It's the Poppy Month

Every year in the month of November we see a lot of motor cars carrying a wreath of artificial red flowers fixed on to the engine. Even single flowers are sold, generally by ex-army personnel. Everyone calls it the poppy flower and it is worn in memory of those who sacrificed their lives for us during wars.

Poppy Day is observed on the second Sunday of November. It is another name for 'Remembrance Day,' which is a special day set aside to remember all those men and women who were killed during the two World Wars and other conflicts. They are remembered in the UK and other former British colonies which today are members of the Commonwealth.

The day is observed in Sri Lanka too, when those who served in these wars (ex-servicemen as they are called) meet at the War Memorial in Colombo (near the Public Library) to remember the war heroes.

The Armistice at the end of the First World War of 1914 – 1918 was signed on November 11, at precisely 11 a.m. For this reason, 'Remembrance Day' is on November 11 each year although church services and many parades are held on the Sunday nearest to that date.

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in the year 1918 thus marks the signing of the Armistice. At 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918 the guns of the Western Front fell silent after more than four years continuous warfare.

At one time the day was known as Armistice Day and was renamed Remembrance Day after the Second World War.

The Poppy was adopted as the symbol of remembrance because it was so widespread on the sites of the battlefields of Europe, after the First World War. The seeds of the common Field Poppy (Papaver rhoeas) germinate best in newly-cultivated soil, which is why it was such a common weed of cornfields until the widespread use of selective weed-killers relegated it to a wayside flower.

'Morning Leader' makes its appearance

Armand de Souza

November 7 has been recorded as the day when another English newspaper commenced publication. The newspaper was 'Ceylon Morning Leader.' The year it began was 1907. The newspaper which belonged to the

de Soysa family was synonymous with the name of one single man, the distinguished journalist, Armand de Souza. The newspaper was considered a power in the land when it was being edited by him.

He used the newspaper to campaign for democratic reforms of the Legislative Council to make it a more representative body of the people. He criticized the colonial government's action in resorting to martial law during the riots of 1815.

The authorities were angry with the editorials he wrote and once sentenced him to a month in jail. However, soon after he had to be released after public protests.

He was editor of the 'Morning Leader' until his untimely death in 1921, at the early age of 47. The newspaper did not last long after his death and went out of business.

Sarvodaya leader

A.T.Ariyaratne

Sarvodaya is a well known rural development movement, which uses young volunteers to improve the economic and social conditions of rural folk.

Its founder-leader is Ahangamage Tudor ( A. T.) Ariyaratne who celebrates his birthday on November 5. He was born in the year 1931.

Selecting teaching as his profession, he was a teacher at Nalanda College when he started the Sarvodaya movement in 1961. It all began when he took groups of students over the weekend to villages and involved them in improving roads, houses and sanitation.

Over the years it has grown to become the largest voluntary organization in Sri Lanka.

Enjoying a wide recognition in the world, he won the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1969 and the Mahatma Gandhi Peace Prize in 1996.