Features

THE CREATION OF THE HUNTER

Published

3 years ago

2022/11/6

Review: Robert Sidharthan Perinbanayagam,
Professor of Sociology
(emeritus),
Hunter College of the City University of New York
Gananath Obeyesekere (Colombo: Sailfish Publications:2022)

In earlier works Obeyesekere demolished the claims of both Western scholars and European colonizers that cannibalism was a general practice among the natives of some of the countries they sought to rule and exploit and with his work he de-apotheosized Captain Cook and his sanctification by some western scholars. In his work on Sri Lanka he was at it again. With his book on the Pattini cult and the practices at the temple in Kataragama, he challenged certain constructions about Sinhala society and its ethnic make-up and religious practices. In his work on Buddhism in modern Sri Lanka he showed how it was influenced by Protestant Christianity just as it did in Bengal, in the shape of the Brahma Samaj. And so on.

Now, in another of his learned works Gananath Obeyesekere comes this time to challenge another thesis developed by many authors about the Väddas of Sri Lanka and to provide an alternative, strictly evidence based, interpretation. He describes his approach in this mind-bogglingly detailed study of the Väddas as follows:

The historical methodology I adopt is as follows. It is impossible to deal with the long historical run of the Vädda presence in Sri Lanka without understanding their presence in more recent times. Thus, I will focus on the Kandy period literature, particularly between the late 16^th and the early 19^th centuries, a period for which we have reasonable historical records. Once we have this historical understanding, followed by the colonial intrusions, especially the disruptive British conquest of the Kandyan kingdom, and also our current fieldwork, we might be able to reach back to earlier times, albeit with extreme caution and tentativeness owing to the paucity of records. The texts that I examine are not classical historical and literary works in Pali and Sinhala written by highly sophisticated literati, mostly monks, but rather those written by a village intelligentsia on palm leaf manuscripts (pus-kola pot) found nowadays in public and private collections.

This methodological approach consists of using folk documents as sources of data. These documents are: bandaravalia, and vamsa katha(stories about given families), kadaim pot( boundary records of given provinces) and vitti pots(records of various events and episodes).This approach is indeed a revolutionary one with which to study Sri Lankan historiography and is certainly a departure from the standard ones.

This methodological approach allows Obeyesekere to explore a variety of issues: the territory inhabited by the Vaddas, the religious life of the the Vaddas and the rituals they practiced; their connection to the cult of Pattini and to the temple to Murugan/Skanda at Kataragama and its relationship to that of the Sinhalas; on Buddhism and its arrival in Sri Lanka and its impact on Sri Lanka, the frequent connection to Southern Indian communities; the careers of various monarchs; the role of the Vaddas in various local conflicts etc. Insofar as this is the case, it is impossible to deal with them all here and I will deal with the overarching theme of the work which is the story of the Vaddas. I will discuss Obeyesekere ’s work focusing on two themes: Who were the Väddas? And what happened to them?¹

Who were the Väddas?

One answer to the first question was given by two early anthropologists the Seligmans. Obeyesekere notes:

C.G. and Brenda Z. Seligmann dealing with one of the world’s most “primitive” hunting and gathering groups, the Väddas of Sri Lanka, published in 1911 their work entitled The Väddas. It was one of the first systematic forays into ethnographic fieldwork… .

The Väddas, they imagined to be a wild man of the woods, clad only in a scanty loin cloth, carrying his bow and arrows on which he depended for his subsistence, simple and untrained, indeed, little removed from the very animals he hunted. Nowadays many middle-class Sri Lankans have accepted a version of this image assisted by grotesque caricatures of the Vädda represented in the local media.

Obeyesekere challenges these observations. In the opening chapter Obeyesekere shows the role the Väddas played in the Kandyan kingdom. I will give a good example of this. Seeking support for a military campaign the King of Kandy tries to recruit some who can fight his battles. Obeyesekere reproduces one report:

In order to seek help from his own region of Matale, he summoned Niyarepola Alahakon Mohottala, and asked him to name the denizens (that is, men and animals) of Matale and the reply, Your worship (hamudurvane) there are only three [noble] houses in the rata of Matale” and when the king asked what these houses were, “Your worship [hamuduruvane) there is Kulatunga Mudiyanse of Udupihilla, Vanigasekere Mudiyanse of Aluvihara, Candrasekere Mudiyanse of Dumbukola , [and then also] Gamage Vädda and Hampat Vädda of Hulangamuva, and when the king asked who are the people in the lands beyond – (epita rata), your worship, on the other side of the steep waters (hela-kandura) of Biridevela, there is Kannila Vädda in control of (hirakara hiṭiya) Kanangamuva, and Herat Banda in control of Nikakotuva, and Maha Tampala Vädda at Palapatvala, Domba Vädda at Dombavela-gama, Valli Vädda at Vallivela, Mahakavudalla Vädda at Kavudupalalla, Naiyiran Vädda [some texts Nayida] at Narangamuva, Imiya Vädda at Nalanda,

Dippitiya Mahage [a female] controlling an area of nine gavuvas(leagues) in the district known as Nagapattalama, and Makara Vädda and Konduruva employed in the watch of the boundary (kadaima), Mahakanda Vädda controlling Kandapalla [today’s Kandapalla korale], Hempiti Mahage controlling Galevela, Baju Mahage controlling the Udasiya Pattuva of Udugoda Korale, Minimutu Mahage controlling the [same] Pallesiya Pattuva, Devakirti Mahage controlling Melpitiya

One can’t think of a better example of the integration of the Väddas and the Sinhala people, and that some Väddas shared high social status with the Sinhala others.–that is to say, they were not just primitive hunters and gatherers.Here is another example from Obeyesekere’ s work that shows the integration of the Vaddas with the mainstream and that they like their Sinhala neighbors, have taken to agriculture.

The text goes on to say that King Prakramabahu (that is Vira Prakrama) gave the Vädda followers of Eriyave Malala Vädda equal proportions of land from the four sub-districts (hatara pattuva) of the Vanni and advised them not to quarrel among themselves. Their lands were demarcated with stone markers, earth bunds and with fences made of sticks (that presumably will sprout). The king also gave deeds of gift or sannas indicating that the lands were theirs “till the sun and moon lasted,” a standard phrase in all such deeds. When they were given the lands they were now to be called vanni unnähäla or “lords of the Vanni” by royal command and they were entitled to dues and/or services from villages of carpenters (k badda), washer folk (rada-badda), drummers (berava-badda), and villages that have unspecified new sources of services (nava-badda).

It is clear from these descriptions that the Vaddas were not isolated from the mainstream society but were an essential part of it.

Where have all the Väddas gone?

The numbers of the Vadda people have been dwindling seriously over the years leading to this question.

Here is Obeyesekere’ s summary:
“I want to make a preliminary conclusion by addressing the implications of the physical omnipresence of the Vddas, if not their demographic significance, in a tentative manner. Let me emphasize that as far as Sri Lanka was concerned there were no “indigenous peoples,” no “aborigines,” no “wild men” and “tribes” of the Western imagination. I am as much an “aborigine” as anyone else and as genetically and culturally hybrid.

Nowadays, we are accustomed to think that the main structural opposition in history is between Sinhalas and Tamils. Yet, this oppositional relationship is a historically contingent one, that is, it depends on particular historical circumstances such that periods of Sinhala-Tamil opposition might be followed by alliances expressive of amity; or both opposition and amity might co-exist in the same time span; at other times neither opposition nor amity seem to matter and both communities went on ‘living and partly living’ if I might borrow a well-known phrase.”

Obeyesekere’ s conclusion about the significance of his work in modern Sri Lanka needs to be quoted in full:

“Ultimately, we hope that this research questions the current nationalist ideology of the Sinhala-Buddhists that Sri Lanka was an exclusive Buddhist civilization. I hope to eventually demonstrate that the non-Buddhist Väddas were a powerful visible presence although their approximate numbers cannot be calculated. Contrary to early European and current Buddhist prejudice we shall show that there was a constant interplay between Väddas and Sinhala Buddhists, such that over historical time Väddas could become Sinhala Buddhists and Sinhala Buddhists could become Väddas.”

Another of his observations deserves to be quoted too:

“This leads to my final point: if Vdda versus Sinhala was a structural opposition of the long run and a historically consistent phenomenon, the opposition between Tamil and Sinhala was historically contingent, and only emerges when Tamilness is associated with false belief or heresy. Otherwise, Tamil affinity, in its technical sense, is intrinsic to Sinhala-ness and this is primordially recognized in the Vijaya story of Sinhala origins. The historically contingent oppositional feature against which the Sinhala place themselves is the Tamil-Shaivite one and that also when it is expressed in terms of invasion or conquest. This is in radical contrast to the oppositional dialectic of Tamil and Sinhala nationalism of our own day. However, the Kandyan discourse, as with contemporary nationalism, anchors the discourse on the exemplary example of “kings of yore.” Is this an invention of tradition or a truth about history or both?”

This work, ostensibly about the Väddas, is much more than that: It is, to begin with, about the heterogeneous composition of Lankan society with the Sinhala society as the dominant one but the Sinhalas contain former and current Väddas, Indians such as the Mallalas from Malladesa, Malayalees from Kerala, Tamils from Tamil Nadu, many of whom came as soldiers to fight for the local kings and some were given land grants in return for their services and stayed behind.

Obeyesekere further challenges the simple use of the logic of structuralist theories. While its basic premises, in my view, are not disputable, it can be used in crude and mechanical ways: the civilized (we) and savages (they), we (eaters of animals and birds) and they (eaters of each other), we (have great literature and you don’t.) George Babington McCauley famously said:”A single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia.” And so it goes.

Clearly anthropologising Sri Lanka through empirical studies, with both historical data and studies of modern times have inestimable value in every imaginable way and this work is a signal example of the contribution that such studies can make to dispel misconceptions as well as ideological reconstructions.²

NOTES

1.Obeyesekere discusses these topics with due regard to evidence and connects them to the larger story of Sri Lanka though keeping faith with his theme of the search for the hunter. The documents from which he draws his information were composed in the immediacy of the people and the events they describe have a strong claim to authenticity.

One may add these documents are in many ways comparable the Doomsday Book from England and the Scottish Chronicles.

2.One can see also the use of the Vaddas and their relations with the Sinhala people in Leonard Woolf’s novel The Village in the Jungle.It shows the Sinhala characters treating the Vadda people with contempt. To treat them thus, it is obvious that they were not isolated in jungle habitats. Further, Woolf’s characters both the Vaddas and the Sinhalas are shown to be hunting for their sustenance. It seems to me that Woolf was describing not only a village in the jungle but also jungle in the village! Woolf must surely know since he was king of Beddagama—or at least the agent of King George of England!

All News Advertisement

Features

More state support needed for marginalised communities

Published

2 days ago

2026/02/13

Thilina Walpola

A landslide in the Central Province

Message from Malaiyaha Tamil community to govt:

Insights from SSA Cyclone Ditwah Survey

When climate disasters strike, they don’t affect everyone equally. Marginalised communities typically face worse outcomes, and Cyclone Ditwah is no exception. Especially in a context where normalcy is far from “normal”, the idea of returning to normalcy or restoring a life of normalcy makes very little sense.

The island-wide survey (https://ssalanka.org/reports/) conducted by the Social Scientists’ Association (SSA), between early to mid-January on Cyclone Ditwah shows stark regional disparities in how satisfied or dissatisfied people were with the government’s response. While national satisfaction levels were relatively high in most provinces, the Central Province tells a different story.

Only 35.2% of Central Province residents reported that they were satisfied with early warning and evacuation measures, compared to 52.2% nationally. The gap continues across every measure: just 52.9% were satisfied with immediate rescue and emergency response, compared with the national figure of 74.6%. Satisfaction with relief distribution in the Central Province is 51.9% while the national figure stands at 73.1%. The figures for restoration of water, electricity, and roads are at a low 45.9% in the central province compared to the 70.9% in national figures. Similarly, the satisfaction level for recovery and rebuilding support is 48.7% in the Central Province, while the national figure is 67.0%.

A deeper analysis of the SSA data on public perceptions reveals something important: these lower satisfaction rates came primarily from the Malaiyaha Tamil population. Their experience differed not just from other provinces, but also from other ethnic groups living in the Central Province itself.

The Malaiyaha Tamil community’s vulnerability didn’t start with the cyclone. Their vulnerability is a historically and structurally pre-determined process of exclusion and marginalisation. Brought to Sri Lanka during British rule to work for the empire’s plantation economies, they have faced long-term economic exploitation and have repeatedly been denied access to state support and social welfare systems. Most estate residents still live in ‘line rooms’ and have no rights to the land they cultivate and live on. The community continues to be governed by an outdated estate management system that acts as a barrier to accessing public and municipal services such as road repair, water, electricity and other basic infrastructures available to other citizens.

As far as access to improved water sources is concerned, the Sri Lanka Demographic Health Survey (2016) shows that 57% of estate sector households don’t have access to improved water sources, while more than 90% of households in urban and rural areas do. With regard to the level of poverty, as the Department of Census and Statistics (2019) data reveals, the estate sector where most Malaiyaha Tamils live had a poverty headcount index of 33.8%; more than double the national rate of 14.3%. These statistics highlight key indicators of the systemic discrimination faced by the Malaiyaha Tamil community.

Some crucial observations from the SSA data collectors who enumerated responses from estate residents in the survey reveal the specific challenges faced by the Malaiyaha Tamils, particularly in their efforts to seek state support for compensation and reconstruction.

First, the Central Province experienced not just flooding but also the highest number of landslides in the island. As a result, some residents in the region lost entire homes, access roadways, and other basic infrastructures. The loss of lives, livelihoods and land was at a higher intensity compared to the provinces not located in the hills. Most importantly, the Malaiyaha Tamil community’s pre-existing grievances made them even more vulnerable and the government’s job of reparation and restitution more complex.

Early warnings hadn’t reached many areas. Some data collectors said they themselves never heard any warnings in estate areas, while others mentioned that early warnings were issued but didn’t reach some segments of the community. According to the resident data collectors, the police announcements reached only as far as the sections where they were able to drive their vehicles to, and there were many estate roads that were not motorable. When warnings did filter through to remote locations, they often came by word of mouth and information was distorted along the way. Once the disaster hit, things got worse: roads were blocked, electricity went out, mobile networks failed and people were cut off completely.

Emergency response was slow. Blocked roads meant people could not get to hospitals when they needed urgent care, including pregnant mothers. The difficult terrain and poor road conditions meant rescue teams took much longer to reach affected areas than in other regions.

Relief supplies didn’t reach everyone. The Grama Niladhari divisions in these areas are huge and hard to navigate, making it difficult for Grama Niladharis to reach all places as urgently as needed. Relief workers distributed supplies where vehicles could go, which meant accessible areas got help while remote communities were left out.

Some people didn’t even try to go to safety centres or evacuation shelters set up in local schools because the facilities there were already so poor. The perceptions of people who did go to safety centres, as shown in the provincial data, reveal that satisfaction was low compared to other affected regions of the country. Less than half were satisfied with space and facilities (42.1%) or security and protection (45.0%). Satisfaction was even lower for assistance with lost or damaged documentation (17.9%) and information and support for compensation applications (28.2%). Only 22.5% were satisfied with medical care and health services below most other affected regions.

Restoring services proved nearly impossible in some areas. Road access was the biggest problem. The condition of the roads was already poor even before the cyclone, and some still haven’t been cleared. Recovery is especially difficult because there’s no decent baseline infrastructure to restore, hence you can’t bring roads and other public facilities back to a “good” condition when they were never good, even before the disaster.

Water systems faced their own complications. Many households get water from natural sources or small community projects, and not the centralised state system. These sources are often in the middle of the disaster zone and therefore got contaminated during the floods and landslides.

Long-term recovery remains stalled. Without basic infrastructure, areas that are still hard to reach keep struggling to get the support they need for rebuilding.

Taken together, what do these testaments mean? Disaster response can’t be the same for everyone. The Malaiyaha Tamil community has been double marginalised because they were already living with structural inequalities such as poor infrastructure, geographic isolation, and inadequate services which have been exacerbated by Cyclone Ditwah. An effective and fair disaster response needs to account for these underlying vulnerabilities. It requires interventions tailored to the historical, economic, and infrastructural realities that marginalized communities face every day. On top of that, it highlights the importance of dealing with climate disasters, given the fact that vulnerable communities could face more devastating impacts compared to others.

(Shashik Silva is a researcher with the Social Scientists’ Association of Sri Lanka)

by Shashik Silva ✍️

Features

Crucial test for religious and ethnic harmony in Bangladesh

Published

3 days ago

2026/02/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

A political protest that led to governmental change in Bangladesh mid last year. (photograph: imago)

Will the Bangladesh parliamentary election bring into being a government that will ensure ethnic and religious harmony in the country? This is the poser on the lips of peace-loving sections in Bangladesh and a principal concern of those outside who mean the country well.

The apprehensions are mainly on the part of religious and ethnic minorities. The parliamentary poll of February 12th is expected to bring into existence a government headed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Islamist oriented Jamaat-e-Islami party and this is where the rub is. If these parties win, will it be a case of Bangladesh sliding in the direction of a theocracy or a state where majoritarian chauvinism thrives?

Chief of the Jamaat, Shafiqur Rahman, who was interviewed by sections of the international media recently said that there is no need for minority groups in Bangladesh to have the above fears. He assured, essentially, that the state that will come into being will be equable and inclusive. May it be so, is likely to be the wish of those who cherish a tension-free Bangladesh.

The party that could have posed a challenge to the above parties, the Awami League Party of former Prime Minister Hasina Wased, is out of the running on account of a suspension that was imposed on it by the authorities and the mentioned majoritarian-oriented parties are expected to have it easy at the polls.

A positive that has emerged against the backdrop of the poll is that most ordinary people in Bangladesh, be they Muslim or Hindu, are for communal and religious harmony and it is hoped that this sentiment will strongly prevail, going ahead. Interestingly, most of them were of the view, when interviewed, that it was the politicians who sowed the seeds of discord in the country and this viewpoint is widely shared by publics all over the region in respect of the politicians of their countries.

Some sections of the Jamaat party were of the view that matters with regard to the orientation of governance are best left to the incoming parliament to decide on but such opinions will be cold comfort for minority groups. If the parliamentary majority comes to consist of hard line Islamists, for instance, there is nothing to prevent the country from going in for theocratic governance. Consequently, minority group fears over their safety and protection cannot be prevented from spreading.

Therefore, we come back to the question of just and fair governance and whether Bangladesh’s future rulers could ensure these essential conditions of democratic rule. The latter, it is hoped, will be sufficiently perceptive to ascertain that a Bangladesh rife with religious and ethnic tensions, and therefore unstable, would not be in the interests of Bangladesh and those of the region’s countries.

Unfortunately, politicians region-wide fall for the lure of ethnic, religious and linguistic chauvinism. This happens even in the case of politicians who claim to be democratic in orientation. This fate even befell Bangladesh’s Awami League Party, which claims to be democratic and socialist in general outlook.

We have it on the authority of Taslima Nasrin in her ground-breaking novel, ‘Lajja’, that the Awami Party was not of any substantial help to Bangladesh’s Hindus, for example, when violence was unleashed on them by sections of the majority community. In fact some elements in the Awami Party were found to be siding with the Hindus’ murderous persecutors. Such are the temptations of hard line majoritarianism.

In Sri Lanka’s past numerous have been the occasions when even self-professed Leftists and their parties have conveniently fallen in line with Southern nationalist groups with self-interest in mind. The present NPP government in Sri Lanka has been waxing lyrical about fostering national reconciliation and harmony but it is yet to prove its worthiness on this score in practice. The NPP government remains untested material.

As a first step towards national reconciliation it is hoped that Sri Lanka’s present rulers would learn the Tamil language and address the people of the North and East of the country in Tamil and not Sinhala, which most Tamil-speaking people do not understand. We earnestly await official language reforms which afford to Tamil the dignity it deserves.

An acid test awaits Bangladesh as well on the nation-building front. Not only must all forms of chauvinism be shunned by the incoming rulers but a secular, truly democratic Bangladesh awaits being licked into shape. All identity barriers among people need to be abolished and it is this process that is referred to as nation-building.

On the foreign policy frontier, a task of foremost importance for Bangladesh is the need to build bridges of amity with India. If pragmatism is to rule the roost in foreign policy formulation, Bangladesh would place priority to the overcoming of this challenge. The repatriation to Bangladesh of ex-Prime Minister Hasina could emerge as a steep hurdle to bilateral accord but sagacious diplomacy must be used by Bangladesh to get over the problem.

A reply to N.A. de S. Amaratunga

A response has been penned by N.A. de S. Amaratunga (please see p5 of ‘The Island’ of February 6th) to a previous column by me on ‘ India shaping-up as a Swing State’, published in this newspaper on January 29th , but I remain firmly convinced that India remains a foremost democracy and a Swing State in the making.

If the countries of South Asia are to effectively manage ‘murderous terrorism’, particularly of the separatist kind, then they would do well to adopt to the best of their ability a system of government that provides for power decentralization from the centre to the provinces or periphery, as the case may be. This system has stood India in good stead and ought to prove effective in all other states that have fears of disintegration.

Moreover, power decentralization ensures that all communities within a country enjoy some self-governing rights within an overall unitary governance framework. Such power-sharing is a hallmark of democratic governance.

Features

Celebrating Valentine’s Day …

Published

3 days ago

2026/02/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

Valentine’s Day is all about celebrating love, romance, and affection, and this is how some of our well-known personalities plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day – 14th February:

Merlina Fernando (Singer)

Yes, it’s a special day for lovers all over the world and it’s even more special to me because 14th February is the birthday of my husband Suresh, who’s the lead guitarist of my band Mission.

We have planned to celebrate Valentine’s Day and his Birthday together and it will be a wonderful night as always.

We will be having our fans and close friends, on that night, with their loved ones at Highso – City Max hotel Dubai, from 9.00 pm onwards.

Lorensz Francke (Elvis Tribute Artiste)

On Valentine’s Day I will be performing a live concert at a Wealthy Senior Home for Men and Women, and their families will be attending, as well.

I will be performing live with romantic, iconic love songs and my song list would include ‘Can’t Help falling in Love’, ‘Love Me Tender’, ‘Burning Love’, ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight’, ‘The Wonder of You’ and ‘’It’s Now or Never’ to name a few.

To make Valentine’s Day extra special I will give the Home folks red satin scarfs.

Emma Shanaya (Singer)

I plan on spending the day of love with my girls, especially my best friend. I don’t have a romantic Valentine this year but I am thrilled to spend it with the girl that loves me through and through. I’ll be in Colombo and look forward to go to a cute cafe and spend some quality time with my childhood best friend Zulha.

JAYASRI

Emma-and-Maneeka

This Valentine’s Day the band JAYASRI we will be really busy; in the morning we will be landing in Sri Lanka, after our Oman Tour; then in the afternoon we are invited as Chief Guests at our Maris Stella College Sports Meet, Negombo, and late night we will be with LineOne band live in Karandeniya Open Air Down South. Everywhere we will be sharing LOVE with the mass crowds.

Kay Jay (Singer)

I will stay at home and cook a lovely meal for lunch, watch some movies, together with Sanjaya, and, maybe we go out for dinner and have a lovely time. Come to think of it, every day is Valentine’s Day for me with Sanjaya Alles.

Maneka Liyanage (Beauty Tips)

On this special day, I celebrate love by spending meaningful time with the people I cherish. I prepare food with love and share meals together, because food made with love brings hearts closer. I enjoy my leisure time with them — talking, laughing, sharing stories, understanding each other, and creating beautiful memories. My wish for this Valentine’s Day is a world without fighting — a world where we love one another like our own beloved, where we do not hurt others, even through a single word or action. Let us choose kindness, patience, and understanding in everything we do.

Janaka Palapathwala (Singer)

Janaka

Valentine’s Day should not be the only day we speak about love.

From the moment we are born into this world, we seek love, first through the very drop of our mother’s milk, then through the boundless care of our Mother and Father, and the embrace of family.

Love is everywhere. All living beings, even plants, respond in affection when they are loved.

As we grow, we learn to love, and to be loved. One day, that love inspires us to build a new family of our own.

Love has no beginning and no end. It flows through every stage of life, timeless, endless, and eternal.

Natasha Rathnayake (Singer)

We don’t have any special plans for Valentine’s Day. When you’ve been in love with the same person for over 25 years, you realise that love isn’t a performance reserved for one calendar date. My husband and I have never been big on public displays, or grand gestures, on 14th February. Our love is expressed quietly and consistently, in ordinary, uncelebrated moments.

With time, you learn that love isn’t about proving anything to the world or buying into a commercialised idea of romance—flowers that wilt, sweets that spike blood sugar, and gifts that impress briefly but add little real value. In today’s society, marketing often pushes the idea that love is proven by how much money you spend, and that buying things is treated as a sign of commitment.

Real love doesn’t need reminders or price tags. It lives in showing up every day, choosing each other on unromantic days, and nurturing the relationship intentionally and without an audience.

This isn’t a judgment on those who enjoy celebrating Valentine’s Day. It’s simply a personal choice.

Melloney Dassanayake (Miss Universe Sri Lanka 2024)

I truly believe it’s beautiful to have a day specially dedicated to love. But, for me, Valentine’s Day goes far beyond romantic love alone. It celebrates every form of love we hold close to our hearts: the love for family, friends, and that one special person who makes life brighter. While 14th February gives us a moment to pause and celebrate, I always remind myself that love should never be limited to just one day. Every single day should feel like Valentine’s Day – constant reminder to the people we love that they are never alone, that they are valued, and that they matter.

I’m incredibly blessed because, for me, every day feels like Valentine’s Day. My special person makes sure of that through the smallest gestures, the quiet moments, and the simple reminders that love lives in the details. He shows me that it’s the little things that count, and that love doesn’t need grand stages to feel extraordinary. This Valentine’s Day, perfection would be something intimate and meaningful: a cozy picnic in our home garden, surrounded by nature, laughter, and warmth, followed by an abstract drawing session where we let our creativity flow freely. To me, that’s what love is – simple, soulful, expressive, and deeply personal. When love is real, every ordinary moment becomes magical.

Noshin De Silva (Actress)

Valentine’s Day is one of my favourite holidays! I love the décor, the hearts everywhere, the pinks and reds, heart-shaped chocolates, and roses all around. But honestly, I believe every day can be Valentine’s Day.

It doesn’t have to be just about romantic love. It’s a chance to celebrate love in all its forms with friends, family, or even by taking a little time for yourself.

Whether you’re spending the day with someone special or enjoying your own company, it’s a reminder to appreciate meaningful connections, show kindness, and lead with love every day.

And yes, I’m fully on theme this year with heart nail art and heart mehendi design!

Wishing everyone a very happy Valentine’s Day, but, remember, love yourself first, and don’t forget to treat yourself.

Sending my love to all of you.