News
An emotional song about daughters that two Consultant Surgeons created
* Lyrics & Acting in Video: Dr. Samira Jayasinghe
* Music: Dr. Devaka Ratnapala
It was the first week of October last year and I was in a small hotel room overseas, having just finished packing my bags to return home the next morning. It was in the thick of the Covid wave in Europe. I had just dropped my daughter in the university and was returning home the next morning, bags lighter, heart heavier.
I was scrolling through the Facebook feed to distract my mind for a moment from the rush of emotions welling up. There was one shared by one of my classmates, penned by him and music composed by another batch mate of mine. The song was about daughters.
“Nirathuru mage gatha dawatena, Muwa hasarali nithi nanwana” (often lingering around, and the smiles that bring to one’s heart) were the opening lines of the song. The familiar voice of T. M. Jayaratna, the same singer who sang “Amma Sandaki mama e lowa hiruya ridhi” (mother is the moon, I am the silver sun), the most beautiful song I have heard, sung by a father. His voice seemed mature, but still smooth as it has ever been.
He was singing about his daughter, and of all daughters. As he pauses, the second voice slides gently into the conversation, as a mother sometimes would waft into a conversation between a father and daughter, may be with a steaming cup of tea in hand.
As for me, Nelu Adhikari has always been that perfect voice one can listen to for hours. My distraction was becoming counteractive, the welled up emotions of leaving my daughter behind in a distant land to fend for herself, were rushing in from deep within and overwhelming my mind. I stopped the video.
Waiting for boarding at an empty Heathrow Airport the next day, I sent a quick message back to my old friend who shared the post, Dr. Samira Jayasinghe, the lyrics writer of the song, telling him honestly the effect the weave of words and the music had on me. I was delighted to learns that the music composition was also by another friend, Dr. Devaka Ratnapala.
I started prodding down memory lane. Samira and I followed two paths and ended up in the same school after passing the grade five scholarship exam, almost 35 years ago. We spent a few of our best years in school as class mates. Although, we parted ways after, and have kept very little contact, our friendship has not waned. The nostalgia of us singing song after song gathered around a school desk drum in free periods flowed in from bygone days.
Since then I have listened to the song many times. Surrendering to the urge to write something, I pen these thoughts not as a critique (to do so I am not qualified) but merely from an average father’s perspective, listening to the song.
The first verse bring memories of the first time a father sees the petite being. The moment many a men realize what an angel in flesh and blood looks like. The chorus, akin to the infinite waves that visit the shore, reminds you of the laughter, the gentleness that was a daughter that fill a home. The last verse has the line that captured me the most, when the father sings of watching from a distance and being content of simply being a father.
This song in whole feels like our story, parents somewhat lost in their empty nest where the young ones have taken their flight to find their own fortune. Feelings of pride, glee and loss fill the heart. Samira’s lyrics flow through, flipping through memories of seeing one’s daughter for the first time.
How she took baby steps and walked in to the centre of your heart and captivated it and grew up to be a young lady. Devaka’s smooth melody calms one’s conscious to allow it to reach deep within and stir up deeper feelings.
A man would become a better man because of a woman for sure, but he will become the best man he can be because of a daughter. Samira’s and Devaka’s creation has captured that essence
“Diyani obai ma sanasana” is a unique creation in another aspect as well. Both lyricist and the musician are Specialist Consultant Surgeons, who have excelled in their chosen fields. Samira becomes an actor in the music video with famous actress Manjula Kumari.
Dr. Samira Jayasinghe, a Consultant General Surgeon, is a journalist and author as well. He has authored three books and “Adaraneeya Corona” was the third launched during the pandemic. He writes a weekly column “Vini Viduma” in a Sunday national newspaper. On the other hand, Dr. Devaka was the music composer of the popular song “Ahasata soduruda Sanda ketharam” which has touched the hearts of many.
Jaliya Pilimatalawwe, From Hong Kong
The Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake stated that the government has taken a policy decision to continue, without interruption, “School Nutrition Programme’’ aimed at reducing anemia among schoolchildren, which is being implemented with the assistance of the World Food Programme.
He made these remarks on Wednesday (23), during a discussion held at the Presidential Secretariat with representatives from relevant Ministries and government institutions involved in the programme, along with officials from the World Food Programme, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Pathfinder Foundation.
The school meal programme, aligned with the government’s initiative to provide nutritious lunch to primary school students in districts identified as having high levels of malnutrition, specifically targets the reduction of iron deficiency among schoolchildren. The initiative is jointly coordinated by the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, the Ministry of Health and Mass Media, Provincial Councils, the Food Promotion Board and the Partnership Secretariat for the World Food Programme Cooperation. The government has allocated Rs. 32 billion for this programme for the current year.
A pilot project is currently being implemented in four selected districts. Based on a formal health and nutrition study assessing the outcomes of this pilot project, there are plans to expand the programme island-wide. The study aims to determine the extent to which iron deficiency among schoolchildren can be reduced through this initiative.
As part of the programme, fortified rice enriched with iron and folic acid will be included in the school meals to specifically address anemia among students.
The World Food Programme, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Gateway Foundation and the Pathfinder Foundation have pledged their continued support for this effort.
Present at the occasion were Secretary to the Prime Minister Pradeep Saputhanthri, Senior Additional Secretary to the President Kapila Janaka Bandara, Secretary to the Ministry of Education Nalaka Kaluwewa, Secretary to the Ministry of Health and Mass Media Dr. Anil Jasinghe, and Secretary to the Ministry of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment Malarmathy Gangatharan, along with other government officials and representatives from partner organizations.
[PMD]
Latest News
Heat index at ‘Caution level’ at some places in Northern, North-central and Eastern provinces and Monaragala, Hambantota districts
Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre of the Department of Meteorology at 3.30 p.m. 23 April 2025, valid for 24 April 2025
The public are warned that the Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in Northern, North-central and Eastern provinces and Monaragala, Hambantota districts
The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.
Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.
ACTION REQUIRED
Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated. Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.
Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491.
Retired SSP Shani Abeysekera, serving the Police Department again, has been appointed to the committee headed by Senior DIG Asanka Karawita, tasked with studying the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) report on the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage.
The other members of the team are DIG, CID, Director, CID and Director Terrorism Investigation Division (TID)
Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) leader Udaya Gammanpila yesterday said that Abeysekera had been one of the law enforcement officers whose conduct raised eyebrows over the years as regards the failure on the part of the CID to thwart the Easter Sunday attacks.
The National Police Commission approved the reappointment of SSP Abeysekera on contractual basis for one year, with effect from 10 Oct., 2024.
Abeysekera backed Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s presidential election campaign as a member of the retired police collective.
“School Nutrition Programme’’to continue, without interruption
Heat index at ‘Caution level’ at some places in Northern, North-central and Eastern provinces and Monaragala, Hambantota districts
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