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| Still waiting in line |
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 A living hell, that’s how the people describe it. A toddler sits on the floor, with a tin plate with a little rice and vegetables in front of him. His face, especially around his mouth and nose, dotted with black. A slight movement and the black dots take wing. The little boy is sharing his lunch with dozens of flies. |
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| Changing tide for Asitha |
 The gate is painted bright blue. As one steps into the tiny garden, a red bicycle leans against the wall and out of the house, full of smiles comes Asitha Rukshan Fernando, now 11 years old. |
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| Language & the media |
| His was a lifelong affair with beautiful works of classical literature – a love which finally led him to create his own masterpiece. K.K. Alwis, this year’s winner of the D.R. Wijewardene Memorial Award for the best unpublished manuscript in Sinhala, says it was his fascination with books of both English and Sinhala literature as well as a desire to contribute his own bit to society, which inspired him to write. |
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| A message of sharing |
 “Never have I felt so keenly the immensity of the gulf between the blessed promise of Christmas and the reality of our unredeemed human nature. In Wellawatte, where we live, the ruined and gutted walls of houses, boutiques and shops still stand as mute evidence of man’s inhumanity to man......” |
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| Of Christmases past |
 Every day felt a bit like Christmas to any visitor who stepped into the airy, inviting home of Mrs P. Lucien Jansz and Miss Agnes Spittel. Whatever the time of year, there was always a whiff of something special in the air, a curious festive excitement compounded of various ingredients - the aroma of a cake baking in the background, the sense of visitors about to arrive, already present, or just departed, the warmth of greetings and gifts exchanged, the sight and sound of food and drink about to be served or plates and glasses about to be cleared. |
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