sabandiyawa_final_rev005

ෙතවන ෙවම 

contents 

MESSAGES 

Message from the Vice Chancellor pg. 3 

Message from Mr. Shantha Puhulwella pg. 4 

Message from the Chief Editor pg. 4 

SLUG ‘16 

Srilanka University Games 2016- A pride filled 

Glorious moment for the warriors at J’pura. 

By Devini Wettimuny pg. 5 

MY FAVOURITE CHAPTER 

Article By Samiha Saleem pg. 7 

POEMS AND WRITINGS 

තය... 

Poem by Manikya Ranasinghe pg. 8 

මකට ය 

Poem by Piumi Siyambalapitiya pg. 8 

සරසෙ ෙකානක 

Poem by Hiruni Thilanka pg. 9 

r;= m,ig fmr ldmgs ke;s mdr osf.a 

wejsof.k huq... 

By Kanishka Wijayarathna pg. 9 

Days away from Home 

Story by Sushmika Ramesh pg. 10 

CARTOONS 

By Pamudini Abeysekara pg. 11 

INTERVIEWS 

By Janani Jayasinghe & Randi Peiris 

Chameera Ginige pg. 13 

Erandi Warusawithana pg. 14 

Kavidi Ishadika pg. 15 

Kaushal Manawadu pg. 16 

Thushara Jayasekara pg. 17 

Sumedha Ranasinghe pg. 18 

Charith Perera pg. 19 

Vinuri Ranasinghe pg. 21 

Naduni Gunawardane pg. 23 

POEMS AND WRITINGS 

One step at a time 

Poem by Angela Fernando pg. 24 

Leaving Home 

Story by Devini Wettimuny pg. 27 

මල.... 

By Janith Hasantha pg. 28 

By Mayoori Subramaniam pg. 28 

The Grandmother 

Poem by Ruvindra Sathsarani pg. 34 

;s;a; lemqpSfkda 

Story by Piumi Siyambalapitiya pg. 29 

PUBLIC SPEAKING 

Article by Randi Peiris pg. 31 

THE DAWN OF A NEW SUN 

Short Story by Jenith Yasara pg. 35 

l=i.sKs 

by Methmalie Dissanayaka pg. 37 

ABLE OR DISABLE? 

Story by Dinushika Dushmanthi pg. 38 

2016 USJP IN A NUTSHELL 

By Praneitha Anpalagan pg. 41 

PHOTOS BY THE FLAMES PHOTOGRAPHY CREW pg. 47 

සබැයාව CREW pg. 49 

FLAMES PRIDE pg. 50 

| Jpura Flames | Jpura Flames

3 4 

Message from the Vice Chancellor 

Message from Mr. Shantha Puhulwella 

Prof. Sampath Amaratunge 

Vice Chancellor 

“Sabandiyawa Magazine” a collection of contributions in both prose and 

verse versions, is indeed an exhibition of the aesthetic talents of our undergraduates. 

Therefore it is with great pleasure I write this congratulatory 

message for the publication. 

An individual should not only be equipped with academic knowledge, but 

they must also acquire countless other skills to step into the competitive 

world that is waiting for them. Being an esteemed educational institution 

University of Sri Jayewardenepura is home to numerous skillful undergraduates who are ready to take up the 

challenges of the world. Japura Flames (J’pura Optimum Media Grid) has furnished them with a platform to 

showcase their creativity and henceforth I wish the members of the J’pura Flames my best in the accomplishment 

of their future ventures. 

Mr. Shantha Puhulwella 

Senior Treasurer 

J’pura Optimum Media Grid 

J’pura Flames is an acclaimed student organization of University of Sri Jayewardenepura, 

which has been serving the undergraduates as well as promoting the essence of 

the University since its initiation. 

“Sabandiyawa Magazine” is yet another milestone which commemorates the 4th anniversary 

of J’pura Flames, which has opened up new horizons beyond ordinary feats of 

a conventional media circle. It is therefore a space for sharing of intellect and creative abilities in order to display 

the true potential of our undergraduates. 

So I take this opportunity to extend my well wishes to J’pura Flames to continue to bring out the skills of our 

students to light, while creating a platform to excel as a part of an esteemed university. 

"සබැයාව" ය, අප ව ාලය උපා අෂකය දයාමක හැයාව දශනය න සඳැ 

හා සඳැ වල එක සැල සඟරාව. ඒ දකරන මා හෘදයාංගම බපැ පඩය . 

ය ගල ශාය දැම පමණ ව ය ය. අනාගත ඔ එන බලා න 

තරඟකා කයට බාධාව රව ඇ මට න, යම නා සෑම ආකාරයකම දෂතාවව 

සනධ ය ය. රවාත අාපන ආයතනය වශ ජයවධනර ව ාලය බආකාර 

දෂතාවව පණ ද ය අගය බාර ගැමට තර හැයාව ද උපා අෂකය 

කරන තැන. J'pura Flames අප මාණ හැයාව දශනය මට "සබැයාව" 

සඟරාව ම අ කරය මාණය කරම , ඔ අනාගත අෂාව සවකාර සාථක 

වා මම ඉත ාථනා කර. 

கான 

பாட 

அறி உலைக 

Chamika Perera 

Chief Editor 

Message from the Chief Editor 

It is with great pleasure that we, J’pura Flames, present the 3rd edition of “Sambandiyawa” 

magazine; a collection of the finest work by our diversely talented members as well 

as the undergraduates of University of Sri Jayewardenepura. 

These unique contributors covered up innumerable events of the university, including 

the Sri Lanka University Games 2017, with an exceptional passion and dedication to 

offer the interested parties a vivid and a lively experience. Being volunteer members, their commitment and 

enthusiasm are such that they would often put forward the objectives of the organization readily before their 

personal undertakings. This devotion is why the organization has continued to grow in both value and stature. 

Furthermore, with evolving prospects of both the organization and the student body which embodies its vision 

and mission, will continue to grow in the future. 

Therefore here is an opportunity to identify the creative proficiency of our extraordinary members and I wish 

everyone the best of luck for their future endeavours! 

, Jpura Flames 

ஆக . 

! 


5 SLUG ‘16 SLUG ‘16 

6 

Our sportsmen and women came to SLUG 

2016 having won the Inter-university Games the year 

- 

Kaushal Manawadu and Wishwajith Madushanka. 

They had been planning since the win in 2015, and had 

been dreaming of winning this SLUG for three years. 

Also, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Sri 

Jayewardenepura, Prof. Sampath Amaratunga helped 

them immensely towards this victory, especially to 

improve their nutrition throughout the training period. 

of roses, until we crowned our mother J’pura with 

many challenges and went through many hardships. 

Even though, our teams have very talented individuals 

ranging from National level to Olympic level, their 

p erfor mance 

alone didn’t 

lead to a win, 

instead it was 

the unity and 

team work of 

all team members 

that made 

to the victory. 

It was a mighty 

task for the 

sports council 

and the captains 

and vice 

captains of each 

sport. One of 

the main barriers 

was gaining 

permission 

from the lecturers 

of all four faculties, but thanks to the Department 

of Physical Education that cleared this barrier. 

teams had to practice in the university ground and as 

the SLUG got closer and all teams started practicing 

heavily and the practice duration of each sport grew 

longer, thus the management of the grounds became 

not easy; but with many discussions, they managed 

to share the ground among themselves. Also, the 

Jayasekara, rendered their fullest support towards the 

several sports and were vital to each team. Managing 

schedules for them and keeping them healthy were a 

few notable challenges. 

32 teams competed in 22 sports at the SLUG 

last year from our university. Before the commencement 

of some sports on the 3rd of September, 2016, 

tennis, hockey, rowing and rugby were over and we 

were in the 3rd place. After the commencement of the 

other sports, we bagged the cricket championship after 

6 years, which was a remarkable turning point for 

USJP. Then, on the same day we won the netball and 

badminton women’s championships as well, rising to 

1st place. Throughout the week, USJP was in a neck to 

neck fight with the University of Colombo, but on the 

7th ,8th and 9th of September, the whole game 

changed. We victoriously obtained double championships 

in swimming and basketball, giving us a lead by 

a huge margin. But towards the end, some sports 

didn’t give results as expected, drawing us again to 

SLUG ‘16 

a tie with University of Colombo. But then to everyand 

emerged 1st runners up, giving an unbeatable 

lead of points. Adding to that lead, table tennis and 

the SLUG 2016 with the Championship to USJP. 

- 

ment, nor was it simple. So many people backed our 

soldiers to mark their territory and claim the throne. 

Especially, the Vice Chancellor of USJP, Prof. Sampath 

Amaratunga, Deans of all four faculties, Department 

of Physical Education, the 2 co-presidents and the 

In Our Team, 

Everyone Is A Hero... 

secretary of the sports council, captains, vice captains 

and every team member played a prominent 

role in this. Some teams might not have won shiny 

medals, but every point they scored for our alma 

mater was a brick to establish our championship fortress. 

In our team, everyone is a hero. 

everyone at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. 

- 

dor, instead, this turned on another chapter for the 

all the championships we are yet to come across, but 

sure to win. We, undergraduates of University of Sri 

Jayewardenepura congratulate each member of our 

sports team for making this lifelong dream a reality. 

Devini Wettimuny 


7 

STORY 

POEMS 

< THE STORY > 

Every chapter in your life opens so many beautiful 

when I entered the university, I had no idea what kind 

of experiences I was about to face. I think what I felt 

feeling every student stepped into this premises came 

across. 

As days rolled on everything started to change. We 

made memories, we created new bonds, we cherished 

good friends and we recorded the crazy days of our 

lives. 

University life is an immeasurable blessing. We meet 

so many wonderful people throughout the journey. 

J’pura holds memories of unforgettable love stories, 

friendships, broken promises, untold heartthrobs and 

university premises have the most beautiful moments 

treasured. It has captured the most remarkable romantic 

episodes, heard the creepiest jokes, have secured 

the best secrets and always been the shelter for 

anyone during the exam sessions. 

When the whole world was struggling over issues 

arising from violence on religion, cast and status differences, 

we learnt to stay united and to celebrate the 

spirit of each and every religious festival. We learnt 

and understood each everyone’s culture and learnt to 

the ones who have seen you at 

your worst. When you were 

under stress due to finals or 

when you were working hard 

on your thesis, they have seen 

your mood swings, your rants 

and melt downs that they totally 

understand and throughout 

your journey they know how to 

handle your emotional trauma. 

The pillars and the nature 

around the university carry the 

memories of your beautiful 

university days. They have 

known too much and they have 

seen too much from your most 

embarrassing moment to your 

greatest success. 

As life rolls on everyone should 

end some chapter of their life, I 

would call my university days 

at J’pura as the days that carried 

the most beautiful memories. It was and it will be the 

only happy destination. The people will be the best I 

ever came cross in my life as they are a part of the most 

enchanting days of my life, and the main reason why I 

loved and why I miss it so badly. I just miss seeing them 

every day, jabbering for hours and hours pointlessly, I 

miss making fun of them, I miss giving advice and 

badly miss how they always managed to make me laugh 

no matter how horrible my day was and how stressed 

my life was. 

But J’Pura will always remain the best family I ever had. 

I was not forced to sit with them or to choose them. I 

made my choices all alone. 

No matter how many friends I meet, no matter how far 

I travel and collect beautiful memories, Mother J’pura 

will always have a big part in my heart as an Alma mater 

and as the happiest place I will ever be. 

Samiha Saleem 

“J’Pura will always 

remain the best family I 

ever had” 

තය ... 

යාන යාන යන න 

තව ඇත ඉව 

පදට ඇණ ඇ ඇ 

ස වඩව ගත තව තව 

ස දෑ ල 

කට යන පදවැ ල 

සැගව ග වය 

රස මට න දැ තව 

එක තව 

කර ද උ මහ 

ල නැ තයක බර 

දැනවා ට පලට 

ව ගත තව තව 

ඉවරය නැහැ වැඩ තව 

තට ශය න තව 

ඇද යනවා පණ තව 

ලබා මට සට සැන 

ව එ නයක සරද 

පැ නැහැ මහර ම 

මද තය තර 

රවක 

නහ 

සය ද ද 

තය ඇත කළක 

Manikya Ranasinghe 

මකට ය 

ලාප යානම 

නහරය ඒ 

ල ගැවද? 

ප හරයකට 

හැ වම 

ගැන නාදය පවා 

න ද? 

ළඟට ඇ 

ක වට 

සබඳ මය 

යැලා යාද? 

ඔය ගැ හදවත 

ආල රව ස 

අය ගැන 

වද මටද? 

මං කළා 

අත හැමක 

ඔබට ලැ ගැ 

තව ත යද? 

ලැන ට 

හඬබව එකම 

තව පඩ 

ය මටද? 

සගන අවසර 

කම අද මට 

ඉ හදවත 

අවසම කයද? 

Piumi Siyambalapitiya 

Above all the beautiful bonds we treasured, the people 

we met at university remain more precious than 


9 STORY 

10 

සරසෙ ෙකානක 

ෙනාපෑෙගන අරැ වල 

යප දෑ ෙව 

ෙහටකට පැ රවන 

වැහැරැ ග සසැෙලන 

රැ ම එ කළ 

රැ ප මට වැෙට 

දහ ෙස සලන 

කරගැට මැද 

කබලකට ෙවර ඩාලන 

කල වැෙටනැ බපතට 

රැරැ වඳට.. 

රර සරසය 

ඔ ර හැඩ උන 

මැකරැව හඬවම 

බයට වා නැෙහන.. 

රැ ලංකා ෙදවමාර 

දහ සරස ඇද යන කල ත ගැන 

දෑ පළ ද මන බව අ 

ව ත . සත මහා සාගරය බ 

ාය සත ළ ධ ගත වන 

වහස තන ධාරාව එ එක එයට න 

හා බැව ඒ ය ය ලයය 

ව සරස කඩ බව පැවම අශය 

. සරස වා න අ ව න 

අ ව යනා ක ලබන 

අසමසම අදැ සදා; ව ම 

ත ද අමතන ද ම. 

මාව ජ'ර සංකෘ ක 

අංගය. මාව අසළ වැ ඇ මග මා හට න 

ඩා වමකට වඩා මනර ය; යාවත 

ය. ඹ අවා ම එවතාවකට වඩා ඇද 

ඇ බවට සැකය නැත. 

ඈත ඳ මාවත ස මාන පැය 

ගණනව ය හැ ය. එය එතර ම දර ය ; 

සරල ය; චා ය. මාවත ව ය ගණන 

නපතා පකර යන. 

ව වය පමණ 

ව තකඩ ත පවා බ 

වඩ ඇද යන මාවත ය. 

ාබයා ම වය 

අරා ඒ යන ත වඳව 

කරනට දරන වෑයම කර 

රැක කය බ ය. වැ දාට 

ඒ ාබයා අ ම 

වරවා යන ඇත 

POEMS & 

WRITINGS 

r;= m,ig 

fmr 

ldmgs ke;s mdr 

osf.a 

wejsof.k huq... 

නහව සමචට . එය හයට අව ක වැය වැ ය. 

තලට අයා ම. අ මාවත. තය යායාගනට රදරන 

අප රැන යන කාප නැ ං පාර. 

"පාර ගැන උඹ නවා යන ද බං?" ජ'ර ගැන ද අ මා අසළ යා 

න ප නාව සංරහ ට අස අමාන ය. ජ'ර ගැන ජ' ම අ 

ස න ක ද ද? ඉ සහෘදය, වචන නැ පාරකට වචන මකට ද? 

ත දර වචන නැ දාට. අ රැන යන - රැන එන මාව අද හවසට සග ආ ඒ මාව ම 

මංග ධ යට ය ඇන ර කන වචන අණනට අසම ආශාව මැඩන ය. එ 

මාව වහ ම සරස න රාජමානව බලා ඇත. 

Kanishka Wijayarathna 

Days 

Away 

From 

Home 

I have always been fascinated about being a hosteller as I was a day 

scholar during school times and once I got selected to the University, 

to my astonishment, I had to board due to distance issues. With a lot 

of expectations, I travelled 3 hours from my home town and moved 

to a room, just 5 minutes from the university. The room was not a 

luxurious one nor had many facilities like what I had at my home, but 

I wasn’t much keen about it. 

My room had a single bed, a wardrobe, and a towel rack with an 

attached washroom. That room could not occupy any more furniture 

and may be because of it, I was never bothered of having less furniture 

compared to my home. There were five rooms in that house and 

university students were staying in each room. I was initially content of having friends around and 

thought i might have an amazing time here, and I did. That feeling of being away from home or 

rather FREEDOM, INDEPENDENCE or whatever term you use, made me adjust to my new environment 

with pleasure. 

Around my boarding place, there are small boutiques, cafeterias, and shops to meet all our requirements. 

There was a bank too. I was given money enough to purchase my needs and wants, also given 

a debit card to withdraw surplus cash. I felt matured when I go purchase goods, when I wake up at a 

time on my own, when I do my ironing, when I select my clothes and when I do everything on my 

own. I decided my sleeping time, I decided on the time to study and the time to play. That was the 

real period where I felt the essence of adulthood. 

Things were never the same. Very soon, my life became very monotonous. Even though I was a free 

bird and had my own wings to fly wherever I intend, I felt an incompleteness. I had a nice clique to 

hang around with, but just the friends itself didn’t give me a complete happiness. I felt that some 

chapters of my life were incomplete and untouched. 

I missed my mother’s nagging, her bed coffee, her pile of advices 

on discipline, my father’s life advices, our partnership in making 

fun of my mother, fight with my sister and cuddling her at the 

end of our fight. I started missing my pillow, my bed at home, 

that television remote me and my sister fight for, that kitchen we 

mess up in the attempt of cooking a new dish my mom hasn’t 

heard of, the washroom which was my performance stage since 

childhood, the shrine where I pray the day before exams, I started 

missing everything. Not that they are completely gone, but I 

miss them for long. 

Can I go back and sleep on my mother’s lap now, can I go and 

play with my father now nor bully my sister right now? 

Probably the next time I go home for a week vacation, SIGH!!!! 

Life isn’t complete without the love from your family… 

But life needs independence and freedom; should live on our 

own… 

Is it that, Distance leads enchantment to the view? 

Sushmika Ramesh 


11 12 

Cartoons by 

Pamudini Abeysekara 


13 FACE TO FACE 

FACE TO FACE 

14 

Chameera 

Ginige 

Erandi 

Warusawithana 

Chameera, a proud product of USJP who represented 

the 2011/2012 batch of Sport Science and 

Management of the Faculty of Applied Sciences has 

represented Sri Lanka in many tournaments including 

the 12th SAG where he won a silver medal in the team 

event and a bronze medal in men’s double. 

Furthermore, he has represented the Sri Lankan Table 

Tennis team in World Team Table Tennis Championships 

in 2016, Malaysia. According to Table Tennis 

Association rankings he currently holds No 03 rank in 

the Open Men’s Singles. He is an old boy of the Dharmasoka 

College, Ambalangoda and currently works 

at Commercial Credit and Finance PLC. 

Why did you choose TT over other sports? 

Because I think my talent towards TT was 

sharper than any other sport. I was involuntarily adverted 

towards TT since I was able to gain a lot of 

achievements while playing TT from my childhood. 

So I think TT is the perfect sport for me. 

If I ask you what is the best memory in your TT career 

It’s the day I represented my country for the 

monwealth Table Tennis Championship 2015 in In- 

Lankan Table Tennis history. 

Tell me about your family and what kind of support you 

receive from them for your TT career? 

My father has played cricket in school and at 

cricket and athletics. All my family members give me 

a huge support for my sports career as well as for my 

studies. 

TT in future? 

Yes, it’s a load of work since I’m having my 

training in corporate sector too. But I believe that 

through hard working and proper management, I’m 

capable of managing my practices and other activities 

like I’ve done in the past. 

To continue representing the national team in 

future and I have a dream to be the coach of the National 

Team of Sri Lanka Table Tennis someday. 

Janani Jayasinghe 

rising star to be inspired who has taken up table tennis 

as her path to make her dream a reality. Erandi is a 

proud product of Ambalangoda Dharmasoka College 

pursuing her higher education in sports science in our 

university. 

to mother Sri Lanka.Erandi being fortunate enough 

to win two bronze medals for the country made her 

name prominent and unforgettable in the hearts of 

table tennis lovers. Her outstanding performance in 

number of tournaments that she has competed, both 

national and international tournaments bringing glory 

to the country, clealry speak the dedication and 

commitment of Erandi. 

We at J’pura Flames congratulate 

Erandi on her achievements and wish 

her all the very best in all her future 

endeavors. 

What are your notable accomplishment so far? 

being a silver medalist in 2008, I was able to get 

hold two bronze at the South Asian Games in 2010. 

My hunt for medals continued and was able to give 

a winning performance in SAG 2016 too and ended 

with two bronze medals. Being the silver medalist in 

the Lusafonia Games in 2013 is one of my remarkable 

achievement in my sports career. Currently I am 

placed 6th in the 3rd division by my participation in 

the World Championship from 2010 to 2016. 

- 

pionships held in Malaysia and was placed 6th in the 

3rd division. 

How do you balance both studies and sports? 

Balancing both studies and sports is not a hard 

task. I practice almost every day and have deliberately 

of time during the day to focus on my studies. But 

whenever there is a tournament coming up, my main 

focus is on preparing for it. At such times, I give more 

weight on practices but I make sure that I do not give 

up my academics. 

What is your next step? 

I am looking forward World Championships 

and Asian Championships 2017. I hope to get the 

opportunity to represent Srilanka at the Common 

Wealth games in 2018 as well. 

What would be your ultimate achievement? 

Getting the opportunity to represent Srilanka 

at the Olympics by winning a rank in the world top 

100 Table tennis player list is my ultimate dream! I 

Table tennis at the Common Wealth Games 2018. 

Randi Peiris 



FACE TO FACE 

16 

Kavidi 

Sirimannage 

She is the second best badminton 

player in the country according to 

Women’s singles ranking. Coming 

from Rathmalana, Kavidi is the 

youngest in the family. She had 

her primary education at Lindsey 

Girls College and her 

secondary education at 

Sirimavo Bandaranayake 

Vidyalaya, Colombo. She is 

currently a second year 

student in the Faculty of 

Applied Sciences. 

“My focus is the upcoming 2018 

Commonwealth Games and securing a win. 

Apart from that I hope to take part in the 

next 2020 Olympics.” 

At the 2016 SAG her performance 

was remarkable as 

she was able to bag a 

silver medal for the Team 

event and two bronze 

medals for Women’s Doubles 

and Mixed Doubles. 

She was triumphant in many 

national and international competitions 

all throughout the past years. 

What made you chose Badminton in 

particular? 

I first started sports with swimming when 

I was very young, but it was seeing my cousin 

play badminton really spiked my interest in this 

sport later. I have been playing badminton since 

Grade two. 

What is your greatest achievement 

so far in your sports 

career? 

Winning a silver medal for 

the Team event and two bronze 

medals for Women’s Doubles 

and Mixed Doubles at 

the 2016 SAG is my 

greatest achievement 

so far. 

about 

events that 

you took part 

after the SAG? 

Tell us 

a n y 

After the SAG, I 

played at the Sydney Open 

tournament in Australia and was 

placed in the top eight in the 

singles category. I played at the 

Senior Nationals Championships 

as well where I won Doubles 

and Mixed Doubles championships 

and became the 

Singles runner-up. 

During your previous interview 

with us you mentioned 

that you are 

currently training for 

2018 Commonwealth 

Games. What are your expectations regarding 

this? 

I hope to rank within the top eight at the 

2018 Commonwealth Games. There are a 

series of tournaments that I must win to 

qualify to participate and currently I’m practicing 

for it. 

What will be your next step? 

My focus is the upcoming 2018 Commonwealth 

Games and securing a win. Apart from 

that I hope to take part in the next 2020 Olympics. 

Randi Peiris 

Kaushal 

Manawadu 

Among university undergraduates in the event of 

swimming; if by hearing a name, others get their 

heart, beat a little higher, it’s none other than the name 

of Kaushal. It’s because among all the state universities 

everyone knows, everyone talks about his talent 

in swimming. He was the president of Sport Council 

of USJP in 2016; furthermore he was one of the captains 

of USJP swimming team. 

Tell us about the meets you represent SL in near past? 

I represented Sri Lanka in the recently concluded 

South Asian Aquatic Championships in October 

2016, Asian Age Group Swimming Championships 

2015 and also World University Games 2013 & 

2015. 

Since you were the president of SC of USJP how did you 

manage all the responsibilities along with your practices 

and studies? 

It was a tough schedule to maintain. But it was 

manageable because of the great team that I had in 

the sport council. Here I should mention my fellow 

co-president Wishwajith Madusanka, Secretary Indunil 

Subhodhini Herath and editor Hisni Hunais who 

did almost all the work in the sports council on behalf 

supported me in managing the duties as the president 

of Sport Council USJP 

Since your father is a national coach what kind of support 

do you get from him? 

He is the main reason why I’m a swimmer 

today. I get all the support that I need to achieve my 

dreams from him. Training, nutrition and all the other 

factors that are needed for me, as a swimmer, are 

given to me by him all the time. 

Have you set new goals to achieve in your swimming career 

for 2017? If so we are very much interest to know 

those. 

Of course there are some. Mainly I’m currently 

the national number two swimmer in the 100m butmy 

main target is to upset him at the national championships 

and get selected for the 17th FINA world 

championships. It’s a tough task but I believe that it is 

possible to someone who’s not giving up. 




FACE TO FACE 

18 

Thushara Jayasekara, She has held the captaincy of 

the Sri Lankan kho-kho team at both the South 

Asian Games and at the Asian kho-kho championship. 

Coming from a family of five members from Kalutara,Thushara 

had her primary and secondary education 

from Kalutara Balika National School and is currently a 

second year student from the faculty of Applied Sciences. 

At the age of 23, she has excelled in both netball and 

kho-kho and has emerged victorious in many local and 

international tournaments. 

Tell us a bit about your sports background? 

I first started Netball when I was 10 years old 

simply because it was a popular sport played by many in 

our school. I firststarted with playing at the school 

sports meet and later it escalated till National Championships 

and even further till being the under 21 Sri 

Lankan Netball Captain in 2011. I have participated in 

many national and international tournaments where I 

have represented the Sri Lankan team. If I talk about 

Kho Kho, it was fairly a new sport to me. I had no idea 

about it when I first joined the national team in 2015 but 

soon it too became a sport where I was fortunate enough 

to representthe national team. 

Is this your first time competing at SAG? Share your 

experience with us. 

Yes it is. I was the Kho Kho team captain this 

time. Though we were unable to win any medals this 

time I would like to say that our team was extremely 

good and was well prepared. It was not due to lack of 

practice but due to lack of technique that we lost the 

matches but however we were able to compete relatively 

well for first timers and it was a great experience for all 

of us. Since this was the first time we were participating 

in an international tournament representing Sri Lanka, 

the Kho Kho federation invited us to participate at the 

Asian Games where we won the 3rd place. 

How do you manage both studies and sports? 

I wouldn’t have been able to manage both studies 

and sports if it wasn’t for the guidance I have gotten from 

my lecturers and parents. Whatever lectures I miss I 

cover it with help from my friends so managing both has 

been fairly easy. Because I know that my friends have my 

back I can pay more attention to my practices and tournaments. 

Thushara 

Jayasekara 

Whom would like to thank for your success? 

First of all I would like to thank my parents for 

their love and guidance they have given me throughout 

all my life. My school principal and teachers and 

my Netball coach also deserves my heartfelt gratitude. 

Lastly I would like to thank Mr.AthulaWijenayake of 

the Kho Kho federation for his guidance and support 

given. 

Finally what advice would you like to give to your 

juniors? 

My advice is to those who are currently playing 

a sport, is to carry on doing what you love as long 

as you can. Don’t stop it half way simply because it 

gets tough at certain times. For those are not playing a 

sport yet, it’s not too late to start. It isn’t an obstacle for 

your studies in fact it becomes a great help in developing 

many skills and qualities in a person. 

Randi Peiris 

If you ask any athlete what his or her ultimate dream 

would be there is no doubt, almost every one of them 

would say it is to qualify to compete in the Olympic 

Games and take their best shot at winning a medal for 

the country. Throughout the years there have been 

many Sri Lankan athletes who have been fortunate 

enough to be qualified to compete in the Olympics 

where most of the events these players take part in turns 

out to be a Sri Lankan first that goes down in history as 

a remarkable accomplishment in Sri Lankan sports. 

Among these athletes there is a name that is tremendously 

significant. This is due to no other reason but 

because he had the honor of being the very first Sri 

Lankan athlete to be qualified to represent Sri Lanka in 

Javelin Throw at an Olympic Game . Above all the 

reasons, why we as undergraduates regard him this 

greatly is because he is a Sports Management Undergraduate 

here from our very own University. 

Hailing from Kegalle, Air Force and USJP Javelin thrower 

Sumedha Ranasinghe, had his basic education at 

Kobbewela Vidyalaya and then finished his secondary 

education from Kegalle Maha Vidyalaya. He comes 

from a family of four siblings where he is the youngest. 

From a very young age he showed a keen interest in 

sports with having all his siblings along with his twin 

brother and father being involved in sports. 

Young Sumedha starts his sporting career as a volleyball 

player in 2006 at the Under-15 level with his father as his 

coach. However Sumeda took to javelin when he was at 

the Under-17 level. He had a personal best of 69m when 

he first joined his current coach Pradeep Nishantha who 

is a well-known throwing coach. 

His name received a high level of acknowledgement 

especially within the borders of the country with him 

qualifying for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio having 

shattered the previous national record of 79.74m set by 

Sachith Maduranga at the Asian Championship 2013. 

Sumedha’s this outstanding performance was seen at the 

South Asian Games athletics trials held in 2015 at the 

Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Diyagama. 

He recorded a distance of 83.04m where he bettered the 

qualifying mark by 0.04m. It goes down in history as the 

first time that a Sri Lankan threw the javelin beyond the 

80m mark. What is astounding in his performance is 

that he was able to qualify for the Olympics without 

having any foreign training. His striking performance 

can be credited to his love for the sport, hard work, dedication 

and pure Sri Lankan training. 

Sumedha 

Ranasinghe 

At the 2016 Summer Olympics Sumedha marked a throw 

of 71.93 in the qualifying round, however he was unable 

to make it to the finals. Nevertheless his performance 

itself will remain as an unforgettable memory in the 

pages of Sri Lankan sports history. 

Sumedha showed his exceptional skills in many other 

international tournaments as well where he continued to 

bring glory to the nation. Among his recent competitions 

there stands a noteworthy performance, the 2016 South 

Asian Games (SAG) which was held in February in India. 

He recorded his seasonal best of 80.25m which earned 

him a Silver medal, coming second to the Asian Champion 

Neeraj Chopra, an Indian who secured the Gold with 

this throw of 82.23m. 

According to the International Association of Athletics 

Federation (IAAF), in Javelin Men’s World rankings 

Sumedha holds the 66th place based on his most recent 

achievement at the Australian Athletics Championships, 

Sydney, in April 2017. His throw recorded a distance of 

77.92m which earned him this ranking. As per the Asian 

rankings 2016 of the Asian Athletics Association Sumedha 

currently holds the 9th place. 

With his achievements, both national and international, 

he continuously proves that hard work and dedication 

will carry you through a long journey despite whatever 

obstacles that comes your way. With that being said we 

wish Sumedha the strength and luck to continue his 

sports career for many years to come! 



FACE TO FACE 

20 

Charith 

Perera 

And when I turned back it was a small school boy with 

his mother holding a pen and a paper. Then h e 

asked me whether he can have an autograph 

from me. It was the 

very first time that 

someone asked for my 

autograph. I still 

wonder why he specifically 

asked it from me. 

There were 6'8" taller ones and I 

am just an average height player but 

still he wanted my autograph specifically so I kind of 

felt that I am special. May be this will be the sweetest 

memory of my basketball life. One of my fellow teammates 

had captured that moment and I still love that 

picture and will always do. 

What are your goals for 2017? 

“Remember.. 

your hard work will definitely get 

rewarded one day...” 

Charith Perera, one who started his sports career as 

an athlete has now become an iconic character in 

the event of National Basketball upon the guidance of 

his school (De Mazenod College) basketball coach, Mr. 

Sunil Senevirathnewho unveiled his talents toward 

basketball. Charith started his training in basketball in 

grade 7. Currently he is a member of Sri LankanNational 

Basketball team and he represented SL in SAG 

2016. Furthermore, he nurtured J’pura Basketball team 

with his experiences by holding its captaincy in 2015. 

Let us know about your experiences you gained 

throughout your basketball career by representing 

SL in major events like SAG 2016? 

Representing the country in international 

arena was a dream for me since the beginning of my 

basketball life. I badly wanted to put national flag on 

my chest. It's an amazing feeling when you hear the 

national anthem whilst you are outside the country 

and remembering that the anthem plays is to represent 

you, is a life changing and a memorable moment in life. 

That will boost anyone to perform better than before 

and will help to put some extra effort because you are 

no longer doing it for yourself, but for the country. At 

the same time, it has offered me a chance to play with 

the country's best men and to get guided under the 

best coaches which is also a huge advantage for me. 

Experience that I have gained from participating in 

International matches had given me the exposure to 

handle the pressure and to make quick accurate decisions 

at the court when I am playing. 

Is there anyone whom you like to specially mention 

for the success of your sport career? 

I was an athlete before I was taken in to the game, 

basketball by Mr. Sunil Senevirathna and I thank every 

single time for the almighty god for bringing him in to 

my life since he has completely changed my life. He identified 

my talent and what I am capable of from the beginning 

and he trained me in a proper and structured ways 

to develop my game and talents day by day. 

And my elder brother who hasn’t missed a single game of 

mine that I've played so far and who have always held my 

back whenever I need support during the game and off 

the court. His words and presence always add some extra 

adrenaline to me. Plus, my parents and younger brother 

and all my teachers, present coaches and fellow basketballers 

have helped me a lot to achieve what I have 

achieved so far and what I have become as. 

If I ask you what is the sweetest memory in your BB 

career, what will come to your mind at the first spark? 

There are many sweet memories in my life 

besides every victory was sweet. Specially the matches 

where I put a game winning shot and a buzzer beater. 

They all were amazing but since you are asking for a 

specific one I will mention the one off the court. When I 

was in India for the SAG 2016 while we were talking 

outside the hotel, suddenly I felt like someone is knocking 

me. 

I am glad that by 5th of January I will be officially 

ending my degree. I am looking forward to achieve the 

success at my work place plus I am hoping to return to 

the game. I love this year since I have been resting for 3 

months now due to the knee injury. Hope to come back 

to the game much stronger and face the upcoming tournaments. 

What advice would you like to give to your juniors? 

Getting selected for the best management faculty 

in the country wasn't easy. And so was representing Sri 

Lanka in basketball. I've always had a target from the 

beginning and I feel a perfect completion by now as I 

ensured I stick to it.. There might be lot of people who 

might argue that you can't do sports with studies, and to 

select one out of them and to go ahead with it. What I 

have to say is to not to listen to them. Our life is full of 

choices and it depends on how you work on those to 

achieve them. It’s up to you to balance both. Remember 

your hard work will definitely get rewarded one day. 




FACE TO FACE 

22 

Vinuri, being a proud product of Visakha Vidyala, 

Colombo was very lucky to win the title of the Most 

Outstanding Sport Woman of the Year for three consecutive 

years: 2013, 2014 and 2015 at the Annual Colours 

Night of USJP. She was a member of netball, basketball 

and athletics teams of USJP. Furthermore she is a 

member of Sri Lanka Army netball team.Vinuri is from 

the Department of Business Administration in the 

Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce. She is 

the eldest of her family with one younger sister. 

When did you first start your netball career? And how 

did it happen? 

I started my sports career from Grade 4 in 

school. I was selected to represent the Uunder-12 

Netball team of Visakha Vidyalaya by the Netball 

In-charge teacher in school at that time and also got 

selected to the Athletics team by having trials and 

achievements at the Annual Primary Sports Meet. My 

father and mother also identified my talents and took me 

for private training. Since then, they gave an immense 

support to develop my sports career which is the major 

reason behind my success. 

Is it netball or basketball you started first? Let us know 

about the switch between netball and basketball? 

I first started with Netball and Athletics. So those 

are my main games. High Jump and Hurdles were my 

events in athletics. But at the inter house 

Sports meet in school I did many games 

as much as possible just for my own 

entertainment. So the Basketball Coach 

and the teacher In-charge had seen me 

playing and asked me to join the Basketball 

team. Before that, I had played Badminton 

and Swimming as well. But I 

chose to carry on Netball, Athletics and 

Basketball only. 

Let us know about your major 

achievements in last two to three 

years. 

I have represented Sri Lanka 

Youth Netball team twice in 2010 and 

2013 at the Asian Youth Netball Tournaments, 

and the Sri Lanka Beach Netball 

Team in 2012 which I consider as major 

achievements of mine. However talking 

about the last few years, 

we won the Inter University Netball Championship 

for three consecutive years from 2014 to 2016, Basketball 

Championship for four consecutive years from 

2013 to 2016 and also won 1st and 2nd places in High 

Jump and Triple Jump from 2013-2016. Hence I was 

awarded as the “Most Outstanding Sports Woman of 

University of Sri Jayewardenepura” at the Colours 

Night for three consecutive years from 2013 to 2015. 

I got selected to represent the Western Province 

Netball Team at the National Festival Netball Tournament 

in 2015 & 2016 where we were able to bring the 

Championship to the Western Province. Also got 

selected to the Sri Lanka University Basketball Team 

in 2016 for the 2nd Asian University Basketball 

Championship. Furthermore I won several tournaments 

representing Sri Lanka Army Netball Team. 

Since you play basketball also how do you mange 

those along with your lot of other works? 

I actually practice three games. Netball, 

Athletics and Basketball. Hence, managing all this 

along with studies is a bit tough. But it has been part of 

my life since I was in school, so I have got used to it. I 

do not like to cut practices, so I participate in practice 

sessions as much as I can. During exam periods of 

course I gave a little break to sports and concentrate 

on studies. 

In my final year at University I had to face more trouble 

because we had lectures in the evening from 

Vinuri 

Ranasinghe 

5.30-8.00pm where the practices were also held at the 

same time. Hence it creates a clash in my lectures and 

practices. There were times that I even had to sacrifice 

some of my lectures in order to go for practices. But I 

was keen to covering up all what I had missed in 

lectures. It was not a new thing for me anyway. 

Do you satisfy with your current level of sport career? 

Yes, I am satisfied with my sports career. I’m 

proud that I got opportunities to represent my country 

in several times which is the ultimate goal of any sports 

person. Most of all, I am happy about myself because I 

managed to strike a balance and excel in sports and 

studies both. I have been appreciated by many people 

for that reason. 

Another reason that satisfies me is that where-ever I 

studied or worked, I was able to give a 

good service to those institutions 

because of my sports career. Starting 

with my beloved school 

Visakha Vidyalaya, I gave my 

maximum effort to win 

tournaments and 

bring glory to 

school. Thereafter in 

my University, I 

guess I had proven it 

by being the Most 

Outstanding 

Sportswoman 

throughout all the 

years I studied 

there. 

If I had achieved 

something in life, I 

was able to do it 

because of sports. I have met many people, faced many 

challenges, travelled several countries in the world, won 

many awards and appreciated by many people. Not 

everyone can be talented in sports. It’s a gift. So if 

anyone has that gift, they should know how to improve 

it and make the maximum benefit out of it. Hence I’m 

satisfied with what I have achieved so far and I’m very 

thankful to my parents, coaches, teachers and my 

friends who helped me to come to this state. 

What are your future goals for 2017? 

Since I have completed my Degree, my first 

goal is to secure a job in the private sector. And as I 

have always done, I wish to continue my sports career 

by playing to represent the company as well. If there 

will be openings to the National Netball Pool I would 

grab that chance as well. Meanwhile I’m hoping to 

complete final exams in my professional qualification. 

Along with all these goals, I would like to be happy, 

honest, kind and help to make a difference to the 

betterment of the society. 




24 

Naduni 

Gunawardane 

Naduni Gunawardane, a second year student in the 

Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce is the 

eldest in the family. Coming from Nugegoda, Naduni 

is a product of both Musaeus College and Visakha 

Vidyalaya. 

She is a talented squash player who has performed 

extremely well at the most recent international championships 

including the 12th South Asian Games, Guwahati, 

India in 2016 where she won a bronze medal 

in the women’s team event. At the age of 20, she was 

able to win the prestigious title of National Champion 

for Squash. 

Tell us about your sports background? 

I entered this sport at the age of 10, in the year 

2005. I played for the Musaeus College squash team 

- 

alaya squash team. With my father being an Army 

to practice there too. I had been representing the junior 

national team till 2014 and have been a permanent 

member of the senior national squash team since 

2012 to present. I have played over 100 local squash 

tournaments and have taken part in many international 

tournaments as well where I have emerged as 

Champion or Runners-up numerous times. 

What do you consider as the greatest achievement so far 

in your career? 

Participating at the 20th Commonwealth 

Games held in Glasgow, Scotland in 2014 and winning 

the gold medal in the women’s consolation plate 

event is my greatest achievement so far. 

experience with us. 

the SAG and it was a great experience to win a medal 

since my younger sister was also a member of the Sri 

Lanka SAG Squash team. I am also looking forward 

to participate at the next SAG which will be held next 

year. 

the SAG? If so we would like to know about them too. 

Yes, I played at the 18th Asian team 

championship held in Chinese Taipei in May, 2016 

and was placed 7th in the Asian Region. 

Whom would you like to thank for 

guiding you to achieve all this at such a 

young age? 

Firstly and most importantly, I 

would like to thank my parents for 

guiding and encouraging me throughout 

my career. They were always there to 

watch all my practice sessions and 

matches I played and had always been 

my strength at every level of competition. 

I would also like to thank my two 

younger sisters Sanduni and Kasuni for 

being competitive with me while practicing 

together. I would also like thank to 

my squash equipment sponsor Mr. 

Thilak Maddegodage of United Sports 

for sponsoring the squash equipment 

since my victory at the Junior National 

Championship in year the 2010. 

What is your next move? 

I am currently a national squash 

player as well as a coach for juniors. 

Therefore, I hope to continue my career 

in squash as a national player and a 

coach in the future. My wish and hope is 

to represent the University of Sri 

Jayewardenepura in both local and 

international University Championships. 

Finally, few words to your juniors? 

Be dedicated, committed and 

courageous until you achieve your goals. 

Play fair and respect each opponent and 

have patience to accept any outcome and 

enjoy squash. 


One step at a time 

I see a faraway land, 

A land with a secret garden. 

Do I dare walk towards it, 

And find the key to the lock. 

Do I dare open it, 

Now that I have the key to it. 

One step at a time, 

Fearful, yet strong is the will. 

Nervous, yet demanding is the want. 

One step at a time. 

The key, fits the lock, 

Just a click away to that 

Secret garden filled with wonder. 

My heart hesitates, my mind refuses, 

To see what it has. 

Shall wait, shall wait, 

Till the clock strikes twelve. 

One step at a time, one step at a time..... 

Angela Fernando 


Sri Lanka 

UNIVERSITY 

Games 2016 

I 

- 

versity of Wayamba when the crowd dressed in 

blue, white and yellow were screaming, jumping and 

Sri Lanka University Games (SLUG) Championship 

- 

er than the sportsmen and women of the University 

everything for their alma mater, but their faces didn’t 

and beaming eyes. 

i n|ehs jd | Jpura | Jpura Flames Flames i n|ehs | Jpura jd | Jpura Flames Flames

27 STORY 

POEMS 

28 

Leaving Home 

මල.... 

ජමාන ව 

ගජ නඟලන 

ෂ ම ස 

ර ගැවන 

ක අ හැම තැන 

ර පවන 

ඝන ර වන ගැබ 

භය පරවන 

ක පහ 

ද දනවන 

පා 

ය කැදන 

රසය සම 

මව මවන 

සැම එකට කැ 

ව ම අතැල 

There I stood, in a place where I knew every nook 

and cranny; every hideaway and every hidden 

pathway, the place that was home for me for four years, 

puzzled, none familiar to me and suddenly it was not 

home anymore, I didn’t belong there anymore, my life 

as an undergraduate was over. Truth-be-told at that 

moment my heart stopped for a moment, because this 

place was not a place like any other, University of Sri 

Jayewardenepura broke me and made me at the same 

time. I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. 

In 2013, I came to University of Sri Jayewardenepbattling 

with appeals and university applications for 

months and the university was in total harmony. I was 

the only new comer there. I was frightened, confused 

lecture. Everyone was very friendly and helped me in 

every way to get adjusted to the new environment. 

jeewithe”. I came to the university with only one objective, 

to get the degree and leave, nothing else. But 

that drastically changed over the course of the following 

months. 

University of Sri Jayewardenepura taught me that - 

university life isn’t all about perfect attendance, com 

plete notes and acing every exam, it’s much more than 

that. It’s having lunch with all your friends, even when 

the food is unbearable, even when half of what’s on 

your hand falls on the ground or on somebody else, 

it’s the long nights spent in the university practicing 

for a concert even though it has no relation to your 

degree. It’s the counseling sessions in the form of long 

talks spent with your friend sitting on a bench. It’s the 

moments you just sit on the ground while having a big 

mug of ice cream with fruit salad letting the wind ser 

enade you. It’s the time you spent crying alone somewhere 

or stormed out in total agony. It’s also the long - 

walks down the path guarded by Cycas trees; its wade 

moments while walking to or out of the university, 

versity life is all of that and much more. 

I have spent so many hours in the lab trying to create 

a ground breaking new product and many hours on 

spent many hours in lectures to gain subject knowledge, 

I have spent many hours listening to my friends 

to relieve them from their pain. I have been laughed at 

by many and been praised by many. I have been loved, 

I have been heartbroken. Everything has happened to 

me in these 4 years, but I don’t regret for any of those 

memories because they have molded me into the per- 

- 

son I was 4 years ago. Now it’s time for me to leave and 

face the scary world head on. It’s not because I want to, 

but because I have to. 

Devini Wettimuny 

ම ලා 

හද දැ ට 

සඳ උදා 

හද පහ ට 

ත කතා 

නද සහ ට 

ම කැළ ම ඔබ 

උස ම නක ..... 

| Jpura Flames | Jpura Flames 

Janith hasantha panditharatne

29 STORY 

STORY 

30 

“ ;s;a; lemqpSfkda ” 

මං ආස නැහැ කම නැ දකලා තැනක තන. එම යාම ඇ 

පෑනවා වමනාවට වැය. මට ඕන මහ ඟ නඟ ගැවන 

හලක, අනකට න යන සයකට ලා ජල එය 

බලාන ඔබ ගැනම තන. එම ඉ ම තට එ එකම තය. 

වයන වාදන සරාක. රායකට අහන වයන වාදනයකට මාකාර දනාව ත රවන ව. මට 

එම ඉගැ ඔබ. ඒ ඔබ ලා දනාව දැනම ටාර ත හඬවන. මං ලා 

එම ලාවට ඔ ව බාව පගන. 

"ඇ ඕ මට ආද" ඔබ දනා ඉ ත සනසග ඒ ට ලැන උත. 

මම ර යට කර ඔ ඇ ක පගන එක. 

"වද න එපා ඕ. පැතකට ලා ඉනවා" 

මම ඉ ආම ඔ ව බාවම පගනවා. 

ඔබ එම ම ආද ග. මම එම ඔබට ආද . 

"ඇ ක රා ව 

මං මැ ල කතා 

බදා ආද කලා පණට වඩා 

යන යන යන වම 

ඉන ස යා 

එන එන ඉන තැනකට 

එන ඔයා" 

මට ව ව ගණන න අහස හා බලාන ඔබ ගැන තන. 

පය, ම සංත රාවය අැ මට හවස රාවට එතැන එමම ඳන ඉන. 

ඔබ නැව මම අවහලට ආව පල දවස. හැම අඟලකම අ මතක ඉලා යනවා. ඔබව ඉලලා දැ 

කෑ ගහනවා ම ත. ඔබව ඕන මට ත කා රාවටම බලාන තර ඉන. සමහර ං ම මත 

න ඇ මට, ත ඇ ක ගලන. 

කමැ න ලාවට ඔබ ක අර එතැන ම ඳගත එක. ඈත බල ඉනවා ඟ ලා යනකම. 

"තයම ආද කරන එක අමා නැද?" ඔබ ආඩබ අහනවා. 

"ඒක ඔයා ආද ඉලනවාට වඩා" මම උතර නවා. 

"තයම ආද කරනව එන. ඉලනම එපා ම ආද" 

මම ඒ කර පහ ලා ඔ නලල පගන එක. මම ආසම ක ඔ වඳට. 

"ප ගහන එපා අ....." ඒකට ඔ වඳ මැනවා. 

"නාන බැ නා ගෑ අද..." ඔබ තාම ඈත බලාන. 

"කම නෑ. ආ එ න එපා හද?" 

"හම වදය ගෑ" ඔබ ඒ ඈතම බලාන. 

".." ඒ හැමදාම ඔ ඇණම බාරගනා අවහ වකයා. ඔ අවහල වටම ඇ යැ ඔබව යන 

ව. 

"එයා නෑ. එයා ආ එ නෑ...." ම කටහඬ බර නා. 

"ට අද කම වර වද?" 

"නැහැ කැ එක...." ඔ ණ ම න නා.. 

............................................................................................... 

එදා ඒ දවස. මම ම නෑ මම ඒ' ඔබව ඒ යට බලන. ඒ අ හැම දවසකටම වැය එදා මම දාන 

නා ඔබව දන එන. අම තර එක කලව ලන මට වමනා නෑ. 

ඔ ලඟටම මම ඇදන ආවා මතක මට. 

"ලසන" මම වා ඔබට. 

ඔබ සැහැම නා නා නා මතක මට. මම මට ඔ ක පගතා මතක. ම ඇ 

කම ඳනා මතක මට. මම ම ත ලසනම මනමාලයා ඔබ. සමානවද මට දැම ම ඇ 

න එකම එක කල වැනා ඔ පල ලඟ. 

"Excuse me sir. Can I have your order please?" 

"One cappuccino and..... ඔයා නවද ? 

එපා මට. මම ආස නැහැ දා වවලට. I'll have just a glass of cool water 

එ් අ අවහලට ආව පලම දවස. ඊට ප හැමදාකම ව හවසට අ තැනට එන ඉම. 

ඔබ උම උ පය රස න හාව මම බලාන ම තර ආසාව. මට දැම ඒක ම 

ද නා. තලම තල වර ව න ගම න ඔ උම උ ප පහස මට දැනා. 

ඔබ ඇයව රාග ඇ අහන වමනා නැහැ මට. ඔබ නැව ඔබ එක තය ඳවනවා හැමදාම මම හවසට. 

ඔ යතම පය, ඔබ සරා බරම වයන වාදනය එක ම අසලම. 

ම වරද කල වරදට තවම දව නවා මම. නැහැ.. ඔබට තවම ආදරය කල ඒ එකම එක 

වරදට...! 


"එක දවස ලා බලනවා මම යනවට. ඊට ප ගටම " ඔබ හැමදාම වා. 

"එපා" මම හැමදාම නා. මම නවට වඩා ඔබ න හාව බලලා මම රසදා ඇ තරමට. 

............................................................................................... 


31 32 

PUBLIC SPEAKING 

A COMMON 

NIGHTMARE 

As university students our skills are tested with the uncountable 

amount of presentations and speeches that have to be 

- 

ments that you can get away with. Your time comes somehow 

whether you like it or not. 

But when the time comes we worry too much about 

it, practice till we have memorized it and think about not 

messing it up almost every single day. But when the actual 

moment comes you start stuttering, forget the lines and 

you cannot help but get intimidated by your audience. Your 

thoughts are all over the place within those few minutes. Everything 

turns into a disaster. All that hard work ultimately goes 

down the drain leaving you with nothing but an awful memory. 

Are you scared to stand in front of a crowd and talk for a few 

minutes? When you come up to the front to deliver your 

speech, do you feel like you have forgotten all the words 

despite having practiced them for hours? Do you feel like there 

chance to come? 

Most people would say “Yes” but only a handful would 

actually say “No” to these questions. Everyone at some point in 

their lives, whether it is at home, at the university or at the office, 

might have come across a moment that tests their ability to 

address a gathering. 

It turns into a delivery you want to listen for hours and hours. 

type that does not pre- 

It makes those who are struggling with public speaking, to question, why is it that they are unable to do 

does more than the other, but still the nerves kick in and no matter what everyone else says you simply cannot 

coming from. It is better to remember that all of this is in your head. It is true that you may practice hard but it 

is your mind that actually needs the practice. You need to develop a mindset where you believe that you can do 

speaking than those who do not have it. 

i n|ehs jd | Jpura | Jpura 

Flames Flames 

i n|ehs 

| Jpura 

jd | Jpura Flames 

Flames

33 POEM 

34 

Finally, you need to get rid of your stage fright. 

When you are given the opportunity to talk in front 

of a crowd, try not to shy away from it. Seize the moment. 

Try to do a better job even if you are struggling. 

- 

have the experience in delivering speeches you know 

what to expect next time. Your mind and body knows 

how to handle the nervousness and the stress. 

Simply saying if you are afraid of public speak 

ing, never shy away from it. Accept your mistakes and 

move forward. Do not give up just because you have 

had a few bad experiences of delivering speeches. 

Never let your nerves take the upper hand. Keep on 

practicing and believing yourself. Who knows, you 

might be on your way to become an excellent public 

speaker in the near future. 

Randi Peiris 

Conquer 

Your Fear 

Of Public 

Speaking 

Early morning with its Stale Winds 

7.30. on the old wooden clock, 

welcomes all the mysteries the Day unfolds. 

the blue petals of dozens of lotus flowers in the vase 

made of porcelain and patterns like 

withered branches of an ancient tree 

music, it pours out from her century-old radio 

casts the radiance of a new found world. 

She stirs the sugar in the tea mug 

making ripples, in circles, creating a vacuum in our universe. 

Her squiggled veins protrude like roots jutting out 

from the ground of age old trees, where people 

journeying to faraway lands sit to rest. 

Her voice when it rings through the air, like ventriloquism 

with a divine rush, cracks amidst words, falters like a 

wingless bird, and dashes again into the sunlit days. 

Ruvindra Sathsarani 


35 SHORT STORY 

SHORT STORY 

36 

The Dawn 

of a New 

Sun 

She was standing by the doorstep looking far beyond. 

She could only see a sky full of dark clouds. 

Everything around her was gloomy. She started 

to linger about it in her thoughts. Suddenly tears ran 

down her eyes. 

“Himali where are you?” a voice started calling this 

woman but she did not hear the call until a hand landed 

on her shoulder. She turned around. “Very sorry 

Paba I didn’t hear you. When did you come? Was it 

long since you got here?” asked Himali. “No, I just 

stronger and relieved than before and went into the theater with a smiling face. 

condition. Kavishka could not help tears pouring down his eyes in each moment that he saw Himali. “Mervin I 

feel really sorry for Kavishka putha and Himali duwa.” said Latha one evening while giving her husband a cup 

really angry and she replied “Everything is a joke for you all the time. Be serious please and use your brain for 

heaven’s sake!” and went upstairs. 

hospital soon. But alas! He could do nothing! He was a disabled man! He was all alone at home! He quickly 

came to the road. He could not walk properly even with the clutches but he was determined in his mind. He 

in another world. Very nice!” replied Paba in a tone of 

anger and looked at Himali. 

“Himali why is this? Why are you crying like this?” 

asked Paba holding Himali’s hand gently. “Nothing 

nangi. You go and have a wash. I’ll make some tea for 

you.” replied Himali smiling meekly. “Don’t tell lies. If 

there’s nothing to worry about why should you cry like 

this? Seems like you’ve been crying for ages. Himali 

what’s the matter? Please do tell me!” 

Himali started to cry again and her crying turned into 

a sob within no time. She said “I was thinking how to 

answer my child when he asks where his father is. He 

will ask it someday.” Paba replied “Oh Himali don’t 

worry my dear, Kavishka will be alright. Now stop crying 

because it’s not good for that child of yours.” “Are 

you sure Paba that he will be alright? Even if I don’t 

need a husband this child needs a father.” exclaimed 

Himali. “Of course I’m sure and very sure of it. Now stop crying and make some tea until I have a wash and 

come.” said Paba and went to her room. Himali went to the kitchen wiping down her tears. 

- 

lowed her. “Loku how’s Kavi now? Tell me soon, please!” begged Himali from her brother. Himali though was 

not a blood relation of this family of Loku, Paba, Latha and Merwin- everybody loved her as one of their own. 

She too loved them as her own family. Loku’s face looked worried. He was not sure whether to tell Himali about 

soon? It’s my wife……… She is…….. It’s very urgent!” pleaded Kavishka and the driver helped Kavishka to get 

Himali was brought to the hospital on time and she gave birth to a lovely little girl. Himali was lying on the bed 

with her daughter near her. “Did you pay the driver?” asked her from her husband. He ran out of the ward and 

to his utter amazement he could see the driver sitting calmly. He asked “Is everything ok?” Kavishka replied 

“Yes everything’s ok and I was able to bring my wife to the hospital on time thanks to you! She gave birth to a 

“Let’s name her Paba Kumari because she looks like Paba nangi!” said Kavishka and so they named her as Paba 

Kumari. In the evening all came to see the new member of their family and all were happy. 

joy. Kavishka opened the window of their room and they say saw the entire area shining brightly with the newly 

dawned sun. Kavishka sat on the bed and put his hand around Himali’s neck and said “Finally the sun has 

dawned!” and she kept her head on his shoulder. Tears of joy ran down her eyes and Kavishka’s and he kissed 

his daughter who now was in his arms. 

Jenith Yasara 

injured and it has to be removed if we are to save his life. So I signed the documents and gave the consent to do 

the surgery tomorrow morning at nine o’ clock.” Himali could not bear this at all and she collapsed. 

like an express train to fetch some water. She sprinkled some water onto Himali’s face and she gradually gained 

consciousness. “Loku is it the truth what you told me just now?” Loku nodded his head saying yes. “Why are 

sob keeping her head on Paba’s shoulder. Paba tried to console her as best as she could and the rest of the day 

was spent plainly. 

Next morning everyone went to the hospital. Kavishka was lying on his bed helplessly as if he has lost everything 

in his life. He could not see even a sheer dim light of hope. He was lost in a world of his own. He was 

looking out from the window. He could see the morning sun peeping from the mountain. He looked at the 

entrance of the ward and saw his wife standing there. Himali ran to him and hugged him. He could bear no 

more and he started to sob saying “Himali I won’t get to stand or walk again. Isn’t that so my darling? Now you 

fellow as his father.” Himali replied “Kavi don’t worry I will not leave you no matter what comes across. I will 

tears and be courageous and strong. I know you can go through this my love.” and kissed him. He felt much 

i n|ehs jd | Jpura | Jpura Flames Flames i n|ehs | Jpura jd | Jpura Flames Flames

37 38 

“ÿmam;alu lshkafka ys;d.kakj;a neß fohla' t;k" we;af; fudkjo" 

ke;af; fudkjo" lsh,j;a ;SrKhlg tkak neß ;rï ixlS¾K cd,hla' 

ÿmam;=kaf.a f,dalfha yeuod u rchkafk l=i.sKs' hka;ug j;a cSúf;a 

.eg.y.kak j;a lEu fõ,la ke;s fï msßig cSúf;a .ek l

39 STORY 

STORY 

40 

“Why? You want me to change it again” 

to school without any lethargy. Once again, amidst the thundering and the lightning of my mom, I was kicked 

out of the house by my papa. And I’m unable to say how much time it took for me to walk the two three steps to 

the horn of the bus and the bus driver at the same time. 

“Good morning bear driver…” I shouted. 

staring at a bee hive, with his bear like brown beard. So I couldn’t help myself calling him ‘the bear driver.’ 

While traveling to school what haunted my mind was the way people look at me. My mom hated jeans and I 

hated frocks. For her consolation and for my consolation I wore both the jeans and my long sleeve plaid knit 

dress. And I’m dwelling on a path where my mother’s opinions and these people’s attitudes are invisible for me. 

time for playing. 

for me as it was 

the only place that I had to study and couldn’t sleep. And there was an- 

other 

reason. 

Mom always said “Lucie, be happy. One must be very lucky to 

be an Octimous.” Indeed, I felt double lucky when my friends 

called me ‘octopus’. Even if I corrected it as Octimous, they 

me as I was having an oval face and sleepy eyes of that of an 

I couldn’t understand was, why they called me lazy. I just 

slept whenever I was free, as for exercise and as I was having 

a tiring life with a lot of work at home. 

While I was clarifying my attitudes with that of my friends our 

teacher raised her voice. 

“Okay children listen up. Now hurry up and go to the play-ground. 

Today we are going to play a new game” 

Oh! Games! What a good news! I love playing! 

Before the children got mad and let themselves out of the class I raised my 

voice. 

it is going to 

rain today. I think we better stay inside.” 

“Oh you are right Lucie. And is that all, are there any upcoming issues” 

“Why not teacher…” 

“MISS MARIA LUCIE OCTIMOUS” 

“It’s Lucie Maria Octimous actually” 

“Whatever. Just go out before I kick you out of the class.” 

On a bright Monday morning like this, I got kicked out for the second time. And when I stepped outside my 

friends were giggling saying my name. 

“Why?” 

“I don’t like them and they don’t like me either. I hate the classroom even more. So annoying and disgusting.” 

I gave her almost all of my reasons as she looked puzzled with my answer. I told her how much I like to sleep, 

how much I hate running, how much I hate writing essays, stories and studying. And I told her how much I 

hate reading, and how much I love watching cartoons. I was eagerly waiting for her next question, so that I 

could tell her how much toys I have and how I enjoy breaking them into pieces. For my surprise she asked 

“If you can’t run, then give me your legs. If you can’t write, then give me your hands” 

request, I gave a sharp look at her. And that one glance made me realize how much I’m lucky, like my mom 

had lost two of her limbs, one hand, and her loving father as well. Since then it had been her mother who had 

No toys, no legs, no father, no hand. 

I thanked myself a hundred time for not telling her about my toys, and on the other hand, felt guilty a million 

times, for being so false-pride that I almost hurt someone’s innocent heart. 

“I’m not jealous of what you have. Instead, I’m happy, because, God has not been harsh on you like He had been 

on me. I’m having a meaningless life. I no longer can run like you, write like you…” 

She couldn’t speak more, but her eyes did. And I gathered no words, besides, a hug for her and a guilty conscious 

mind for me. 

Dinushika Dushmanthi 

Running was not a good habit though. What if I fell down? So I walked slowly while others ran to the playground 

like rabid dogs. 

A beautiful girl with a dazzling hair, sitting on the bench at the edge of the ground, caught my eyes. And I 

who were playing ‘batman’. So I accelerated towards the girl. 

As a young girl of eight years old, I went towards her in the walk of an angel dwelling on Earth, as she appeared 

younger than me. On the way I made a list to be delivered in front of her regarding my papa and mama, hills 

like toys I have, my responsibilities as a young lady and so on. I was shivering in eagerness to tell her about my 

little puppy that my papa bought last Sunday and how we played together. 

“Why did you come here? Aren’t you going to play with them? She asked as I approached her. 

“Of course no” said I. 


41 OVERVIEW 

OVERVIEW 

42 

Amicizia 

Annual Sports Festival of FMS 

2016 at USJP in a Nutshell 

Career Fair 2016 

‘Touch the Peak’, the Annual Career Fair organized by the 

Career Skills Development Society of the Career Guidance 

Unit was successfully held on 28th January with the aim of 

providing passing out graduates with career opportunities. 

Out Bound Training 2016 

The Department of Physical Education organized an Out 

Bound Training for students from 11th to 13th March at 

the Che Adventure Park, Hanwella. 

‘Amicizia’, The Annual Sports Day of the Faculty of Applied 

Sciences was held on 3rd January at Boralesgamuwa Maha 

Vidyalaya grounds. The event consisted of exciting games 

aimed at building a friendly bond among freshers and 

senior students. 

Uni-In Alliance 2016 

The University-Industry in Alliance Symposium organized 

by the students following the B.Sc. (Hons) Degree in Applied 

Sciences was held on 3rd February with the participation of 

industrial giants, academics and students. 

The annual sports festival of the Faculty of Medical Sciences 

was held on 27th March with exciting events. The 22nd 

batch emerged as the Champions while the 23rd batch 

became the runners up. 

Sihina 2016 

Sihina, a programme conducted by students of the Faculty 

of Applied Sciences to give back to the society by guiding 

the future leaders of the country to be productive, duty 

conscious and grateful to humanity was held in April – May 

for students from more than five schools 

ෙකා්කිල උදානය 2016 

ෙකා්කිල උදානය, the colourful annual event organized by the 

Students’ Union of USJP to celebrate the Sinhala and Tamil 

New Year was held on 7th April at the university premises. 

Haritha Wasanthaya 2016 

Haritha Wasanthaya, the Annual New Year celebration of 

the Faculty of Applied Sciences, organized by students of the 

Department of Forestry and Environmental Science was 

held on 5th May with the participation of students of the 

faculty. 

Freshers’ Inter Faculty Meet 2016 

The Annual Freshers’ Inter Faculty Meet organized by the 

Department of Physical Education was successfully held on 

17th and 18th March at the university grounds. 

Computer Lab Opening Ceremony 

The opening of the newly built Computer Lab of the 

Department of Information Technology of the Faculty of 

Management Studies and Commerce took place on 12th 

May in the presence of the Vice Chancellor Prof. Sampath 

Amaratunge. 


43 OVERVIEW 

OVERVIEW 

44 

Vorbitor 2016 

Mini Vibes 2016 


Talents 2016 

Talents, the talent show organized by the Arts Circle of 

Faculty of Medical Sciences was held on 30th July at the 

Youth Center, Maharagama.s. 

Sisi Arundathee 2016 

Sisi Arundathee, the grand annual cultural extravaganza 

organized by the Students’ Union of the Faculty of Applied 

Sciences was held on 29th August at the BMICH, providing 

a platform for young scientists to showcase their talents 

in music, song, dance and drama. 

The preliminary round of Vorbitor, the Intra-University Speech 

Contest organized by the Gavel Club of University of Sri 

Jayewardenepura was held at the university premises on 13th 

May. Students representing all faculties displayed their oratory 

skills which were evaluated by prominent Toastmasters, and six 

contestants got qualified to the final round staged on 20th May 

at Ozo Colombo. 

42nd Convocation 

The 42nd Convocation of University of Sri Jayewardenepura 

was held on 2nd and 3rd August at the BMICH. 

Mini Vibes, the talent show organized by the Department of 

Marketing was held on 8th September at the Science Auditorium. 

Opening of the Faculty of 

Engineering and Technology 

The newly built Faculty of Engineering and Technology of 

the University was declared open on 28th September by the 

Vice Chancellor in the presence of many distinguished 

guests. 

12th SLUG 

The year 2016 was a successful year for J’pura sportsmen and 

sportswomen as they brought glory to our alma mater by 

emerging Champions for the first time at the 12th Sri Lanka 

University Games hosted by the Wayamba University from 

July to September. 

සහෘද යාතා 2016 

සහෘද යාත්රා, the community service project organized by 

the Vidudaya Vidya Sahodarathwaya of the Faculty of 

Applied Sciences was carried out for the 10th consecutive 

time by renovating the library of Madurankuliya Model 

School and handing it over to the students on 29th September. 

Naada 2016 

‘Naada’, a vibrant annual event organized by the Students’ 

Association of Finance of the Department of Finance, was 

held at the Sumangala Reading Hall on 1st September, along 

with celebrations of the 15th anniversary of the department. 

J'pura Employability Skills Awards 2016 

J'pura Employability Skills Awards organized by the Career 

Guidance Unit was held on 4th October at Golden Rose 

Hotel, Boralasgamuwa. Outstanding students with various 

skills including leadership, teamwork and creativity selected 

from all faculties were awarded at this event. 


45 OVERVIEW 

OVERVIEW 

46 


SLUG Champions’ Party 

A party organized by the Sports Council of USJP to celebrate 

the victory of the 2016 Sri Lanka University Games was held 

on 7th October at Mount Lavinia Hotel, where the sportsmen 

and sportswomen who contributed were appreciated 

for their hard work and commitment. 

Sneha Dhara 2016 

The annual community service project of the Students’ 

Association of Finance to extend a helping hand to underprivileged 

students was held on 15th October at Kosgala 

Vidyalaya. 

Sip Sayura 2016 

The community service project organized by the Students’ 

Union of Faculty of Applied Sciences, Sip Sayura, was carried 

out for the 3rd consecutive time by donating a fully-equipped 

computer lab to Elpitiya Ganegoda Central College on 6th 

October. The funds for this project were raised through the 

annual musical event of the faculty, Sisi Arundathee and other 

fund raising events. 

Speech Master 2016 

The Grand Finale of Speech Master, the biggest university 

level public speaking contest organized by the Gavel Club of 

USJP was held at the Kingsbury Hotel Colombo on 9th 

October. 

METAE 2016 

A Political and Economic Discussion along with an Entrepreneurship 

and Soft Skills Development Programme 

organized by the Department of Economics was held on 

17th November at the Sumangala Reading Hall. The finals of 

the Inter School Debating Competition organized in line 

with the event was held on 15th November, and a seminar 

on Economics for A/L students was held on 16th November. 

Vidudaya Vivadaya 2016 

The final rounds of the Inter Department and Inter Faculty 

Debating Competitions of the Vidudaya Vivadaya organized 

by the Soft Skills Development Unit were held on 30th 

November and 7th December respectively at the Sumangala 

Reading Hall. The team from Faculty of Management 

Studies and Commerce won the inter-faculty competition. 

Ruu Nada 2016 

One of the most awaited aesthetic treats of the year, Ruu Nada 

organized by the Cultural Centre of USJP was held on 19th 

November at the Sumangala Reading Hall. 

J’pura Warna 2016 

J’pura Warna 2016, the colours awarding ceremony was 

organized by the sports council of USJP with the guidance 

of the Department of Physical Education and Science. The 

event was held in a grandeur way at Kingsbury Hotel and 

felicitated the great performances of the students who 

excelled at the inter university games 2016. 

Esperenza 2016 

Praneitha Anpalagan 

The grand finale of Esperenza, an all Island Accounting Quiz 

Competition with the participation of 700 schools across the 

country, organized by AFMA in celebration of the silver 

jubilee of the Department of Accounting was held on 1st 

November. 


47 PHOTOS 

PHOTOS 

48 

PHOTOS BY 

THE J’PURA 

FLAMES 

PHOTOGRAPHY 

CREW 


49 50 

සබැයාව Crew 

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Chief Editor 


Sub-Editors 


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Editing Crew 

Dinushika Dushmanthi 

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Samiha Saleem 

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Sushmika Ramesh 

Thanushi Jayaweera 

Tharani Sooriyaarachchi 

Sachini Edirisinghe 

Hiruni Dedduwakumara 

Ruwan Windsor 

Methmalie Dissanayake 


Devini Chartuya Wettimuny 

Daraka Chiranjaya 

Phoenix 

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Christy Rogers 

Nimbus 

VP Photography & Treasurer 

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Gold Anka 

VP Graphics & IT 


Kerke 

Secretary 

Tharani Sooriyaarachchi 

Scarlet Anka 

VP Human Resources 

Magazine Design 

Rochana Jayasooriya 

Ginuka Rajapakse 

Photographs 

J’pura Flames Photography Crew 

Lakshina Witharana 

Silver Anka 

Asst. Secretary & VP Marketing 

Arosha Mihiran 

Silver Anka 



Junior Kerke 


Buminda Jayasuriya 

Junior Kerke 



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