July 26, 2008
· Filed under Heritage · Tagged Aloe Barbandensis Mill, Komarika
Written By:- Lasantha Jayanath
This is a herbal medicine. Green in colour the leaves have thorny edges. The most valuable part is the centre of the leaf, while it is very cool when touched. A very special feature of this herb is that it can be grown in pots as well as on the grand. It is used to treat burn injuries. Because of its cooling and slimy effect it can be applied to reduce burn and to cause a soothing effect. In the past almost any home in the village would not fail to have a komerika plant in the garden.
Another special feature of this plant is that a leaf once cut through the middle will grow again. It docs not require any fertilizer. It grows almost any where. It even grows between rocks and on sandy soil. A leaf is about eighteen inches in length. A bush will have around 8 to 10 leaves. It can be stated that komarika is an essential plant in the lives of people.
July 20, 2008
· Filed under community · Tagged Beggers, Colombo, Kandy
Reported by: Lasantha Jayanath
Hundreds of beggars, both young and old, can be seen in our populour cities like Colombo, kandy and kurunegala. Thousands of other beggars go from house to house in rural areas.
They have taken to begging as they do not have homes any means of living and also as they do not have homes of their own. This situation has been arisen due to various factors prevailing in our society. Poverty, parental death and illness, loss of parental love and affection and loss of love and affection of their children are some of them. The number of beggars is increasing day by day.
Most of the beggars are not disabled. Most of them are able bodied. They can earn money by doing some sort of work. But they beg because they are lazy. They think that begging is the easiest way of living.
Sometimes, beggars become a nuisance to tourists. They drag after the tourists grumbling until they are given something.
Beggars wear ragged clothes. Even children in the age group of
5 – 10 years can be seen begging. This is a very sad state of affairs. Most of these children have lost their parental love and affection. According to the Police, most of these children become criminals at the end.
During the past few years several camps were established by the government for beggars. But they do nit like to live in these camps. So most of them have escaped from these camps.
They walk under the scorching sun. they get wet in the rain. But these things do not affect their health.
It is the bounden duty of the government to look into this burning problem and take steps to wipe out beggary. This can be done by setting up special homes for beggars. The government alone cannot solve this problem. All the social service associations and other voluntary organizations should extend their co – operation towards the government in this connection. Children who are engaged in begging should be schooled and taught a trade or vocation. The able bodied must be provided with some sort of employment. Laws should be passed to ban begging.
July 19, 2008
· Filed under Heritage · Tagged herbal, singhala Aryruvedic, Venivel
Venivel is a medicinal creeper. This has nodes on the stem. Venivel creepers grow in dry forests in Sri Lanka. If we cut the yellow stem, liquid that gets quite sticky comes out of it. Venivel is very useful as a medicine. Our ancient people also used this as a medicine. When we are suffering from like these diseases fever, body pain, influenza. We boil this stem and use it as a herbal drink. It is a very good treatment for body pains, bleeding and influenza. We can buy this from “Sinhala Aryurvedic groceries” we can find venivel creepers in our countryside homes. They cut them in to pieces and store them in bottles or some where to be used when needed. This boiled Liquid is bitter but it is very useful and important as a medicinal drug. We must protect this medicinal creeper for the future use.
Venivel is grown in some forests of Sri Lanka. Specially this herbal plant can be seen mostly in the forests in Balangoda area.
July 12, 2008
· Filed under Heritage · Tagged lives, sports
Every child likes to play. Not only the able bodied but also disabled are fond of sports.
Sports play an important role in child’s life. It is said that a healthy mind can be found only in a healthy body. Sports develop not only the child’s physical faculty but also his mental faculty.
There are various kinds of sports in our country. Some of them are cricket, volley ball, foot boll, net boll, rugger, elle, tennis, badminton, swimming, squash and hockey. Among them, cricket is the most popular sport in Sri Lanka.
In the past sports were not given a priority in our schools. Sports were directly introduced as extra curricular activities. But today the education authorities have realized that sport is an integral part of education.
Exercises have to be done regularly for the proper functioning and development of our body. If a person is engaged in sports continuously, he or she can lead a healthy life. In schools we find some students who look weak and pale. They are the students who never take part in sports.
Sports also teach us good moral values. We can learn good qualities and good attitudes of persons. A good sportsman can take both victory and defeat alike. He is very patient. He accepts any decision without grumbling. He is well disciplined and well mannered. Also he is ready to accept any challenge at any time. Sports teach us leadership qualities and the feeling of work as a team.
Volley ball is the National sport in Sri Lanka. But it is not so popular as cricket today. The government has taken several steps to improve sports. There is a separate Ministry and there is a Minister in charge of sports. Sport clubs have been established throughout the island. Sport equipment is issued by the Ministry to these clubs free of charge.
In the present day society our children have no time to engage in sports. Most of them go for tuition classes or for films. This is a very sad state of affairs. In my opinion sports must be made compulsory in our schools. Parents should realize that a sport too is a part of education. The children should be encouraged to engage in sports too. Otherwise our future generation will be weak and lethargic.
In a recent survey conducted by the World Tourism organization it has been revealed that promotion of sports activities will lead to the promotion of tourist destinations. Several countries in Europe are now using the field of sports for promoting bilateral tourism.
