A story of courage for young ones
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Menura presenting his book to the chief guest Dr. Harsha Alles. Pic by Nilan Maligaspe
Young writer, 14-year-old Menura de Silva launched his first book “A Life Story’ at the Gateway College auditorium on July 5. A packed audience heard how he came to write this book when he was 12 – the story of a girl named Helen who has to confront some daunting hardships yet faces them with courage and resilience.
The book is dedicated to ‘all those who haven’t had the greatest start to their journey to tell them they can end it better than how it started’.
Consultant to the Ministry of Education, Prof. Gunapala Nanayakkara, Chairman, Gateway Group Dr. Harsha Alles and Dinali Alles were among the distinguished guests in the auditorium packed with the young author’s family and friends, as his elder sister Erandi took the podium to introduce her brother, relating how he would make diary entries in exercise books and progressed to writing stories. “He can barely sit still for five minutes, it’s pretty impressive to think he had the patience to sit down and write an entire story,” she said with sisterly candour.
Dr. Nanayakkara in his review of the book gave his interpretation of the characters, and drawing on his experience as an educationist spoke of the direction education was taking in this country. Chief guest Dr. Alles warmly congratulated the star of the evening Menura on his achievement, saying the school was proud of him. “I’m sure today’s achievement is a result of his perseverance,” he said, applauding his creativity and imagination, nurtured by his parents.
“I started writing this book when I was 12, as I saw writing as a way of expressing my emotions and feelings like an artist creating a painting,” Menura said thanking his family and teachers for their support.
‘A Life Story’ is published by Olympia Publishers, London. It is available at the Gateway College bookshop priced at Rs. 800.