Alright so, its been 3 days now, and finally my fever is starting to settle, and im feeling like im a normal human being with a body thats not burning up every 6 hours!!! hmm... yea, well as much as being sick can be so annoying, the minus factors certainly compound, when you know that, with each day away from the office, the amount of work that is going to pile up will increase alarmingly. (Just like in the cartoons where stacks of paper pile up, and in the end, no one can see who's at the table! hehehe!!)

 

In my job, we are told that we are supposed to be and have to be contactble 24/7 for our dearly beloved customers. Therefore, rain or shine, tsunami or hurricane, my mobile phone has to be switched on!!! hmm... so there goes any chances of me being able to get any rest!!! cos as soon as the working day dawns, my phone goes "beep beep beep".... and yes.... its a wonderful call from a very friendly customer! and yes, sick or not, its down to business and business it is, in a kind and cuerteous and friendly manner!

 

Well looking on the bright side of it all, because of my mobile being switched on, I was able to co-ordinate matters with my colleagues, and as we all work together as a team, matters of all concerns were resolved with ease!

 

So right now, I have two mobile phones with me.... and one that keeps me ALIVE by the love that I feel from the other end of the phone.... and one that keeps me receiving a solid income and is the means of my LIFE!!

 

hmm.... I hear my phone ringing now.....!!

I haven't done anything except  sit here all day and try and drown my surrows by listening to every song that I love, It's been a slow day, my phone is barred, so I can't even call Shaistha (my partner in crime) and Nazee (my mirror n soulmate n best pal). Ya, so it can't get any worse....!!!

 

Last nite was a terrible nite for all of us.... ppl lost their lives..... the town was in darkness..... it was under attack.... and no one knew what was happening, and among all this chaos, our guys in Barbados started to lose their way.... and den we lost da match in the end.... !!!

 

It's stange how happy moments and tragic moments, bring people together again..... last nite in the darkness, the one person who was on the phone with me giving me cricket updates was none other than my lil gud girl, Christine.

 

I was just enjoying every moment of it.... cos it reminded me of the past, where we would watch the match together, even though we were quite far away..... and it used to always bring us closer.....  and now the memories started to sweep me and overwhelm me.... and I just never wanted it to end, because for once.... it felt like everything was ok again! and that she was back..... back in my world...... and then just as I got carried away.... the power came back on!!!......

 

.... and like a dream..... it all faded away..... because now it was back to reality, and she realised that we had got carried away, and decided that now it was best if we watched the match alone...!

 

i wish the power had never come back on....... !!

As I write this.... the only feeling that surrounds me is a feeling of depression, depression and more depression. So much of hope was built up around this entire day where we would win the world cup once again, and regain the glory of 1996, which now seems so far away, it seems like a distant dream!

 

From the moment we lost the toss, I felt a tremor go through my body, cos I knew it spelt disaster, if the Aussies took first lease of a pitch that looked so good for batting, and with the sun out as well, things looked very dismal. However, I still had hope, for 2 reasons: [1] Mahela seemed ok even with batting 2nd, and [2] if Vaas gets swing from the early morning conditions, we could rip their top order apart. Alas, I think Mahela in his heart of hearts truly wished he could have batted first, and Vaas didn't get any swing, nor did Malinga, and that was the start of our downfall. From the time Gilly started smashing us like a exhibition buffet match, it was just ominious signs right throughout, and my last hope rested in Murali  and our spinners getting some quick wickets to stem the flow of runs, but that too never transpired, and in the end, the aussies did what they had to, they neutralized our STRENGTH which was our bowling, and made sure they were in safe waters by posting 288-4 by the end of 38 overs.

 

Thereafter, it was just forelorn hope that we could make a fist out of it, and Tharanga started off well by smashing the first ball of Bracken for a four. And Sanath and Kumar had their own set of fireworks by getting us in a position to challenge them. While fireworks happened at Barbados, fireworks happened here as well in the nite sky as the terrorists attacked key points in the city and due to that, plunged the whole country into darkness as well. If things couldn't get any worse, Rain hit barbados again, and the target was revised, and with the departure of Sanath and Kumar, Mahela Jaywardene and Chamara Silva decided to floor the accelorator, but by doing so, they got dismissed, and with that it was the end of all hopes, dreams and happiness of every sri lankan living across the world.

 

This was our last chance of ever winning the world cup...... we were so close, yet so far....... I don't think depression could any worse.... I call myself SL Cricket's no.1 fan....  and I know that no matter what happens, I will remain depressed that we couldn't win..... but however, I am so proud of our guys for proving to the world, that we are no push overs, and even though Australia is no.1 now.... we are no.2 and a very CLOSE no.2 that can beat the whole world on their day! .......

Well well, it certianly has taken a long time, and a long breath of fresh air, before I could virtually storm back into the world of MSN spaces!!! Yes I had quite a few long long breaks since the day I started working, and its been more than a year since I have been working, and yet I am still trying to find the right balance between work and fun, and relaxation!  Actually I think I have finally found it, as I have three essences of a perfect life => Good Parents (I always had them, so thats not something new), Goos Job (Now Im in my 2nd job, and its a really awesome one too, so I finally can say I am settled) and finally, the most important ingredient, "Good Girl". 

 

As much as I learnt a lot through the past year, by meeting somehow who ruined my life with her temper that could even roast iron bars that have been chilled with liquid nitrogen..... and then meeting someone who swept me off my feet, the second I layed eyes on her! She was the 'Good Girl' that moved my life, she radiated so much of happiness, she took away everything that was wrong, and made them right. She showed me, what its was, and how it was to be truly in love. She was loved by everyone that knew her, she was a household name, she was everything I wanted a girl to be, and most of all, she was mine.

 

Good Girl, is no longer here with me, but as much as the departure was terribly painful, she transformed me into someone I had never been before. She made me realise that I would always be her Hero, her one person whom she would never ever forget, who she would trust till she dies!!

 

She erased my past, she became my no.1 girl in my life... and ever since I met Good Girl, and ever since I lost her, I decided that I would always be stronger now, and live life to he fullest, as I no longer feel alone, even though I might be Single.  She has erased that feeling of loneliness, something which no other girl could ever do.... and I tink because of that she finally brought out the best in me.....  my true self.....  who works hard mon to fri, and parties hard sat nite till dawn..... 

 

As I listen to "Hear in your arms" by HelloGoodBye (a song she loves so much), I miss you, Christine....  This blog is specially dedicated to you....!!

Its Christmas time in the city.... its Christmas everywhere.... wherever you look its all about the wonderful spirit of christmas. I have been away from the blogging world for a quite a long time, but Im back for a small blog, during this special day, as this month of Christmas has had its good moments, and a few awesome moments, but quite a lot of bad moments too.

 

rite now, im gonna just summarize my thoughts on everything thats been going on, as loads of my friends (Shyan, Rogue, Farwin, Kanch) have been asking me to somehow update my blog, and so yea I have decided to do just that now, and on this special day of the birth of our lord Jesus Christ.

 

Dec 1st was one of the most special days in my life.... the night I felt so loved in my life.... so happy, everything was perfect, because the one I loved more than my life, promised me that she would remain with me till her last living breath.... and everything was like magic that night.... it was the moment where I realised how wonderful it was to be in love with a girl who was absolutely perfect in your eyes. She had no flaws, no mistakes, everything she said, everything she did, the way she walked, the way she smiled, the way she spoke, the way she even held her phone..... the way she held my hand...... it waz nothing closer dan being perfect in everyway!!!! The music was awesome.... Micheal Buble's song "Sway" was a song that I always dreamt of dancing wid her for... and they played that song too!!! But I wished the night would have been longer...

 

Then we come to Dec 8th, which was the day of my Graduation! wow it was simply amazing.... there's no words to describe the feeling that I had, as I walked in the procession towards the main hall, where the graduation was held. all of us were in a long line and were going ever so slowly, to finally receive the award that we so richly deserved!!!!! As all of you know, I did get a 1st class honours, so the excitement was much higher, and it was absolutely wonderful. I would say it was one of the best moments in my life!!!! What made the day even more special for me was my bestest and sweetest friend from uni - Tasneem also was there, and she got a Bronze Medal for best overall student for the 1st year in Business Administration. I am soooooo proud of her, and I am sooooooo happppyyy!!!!!! Tas, if ur reading this.... you rock, buddy!!!!! you realllyyy rock!!!!!!! congrats!!!!!

 

Well, I didn't have much expectations when the graduation ball was being organized. Therefore, I suppose I could say that the graduation ball turned out to be as good as only as I expected. The music was utterly crap, and their DJ was playing songs like as if he was playing songs for his house. The lighting effects were crap, almost non existent. When we reached the event, we were told that all the tickets were sold out, so one would think that the entire hall would be packed, but not even half the tables were full, so as for where all of those people who bought those tickets dissapeared to, would be a mystery to me! unless of course they were stone drunk before dey even came to the ball! heheh... However, the plus points would be, dat finally we all got together as a batch for an event of this nature... and it was nice meeting up wid all da guys!!! So yea, for that aspect, thanks should be given to the organizers for making the event happen!

 

SHADES OF CHRISTMAS 2006  [DEC 21]

So the much awaited christmas party of the year, was finally in front of my face!!!! and this time too, I had a role in making the event happen, so it was my 5th year in a row.... but I will not take any credit for it, as this time everything was Zakir and Tasneem's work, as this year I was able to only contribute as "project advisor", and my sweet best pal Tasneem was the one who should be given the best applauding for making the event such a HUGE success!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was THE BEST event of the year in the calender of events at APIIT. There were NO FIGHTS, NO ISSUES, NOTHING!!!!! The targeted crowd was 300, but more than 450 people came, and they were all there, physically present, unlike at the ball where they were invisible!!! hehhehe.... The music was once again AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!! DJ Spike in his 5th year as the DJ of our christmas parties. He knew what to play to keep everyone dancing, and never leaving the floor!!!! The food was good, and the location was TABU, so there were no issues about the location either!!!!! It was just plain super cool organizing rite from the start!!!!!!!!! Many congrats to Zakir, Tasneem and the entire crew of Shades of Christmas 2006, for making me proud, and making me have the farewell party of my life!!!!!!! With Zakir and Tas as project chairperson's, I know the christmas party spirit will not die, even for another few years!!!!! The party ended on a high note, and I closed it with a small speech in appreciation to Zakir for making APIIT proud to have such awesome organizers, and for making this event THE BEST event of the year!!!!!! Almost anyone and everyone I knew was present for this party, including even my old school friends whom I had lost contact with, yearrrrrrs ago!!!! thats how well it had been organized!!!!! Congrats to the Shades of Christmas Commitee 2006 - BEST COMMITEE OF THE YEAR 2006 OF APIIT!!!!!!!!!!

 

EVOLOUTION OF CHRISTMAS PARTIES AT APIIT

2001 - Christmas Spirit         -> Anuki, Imran (Proj Chairpersons)

2002 - Yuletide Night            -> Chris, Adrian (Proj Chairpersons)

2003 - Yuletide Night 2          -> Chris, Adrian (Proj Chairpersons)

2004 - Shades of Christmas  -> Chris, Adrian (Proj Chairpersons)

2005 - Shades of Christmas  -> Adrian, Dhanushka (Proj Chairpersons) Chris (Advisor)

2006 - Shades of Christmas  -> Zakir, Tasneem (Proj Chairpersons) Adrian (Advisor)

 

So wats in store for 2007??? well I guess we'll have to wait and see ya? anyways its been a really nice christmas thus far. few ups and downs at work as well, but overall its been a good christmas.

 

I wish all my friends, family, and blog readers a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!! and may this Christmas truly bring in lots of love, happiness and sweet thoughts to you and your family.  

 

The saying goes... "A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed".... and in my life apart from my click of best friends - Nazee, Farwin, Kanchana and not forgetting my own bro Chris and also Ameen, I have not had anyone whom has always been there for me as a friend in every sense ever possible.... except till now.....!!!

 

Yes, for those of you who don't know her, her name is Shalini, (a.k.a. Shali Gurl, Froggy, Shalz) who is certainly unique in every sense ever possible!!! yes, there can never be anyone as insane, totally annoying, and absolutely weird as her!!!!!!!!! hmmm okk..... Im bad at lieing ya? cos I know as you guys read this, you'll realise that I meant just the opposite of everything I said just now... and yes..... cos in my opinion.... Shali's awesome and she ROCKS! cos I have had my 3 best friends who have always been the ones I have run to, but as for having a True friend, whom I could tell everything to... there was no one untill of course I met this froggy at my workplace.

 

Its been just 4 months... but to me, its been almost like a million years of knowing her! I might be only a few years older than her... (however, im sure she'd disagree wid dat... cos she says i should be married wid kids by now!!... hehehe)  but I learnt so much from her, with regard to how to face certain situations, not just with work, but also in my personal life. I don't know how, but she always knew what to say to me, and whenever she adviced me, it was usually correct! We are definitely different in a lot of ways, but something that we both have in common, is the fact when we love something, we love it with our lives, cos we both have maximum passion for a certain tv program...... in her case its Maha Gedera, and in my case its 24! hehehe....! People must be thinking we are crazy, but oh well...... it doesn't affect us!

 

She also taught me to always be careful with my words, cos once you say something you can never take it back... also she taught me how to stop worrying non stop till the cows come home about issues that I could never change... cos in the end, its pointless worrying unless you could do something about it. I'll always admire her true qualities of honesty, and also saying things right up, and not keeping things inside her mind. If something needs to be said, she will say it! simple as that!

 

Today is her last day at office..... she's decided its time for her to find a new path..... and look towards a new future. She also made me realize that things change... nothing's forever.... and she couldn't be further from the truth.  However, she can leave with her head held up high, cos she's been one person who's always practiced what she preached. Only a few people in this world ever do that.... and Shali's one of those few!

 

I am proud of you, buddy....... Thank you for Everything....... I won't forget the things you did for me...... you will be missed terribly..... all the fun times, the crazy jokes, the movies, and now I won't have my fav neighbour with me either...... you will be missed more than words can ever describe..... but I know you will have a bright future..... cos afterall, you are SUPER SHALI!!!!!!!

 

ADIEU..... and may God be with you alwayz!!!!!! Farewell my dear friend.... and always remember to SMILE!!!!!!!!! (yup thats also something you taught me!! hehehe!!!)

Ohh look who's backkk!!!!!!!! Yeeessss, IM BACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!! Hopefully this time, it will be a much longer stay! hehheh...... Yes my previous blog was more than a month and a couple of weeks back! Hmm... well as for all my loyal friends, readers, and even my loyal fans!(hehehe... umm, yea well, even if I don't have a huge fan base like John Abraham does, at least I can dream of havin one eh?) thanks for all your nice comments even while I was not blogging. Marij, Meghna, Salil, Julia, Racheal and everyone who coomented... Thanks guys!

 

Ok, so I am sure there are many of you with a 100 questions in your mind, as to WHAT has happened to me! and as to WHERE I have been, and also HOW I have been, and WHY I haven't blogged for such a long time!

 

As to WHAT has happened to me..... the answer to that is........ A LOT!!!!!!! Yes, indeed... there has been good, very good, awesome, and bad, and very bad things too that have happened since my absence. However, even though the BAD was quite sad, lets just say that, I am still holding strong, and being positive no matter what, because I believe everything happens for a reason. Sometimes, somethings are just never meant to be.  Its tough when such things happen, but then life is a rollercoaster isn't it? Everything happens, and the good and the bad continues to turn and come back in circles.

 

The GOOD of course is....... I have gotten my moderated and finalized results from my uni, andddddd........... I have finished my degree with a 1st CLASS HONOURS for my BA (Hons) In BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION! There were only 2 ppl who got a 1st Class from  my batch of 18 students. It was myself, and my group friend Rudra. So to say that im OVER THE MOONNNNN, would be an understatement, cos im IN HEEEAAAAVEN!!!!!!! YEEEYYY!!!!! I FINALLY GOT WHAT I ALWAYS WANTED AND WORKED SO HARD FOR!!!!!!!

 

When everyone asked me, how I would celebrate this major success, I of course told them.... "A simple dinner with my dearest parents and bro and of course a call to my best pal".  I owe them so much, my parents were my shining light that guided me through all my bad times, and they helped me in everyway they could. I also owe a lot to my bro Chris for his support, guidance and help. He's the BEST EVER!!! My bestest pal Naz for being there for me even before I started my uni... Thanks Naz.... u ROCK!!! Farwin and Kanchana, Kanch, ur chats during the times I was doing my project work, always helped me focus, believe it or not!

 

As to HOW I have been keeping, A lot has changed in my life during the past week....  as one huge happy moment surfaced in my life, and as I mentioned earlier,sorrow too filled the week, as things took a worse turn with someone special in my life.

 

I don't know whats next from here, but no matter what I do, I have to make sure I do everything thats in the best interest for the future of myself, herself, and everyone else around me who love me more than anything else in this world.

Its so nice to be able to sit at my home comp and finally WRITE a blog, and not just stare at my blog from my office comp and wonder when I would be able to update it! Life has certainly become more harder, and much more hectic, and very stressful. My bro and my GF keep saying that I shouldn't complain too much, cos no matter where I am or whatever work I do, life would always be stressful. They are actually quite right about that, and I don't complain as much as I did during the first few weeks. Those days were the worst! Specially the late times that I used to come back home, it was usually after 12 mid nite everyday!

 

The old routine of waking up early, which started with montessori, then for junior school, then senior school, and then college, and uni, and now finally for work has begun. Those days when we used to get late, we used to fear what our teachers would do to us, and the fear was of course instilled due to the physical punishment that may have arisen. However as time went by, from the fear of physical punishment, to being embarrassed by getting a verbal scolding, to being given penalty marks in final projects, and now to finally having to face the fact of losing any days of allowed leave, due to not being punctual. (So far I've alwayz been on time... but thank god the rules in my workplace are not at all strict)

 

Venue is different now, the only similarity between my uni building and my workplace building is that they both have elevators! ...hehhe!! other than that, its quite different, and more than anything, there is NO comparison between uni life and work life. Its very different in a lot of ways! The key factor being, its MUCH harder than uni life.

 

The fact that I hadn't been able to blog for a long time, was due to the fact that I was unable to adapt to the new hectic schedule, and whenever I came back home, I was just too tired to even put the comp on and blog! But now I have decided, that at least in the weekends, I am gonna blog and keep my MSN space alive... cos this MSN space means a lot to me... and so do all my dear friends who take the trouble to read and comment on them.

 

Therefore this blog is dedicated to all my friends past and present, who always read and comment on my blogs and even ask me to update it whenever I can. Please bear with me for little while If I am unable to comment n your blogs, just untill I get used to this crazy work schedule.

So its yet again another special day in the calender year, and this time of course its the b'day of one of my best pals, from my crew of best pals..... Yes, and for those of you who don't know her well, well her name is Farwin, and she's also 'Sirius' the brightest star in the Night Sky, with a visual magnitude of -1.46. (Thats just some additional info for all you Space Buffs)

 

I would like to take this opportunity to wish her a very very Happy Birthday, and I sincerely hope that this year will bring her many more good fortunes and glad tidings and would be a very successful year in everyway possible.

 

Farwin, May you have a super duper, fun filled, chilled to the maximum b'day bash with all ur pals and ur family!!!! (Oh and also with Massari & Belly too)  

 

`~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY FARWIN ~`

 

Wow its been a long time since I have been able to blog! I'm guessing this has been one of the longest time away I have had from blogging, and well I certainly have missed it in a big way! The saying goes... "Change is In-evitable" , and yet again I am now in a new phase of my life.

 

Yes, the job hunt and my vacation eventually came to a full closure on May 2nd, as I accepted the offer I received from India'1 No.1 HR Company, and the World's No.3 HR Company termed to work in their organization under the post of "Associate". It had been a very long and hard search for almost 2 months, but when I finally had 3 options to choose from, which were: World's No.1 Advertising Agency, A multi national IT Company, and this company, I finally chose this one, as it suited my personality really well.

 

My 1st day at work was a lil nervous for me, but it wasn't too bad, cos apart from me, there are only 16 other people working in this company, and its not surprising for a company that deals with head hunting and recruiting and consulting to have a very small staff base. They all came and spoke to me whenever they could, and The good things are that I love the job, its definitely my type, where I get to go out, meet top corporate clients, and basically try and develop good contracts, as well provide valuable staffing solutions for them. My immediate boss, and even the main company director are awesome, and everyone in the company is fun to talk to and work with.

 

One thing though is that due to the major load of work, cos of a project that was on-going, I have been coming back home only after 12 Mid Nite, on almost all the nights since I started work, and having to be there from 9 am in the morning as well. That has had an adverse effect on my health, but I'm starting to get the hang of it now!

 

I used to think the transition from uni life to work life would be a smooth one.... but boy, was I proved wrong or what! Work life's a different world all together.... its a cut throat world out there.... and one thing's for sure... you either perform, or you're fired! No more being sent out of the class, no more being threatned to be given Zero Marks for late project submissions.... no more being adviced how to behave...!! As much as those days may have sucked at times, I will still miss them a lot!!

Yes, its been ages since I have blogged. I know im not as regular as some of my other blog friends.... but nevertheless I am so happy to see all my friends reading my blogs and commenting on them, thanks a lot guys... always appreciate it.

 

Its been a rollercoaster ride due to all my issues with my job search, and then my driving lessons too added to all the stress. I have completed all 15 lessons of my driving course, and well as much as they were all good, they had some bad moments too, and not because of me or anything, but because of the crazy ppl on the roads of sri lanka! In my 11th lesson, one drunkard chap came head onto my vehicle on the middle of the road, and I freaked out, and forgot to break, so I turned the vehicle out of the way, and then the drunkard went and fell onto the car behind us! Damn him! I hope the Police have arrested that chap! Imagine seeing a drunkard on the Middle of the road coming straight to your vehicle! Freakkyy!!

 

anyways, job hunt wise, yea I need to clear my head of a few issues, before making my decision on what to do. oh well its a lil complicated, so yea I'll save it for another blog when everytin's finally ok, but I do know for sure that my vacation will come to an end soon, cos I am going to keep working on getting job issues sorted out soon.

 

last friday, my angel sanduni, my bestest pal nazee, naz's bf (& also my gud pal) hussein, met up for an evening of tea and waffles, and my bro chris joined us too. that was an evening to remember... i just loved every moment of it... my bro has this uncanny knack of bein able to come wid some awesome wise cracks and his humour can be termed as "witty/funny". he teamed up at da start wid my gf and my best pal, therefore me and hussein got a lot of stick, hehhe...which we enjoyed a lot, though.... and den chris played safe wid us too and den targeted da girls and came up wid some awesome jokes. it was amazingly fun, and all of us had a lovely time that evening... can't forget the one where my bro told all 3 of dem, about the incident where i was drunk at my neighbour's b'day! hehehhe.... gosh dat was so hilarious!

 

spending time with my family, my best pals and my sweet gf have been the highlights of my lil holiday since I completed uni... to a normal person, it may sound like nothing out of the world.... but to me, it was really nice in everyway... and I hope these special times will always last the distance..

Its been ages since I have written a blog... My apologies to all my blog readers. Been unable to access my comp properly, cos da damn hard disk decided to quit and umm, in the process almost took every bit of info and all my pics and everything along with it! Damn, comps can be such bitches at times! hehhe... Luckily I was upto the task (as I usually most of the time am) and managed to salvage all my info before da hard disk burnt to ash! (hehe, not exactly ash, but umm...u guys get da point ya?)

 

I am not sure how it is over there in your respective countries, but over here in Sri Lanka, Computer Sales is damn good and we get the best parts for the best prices. However, their after sales service, is a total different ball game all together! If I go to describe what kind of morons you find in the service department, I would probably lose my temper and go insane! 90% of the morons who work there, have no understanding as to how to even solve the simplest of problems! I have had many bad experiences with them in the past, therefore I never give my comp to any service or repair shop anymore!

 

So how do I solve the problems when they arise? Well lets just say that, thankfully I have 2 best friends who are highly proficient in the field of Computing, and I myself too have a very high liking towards solving these problems as a hobby (never as a job, cos its freakin annoyin..heheh). My 2 best pals of course is Ameen and Godwin (my long standing school pal). While Ameen is one of the best designers and developers I know in the computing field, Godwin is one of the best hardware and networking experts I have known! What also makes me so happy is that we are from different fields of study, Ameen's totally into Computing, Godwin's in Business Information Technology, and me of course, my love has always been Business Administration. (Computing and I don't go well together! hehe)

 

As for the losers at the service centers, I even almost had a fight with them once, when they returned my comp back wid out doing anytin, but charged me Rs.1000/= as service fee! Service fee??! Service my ass!!! Buggers must be usin the 1000 bucks to go buy some 'Gal Arrakku' and 'Gold Leaf'!

 

oh well..... enough said! I'll be back later with more rantings and/or complaints!

 

Its the weekend, and I am feeling really happy, and so yea, I thought of writing a blog, thats quite different from my usual ones. I think all of us have had various ambitions since we have been kids.... from being the president of the country, to being the an Astronaut that will walk on Jupiter, to even wanting to be god!

 

Well as for me, well lets leave out my "Dreamy Goals" that I had as a kid, since I think they were quite silly, when I look back at it now! hehhe... ok and one example would be that I wanted to be a Scientist! would u believe dat??? me??? scientist?? hehhe.... my bro Chris would prolly be laughin as he reads this! anywayz.... apart from that, and apart from the goals that I wanted to and want to achieve academically, I also had this dream of forming my own Rock band!! hmmm.... now plz tell me that its not possible at all, and dat im just bein wayyy too stupid.... hehe....

 

I have a bunch of talented friends... when it comes to singing, I think Hussein's got the best voice and so thats why he's already got his own band. And from my uni pals, I think Asim's the natural singer, he's forever singing, and when it comes to Hindi/Urdu music, he's da best! Anver's very much into Rock, and Ashmath's very much into music itself, and then of course we have Shakthi, who I am sure can Drum as long as he has a drink or two before the band practice! hehhe... And then finally of course its me, and what am I good at? Well lets just say that I love Hard Rock n Metal, and as long as I can get some high pitched screams, I can perhaps fill in for an 'average' lead vocalist!

 

So yea, we took this concept band pic, and oh well, our concept band would prolly have 2 lead vocalists, 2 guitarists, 1 drummer.... and 1 Manager (Shamly), and 1 Media Advisor (Liyakath)... hehhe!

 

Oh well, maybe one day all of us could really get this started up!

 

.... Even if we never do, at least all of us will always be the best of friends!

Well all of us are born with strong traits and weak traits. I guess most of you know what I am good at, and what my strong traits are. However, as we always know none of us have only strong traits, we do have certain weak traits as well, that we are always trying to overcome.

 

One such problem for me, has always been the fact of trying to be "on time" for lectures, or events and now of course its interviews! One thing's for certain, I have not had a terrible track record compared to one of my best pals, since even though I usually was always 20 to 30 mins late for the morning lectures in uni, there were occasions where I broke the trend, and ended up being the first to be there in class! (well, lets just say that, occasions such as those were as rare as a full solar ecclipse! hehhe) As much as it was a bad habit, at times, me and my gud friend used to just love walking in late for class! It became kinda fun, and everyone knew we were always the ones to come for class last! we were always 'Fashionably Late'. hehehe.

 

My best pal Farwin was telling me last night that she was surprised I was not inside the Principal's office everyday, for bein so late to class! hehehe... well yup I must thank my stars, and also possibly for the fact that Mr. Rehan didn't take many morning classes for us! heheh, cos he's very strict, and if we are even one minute late for class,  we are sent outside the class!

 

Anyways one thing I have learnt from all my experiences, is that if you are punctual and you stick to the time that has been decided, you feel less stressed yourself that you are delaying others, and in turn, when others see you are on time, you are showing everyone that you can organize your time well, and in turn everyone else is pleased as well.

 

Finally, another thing to remember is even if you get late for lectures, or even if you are late for work..... NEVER get late to attend an Interview.... cos it will certainly be the end of any hope of you making a good impression of yourself, and getting the job would become 10 times harder.... and thats not something you need, as things are already tough enough!

 

Yup, so on average I have been 10 mins early for all my Interviews so far, so I am guessing thats a good stepping stone.... Only time will tell!

 

So it was finally decided... Our class trip to Kitulagala was decided to be held on Sunday April 2nd, and with a lot of effort the entire class was informed, and almost everyone confirmed their participation in the trip, except of course for 5 of our friends who were unable to confirm due to un-avoidable circumstances.

 

The venue chosen for this time's trip was quite familair to all of us, as not less than 1 year ago, before we started our final year of uni, our class trip organizers Eric and Chamila chose this very same location. And that trip too was a lot of fun and a huge success. Last time we hired a huge air conditioned bus, that could carry at least 60 people, and the bus was at least half full. This time though it was not a bus, instead it was a Van, and it was almost half the amount of the people compared to last time.

 

However, we didn't let the small number affect us, as the trip was awesome from the start till the end! The organizers Eric and Chamila were the first to be at the departure site (APIIT) by 7 am, and the rest of our friends were there within a short period of time, and I hate to say this, but I was the last to reach the departure site! hehhe... so as I was on the way I got many calls on my mobile asking me where da hell I was! hahha...

 

The trip itself was a huge success, I certainly didn't have any problems at all with any aspect of the trip! It was very well organized, the ride to and back from Kitulgala was very smooth and lots of fun. I didn't suffer from travel sickness as I was sitting right in front. (Thanks Eric, u always made sure I was in front). Then of course we reached the hotel and the buffet lunch was fantastic, and well almost everyone liked the river bath, and I too joined them for a short while, but man oh man, those rocks under the water were totally unbearable, they were like tearing my skin apart! (Thanks Ashmath, Eric, Asim, u guys helped me through the bad times) The walk down the bridge over the River Kwai was amazing! The way it was shaking everytime we walked, and the middle section which had rotted metal was definitely a lil scary!

 

Anyways for me, another high moment was on the way home, my sweet GF Sanduni called me to see how I was keeping....I was really missing her sooo much.... so her calling me certainly did make me feel so much better....

 

We couldn't white water raft, nor could we play cricket.... but oh well, it was definitely one of the best class trips I ever attended, and it was our final class trip, so it was a sad ending, when we got back to Colombo after the trip was over.

 

Well done Eric, Chamilla and Shamly too.... you guys organized a good class trip for all of us!

Yup as the heading states, those are words that are very well engraved inside my head right now! No, I am not teaching someone to drive, its quite the opposite actually, and its me thats attending driving classes and those are the words of my cool and humourous instructor who certainly knows how to make driving sound very easy!

 

I know, I am really late to start learning to drive. In fact I do know how to drive (well ... kinda) but I decided to take the full course of lessons, as its much easier and you learn every aspect of driving specially in the crazy roads of Sri Lanka. Its been 2 weeks of lessons now, and I could firmly say that its awesome to be able to know and have the thought of "I Can Drive" inside my head right now. However, as my Street Racing bro Chris always says, "You can never be 100% safe on Sri Lankan Roads"... and he certainly was right! (As he always is... trust me guys, you can never prove him wrong, I have tried and ALWAYS failed!)

 

As I started my driving course, believe it or not, even on the 1st lesson, my instructor asked me to drive!!! and drive on the main road!!! I was like thinkin prolly he was kiddin, but kiddin he was NOT! I think he had the highest faith in my abilities (yup, of course im good! hahha!), but I surely did prove to him that I can drive, and drive well too! Upto now, I am yet to stall the car even once, in 2 weeks of learning... so yea that kinda makes me feel a lil relieved.

 

Anyways, I got another 2 to 3 weeks of lessons to complete, before I finally am asked to do the test.... so yea, if the first two weeks are any indicator, I think I just need to keep continuing what I am doing....

 

.... other than the fact that no one knows road rules in Sri Lanka, and everyone drives on the opposite side of the road.....

 

.... so yup I shall have to overcome all that.... wish me luck!

 

Cricket is life, Cricket is Passion, Cricket is excitement, and for some of us (including myself n my best pals Kanchana, and also Asim) Cricket is everything! I used to write many blogs about how our fav SL Cricket team thrashed most of their oppositions out of sight with some sheer strong hitting by our fav Sanath Jayasuriya (who has more than 10,400 runs in ODI Cricket, and with a strike rate of 88.93) and some skillful and masterful bowling by the whiz's Chaminda Vaas and Muthaih Muralitharan (who both put together have a tally of 1000 wickets in ODI Cricket).

 

In 1996, we were masters of the trade, after winning the ICC World Cup by beating Australia in the finals by 7 wiickets. In 2006, 10 years down the line.... we are almost back to being minnows of the trade, as stats show in recent times, we have played 28 ODI's and we have lost 19 of those, and had 2 no results, and won only 7 matches! And if that was bad enough, in the recent home series against Pakistan, we lost to them 2-0, and for the first time in two decades, we have failed to win a single match in a series played at home!

 

So what exactly is the problem? Lets take a look at 5 main factors:

 

[1] The Captaincy? ........ My answer to that is a BIG NOOO! Marvan Atapattu is one of the best captains we have ever had! His attitude, his agressiveness, and the way he approaches the game is so good! I think he's the only hope we have to bringing our Cricket back to normalcy!

 

[2] The Coach? ........ Tom Moody, Australian.... well I seriously have no comment about him! As I don't think he's done our team anything extraordinarily good, other than of course taking us to the VB Series finals in Australia, apart from that, he's not proved himself much!

 

[3] The Support Staff? ...... Here again, another BIG NOOO! cos right now I tink have the best support staff in the form of a good fielding coach, bowling coach, physio, asst physio, comp analyst, and even a psychiatrist! Most of them from Australia as well.

 

[4] The Players Themselves? ...... Well, there have been rumours of internal rifts in the team due to the appointng of Chaminda Vaas as Vice Captain. However, I am sure thats all settled now, as the ever famous Mahela as been re-appointed as Vice Captain. One thing for sure though, Jehan Mubarak has no place in the SL team!!! God knows, why they persist with such an untalented fool.

 

[5] The Interim Administration? ..... Forver the word 'interim' has been a part of Cricket, so as one administration starts something good, when they get fired, the other administration stops everything that was started, and ruins it all! As the saying goes, when there's a problem, you should always go to the 'root cause', and in my opinion, the cricket admnistration must hold an AGM soon and get a permament body to govern our cricket!

 

Its very sad indeed, as our country is known for its Cricket, and its natural beauty. My fellow blog friends Meghna, Salil and even Ameeta who hail from India, would surely be proud of their Cricket team's gradual resurgence as a team thats got everything going well for them, and a team of power!

 

So lets hope that once our captain Marvan Atapattu is back, he can develop our team first to win the 2006 ICC Mini World Cup in October this year, and we can re-gain some lost prestige, and at least get ourselves up from our current abysmal ranking of no.7 in the World Cricket Rankings.

 

 

Yup I am back after another 5 day break! This blog is not going to be a big one, but its just a continuation of my experiences in uni, specially its remembering my the group that I worked with in Uni.

 

We were known as "Group 1".... as we were always the mad ones to go first and put our heads into the soup, no matter what the project was! hehe... We had 5 members in our group at times, but at most times it was 4, and at one time it was 6. But the best part of it all was that all 5 of us were like best friends, so working with each other was so easy. Fights among our group were very rare, almost like never!

 

As for leading the group, not everyone likes to be a leader, as it does need a lot of skill and patience, and sometimes even a very strong personality as well, to even keep things under control. I for one, cannot praise myself to be one of the best group leaders, as I don't believe in self praise, but I know I have done a fair job, and by leading my group to a 100% success rate (1st Class) in all group projects we did, I think I have done myself justice. Another aspect is that my group members too had confidence in my abilities to lead the group and shoulder all responsibility.  

 

I will never forget my friend Saajith, who inspired me and who showed me how to be a true leader, as he was da 1st group leader of da group I was in. He was a born leader, and unfortunately he left uni after the end of our first year. It was only after that, that I took over the leadership from him.

 

Still for all, I did learn a lot from him, but my style of leading the group was quite different from his. He was a much more aggressive and no nonsense, time targeting type of leader, and if anyone slacked, they always got a mouthful from him! And then on the opposite extreme, I was a more passive, yet no nonsese, but perfectionist type of leader, and was firm, but not over the limit. Rudra was my Assistant Leader for the entire 2nd year, and then Asim took over for the final year as my Assistant Leader, and they both did a fantastic job with their support.

 

The jokes we had during the group meetings, the times I used to go late for meetings....and my group members would be there before me, (oops, sorry bout dat, guyz...hehe) and even the times when we used to work late late hours, with our MSN signed in, and trying to meet deadlines, man those were the days! But however late we got, we always did our work really well and never had to even submit an EC form!

 

Guys, Thank u for being a really hard working and committed group! The saying goes 'Unity is Strength', and by us sticking together right throughout, we proved that the saying is true!

 

Special thanks also to my best pal Ameen for always being the Technical Expert behind all our group's success! We couldn't have pulled off some of the awesome displays of technical competence, if not for him! Thanx Mr. Razor Webby!

 

And finally, Saajith, Asim, Rudra, Liyakath, Shamly, Omar.... Gud luck with all ur future endeavours, and may god be with all of you!