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A mother of 16 defies hardship, redefines love and sacrifice
March 10, marked as World Mothers Day, serves as a reminder of the immeasurable love and sacrifice embodied in motherhood—an affection that cannot be encapsulated within a single day. Yet, in a time when disturbing reports emerge of children being abandoned in drains, garbage dumps, and other desolate places, the story of a mother from rural Kalawana stands in stark, almost defiant contrast.
From the remote hamlet of Pitigalakanda in the Nakatiyamulla area of Dawlagama in Kalawana, S. K. Nanda Kulatunga’s life story reads less like a personal account and more like a testament to endurance, sacrifice, and unyielding maternal devotion. At a time when even raising one or two children is often viewed as burdensome, she and her husband, A. A. Punchi, brought up 16 children under conditions of extreme hardship.
Married in 1970, the couple began their life together in a small hut, eking out a living through daily wage labour. Their first child was born in 1975, and over the years, the family grew steadily to 16. Poverty was a constant companion. Yet, it did little to diminish the couple’s resolve.
Nanda recalls returning to work within weeks of childbirth, driven by necessity rather than choice. “My husband alone could not bear the burden,” she said. “We had to work to feed the children.” With no access to childcare, the couple would leave their young ones asleep under tea bushes while they plucked green leaf, pausing only to breastfeed infants before resuming labour.
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- Mrs. Nanda Kulatunga with her husband, Mr. A.A. Punchi.
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- Mrs. S.K. Nanda Kulatunga
Food was scarce, and sacrifice was routine. The little that was cooked at home was divided among the children, while the mother often went without meals. “I never felt hungry when my children were full,” she said, summing up a philosophy forged in hardship.
Tragedy, too, found its way into the family’s story. One of their daughters died after falling into a well—a loss that still weighs heavily on the mother. Of the 16 children—11 boys and five girls—fifteen survive today.
Despite these adversities, the couple ensured that all their children received higher education—an achievement remarkable by any standard, more so given their circumstances. Today, the children occupy respected positions in society. Two sons served in the military and were injured in combat, while one continues in service.
According to records at the Kalawana Divisional Secretariat, Nanda is currently the second-highest living mother in Sri Lanka in terms of number of children. Now a grandmother, she spends her days watching her grandchildren at play—a quiet reward for decades of toil.
Reflecting on her life, she remains resolute in her beliefs. “No matter how many children I had, it never felt like too many,” she said. “People criticized me. Even doctors advised me to stop. But I could not. I loved my children.”
Her message to younger generations is unequivocal: never consider a child a burden. “Just as a fruit is never a burden to the tree, a child is never a burden to a mother,” she said.
Her eldest daughter, Lalitha Abeysinghe, echoed this sentiment, recalling a childhood shaped by sacrifice but sustained by love. “Our parents would stay hungry and feed us. They never rested. They worked tirelessly to educate us and give us a future,” she said.
In an age where the meaning of responsibility is increasingly contested, the life of Nanda Kulatunga offers a sobering counterpoint. It is not merely a story of raising 16 children. It is a story that challenges society to reconsider the very meaning of motherhood.
Text and Pix by Upendra Priyankara Jathungama
A person has died after jumping an airport perimeter fence in the US state of Colorado and being struck by a Frontier Airlines plane, according to authorities.
Denver International Airport said the unusual incident occurred late Friday, after the unidentified individual gained access to the tarmac.
It said the “pedestrian jumped the perimeter fence and was hit just two minutes later while crossing the runway”.
A brief engine fire followed the collision, which was put out by emergency responders, according to the airport.
It said that 12 of the 231 people on board suffered minor injuries, with five hospitalised.
The airport said investigators had examined the fence line where the individual entered and “found it to be intact”.
It added that the struck individual “is not believed to be an employee of the airport”.
“We are extremely saddened by this incident and express our sympathies to those involved,” the airport said.
Both local authorities and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were investigating the incident.
Airport safety in the US came under renewed scrutiny earlier this year amid a prolonged shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which temporarily left both Transportation Security Agents (TSA) and air traffic controllers working without pay.
While instances of people being killed on airport tarmacs are rare, Friday’s incident came a day after a Delta employee was killed after an airport vehicle struck an airbridge at Orlando International Airport.
In March, two pilots were killed after an Air Canada Express plane crashed into a fire-rescue vehicle at LaGuardia Airport in New York.
About 225,000 people travel through Denver International Airport a day.
[Aljazeera]
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Showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern, Uva, North-western and Northern provinces and in Anuradhapura district.
WEATHER FORECAST FOR 10 MAY 2026
Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 10 May 2026 by the Department of Meteorology
The low-level atmospheric disturbance in the vicinity of Sri Lanka is likely to develop into a low-pressure area around 11th of May. Therefore, the prevailing showery conditions over the island are expected to continue during the next few days.
Showers or thundershowers will occur at most places over the island, and cloudy skies are expected over the island. Heavy showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern, Uva, North-western and Northern provinces and in Anuradhapura district.
The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
ECONOMYNEXT –Colombo Port City (CPC) officials will head to Dubai to meet with investors on June 11, as Sri Lanka’s most ambitious economic zone looks for further foreign investments.
“We are meeting people in Dubai and the Middle East in order to demonstrate that Colombo Port City can be a supplementary zone of investment,” Harsha Amarasekara, Chairman, Colombo Port City Economic Commission (CPCEC), told Economynext.
The meeting will be organised by CPCEC, China Harbour Engineering Company, Consulate General of Sri Lanka – Dubai, and the Embassy of Sri Lanka – Abu Dhabi.
Foreign investor meetings have been a consistent factor in marketing CPC, and identifying potential markets has been a priority for CHEC and CPCEC.
“We have shortlisted and identified primary markets and we have combed the globe in that to say have a rationale behind why you would want to do certain things, a road show in a particular country,” Thulci Aluwihare, Deputy Managing Director, CHEC Port City Colombo, told Echelon Media.
“Once we kind of shortlist on that, then we aggressively go and market Port City, first Sri Lanka I should say, then Port City.”
“Sri Lanka is known in the world as a tourist destination, not essentially for a doing business capital. That is the narrative that we are trying to change,” he added.
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Showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern, Uva, North-western and Northern provinces and in Anuradhapura district.
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