Actress, artist, model Noshin De Silva is not new to our scene.

She was in the spotlight in the Thursday Island of 20th November, 2025, where her acting career, in the movie ‘Rayak Ho Payak’ was highlighted.

This week, Noshin does the needful in our Chit-Chat feature:

1. How would you describe yourself?

I would describe myself as a creative soul with a curious mind. I feel deeply, love storytelling, and look for beauty in small moments. For people who don’t know me, I would say I am someone who sees the glass half full, someone who is adventurous, happy, calm, and forward.

2. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I can think of more than one. I know I am not perfect, but I take pride in always doing my best and giving my all. I love learning, growing, and becoming a better version of myself for me, for the people around me, and for the world. My doctor once told me that I am someone who likes to keep evolving, and I agree with her.

3. If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?

Nothing at all. I am grateful that we are so close. We feel like soulmates. We always support each other, and I truly treasure that.

4. School?

I was raised in Japan, until age 12, and completed the rest of my education, including my Master’s degree in International Business, in the United States. In Japan, I participated in school plays, which sparked my love for acting. I played piano, began swimming at age six, and competed on school swim teams, in both Japan and the US. After moving to the States, I took up track and cross country and loved running. I also need to add that I danced in Japan and began oil painting around age nine. I won school and national art competitions in both countries. In High School, I was also active in many clubs, including Model UN, Key Club, Science Club, Art Club, and more. One special memory was when my High School principal asked me to paint a large mural inside the school. I spent half my summer break working on it. When it was featured in the city newspaper I felt so happy seeing something I created spread positivity and inclusion to others.”

5. Happiest moment?

This is difficult because I try to find happiness in everyday moments. I’m a simple person, and I try to view life in a simple, grateful way. If I had to choose, any moment where I’m able to give love, feel loved, and feel peaceful, while surrounded by my loved ones, would be my happiest.

6. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Perfect happiness to me is spreading love, having peace of mind, creating meaningful connections, living freely, and doing what I love. In Japanese, there is a phrase called Chijo Tengoku, which means Heaven on Earth. That is my idea of perfect happiness.

7. Are you religious?

I am spiritual more than religious. I believe in God, energy, intuition, and karma. I believe in Lord Buddha and his teachings. I pray, and I also trust in the universe.

8. Are you superstitious?

Not really. I do believe in signs and in the idea that the universe supports you. I believe everything happens for a reason, and I try to keep my energy clean and positive.

9. Your ideal guy?

My ideal guy is someone I can admire, respect, and feel inspired by. Someone who loves life and carries confidence in a humble way. A man who is handsome inside and out. I do have a list of qualities that I look for in a man, but I will keep that to myself. Above all, a genuinely good heart matters the most. You can pretend to be anything, but you cannot pretend to have a good heart.

10. Which living person do you most admire?

My mother. She is also my best friend. Her resilience, positivity, bravery, and unconditional love inspire me every day. She overcomes any obstacle with courage and hard work. She can walk into any room and connect with anyone. She has helped many families long before I was even born. Seeing lives transform because of her is inspiring. I am proud and blessed to be her daughter.

11. Which is your most treasured possession?

I have two: First, my family. We are extremely close, we inspire each other, and we are loyal to one another. Second, my childhood in Japan. Although I am ethnically Sri Lankan, I was born and raised in Japan, until the age 12, and then moved to the United States. I carry three cultures within me. Japan is where I discovered my artistic side, including acting, dancing, piano, painting, and performing. I like to say Japan made me who I am, and the US shaped me into who I am capable of becoming.

12. If you were marooned on a desert island, who would you like as your companion?

Definitely my brother. He is athletic, strong, smart, and can fix anything. I would bring the ideas and he would bring the strength. We would survive just fine!

13. Your most embarrassing moment?

Yes, during shooting … recently. I had to pretend to park a motorcycle. I was so into acting that when I tried to park, I fell right on my butt. Everyone laughed, and it became a great ice breaker. Every embarrassing moment seems to be followed by an even funnier one.

14. Done anything daring?

Climbing to the top of the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa. I’m not a big fan of heights, and I was nervous, but it was worth it. It felt so magical to see the world from above the clouds. It’s one of the most special experiences I’ve ever had.

15. Your ideal vacation?

Any walkable city with beautiful history, art, culture, and amazing restaurants. I love exploring new places, museums, and delicious food.

16. What kind of music are you into?

I love R&B, Chill Pop, and Latin music. I also love Instrumental Jazz. It really soothes my soul, especially before important days.

17. Favourite radio station:

Boston’s Jammin 94.5. It is the station I grew up listening to.

18. Favourite TV station:

Rupavahini. It was the first TV network I appeared on as a guest, at age 10, so it holds a very special place in my heart.

19. What would you like to be born as in your next life?

I am not sure. I am grateful that acting already allows me to live many different lives. What I truly wish is to be with my loved ones again in the next life.

20. Any major plans for the future?

I want to continue growing as an actor and expand creatively. I would love to take on complex, bold, and emotionally challenging roles. Cinema and the film world have always given me strength, especially during times when I felt alone. If I can be a part of strength or inspiration for someone, that would mean a lot to me. I also have a couple of projects coming up next year, and I will announce them at the right time.

*  Oily Skin:

Mix together one teaspoon of egg white and a big squeeze of lemon juice, and apply it to your whole face, or just where you have large pores. Wait 15 minutes and then rinse with warm water, and pat dry!

*  Saggy Skin:

Apply a thin layer of pure egg whites to the skin. Concentrate on any areas where you see sagging – cheeks, jaw line, etc.). Allow to dry (usually 20 minutes), and then rinse off with cool water. You can do this under your eye bags, as well, but be careful not to get it in your eye!

*  Dry Skin:

Take one egg yolk and mix together with 01 tablespoon coconut oil, or honey, and apply it to your skin. Leave on for 5-10 minutes and then rinse with warm water and apply your favourite moisturiser.

* Mature Skin:

Whisk the egg white until it becomes frothy. Add about 02 teaspoons of orange juice and ½ a teaspoon of turmeric powder and mix all the ingredients thoroughly and apply this mixture all over your face and neck area. Allow this face mask to rest on your face until it dries out completely before rinsing it off with cold water. Follow this face mask with a gentle moisturiser.

Hair Treatments

* Oily Scalp:

Mix together 02-03 large egg whites and 01 tablespoon lemon juice and apply the entire mixture to your scalp (before showering), and leave it for 05-10 minutes, and then wash your hair with warm water as usual! This is so good for excess oil. Applying egg whites to the scalp can also stimulate hair growth.

*  Dry Hair:

Mix together a whole egg with an egg yolk and a tablespoon of coconut oil and apply the whole mixture to the middle part of the hair, down through the ends (basically everywhere below the ears). Leave it on for 05-10 minutes, and then wash your hair as you normally would.

On the morning of November 28, 2025, Cyclone Ditwah made an unremarkable entrance, meteorologically speaking. With winds barely scraping 75 km/h, it was classified as merely a “Cyclonic Storm” by the India Meteorological Department. No dramatic satellite spiral. No apocalyptic wind speeds. Just a modest weather system forming unusually close to the equator, south of Sri Lanka.

By December’s second week, the numbers told a story of national reckoning: over 650 lives lost, 2.3 million people affected, roughly one in ten Sri Lankans, and economic losses estimated between $6-7 billion. To put that in perspective, the damage bill equals roughly 3-5% of the country’s entire GDP, exceeding the combined annual budgets for healthcare and education. It became Sri Lanka’s deadliest natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami.

The Hydrology of Horror

The answer lies not in wind speed but in water volume. In just 24 hours on 28 November, hydrologists estimate that approximately 13 billion cubic meters of rain fell across Sri Lanka, roughly 10% of the island’s average annual rainfall compressed into a single day. Some areas recorded over 300-400mm in that period. To visualise the scale: the discharge rate approached 150,000 cubic meters per second, comparable to the Amazon River at peak flow, but concentrated on an island 100 times smaller than the Amazon basin.

The soil, already saturated from previous monsoon rains, couldn’t absorb this deluge. Nearly everything ran off. The Kelani, Mahaweli, and Deduru Oya river systems overflowed simultaneously. Reservoirs like Kala Wewa and Rajanganaya had to release massive volumes to prevent catastrophic dam failures, which only accelerated downstream flooding.

Where Development Met Disaster

The human toll concentrated in two distinct geographies, each revealing different failures.

In the Central Highlands, Kandy, Badulla, Nuwara Eliya, Matale, landslides became the primary killer. The National Building Research Organisation documented over 1,200 landslides in the first week alone, with 60% in the hill country. These weren’t random geological events; they were the culmination of decades of environmental degradation. Colonial-era tea and rubber plantations stripped highland forests, increasing soil erosion and landslide susceptibility. Today, deforestation continues alongside unregulated hillside construction that ignores slope stability.

The communities most vulnerable? The Malaiyaha Tamil plantation workers, descendants of indentured labourers brought from South India by the British. Living in cramped “line rooms” on remote estates, they faced both the highest mortality rates and the greatest difficulty accessing rescue services. Many settlements remained cut off for days.

Meanwhile, in the Western Province urban basin, Colombo, Gampaha, Kolonnawa, the Kelani River’s overflow displaced hundreds of thousands. Kolonnawa, where approximately 70% of the area sits below sea level, became an inland sea. Urban planning failures compounded the crisis: wetlands filled in for development, drainage systems inadequate for changing rainfall patterns, and encroachments on flood retention areas all transformed what should have been manageable flooding into mass displacement.

The Economic Aftershock

By 03 December, when the cyclone had degraded to a remnant low, the physical damage inventory read like a national infrastructure audit gone catastrophic:

UNDP’s geospatial analysis revealed exposure: about 720,000 buildings, 16,000 km of roads, 278 km of rail, and 480 bridges in flooded zones. This represents infrastructure that underpins the daily functioning of 82-84% of the national economy.

The agricultural sector faces multi-season impacts. The cyclone struck during the Maha season, Sri Lanka’s major cultivation period, when approximately 563,950 hectares had just been sown. Government data confirms 108,000 hectares of rice paddies destroyed, 11,000 hectares of other field crops lost, and 6,143 hectares of vegetables wiped out. The tea industry, while less damaged than food crops, projects a 35% output decline, threatening $1.29 billion in annual export revenue.

Supply chains broke. Cold storage facilities failed. Food prices spiked in urban markets, hitting hardest the rural households that produce the food, communities where poverty rates had already doubled to 25% following the recent economic crisis.

The Hidden Costs: Externalities

Yet the most consequential damage doesn’t appear in economic loss estimates. These are what economists call externalities, costs that elude conventional accounting but compound human suffering.

Environmental externalities : Over 1,900 landslides in protected landscapes like the Knuckles Range uprooted forest canopies, buried understory vegetation, and clogged streams with debris. These biodiversity losses carry long-term ecological and hydrological costs, habitat fragmentation, compromised watershed function, and increased vulnerability to future slope failures.

Social externalities: Overcrowded shelters created conditions for disease transmission that WHO warned could trigger epidemics of water-, food-, and vector-borne illnesses. The unpaid care work, predominantly shouldered by women, in these camps represents invisible labour sustaining survival. Gender-based violence risks escalate in displacement settings yet receive minimal systematic response. For informal workers and micro-enterprises, the loss of tools, inventory, and premises imposes multi-year setbacks and debt burdens that poverty measurements will capture only later, if at all.

Governance externalities: The first week exposed critical gaps. Multilingual warning systems failed, Coordination between agencies remained siloed. Data-sharing between the Disaster Management Centre, Meteorology Department, and local authorities proved inadequate for real-time decision-making. These aren’t technical failures; they’re symptoms of institutional capacity eroded by years of budget constraints, hiring freezes, and deferred maintenance.

Why This Cyclone Was Different

Climate scientists studying Ditwah’s behaviour note concerning anomalies. It formed unusually close to the equator and maintained intensity far longer than expected after landfall. While Sri Lanka has experienced at least 16 cyclones since 2000, these were typically mild. Ditwah’s behaviour suggests something shifting in regional climate patterns.

Sri Lanka ranks high on the Global Climate Risk Index, yet 81.2% of the population lacks adaptive capacity for disasters. This isn’t a knowledge gap; it’s a resource gap. The country’s Meteorology Department lacks sufficient Doppler radars for precise forecasting. Rescue helicopters are ageing and maintenance are deferred. Urban drainage hasn’t been upgraded to handle changing rainfall patterns. Reservoir management protocols were designed for historical rainfall distributions that no longer apply.

The convergence proved deadly: a climate system behaving unpredictably met infrastructure built for a different era, governed by institutions weakened by austerity, in a landscape where unregulated development had systematically eroded natural defences.

Sources: WHO, UNICEF, UNDP, Sri Lanka Disaster Management Centre, UN OCHA, The Diplomat, Al Jazeera,

The Recovery Crossroads

With foreign reserves barely matching the reconstruction bill, Sri Lanka faces constrained choices. An IMF consideration of an additional $200 million on top of a scheduled tranche offers partial relief, but the fiscal envelope, shaped by ongoing debt restructuring and austerity commitments, forces brutal prioritisation.

The temptation will be “like-for-like” rebuilds replace what washed away with similar structures in the same locations. This would be the fastest path back to normalcy and the surest route to repeat disaster. The alternative, what disaster planners call “Build Back Better”, requires different investments:

The Reckoning

The answers are uncomfortable. Decades of prioritising economic corridors over drainage systems. Colonial land-use patterns perpetuated into the present. Wetlands sacrificed for development. Budget cuts to the institutions responsible for warnings and response. Building codes are unenforced. Early warning systems are under-resourced. Marginalised communities settled in the riskiest locations with the least support.

These aren’t acts of nature; they’re choices. Cyclone Ditwah made those choices visible in 13 billion cubic meters of water with nowhere safe to flow.

As floodwaters recede and reconstruction begins, Sri Lanka stands at a crossroads. One path leads back to the fragilities that made this disaster inevitable. The other, more expensive, more complex, more uncomfortable, leads to systems designed not to withstand the last disaster but to anticipate the next ones.

In an era of warming oceans and intensifying extremes, treating Ditwah as a once-in-a-generation anomaly would be the most dangerous assumption of all.

(The writer, a senior Chartered Accountant and professional banker, is Professor at SLIIT, Malabe. The views and opinions expressed in this article are personal.)