Ponderings: Bombarded as we have been these past few days by Valentine’s Day-related posts and ads, I’ve been thinking a lot about love – love in friendship, to be precise, which I’ve found to be one of the most steadfast forms of love.
The world as we know it mostly focuses on how hard love is – all suffering and sacrifice and so on – but no one really speaks about how easy love is when you get it right. Because love is easy when you get it right, when you are given it right.
By getting it right, I don’t mean working towards keeping it right – which plays a huge part and takes a lot of work, because love is also work – but about being able to experience a love that comes unbidden and unexpected and quietly envelops you.
Such love is surely a gift from the universe, a gift everyone deserves, and this gift, in my experience, often comes in the form of true friendship – offering love that is easy in a world that is hard in many ways.
People: Sri Lanka just commemorated its 76th Independence Day, which dawned upon a people who are heavily burdened and fast losing hope, beset as we have been by crisis upon crisis. While corruption has long been a norm here, the sickening immunoglobulin scandal underscores the importance of appointing leaders with integrity.
When speaking of integrity, I am reminded of Narmada Thiranagama’s thoughts shared on X (formerly Twitter) in September 2021 about her mother Dr. Rajini Thiranagama, to mark the anniversary of her murder. Her words have stayed with me, returning to my mind often, when contemplating the sorry state of the nation today.
Here is a part of her posts: “My mother’s belief in other human beings also meant she believed that if she lived her life with integrity (a dangerous way to live), that her children would be protected. That she was an ordinary woman and that the world was full of people like her. They would protect us always.”
If only more people thought like her and lived life with integrity, we would surely not be where we are now. This country desperately needs more people who do what is right.
Plates: If you’re looking for a juicy beef burger that’s pure perfection, check out Pounders in Nugegoda.
While the quarter pounder is more than enough for me, they also serve a half pounder, a double half pounder, and a massive one pounder. There are chicken and prawn burgers on the menu too (haven’t tried them), along with fries and drinks. The prices are reasonable, the servings are generous, and the quality has thus far been excellent. I hope all this stays the same, because this is one burger I don’t want to have to give up on.