The Sportsman in me and other Beasts

The Sportsman in me and other Beasts

By

Gyan C A Fernando

Illustrated by N. Senthilkumaran

“Success is not really important. Everyone loves success. Everyone wants to do things well. But we all know that people are really good at doing things badly. Failure is the thing that we are best at. This is the difference between people and animals and we must not think that failure is bad.”

Stephen Pile, the author of “The Book of Heroic Failures”

I was never good at sports or I was good at it. It is a matter of opinion.

 I achieved my first major and historical victory in the field of sports; a long, long time ago in August 1959, when I come last in the Sack Race at the Sports Meet day at my old school, cheered by all! 

Think Plastic or Swim

Think Plastic or Swim

 My Efforts to Counter Global Warming

By

 Gyan C A Fernando

With illustrations by N. Senthilkumaran

Drastic events need drastic action! That is what I always say when I’ve had a beer, or two. They have been sinking for years, not the beers; and no one has done anything for them except generate a lot of hot air in Geneva and in New York.

Unlike them, I am a Man of Action, a sort of a Superman or a Minor Deity!  You know what I mean, don’t you?  No?

Go Easy on the Confetti, Please!

Go Easy on the Confetti, Please!

By

Gyan C A Fernando

Illustrated by N. Senthilkumaran

Life sometimes brings up pleasant little surprises!

Take this morning, for instance: I discovered that I could get married for just Rs30! Not that I want get married again, but isn’t that a pleasant little surprise?

Want to buy some fake sapphires?

Pssst! Want to buy some fake Sapphires…?

 By

Gyan C A Fernando

Illustrated by N Senthilkumaran

T

he good old Republic of Sri Lanka is famous for some of the nicest precious stones in the world and as one might expect, most Sri Lankans seem to be obsessed with buying, selling, acquiring or mining; legally or illegally, mostly the latter.

"El Bandido", my Paraguayan business partner

Most refer to precious stones as Gems but quite often as Gem’s (sic), with a total disregard for the correct usage of the apostrophe.

Gem’s..er…I mean Gems… are rather nice, but they tend to bring out the baser instincts of Srilankan-kind.

Galloping Inflation

Galloping Inflation, Running Bears and a lot of Bull

How a Family Game of Monopoly turned into Economic Chaos

By

Gyan C A Fernando

Illustrated by N. Senthilkumaran

Any family card game or board game that we undertake in our household has a tendency to descend into chaos. Most blame me of course and accuse me of cheating, which I don’t, but I do admit that I have a tendency to bend the rules. 

Match me against my niece Samanmalee, aka Sam (pretty, 35+), and things become totally mired. For a start, Sam has a broadband brain combined with a 100 gigahertz clock speed, plus a loud mouth. She can also turn her charm on and off rapidly to suit the circumstances.

The other day, we were all at a loose end and decided to play a game of Monopoly to pass the time.

Tintin in Sri Lanka

TINTIN: An adventure like no other

By

Gyan C. A. Fernando

Illustrated by N. Senthilkumaran (with apologies to Herge’)

The other day I went to see the Tintin movie at the Liberty Cinema in the company of my young nephew and his lovely fiancée. I wanted to see it on the big screen but was rather reluctant to go on my own, so the young couple took pity on the old Uncle and off we went. Mind you, I did pay for the tickets!