More than a thousand years ago, in the grand and ancient land of Persia (modern-day Iran), the followers of Zoroastrianism, a faith established by Prophet Zarathustra, lived in peace, worshipping their divine fire and upholding the sacred tenets of Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds. But fate turned against them when the Arab invaders swept across Persia in the 7th and 8th centuries CE, bringing new rulers and a new religion. The once-proud Zoroastrians found themselves persecuted, forced to convert, pay heavy taxes, or flee. Faced with oppression, a courageous group of Zoroastrians, led by their high priest Dastur Neryosang Dhaval, made a bold choice. They would leave their homeland, carrying with them their sacred fire, their faith, and…
Tag: RotaractArts
Manu Needhi Chozhan
இலங்கையின் அனுராதபுரத்தைச் சோழ வம்சத்து அரசனான எல்லாளன் ஆண்டு வந்தான். மக்களின் குறைகளைக் கண்டறிய அவனது அரண்மனையின் வாயிலில் ஒரு மணியைக் கட்டிவிட்டான். அது ஆராய்ச்சி மணி என மக்களால் மதிக்கப்பட்டது. இதனால் மக்களின் குறைகளை அரசன் தீர்த்து வைத்து வந்தான். மற்றும் இதனால் நகரவாசிகளும் பயனடைந்தனர். இவ்வாறு சில நாட்கள் கழிந்தன. ஒரு நாள் திடீரென்று ஆராய்ச்சி மணி ஒலிக்கும் சத்தம் கேட்டு முதலமைச்சர் வாயில் வந்து பார்த்தார். அங்குப் பசுவொன்று மணியை அடித்துக் கொன்று நிண்டது. ஆகவே அவர் காவலாளிகளை அனுப்பி பசுவின் துக்கத்திற்கான காரணத்தைக் கண்டறிந்தார். இளவரசன் விளையாட்டிற்காக அரண்மனை தேரினை ஒட்டி சென்ற தருணத்தில் தேர்க்காலில் அந்த பசுவின் கன்று சிக்குண்டு இறந்து போயிற்று. இதனை அந்த அமைச்சர், மன்னர் அறியாது மறைத்துவிட எண்ணினார். ஆனால் எவ்வாறோ அந்த செய்தி மன்னன் செவிகளை எட்டிவிட்டது. அதனை அறிந்த மன்னன் பசுவின் கன்றிற்கு நடந்ததை போன்றே தன் மகனுக்கும் நடக்க வேண்டும் என நீதி வழங்கினார். அதற்கு அந்த அமைச்சர் "ஒரு சிறுவனின் குறும்புத்தனத்தால் ஒரு கன்று பலியானது. அதற்காக இந்த நாட்டின் எதிர்கால இளவரசனையே…
Gamarala Divyaloke Giya ( The farmer that went to heaven)
Long long ago in a quiet village lived a Gamarala, who grew paddy. He worked tirelessly tending to his crops. One day as he was walking through a paddy field his heart sank. A large portion of the paddy had been chewed away, he cried out “oh my precious paddy”. He was enraged and deeply saddened at what had happened to all his hard work. Someone or something had feasted on his precious paddy. To teach the culprit a lesson he went to his field at night and kept watch. He was trying his best to stay awake, something unbelievable happened. Down from the clouds descended a beautiful, elegant white elephant. Without even waiting a minute to look around, the…
How Andare ate the King’s Sugar
A long time ago, during the reign of King Keerthi Sri Rajasinghe, there lived a clever court jester named Andare. With his sharp wit and mischievous tricks, he entertained the royals and was granted unusual freedom in the king’s court. One morning, while visiting the royal palace, Andare noticed some sugar spread out on a mat to dry. In those days, sugar was a rare luxury, imported for the elite, while common people used jaggery or honey as sweeteners. Seeing the sugar, Andare was overcome with greed, and he immediately began plotting a way to taste it. Feigning ignorance, Andare asked the king, “Your Majesty, what is that drying on the mat?”. The king, suspicious of Andare’s intentions, decided to…
“Yellow”
He bloomed like the yellow flowers on the street, Next to the pile of rotten leaves and weed. I do not remember the name, I knew once when I was younger, More innocent and stupid. The petals were far apart, And there were no pretty butterflies to suck its nectar. I went to smell it, for the bright yellow enticed me, But there was nothing. All I smelt was the wet concrete of the road, And my feet with slippers were covered in mud. The rain poured from above, crashing onto my frail umbrella And the wind started to blow. But the petals never fell, And I didn't want to go. -Rtr. Vibhavee Sarathchandra
Role of Digital Literacy in Empowering Future Generations
Digital literacy can be defined as the ability to effectively use and understand digitaltechnology, which means being able to search, communicate, evaluate, and createinformation online. In the 21st century, where technology is thriving like never before,having strong digital literacy skills gives one an edge over others in careers, education,and even daily life. As this is an era where most processes and activities are performedonline, navigating the web efficiently is a significant skill. Digital literacy empowersfuture generations by bridging knowledge gaps and fostering inclusion in terms ofeducation and learning as well as career growth. The ability to access the wealth of information online with precision is provided by digitalliteracy. Even for less-privileged students, resources can be found, offered free of chargeand…
If Love Was An Hourglass
“If I ever were to lose you, I’d surely lose myself” Someone once asked me, “What does love mean to you?”. Simple as it may seem and yet only a fool would pretend to know the answer to a question of that nature I thought. For what man or woman is capable of stringing together the words necessary to provide such a nuanced response? But am I not human? Am I not allowed to feel? Am I not allowed to have a perspective that is subjectively my own, I wondered, unsure if I wanted to respond at first. We sat in silence until I softly replied. I think love is a great many things. It is the bearer of fruit.…
மானிட சக்தி எமது பார்வையில்
பாரதிதாசன் பாரதியை பின்பற்றி ஆரம்பத்திலே பாடல்களை எழுதி வந்தாலும் பின்பு இந்தியாவிலே ஏற்பட்ட கடவுள் மறுப்புக் கொள்கை கடவுளை விட மனிதனே மேலானவன் ஆகிய திராவிட வேறுபாடு போன்ற அறிஞர் அண்ணாவின் கோட்பாடுகள் அவரை ஆட்கொண்டமையை அவரது பிற்காலப் பாடல்கள் வாயிலாக அறியலாம். இந்த வேறுபாட்டுத் தன்மையை வெளிப்படுத்துவதற்கு அவரது இளமைப்பருவத்தில் "எங்கெங்குங் காணினும் சக்தியடா-தம்பி ஏழுகடல் அவள் வண்ணமடா" எனப் பாடத் தொடங்கினார். இது இவரது அறிமுகக் கவிதையாக அமைந்தது. (செல்வநாயகம். வி 1965 : 162) பிற்காலத்தில் அவரது கவிதைகள் கடவுள் மறுப்பு குறித்தான விடயங்களை அலசி ஆராயத் தலைப்பட்டன. " பஞ்சமர் பார்ப்பனர் என்பதெல்லாம் என்ன? இவை பாரத நாட்டுப் பழிச்சின்னத்தின் பெயர்த்தோழி ஆலயம் சாமி அழைத்தவர் யாரடி அறிவை இருப்பாக்கி ஆள நினைப்பவர் தோழா ஆண்மை கொள் ஏக பனிக்கு பரிந்தென்ன? அவர் அன்பெறும் நன்முரசு எங்கும் முழங்கினார் தோழா கோல நல்லாக குறித்தது தான் என்ன? கோயிலென்றால் அன்பு தோல் மனம் என்றார் தோழா! இந்த வரிசையில் தான் பாரதிதாசனின் "மானிடசக்தி" என்ற கவிதையும் அமைந்துள்ளதைக் காணலாம். இக் கவிதையில் உலகிலுள்ள அத்தனை…
Do I love everything? Do I hate everything?
Love is such a chaotic little word-kind of like that sibling you secretly hope was adopted, isn’t it? One minute I’m obsessed, the next I am side eyeing it like it just stole my last fry. I’ve been sitting here debating with myself for the last fifteen minutes about what to even say about it. Dramatic, I know. But here’s the thing—what I love today might be the very thing that annoys me tomorrow. Take this, for example: a cozy, rainy evening with a bowl of cheesy ramen in hand (small portion, of course—can’t risk getting fat), wrapped in the fluffiest blanket while watching a rom-com K-drama. Sounds dreamy, right? But wait, the fan must be on, blowing my hair…
මා කියවූ අපූරු පොත
පොත් කියවීම යනු එක්තරා ආකාරය ඇබ්බැහි වීමකි. විවිධාකාර ඇබ්බැහවීම් අතර යහපත් ඇබ්බැහි යක් වන මෙය තුලින් අපට උකහා ගත හැකි දෑ බොහෝය.කුඩා කළ පටන් ඇති ආසාව නිසාම පොත් කියවීමට රුචිකත්වයක් ඇති මුත් සෑම පොතක්ම මා ඇලුම් කරන්නේ නැත. එසේ ඇලුම් කළ පොත් අතර ඉහළින් ම පවතින අපූරු කතාන්දරයක් ලෙස මහින්ද ප්රසාද් මස්ඉඹුල මහතාගේ මැයි මාර ප්රසංගය දැක්විය හැකිය . සාහිත්යය මාසයේ දිනයක විශ්ව විද්යාලයේ සිංහල අධ්යන අංශයේ පැවති පොත් ප්රදර්ශනයකින් මිලට ගත් මේ කෘතියෙහි නම ඇසූ සැනින් මා මුල්වරට සිතුවේ මෙය කවි පොතක් වන්නට ඇතැයි යනුවෙනි. නමුත් මෙහි සැබැවින්ම ගැබ්ව ඇත්තේ අප්රකාශිත නමුත් අපරාජිත වූ පිවිතුරු ආදර අන්දරයකි.සාම්ප්රදායික ආදර කතා මෙන් නොව මෙය අහිංසක හිත් කොනක තනිවූ අපූරු ආදර කතාන්දරයක් ලෙස දැක්විය හැකිය. කතාවේ කථානායකයා වන සමිධ අතුලසිරි යනු සාහිත්යයමය…