Features

Exploring the Canvas and Life of Gamini Ratnavira

Published

3 months ago

2025/11/9

Gamini Ratnavira

Among the many Sri Lankan artists who carried the spirit of the island into the wider world, Gamini Ratnavira occupies a singular place. A master wildlife artist whose career now spans more than half a century, he has painted, sketched, sculpted and preserved nature through every possible medium—oil, acrylic, gouache, watercolour, and bronze. His works are both art and testament, capturing the sacred symmetry of life as seen through the eyes of one who has never ceased to marvel at it.

From the outset, Ratnavira’s art was not simply about animals or landscapes; it was about relationship—the living bond between species, and between man and the world he inhabits. Each brushstroke reveals a Buddhist reverence for coexistence rather than conquest. His canvases shimmer with birds, beasts, and flora arranged in subtle harmony, as though the artist had momentarily lifted the veil on a universe at peace with itself.

The earliest artists who painted the fauna of Sri Lanka were Cornelius de Bevere born in Ceylon during the Dutch period and was well known for his work on the natural history of the country under the patronage of the famed naturalist Dutch Governor Gideon Loten. A century and a half later, others such as Dutch Johannes Gerardus Keulemans (who illustrated birds in the seminal work on Birds of Ceylon by Australian Col. Vincent Legge, Anglo-French Hippolyte Silvaf, Brits such G. M. Henry, W. W. A. Philips and local born Frederick Kelaart and Cicely Gwynne Lushington, have contributed in their own way in painting and documenting on the avifauna of Sri Lanka. The Irish Andrew Nicholl, who was the illustrator for the works of Sir James Emerson Tennent is another brilliant artist whose works on the natural history of Ceylon are of important study. Almost all of these individuals depict their avifauna in a more westernized, colonial style. In such a milieu, what Ratnavira offers today, in his own unique style of appeasing nature as it is and the co-existence between man, is both refreshing and worthwhile. It this feature, that I want to stress on, most profoundly.

Early Life and Awakening to Nature

Born in the lush tropics of Sri Lanka, Ratnavira’s earliest teachers were not academics or art master’s but the rainforest itself. He was a boy who observed rather than spoke—sketching the play of light on leaves, tracing the curve of an elephant’s ear, and watching the glisten of raindrops held in the heart of a lotus. His father, Sardha Ratnavira, was a jeweller by profession—a calling deeply embedded in their family name, which translates to “Hero of Gems.” Yet it was clear that Gamini’s gems would not be stones, but moments of life immortalised in paint.

As a child, he raised a baby elephant named Maya and shared his home with a leopard and a macaw. These encounters were not mere novelty; they shaped his soul. The Buddhist philosophy that infused his upbringing taught him that to live was to revere all sentient beings. “Nature became my teacher,” he would later write, “and the forest my classroom.” His artistry, then, was an act of faith—a continuation of that early harmony between man and animal, spirit and soil.

By the age of nineteen, he had already decided that art would be his life’s path. Self-taught and undeterred, he began painting the wildlife he so loved, turning his devotion into discipline. Half a century later, when I inquired Gamini, he humbly replied: “I am still learning”.

Recognition in Sri Lanka

Ratnavira’s ascent as a professional artist came at a time when Sri Lanka was discovering a new cultural identity after independence. His first major exhibition in 1979 drew the attention of President J. R. Jayewardene, who not only attended the opening but personally blessed it. Over 150 paintings were sold—an astonishing achievement for a debutant.

Jayewardene, himself a man of refined aesthetic sensibilities, saw in Ratnavira the embodiment of a new Sri Lankan artistry rooted in tradition yet expansive in its vision. He became a patron and a friend, appointing Ratnavira as Chief Advisor on Wildlife and Conservation for the Department of Wildlife. The artist went on to design the department’s official logo, still in use today.

During this period, Ratnavira also collaborated with Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, on the celebrated Let Them Live elephant-conservation campaign under the auspices of the World Wildlife Fund. For Sri Lanka’s Philatelic Bureau, he designed thirty-eight postage stamps, including the iconic series of sea-mammal stamps that inaugurated the country’s marine-conservation programme in the Indian Ocean. These were not mere postage tokens; they were national emblems of compassion and ecological awareness.

His connection with the Smithsonian Institution and the Natural History Museum of Sri Lanka as a field technician further deepened his understanding of the country’s flora and fauna. This experience translated into a series of field guides and illustrated volumes—Birds of Sri Lanka, Mammals of Sri Lanka, and later Brushes with Nature, his autobiography. Each work intertwined science with sentiment, detail with devotion.

Over the years, Gamini Ratnavira has not only painted the beauty of the natural world but also documented it in a remarkable body of illustrated books that stand as milestones in Sri Lankan wildlife art. Among his most acclaimed works is A Field Companion to the Mammals of Sri Lanka by Asoka Yapa and Ratnavira — a vital reference that combines scientific accuracy with the warmth of field artistry. Together with his wife, Lisa, he produced Hummingbirds: A Celebration of Their Beauty Through Art, a breathtaking volume that portrays all 365 known species of hummingbirds. Recently, Ratnavira completed the detailed illustrations for the upcoming publication “Fresh Water Fish of Sri Lanka,” in collaboration with the Wildlife

Conservation Society of Galle, furthering his lifelong mission to preserve the island’s natural heritage through art. At present, he is embarking on a revised edition of “Birds of Sri Lanka” with Dr. Sarath Kotagama, a project that will mark the 50th Anniversary of the Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka — a fitting tribute to five decades of dedication to avian study and artistic excellence.

War and Departure

The civil conflict that engulfed Sri Lanka in the early 1980s forced many artists and intellectuals to seek safety abroad. Ratnavira was invited by both the American and Australian ambassadors to continue his work overseas. Choosing the United States, he left his homeland in 1986, not as an exile but as an emissary of its natural beauty.

Before leaving, he completed one of his most monumental commissions—a nine-foot mural of ring-neck parakeets for the Bandaranaike International Airport, valued at a price much higher than the total sum of money Ratnavira “earned in his art career”. He also painted more than 150 canvases for Habarana Lodge (now Cinnamon Lodge), works that remain significant components of Sri Lanka’s modern-art collections and are now on display at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Sri Lanka.

A New Chapter in America

Settling in California, Ratnavira opened the Hidden Forest Art Gallery and began exhibiting at premier wildlife-art shows—the Pacific Rim Art Expo in Seattle, Easton’s Waterfowl Festival in Maryland, Charleston’s Southeastern Wildlife Expo, and the famed Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum’s Birds in Art exhibition. His works found their way to the grand stages of Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Bonhams auctions.

His reputation grew rapidly. Collectors included museums, ornithologists, and statesmen. The San Diego Natural History Museum commissioned forty-three paintings depicting the endangered species of its region. The Rare Bird Club of the United Kingdom and the late Dr. James Clements, author of Checklist of the Birds of the World, became among his foremost patrons.

In 2005, his life-size bronze sculpture Jewel of the Emerald Forest—a hyacinth macaw rendered with exquisite precision—was installed in the National Geographic Society’s Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C. The same year, he was honoured as the Sri Lankan American of the Year by the Sri Lankan Consulate in Los Angeles for his artistic achievements and contributions to conservation.

Faith, Philosophy, and Technique

Though geographically distant from his birthplace, Ratnavira never severed the spiritual tether that bound him to it. His Buddhist heritage continued to inform his world-view. He often said that painting was a form of meditation, a way of honouring the cycles of life and death. His canvases teem with symbiosis—flowers blooming beside butterflies that pollinate them, predators shown not as killers but as participants in nature’s balance.

Technically, his method is meticulous. Beginning with sketches from his field journals and photographs, he paints directly with his brushes, working from dark to light, layer upon translucent layer. Sun-edged leaves, insect bites on petals, or the litter of the forest floor—all appear rendered with uncanny realism yet imbued with poetic tenderness. His compositions are never mere studies of wildlife; they are windows into living ecosystems, microcosms of harmony that echo the Buddhist doctrine of interdependence.

When asked what keeps him painting after so many decades, he replies with simplicity: “Gratitude.” For Ratnavira, art is thanksgiving—to the earth, to the animals, to life itself.

The Partnership of Life and Art

In the United States, fate introduced him to Lisa Ratnavira, a volunteer working on an elephant-conservation project. Their shared love for animals blossomed into a partnership of both life and art. Lisa became his Gallery Director, poetic collaborator, and muse. Together they produced books such as Travelling with Pen and Brush and Grief’s Labyrinth and Other Poems, where her verses find visual echo in his illustrations.

For over twenty-five years, the couple have travelled, exhibited, and taught together, balancing professional success with a profound commitment to conservation. Their union, grounded in compassion, has become emblematic of the life they champion through art—the unity between human affection and the natural world.

Conservation and the Natalie Ratnavira Education Center

Tragedy entered the Ratnavira family with the loss of their daughter Natalie Ann Ratnavira in 2012 to a sudden brain aneurysm. A promising wildlife-conservation student at the University of Nevada, Reno, Natalie embodied her father’s ethos of loving nature deeply. To honour her memory, the family established the Natalie Ratnavira Education and Nature Center in Galle, Sri Lanka, built in partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society of Galle.

The centre serves as a sanctuary for artists, scientists, and naturalists—providing a space to study, create, and protect Sri Lanka’s unique ecosystems. Each of Ratnavira’s paintings now bears a small dragonfly near his signature, a delicate symbol of Natalie’s spirit. The recently discovered freshwater fish Devario sp. nataliei was named in her honour, immortalising her love for wildlife in scientific taxonomy as well as memory.

Global Advocacy and Exhibitions

Ratnavira’s art has long been inseparable from activism. Through exhibitions such as Vanishing Wildlife of Texas, collaborations with the Hummingbird Society, Parrots International, Tapirs of the World, and fundraising efforts for disaster-relief causes, he has channelled art into tangible good. His 42-foot African mural at Safari West, California, remains one of the largest privately commissioned wildlife paintings in America, a panorama of biodiversity and balance.

In 1993 he founded the Reflections of Nature Wildlife Art Show in Fallbrook, California—a platform that ran for nearly three decades, nurturing young artists and promoting conservation through creativity. His works continue to feature in international exhibitions curated by institutions such as David J. Wagner, L.L.C. Notably, the 2021 travelling exhibition Animal Groups showcased his depictions of Indian-Ocean fauna, reaffirming his relevance in the global wildlife-art community even after fifty years of painting.

Legacy and Influence

Today, Ratnavira’s paintings hang in museums, universities, and private collections across continents. Yet his true legacy lies not merely in the art itself but in the attitude, it embodies: the belief that beauty is inseparable from responsibility. In Sri Lanka, where deforestation and species loss continue to threaten biodiversity, Ratnavira’s name evokes both nostalgia and challenge—a reminder of what the island once was and what it might yet preserve. His early field guides remain reference works for students and researchers; his stamps and logos endure as visual symbols of national pride.

For the diaspora, he is a bridge between past and present, homeland and adopted land. To the global art community, he stands as proof that talent, guided by sincerity and service, transcends geography.

When honoured as Sri Lankan American of the Year, he remarked, “A road is not built for one to travel upon.” That phrase encapsulates his life philosophy. Every painting, every conservation project, every teaching effort is an invitation for others to walk beside him—to see the world not as resource, but as kin.

Conclusion: The Eternal Flight

In tracing the life of Gamini Ratnavira, one follows the flight of a bird—rising from the green canopy of Sri Lanka, crossing oceans, and circling the world, yet always returning to the same inner forest of wonder. His career stands at the confluence of art, faith, and environmental consciousness. Few have so deftly united these domains, fewer still have done so with such humility.

Through his eyes, we are reminded that beauty and duty are inseparable; that to paint a creature is to acknowledge its right to exist. His canvases are not merely portraits of wildlife—they are acts of preservation, safeguarding in colour what the world risks losing in reality.

Half a century after his first exhibition blessed by President Jayewardene, Ratnavira continues to create with the same quiet reverence that guided his nineteen-year-old self beneath the forest canopy. The boy who once watched raindrops gather on an elephant-ear leaf has grown into an artist who gathers worlds upon his canvas.

As he himself says, “I approach each painting with gratitude for the life I have been allowed to live.” That gratitude, luminous and enduring, is his truest masterpiece.

By Avishka Mario Senewiratne ✍️

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Features

More state support needed for marginalised communities

Published

8 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

1 day 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

1 day 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.