by Zanita Careem

Our teenagers have a beautiful shadow to their lives. Today, they are more aware, more health conscious, and they are regulars at the gym, they are also masters of self defence and strike gold in martial arts.

They know everything about protein and carb intake and tons of eating junk food.

They grow to be fitter, thanks to media awareness. They are conscious of substance abuse. At this age reducing weight is tried just for the fun of it. They even have their own ways of spirituality! They realize that God isn’t just in a mosque or temple but also within their hearts. They connect to whatever they need to connect. Romantic relationships are more common – something every spiritual school of thought encourages. Understanding sexual relationships is a chapter that is no longer taboo. It is respected and understood by teenagers with the repercussions it may bring.

Namith Swarnasinghe and her sister Savisha Swarnasinghe from Kandy are living examples of two beautiful teenagers in modern society,

They have a relationship with their own ego and they no longer see it as a mask. Besides that, they share a loving relationship with their family and in all this they are trying to create an identity in every sphere of life and mark and space for themselves. When this generation become the citizens of tomorrow, they will be healthy in body, mind and soul. The quote by Annanis Inn says it all: ‘And the time came that the pain it took to remain in a tight bud was far greater than the pain it took to bloom!’

The two adolescents namely Namith Swarnasinghe and Savisha Swarnasinghe I met spoke about their teen years, how their lives have been shaped by their parents, their education and their life styles.

They are no different to other young people whose lives are saturated by mobile technology and social media, but they never go out of the box.Brought up in a Kandyan conservative family their teenage years were shaped by family values and social ethos.

Our parents are our role models said the tall and swanky Namith and beautiful Savisha who is an icon of beauty. A fashionista in the making Savisha is lovable and pretty and versatile.

How do you feel to be in the millennial generation?

N&S:

Honestly, I think Mil

lennials are a very lucky bunch of people. We’ve got to experience so many things during our short period of existence.We mean we can remember waiting patiently while the cassette rewinds on the VHS player to watch movies. And today we have movies on demand on the palm of my hand at the click of a button. We’ve sent letters, postcards, SMS, MMS and even used telegrams faxes. So, we’ve experienced both sides of the tape so to speak and we think that’s a good thing. There are many changes going on in the world and personally we think it’s a very interesting time to be experience. 

– A time of opportunity

and risks

N&S: High risk, high reward. If you quantify the risk, it’s always correlated with competition. So competition is very high, be it from existing players or newcomers. This is a perfect situation as far as we’ve concerned. The higher the stakes the more motivated we are to improve our business and to make sure we carry forward our 70 years of history.

Are u both move buffs who is your favourite icon in cinema

?

N&S:

Oh yes! we both are a big fan of Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan. I think Scorsese is a very clean story teller while Nolan has this mesmerizing ability to push the limits of what is and is not possible in film. They’re both artists of the highest order as far as I’m concerned.

– Do you both feel anxiety and depression at any time

N&S:

Karl Marx predicted this long ago. Alienation is unfortunately an inevitable by-product of capitalism, and we are living in the most capitalist time of human history. Also its no longer taboo to say you’re suffering from anxiety or depression. There’s lot of research that has gone into mental health that has proven how harmful it can be if left untreated or neglected. So while we’ve been lucky enough not to through depression, we’ve handled our fair share of anxiety well.

– How do spent your

leisure hours

N&S-

We’ve got several hobbies that keep us busy whenever we have some free time. I love to cook, it’s always been a passion of mine. I also spend time playing my guitar, watching movies and sports.

Are you into serious reading

N& S

. I’m deep down reading Polemicist Rabbit Hole these days. I love reading Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens and these days I’m reading Jordan Peterson’s books. I like people that question and provide cohesive arguments against the status quo.

The best movies you both enjoy

N&S:

The Dark Knight Arrival

The Terminal

You Dietary plans, are you both conscious of a particular dress code and do you both passionate about specific brands?

S:

– Our diet has always been kind of top priority at home with a little indulgence in our guilty pleasures once in a while. But we have pushed ourself to be more serious about it lately, with my big day approaching. Well, our dress code defines who you are, and yes, quite conscious of it. I love branded stuff; you could say I am obsessed with it.

N&S:

Your schooling in Kandy

We both schooled in Kandy, I went to Hillwood College and my brother went to Trinity. For my higher studies I obtained my degree from the Excelsior University in Albany and my brother pursued his higher studies at the University of London and later at the Chartered Institute of Management Accounting.

Your international exposure in Malaysia

N:

It has been a very interesting experience for me so far. The ability to live in a completely foreign country made me to be independent and broaden my knowledge.Meeting people from different cultures was a benchmark in my career

Your vision for the future?

S:

My vision is to see Sri Lankans designers,artisans, jewellers, designers are well known. Our designs are universally accepted and we hailed from a business family. Our gem industry and gem business are part of our life. We had business in our blood so it was natural for us to follow our father’s footsteps and carry the business forward.