All Asanka knows is poetry. From his humble village beginnings in the great island kingdom of Lanka, he has risen to the prestigious position of court poet and now delights in his life of ease: composing romantic verses for love-struck courtiers, enjoying the confidence of his king and covertly teaching Sarasi, a beautiful and beguiling palace maid, the secrets of his art.
But when Kalinga Magha, a ruthless prince with a formidable army, arrives upon Lanka’s shores, Asanka’s world is changed beyond imagining. Violent, hubristic and unpredictable, Magha usurps the throne, laying waste to all who stand in his way. Under his terrifying rule, nothing in the city is left untouched and, like many of his fellow citizens, Asanka retreats into the shadows, hoping to pass unnoticed by the tyrant. But it seems his new master is a lover of poetry…
To Asanka’s horror, Magha tasks him with the translation of an epic Sanskrit poem, a tale of Gods and nobles, love and revenge, which the king believes will have a civilising effect on his subjects, soothing their discontent and snuffing out the fires of rebellion he suspects are igniting across the island.
Asanka has always believed that poetry makes nothing happen, but as each new chapter he writes is disseminated through the land and lines on the page become cries in the street, his belief and his loyalties are challenged. And, as Magha circles ever closer to the things Asanka treasures most, the poet will discover that true power lies not at the point of a sword, but in the tip of a pen.
As an old saying goes, friends are the family we choose. The role of a friend in someone’s life is great and to a large extent, many of our decisions are determined by what our friends say and do.
Friendship are as important to our wellbeing as eating right and exercising and they also help us grow through each year of our lives. The basic components of any relationship, from our marriage to our coworkers, are all founded in friendship. We learn how to interact with people because of our friends, even the ones that are opposite from us or share a different worldview.
One of the most overlooked benefits of friendship is that it helps keep our minds and bodies strong. In fact, it’s as important to our physical health as eating well and keeping fit. A recent Harvard study concluded that having solid friendships in our life even helps promote brain health. Friends helps us deal with stress, make better lifestyle choices that keep us strong, and allow us to rebound from health issues and disease more quickly. Friendship is equally important to our mental health. One study even suggested spending time with positive friends actually changes our outlook for the better.
Friends don’t completely cure loneliness, but they do help us during lonely times. They teach us how to accept kindness and also to reach out when we need help. Having a steady stream of friends lets us know that some friendships won’t last forever but each one brings something special. We learn more about ourselves and how important it is to have someone, who knows and understands you. A good friend can change our value system so we learn to inject more meaning into our lives. In spending time with friends, we fill up our lives with great conversation, heartfelt caring and support, and laugh out loud fun. When we fall on hard times, friends are there to put things in perspective and help us. When we have success, they’re smiling at our good fortune. We don’t just live when we have healthy friendships, we thrive.
The original idea for a day of friendship came from Hallmark cards in the 1930’s. Originally celebrated on 2nd August, the day was largely viewed cynically by the public as a money making exercise, sales of friendship day cards did not take off in Europe and by the mid-1940’s the day had faded into obscurity in the USA. The idea of a day to honour friendship was, however, adopted by a number of countries in Asia where it remained a popular custom to reserve a day for celebrating friendships and the exchange of gifts between friends.
The first World Friendship Day was proposed for 30 July 1958 by the World Friendship Crusade, an international civil organisation that campaigns to foster a culture of peace through friendship. Many years later, in 2011, the 30th July was declared as the International Day of Friendship by the General Assembly of United Nations.
Because friends are so important in our lives, in 1997, the UN General Assembly made a proposal to make 30 July the International Day of Friendship, which defined the culture of peace as a set of values, attitudes and behaviours that reject violence and endeavour to prevent conflicts by addressing their root causes with a view to solving problems. Recognising that enormous harm and suffering are caused to children through different forms of violence, the UN General Assembly emphasised that the promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence should be instilled in children through education. If children learn to live together in peace and harmony, as friends, that will contribute to the strengthening of international peace and cooperation.
The International Day of Friendship is also based on the recognition of the relevance and importance of friendship as a noble and valuable sentiment in the lives of human beings around the world. The day was proclaimed in 2011 by General Assembly with the idea that friendship between peoples, countries, cultures and individuals can inspire peace efforts and build bridges between communities.
The day places particular emphasis in involving young people, as future leaders, in community activities that include different cultures and promote international understanding and respect for diversity. It is also intended to support the goals and objectives of the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace and the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World which was supposed to be between 2001 and 2010.
With the growing popularity of social media throughout the world, there has been an increase in celebrating World Friendship day and International Day of Friendship online as well as with community activities in local communities aimed at bringing those of different backgrounds together. How can you, as an individual mark this day? Reach out to a close friend either via telephone or using video to check on them and spend some qulity time together. Because of worldwide lockdowns, you may be unable to meet them physically, but today technology has ensured that distances are now not an issue anymore.
Meet Adrienne Brown, a twenty-eight-year-old Wellesley College grad who recently left her glamorous job at Town & Country for a spot at the Capitolist. Known simply as the List to Beltway insiders, it’s the only media outlet in D.C. that’s actually on the rise.
Taking the job means accepting a painful pay cut, giving up perks like free Louboutins, and moving back in with her parents, but Adrienne is certain that her new position will be the making of her career. And it is—but not at all in the way that she expects.
The Capitolist runs at an insane pace: Adrienne’s up before five in the morning, writing ten stories a day (sometimes on her BlackBerry, often during her commute), and answering every email within three minutes.
Just when it seems like the frenetic workload is going to break her, she stumbles upon a juicy political affair, involving a very public senator—and her most competitive colleague. Discovering that there’s much more to the relationship than meets the eye, Adrienne realizes she’s got the scoop of a lifetime. But should she go public with the story?
This poem came unbidden to me during Singapore’s Circuit Breaker while on a walk. I really loved the little wildflowers which bloomed during this time when the workers who are famed for keeping Singapore neat and tidy did not work. The public were thrilled with these wildflowers and after letters sent to the National Parks, they have now decided that these blooms will not be cut down in non residential areas.
I was fed up sitting inside, staring at the same four walls When I glanced outside and saw the clear blue sky
I knew I had to get out and walk, breathe in the crisp air I quickly masked up, as that is our new normal and went outside And started to walk to the nearby park
On the way, I saw empty streets and lonely void decks Deserted of the usual crowd of people, the world seen probably as small specksLimited to our own area, we are now social distancing you know We can’t move around as before, we need to keep away, go on with the flow
As I enter the park, I see the wild grass and leaves On the ground, fallen flowers make a vivid carpet which sway in the breeze Peering close, I can see small patches of wildflowers Poking their heads out, fighting to live inspite of everything
I look at these flowers as an analogy of life In today’s world, we are fighting to survive against all odds Just as these flowers poke their heads even under difficult conditions So we should take inspiration from them and try to flourish in the most adverse situations
Be like the wildflower that flourishes inspite of all odds Be like the wildflower that lives another day despite knowing it may be it’s last
This week was like the last 16-20 weeks, in which we were all at home!
This week was quite busy in terms of work and when Friday rolled over, I was so relieved for the week to be done. BB will start school on a daily basis from tomorrow, but except for a few days in the week, it will be only for short periods of time. GG has still not heard back from her school if she has to go back. BB is quite glad to go back to school, but having to wear a mask for long periods of time is quite irritating according to him.
As for the coronavirus, I suspect Singapore has amped up testing because these days the daily numbers are higher than normal. Worldwide there has been a dramatic increase in the number of positive cases with more than 15.7 million cases reported as of yesterday. The United States leads the case list with about 4.2 million cases while Brazil follows with about 2.3 cases and India comes in at number three with 1.4 million cases. Singapore comes in at around number 42 with the number of cases touching 50 thousand.
Next week is end the end of July and we are looking to more months of staying at home. An article I read says that the earliest we can even think of travelling and life resuming to a sense of previous normalcy is sometime mid 2021. Though there have been some promising news about potential vaccines being formulated, but we should see the vaccines being available only sometime end of next year. However, the question will arise to who gets priority in getting these vaccines, but there’s still time to discuss all this later.
Memories and Such 