Would it be of any use even if they build thousand flyovers when you drive like this?
Source: http://www.lankadeepa.lk/2009/10/21/front_news/03.html
Fifth graders
October 19, 2009 at 11:00 am (Extremes, General, Political)
Tags: Fifth grader, henchman, Media, news, Politics, smart
Here’s a potential model question for next year’s fifth grade scholarship examination.
Background:
A and B are high profile characters in a certain country. They were good friends and considered as heroes in that country. However the duo were not in good terms lately since B was considered a threat to A’s position. But this was categorically denied by A. C is A’s ultimate henchman who holds a doctorate from an alien University. C launched an attack on B publically which made headlines in mass media.
Few days later, media reported that A has summoned C and blasted him for attacking B.
Questions:
(i). Who revealed the news of A blasting C for attacking B to the media?
(ii). Why he would have revealed it to the media?
(iii). What is your conclusion of this scenario?
Answers:
(i). The media reports do not indicate the presence of any other person at the time A blasted C for attacking B. C is unlikely to reveal it to the media since he is the embarrassed and ashamed party in the given situation. Therefore A has revealed it to the media.
(ii). Since C is A’s ultimate henchman, C wouldn’t have done anything without the backing of A. When C’s act made headlines in mass media, A wanted to get his hands off the situation. So A summoned C, had a fake go at him and leaked the news to the media to clear his name.
(iii). A and C are smarter than a fifth grader, but none of us are.
Two years ago
October 14, 2009 at 9:30 pm (Personal)
On a day like today, I cried. You were happily kicking and playing in your mommy’s tummy. It was heaven for you. But you didn’t know what was going to happen to you the next day. You didn’t want to come out but we did. We were going to take you out forcibly from the heaven and I couldn’t bear it. I apologized; I said sorry many a time and I couldn’t keep it tight any more. I cried the whole night.
When you were taken out the next day, you cried a lot too. We could hardly stop you. I was lost in excitement and didn’t really feel happy or sad. But what a gift you have been since then! I have not been good to you some times but what an angel you have been all the time! Thank you for making our lives so fulfilled and we owe you so much for that. Many happy returns of the day Sweetheart!
Sum it up
September 29, 2009 at 9:38 am (General, Music, Personal, Political)
Tags: live shows, Music, Sri Lanka
This song that I randomly found pretty much sums up the current situation of our country. In fact, this is a mix of two songs, first of which is very popular but I’ve never heard the second one before.
Listen it here: http://www.slhits.com/links/songs.jsp?id=452646374 and enjOY!
Presentation
September 26, 2009 at 6:00 pm (Environmental, General, Holidays, International, Personal)
Tags: Australia, Canberra, Floriade, History, museum, natural resources, presentation, Sri Lanka
We went to see the annual Floriade in Canberra last weekend. Driven by its popularity and propaganda, I was expecting a spectacular event but it turned out to be a heartbreaker. Yes, it was a pretty good one, but the ‘WOW’ factor was missing, or may be I expected too much out of it.
Every year, they come up with a theme and this year it was ‘Mind, Body and Soul’. They grow various types of flowers, mainly tulips, in meaningful shapes to elaborate that theme. But the truth is; only people flying in airplanes can see the shapes. True, there was a giant wheel, but you can only see a small part of the exhibition from that. However massive crowds were coming from all parts of the country to witness it.
On our way back home, we talked about how well something similar could have been done back in Sri Lanka. Let alone a flower exhibition, how many scenic spectaculars do we have back home that could have drawn thousands of visitors? But why do we fail in attracting big crowds? It’s the presentation.
In these countries, they don’t have that many attractions but they know how to present the little things they’ve got. When I first visited the National Museum of Australia, I was amused by the way they have presented their short history using state-of-the-art technology. Thinking about the rich and centuries long history we’ve got, I immediately felt what wonders we could have done with it.
In this country, story is the same everywhere you go. Very little in quantity, very big in presentation. You would find information centers, parking facilities, toilets, changing rooms for babies, cafes, souvenir shops, guided tours, free maps or brochures, decent and polite staff to help, clean and well maintained environment… basically every single facility an average visitor would need at every single attraction.
If we can get these infrastructures in place and get things organized, we could have done unbelievably well with the incredible natural beauty and the rich history we are gifted with. But the sad side of the story is that we don’t realize how much they mean to us and how much they mean to people around the world. We either forget about managing these places properly or we don’t have any idea about it. Just think about a toilet at one of our tourist attractions. Can anyone with a faintest sense of smell use them?
It’s all about presentation. If you can bundle the naturally and historically gifted resources with decent facilities and infrastructure you don’t need fancy videos or theme songs or “small miracle” kind of multi million propaganda to attract people. For that we’d probably need people who can think beyond borders and act beyond conventions and constraints at positions that matter.
