

Colored!!!!!!

2006-02-16T11:07:00.000+06:00

Yesterday we had the most craziest party ever... it was welcome party for the new Indian dude.. Vijay Abhishek, from Bangalore.. here in Sri Lanka for an one year internship... There was the usual question and answer session.. (well the questions were not usual, it was about gay guys in bangalore and why he is wearing shorts,, and when the first time he saw his first porno.. -he was 17!!! so late man!, but there were GOOD questions too like about his family and all) Then was the presentation...

After that the party really started, Indian have this festival in which they cover themselves all over with different colors using powder..... yellow, green, purple, red ..

We were all running around chasing each other, throwing and rubbing colors all over each other, arms, t-shirts, faces and anything you could get hold of during the chaos... ;)

Here is the aftermath!!

Abhishek from Bangalore!!! Culprit Number 1 of this mess....

Suchith, Culprit Number 2, he got wash down from all of us right at the end for planning this whole thing...

The MESSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, me at the extreme left of the picture...

Abhishek, Juriaan, Christian (he is soo clean) and Rasmus..

Interview at MillenniumIT

2006-02-08T12:08:00.000+06:00

3 and half months more to go in AIESEC and I went for a job interview,,, business analyst for Capital Markets for MillenniumIT, a proud SriLankan organization that is taking Sri Lankan software engineering skills to the rest of the world from the US to Singapore!!!

There were 5 people at the interview, I was the last... all the interviews lasted for about 15 to 20 mins each... I was the last... Lalin was the name of the guy, just turned 30 and he came out to greet me.... I also started talking well with him asking how it has been so far... it was a good ice breaker I think... I am not usually so talkative, but I found that when its really needed to be talkative, I can be!!

He was the only guy who was interviewing me.. there was his camera phone laid infront of him, I think he was video taping the interview... he was a cool guy asked if I had any questions for him, so me being the President of AIESEC and being to soo many company meetings.... it was an easy start, I asked about the job role and what it involves.. things started off well..

Then the interview was basically a chat.. I told about my AIESEC experiences,, he shared his experiences travelling around the globe,, how he lost his passport and stuff... I told him how AIESEC is working what I am doing there and how I took the decision to be President when all the others went for jobs!! He agreed that it was a good decision!! :)

Our chat lasted more than 40 mins.. time just went by,,, I dont think he noticed the clock ticking away.. so I guess it means the interview went well and I impressed him!! ;) He said definetly he wants to see me in the 2nd interviews...

and the best thing happened in the end.. MillenniumIT is 2 KMs away from the main road. He asked me how I am going back.. I said I will catch a trishaw back to the main road.. he said if I am sure there are trishaws.. althought I insisted there are .. he said he will drop me off to the main road... was soo cool!!! he then took me to his office... there I met some of my old freinds... Nandanie and Sudewa... then went with Lalin in his Peugoet!!!

It was cool! A happy day in my life!!
Hope I get this dream job!
Hiran

Board of Advisors Meeting and our own meeting!

2006-02-08T10:50:00.000+06:00

We had our AIESEC in Sri Lanka BoA meeting sometime last week at the Holcim Boardroom... it went well, but low attendance as always from the Board., only Mr Nimal Gunawardana from BatesAsia made it from the 'old' people, if we didnt invite Mr. Rathika de Silva of Holcim, current head of sustainable.. and future GM of Holcim Sri Lanka and Mr. Sanjiv Abeyenayaka, Country Director of MTI Consulting, one of the top consulting firms in Sri Lanka!! We would have had a one man BoA!!!!!!!! hehe....

Anyway it went well, we got good contacts from them this time, Nimal said he will put us in touch with ICTA and Sanjiv said he will give a good contact of the Ministry of Education... this is great for our Education IG initiative and Commmunity Development Plans...

Anyways..... after the formalities we had our own BOARD meeting!!!! ;)

Lack of Motivation... what can be done?

2006-01-20T13:01:00.000+06:00

Has anyone ever felt a lack of motivation to get up in the morning and go to work! Especially if you really wanted that job, applied for it.. and more special if you just gave yourself for the job that does not give even a worthy allowance, if you worked for free becuase of the shere committment and passion you had for the organization? And in the middle of your term you felt soo demoralized and demotivated to do anything!

I am in that period, after being President of AIESEC in Sri Lanka for almost 8 months, I feel its enough! Its time to STOP! I feel that I should quickly change my career to look for something that is more rewarding!

You have tried your best in your term, given out everything, but things suck, not because of you! But because of your co-workers that are not as energetic or motivating as you are.. people who question a lot about others actions but can not keep up to their own words!
There are also the co workers who lack skills and competencies and never admits them, who really do not want to improve themselves, trapped in their own little world where things look good and in their own world they have given the best. When you try to show this to them, they do not take the feedback well.

I am frustrated of how things have turned out to be... frustrated about the criticism that comes your way most of the time because your team did not see the changes you wanted to see and did not support it. Frustrated that you in the end could not convince them to do so.. and it get more frustrating when other people show you or say to you that you should have done it before.... and you really had thought about it, only problem was your co-workers saw a different story.

My advice is that you have to select your team carefully if you are the leader of your team, take on board people that believe in you and supports you, even if a person is very talented and knowledgable if that person is not a team player, never have him/her on your team. Its better to give that sort of a person a more individualistic role where he/she can excel and not be trapped by the team. It doesnt do any good if you have talented knowledgable people,. they can only do more harm and create havoc than anything else!

Take my advice!
Hiran

Sustainable Development

2006-01-03T18:29:00.000+06:00

3rd January 2005
AIESEC Office.

Allow me to quote
"The companies that are changing thier ways, reducing pollution, redesigning their product manufacture, have amny different motives. In some cases, the would like to escape regulatory liabilities; in others, they would like to avoid percieved or future liabilities; in yet others, they are trying to change the nature of business and move toward 'socially responsible' commerce"

The writer won an award for the work his company did in the field of CSR but at the moment of taking the award he realized that his company actually doesnt deserve it, that what they have done as just one organization is to scratch the surface of the problem and that organizations alone produce more pollution than what they do to reduce them by means of CSR.

He further goes on to say that the we can not do REAL sustainable development unless we change the design of our current organizations, with because of this design flaw nothing can be changed. Companies are designed to do business and maximize profit and talking about CSR with this design flaw is useless. A manager or an employee can not do anything about it as well, unless all of a sudden the whole world decides to go ahead with a change for the better, but in this caplisitc and well established society that will not happen in the near future.

There are reports of future human generations being born with defunct immunce systems.. all sorts of species disappearing from the face of the earth...

I feel it will be only time, when nature itself decides against the humans for exploiting the earth.

I am still in the 1st chapter of this book called "The Ecology of Commerce" by Paul Hawken, its about a decade old, but its cool to read.

Hiran

2006 what would it hold?

2006-01-02T11:44:00.000+06:00

2nd January 2006
AIESEC office

Yet another New Year dawned... I know that sounds more like.. here we go again.... but in a way it is very true, in this modernized, commertialized world today how many of us actually whole heartedly wish someone else for the new year, it has become more of a thing to do and routine, a way of maintianing you network, cos if you dont wish (even if you dont mean it) it wouldnt be nice... maybe I am being overly critical... I know I am

Once thing I decided to do this new year is to take things easily... during the past 7 months in AIESEC I have become more of a result oriented and due to that more frustratated when results are not achieved sort of a person. I have concentrated more on the results and not the people... So Complimenting the take things easily approach or rather that compliments my other resolution, that is to be more people oriented.

So lets hope I can do that... not hope, but I will do that.

I have been reading this interesting book called MASTERY, written by a person who studied a sport called akido (martial arts). There are 5 keys to being a MASTER in whatever you do.

In that he describes learning/interest/enthusiasm paths of 4 types of people. The Hacker, The Dabbler, The Obsessive and The Master..

I have come to realize that I am a mix of the hacker, dabbler and the obsessive.. and its pretty demotivating. Bcos I generate so much of interest in something at the begining but gives it up or gets bored with it after sometime...

Sometimes that enthusiasm lasts only in my thought process,, it never materializes into action..

Because of all these I am so afraid to go to work in a company, I might not like the job in the end., will get bored pretty soon.. and then what.. just work there for the money sake (I guess I would have to)

I have also come to realize that althought I want to enjoy very much, I actually dont go do it. I mean I always imagine going out, hanging with my friends but when the chance comes either I feel like being bored or its a very wrong thing to do..

Well a few other things I decided to do this new year is to go for dancing classes and take part in this survivial game called KIT Challenge!

Hmm...
2006... I hope its going to be a blast!
Hiran

A true friend...

2005-12-21T11:00:00.000+06:00

Indika, the hyper active guy from Japura, who is the HR manager has become one of my closest friends.. This I realized only a few days back.. actually yesterday when he came to me and gave me feedback on how I was doing in AIESEC..

Still there are a few good genuine people who want to see others succeed.. thats what I felt. They are really hard to find...

It has been stressful to work in AIESEC, one LC is simply staying out of all acitivities but criticizing everything done.. I am not sure what approach I should take in order to rectify this.

After IC we were so motivated to go and do things, but once Chris came over here she just runied everything, the good relations we had.. things may have not been perfect and her action lead to chaos and distruction and mistrust among people..

Well back to Indika, I really thank him for the way he gave me feedback, he said that my team has only 6 months and that we should do something great before we leave... It was a good discussion because I am lost at the moment, he said that I should be more visionary and speak out that vision to everyone to motivate and inspire them. Most people can not give good feedback without hurting the person listening to it, in this sense I am an extreme case cos I do take things personally a lot. But this guy just said it in a way that made me feel good. He said that is the only thing that needs to be rectified and the rest will fall in place.

So Thank Indika.. for that great feedback!
Hiran

Half way through after taking a huge decision in life...

2005-12-19T14:17:00.000+06:00

19th Monday..

The weekend was busy, with National Elections to elect and select the next team happening and then 10 year celebrations of AIESEC in Sri Lanka along with Diversity Concert on Sunday...

During this same period of time I made a life changing decision... putting aside a lot of concerns and stepping up to the challenge of leading an organization of volunteer students that strive to achieve the unimaginable...

12 months have gone after that with 6 months of working as President of AIESEC in Sri Lanka... I dont know if I have been succesful enough, I think not... I believe I lack ability to inspire people and that I am more of a hard worker.. I simply lack the ability to maintain close relationships with people.

Yesterday I made a speech, just like me, I was not ready... I just went up there on stage and addressed the audience of the Diversity Concert.. but everyone said it was great! I cant believe it.

The past 6 months have been a testing period in my life.. Finishing my degree, working as a President of a challening organization, low income (Due to that), Issues at home regarding me still being in AIESEC, personal problems with a girl...

I believe it has made me better, I know I have failed... people are not so enthusiastic about AIESEC as they used to be......... and I am lost not knowing whether it is a fault with me or its a fault with the people themselves..

Anyways 6 more months to go... until I finish this and start working..... looking forward to that,,, but there is acutally no one to look forwards to except for my dear parents.

Hiran