Features

Does man live by bread (or rice) alone?

Published

4 years ago

2021/11/13

Sahan Weerasooriya

What is missing from our dinner menu is not the fault of the kitchen keepers!

By B. Nimal Veerasingham

There was this gentleman who lived on the lane behind our house. Let’s call him ‘Chella’, and unrelated to his acquired name, he was a tall and burly strapper. Chella was the chef or chief cook at the local Teachers’ Training College, where, obviously, meals must be prepared for a larger crowd. The legend is that ‘Chella’ uses his bare hands to crush large quantities of garlic, ginger, curry leaves and green chillies to be put in boiling cooking vessels. His curries were graded ‘A’ by the future educators and that possibly enhanced their ability to enlighten students and in turn helped in an indirect manner to build a country with greater resolution and mission. While Chella’s role at the college kitchen was not widely realised, there was another side which became a legacy of his. On pay day, Chella, became another beast, howling, singing, swearing, kicking fences over—a driverless bulldozer in motion. The booze takes complete dominance over him, so much so his family members had to take refuge in neighbouring houses.

There was another gentleman—let’s call him ‘Nada’—who worked with us many moons ago. Unlike Chella, Nada was at the helm of finance with many professional acronyms adorning his name. Tall with well-oiled hair, combed back, his forehead always had light holy-ash markings. People have noticed that his posture, while standing, in relation to the ground, is not 90 degrees, unlike that of other fellow Homo sapiens; he stood at more or less an obtuse angle. When he was under the influence of liquor, which became a daily evening ritual, his angle became pronouncedly more obtuse, perhaps qualifying as a new Yoga posture. Friends swear that once he ended up in the hospital mortuary because he lacked vital signs. In the middle of the night the mortuary attendants heard heavy banging from inside and ran for their dear lives to fetch a ‘kattadiya’. His friends further swore that Nada was finally rescued from ‘death’, fully sober and the news appeared in the local newspaper, though nobody believed it.

My paternal grandfather was a man of few words, literally. During our childhood, other than the warnings he yelled at our climbing the many tall guava trees in his garden and during our ‘hide and seek’ episodes, fleeing down his low roof and side verandah, he hardly spoke. I attributed this to his habit of chewing betel. He was a jack-of-all-trades, a handy person who could fix anything, be it our broken leather soccer ball or a stuck bicycle axle. On his ‘pension day’ he would go to the local grocery store to settle the monthly grocery bill and would get us the best sweet chewy muscat in town. On his way home, he would stop at the ‘corner bar’ to have his quick dram, and the man would become even quieter afterwards.

Legend

Alcohol, or rather the escapades resulting from the effects of the ethanol is the foremost conversational topic in the vast majority of gatherings, at times beating the banter on a recently held cricket series. Of course, alcohol has a complicated history. Traces of alcohol has been detected in archaeological evidence unearthed from Chinese pottery as old as 7,000 to 6,000 BC, and further evidence proves that a part of the wages of Great Pyramids of Giza workers were paid in beer. The distillation of wine is alluded to in Arabic works, attributed to Al-Kindi (c.801-873CE) and Al-Farabi (c.872-950 CE), and in the 28th book of Al-Zahrawi. Southern Europe developed a taste, (pun intended), for the distillation methods introduced by Middle Eastern Muslim chemists by the early 14th Century. During the same period the methods were introduced and widely used in India, during the Delhi Sultanate rule.

The four main reasons for raising glasses and toasting, then and now are, to create a positive mood, to be social, to ‘cope and to confirm’. ‘Coping’ and ‘confirming’ usually considered as negative motives while to cope will likely lead to alcohol use disorders depending on the identity, social norms, and self-image of the drinker.

Chemistry

In 2018, the Global alcohol industry was valued at a trillion dollars. And no matter what the marketing tools of the industry tout as joyous in flowery melodies, the liquid in the bottle is simply disguised ethanol or ethyl alcohol, colourless, odourless and flammable in its pure form. A formula born out of fermentation, which could slow the blood flow to the brain, resulting in slow response of the body’s systems. It also triggers the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is associated with pleasure and satisfaction, and what’s more, stress relief is also associated with another neurotransmitter released under the influence of alcohol, Gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA).

The overwhelming human tendency to associate the experience of getting drunk with pleasure, draws them into a mirage, plunging them into disease, disaster, and worse, death. The rush is like the stock market, does not let you remain high forever, and the gravitational pull would not guarantee a soft landing. Driving after two drinks (assuming one drink equals 12 ounces of beer or five ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of spirits), when the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) exceeds 0.08 percent, is a punishable criminal offence that entails many penalties in many jurisdictions around the world. In 2010, 31 percent of all driving fatalities in the US were alcohol related.

Consequence

The body absorbs alcohol relatively quickly, but it takes longer to get the alcohol to flush out of the body. The liver needs about one hour to process one drink, where enzymes break ethanol into acetaldehyde and acetate. Consuming several within a short span causes the body to saturate with alcohol yet to leave the body, resulting in longer hangovers. Muscles absorb alcohol faster than fat, as a result people with muscles and less body fat have higher tolerance. Dark liquors, such as red wine or whiskey are more likely to result in severe hangovers, while white or clear ones much less. The abuse contributes to well over 200 diseases, injury related health conditions and unintentional injuries such as motor vehicle accidents, falls, burns, assaults and drownings. In 2016, three million deaths or 5.3 percent of all global deaths (7.7 percent men and 2.6 percent women) were attributed to alcohol consumption.

While the negative impact of alcohol abuse is very much tabulated with numerical data, the positive side of alcohol consumption in moderation, for example, the many indirect economic, health and collective societal asset building advantages of alcohol induced socialising, is not readily available.

Magic of red wine

In market studies on all spirits, there is a huge following for red wine and it tempts the novice with a reason to drink. The amount of sugar usually added to red wine should be taken into consideration, as studies conducted by King’s College London shows that brands with excess sugar could lead to irritability of the bowels and inflammation. It could also lead to bacterial overgrowth leading to bloating, pain and other discomforts.

Wine, depending on the culinary pairing at the dining table, has become a part of the standard European diet. Both as a ubiquitous social lubricant and a digestive enhancer, wine’s role in typical European backgrounds enhances societal binding and togetherness. Grapes, which grow well in Mediterranean and Southern European climatic conditions, have taken firm root in their diet. It is evident that most Italian, Greek, Portuguese and Spanish households, wherever they live, have grapevines in their back garden. Though 71 percent of the world’s grape production is used for wine production commercially, individual households take pride in producing their own.

European influence

The influence of wine was felt in Asia by way of European imperialism, in the name of trade expansion, through the sequential spread of religion. Christianity, notably Catholicism celebrates Eucharist, wherein the Last Supper, when

Christ requested his followers to remember him through bread and wine, is commemorated. As a result, wine, which is a part of the European diet, has now entered the lives of the followers at least on Sundays. The jury is still out on whether the wine served at the Last Supper or, for that matter, the wine mentioned in the very first miracle Jesus performed, in turning water into wine at a wedding, is indeed alcohol or just grape juice. I had friends at school who were alter-boys, whose ability to siphon off left-over wine after the mass, was legendary.

Most of the Protestant Churches do not serve wine during ‘communion’ as the occasion calls for coming together in remembering the death of Christ, the wine being only a symbol. The Salvation Army does not have communion or consume alcoholic beverages as per the calling of William Booth outside the ‘Blind Beggar’, a tavern in the infamous East End of London. Most of the converts of the early days were alcoholics and the denomination does not want to tempt them once again into poverty, disease, and dependence.

As part of their attempt to Europeanize the Asian culinary scene, the Colonial capitalists tried to pair the curries with wine, resulting in a disastrous outcome. Washington Post columnist Greg Kitsock describes it as, “Spices distort wine flavours, turning white wines hot and red wines bitter.” Rather than living on negative results, the capitalists discovered beer to match the fiery curries. “Curry’s main ingredients, garlic, chillies, coriander, lemon grass, turmeric, ginger…. All those warming spices meld wonderfully with the toasty flavours of malted barley. The richness of coconut milk and palm oil can’t knock out the crisp texture of carbonation …. Plus, a beer is often served chilled, which is a refreshing contrast,” says Lucy Saunders, writer contributing to many Asian magazines.

But the irony is that barley and hops, the main ingredients in beer, are not native or produced en masse in Asia but must be imported from Europe.

Ceylon arrack

Irrespective of whether the word ‘arrack’ is derived from the Arabic word ‘Arak’ (distillate) or the arecanut tree, being the base for many varieties of arrack, ‘Ceylon arrack’ made from coconut sap is the most popular among Sri Lankans.

Collecting sap from coconut and Palmyra trees is physically exhausting and left to experienced climbers and tappers who venture to climb countless trees to collect relatively small volumes of syrup from each tree. Arrack is one of few liquors that has a distillate of a 100 percent natural fermentation and, unlike whisky, distilled at high strength. Unfortunately, it is said that half of all Asians lack the active enzyme which breaks down acetaldehyde within ethanol found in most forms of alcohol. Most Westerners have this enzyme and as a result should drink more than Asians to have an equal buzz.

According to the World Health Organization’s data repository, in terms of alcohol consumption, South Koreans (over age 15) lead the pack, with 10.9 litres a year on average, while Vietnam follows with 8.7 litres. Although Sri Lanka and India scores closer with 4.5 and 4.6 litres, the numbers collected from legitimate and regulated bodies sometimes do not convey the real story.

There is a greater distribution of locally and illicitly brewed, cheap varieties that do not make it into the national statistics. A 1997 study in eight Sri Lankan villages revealed that 71 percent drink on a regular basis and 93 percent of the respondents consumed locally brewed alcohol. Another study on the urban poor showed that in families wherein members consumed alcohol, more than 30 percent of the total income was spent on alcohol.

Though rice, sugar cane and coconut sap, the three main locally available commercial agents, could be used in mass production, the local illicit brews do not source them due to high cost. Consequently, in many cases, cheap jaggery, coconut water, rotten greens and fruits are used.

Sovereigns of our nourishment

The business of feeding the household, for many generations, was entrusted to women, mostly the grandmothers of the family. It is their domain and they assumed the responsibility of keeping everyone cared for and nourished, through the act of feeding. One may call it a maternal hierarchy, but victors and successes always had their origins in kitchens that are shaped and sustained by women. ‘Masculinity’, in the historical context or current, is shaped by the mundane activities and experiences of the kitchenettes that played the role of second womb.

Both my grandmothers had kitchens, narrowly separated from the main house and almost the size or bigger than the living room. That was their territory and their friends visited them there directly to have tea, chat and to exchange home grown vegetables, seated on a mat, or low stools. The place was spotless-clean and neatly kept, and we hardly knew what was kept where, and even the pets, cat and dog, would never dare cross the kitchen entrance. I have overheard from my grandmothers that, long before childbirth was considered an ‘illness’ that required hospital admission, people always gave birth in their kitchens.

Under this regime of established womanhood in our part of the world, it is not difficult to understand the underpinnings of a family meal. What is approved and served by the matriarch at the dinner table becomes the benchmark of decency.

Women from our part of the world did not have control over the production of any variety of alcohol, and therefore were denied the ability to regulate or to add to the menu, unlike their European counterparts. The main ingredients, sugar cane, coconut sap and rice were beyond the boundaries of individual home gardens. The prime objective of rice cultivation is feeding the hungry rather than quenching the recreational thirst, which would require large volumes for alcohol production. The working class that taps toddy was kept at the lower rungs by a hypocritical society that had no qualms about consuming their laboriously made toddy.

The culture that influences how people consume alcohol is not determined arbitrarily but rather by the circumstances under which ingredients are made available for the women to regulate or to determine the form it needs to be presented in the family menu. My grandmother made awesome ‘hoppers’, with toddy replacing yeast, but it had to be procured through a neighbour who was a regular at the toddy tavern.

What if, as in Italy, our home gardens also produced grape wine? Would wine have become part of our menu? If that was the case, I doubt that ‘Chella’ would have kicked over fences, or ‘Nada’ got a cold reception at the mortuary, not to mention, my grandfather, who would not have had to wait in line for his quick dram on pension day at the ‘corner bar’.

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Features

More state support needed for marginalised communities

Published

20 hours 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

2 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

2 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.