Oscar Fernando

WAR- A- LUDICRACY – By Oscar E V Fernando Peter, Paul and Mary – Where Have All the Flowers Gone (25th Anniversary Concert) With billions of people inhabiting planet earth-it will not be an exaggeration to say that there will be as many opinions as there are inhabitants; Dictionary defines the word opinion as a view held as probable and one can therefore conclude that a dispute on a probability leading to a quarrel-fisticuff-battle or war-is ludicrous to say the least: it will only reveal the egoism of two persons that eventually spreads into formation of parties carrying venomous slogans-leading to a brutal war-thus two can cause a World War!! Even at this very moment are we not sliding into an imminent World War? The two concerned politicians will of course justify it so as to continue their reign and power and most of them on the battle field would only ...

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Grow More Food – Oscar E V Fernando Our proud boast of being the Granary of the East is a far cry today but we have hope as we still have the same fertile land that can be tilled-this time after having consumed the last dregs of humiliation in having been reduced to the begging bowl from the Grand Granary-and also as we have the same mold of people who can be made to put their hands to the plough with proper guidance on techniques, modern equipment and a youth friendly rural society-this time guided private entrepreneurs and not by our chair-warming and lethargic ‘public servants’ this can be achieved with enticing invitations to local and foreign investors on the basis of Public Private Partnerships-for tilling of the land. On accepting aid from capitalist/communist countries It is apt to touch on this much hackneyed subject which is common knowledge to the ...

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War And Peace – by Oscar E V Fernando   War is defined as an intense armed conflict between nations and/or communities within- causing massive suffering and casualties. What is a conflict? It can be a disagreement-argument or quarrel-an opinionated clash of aims-interests or ideas between just two people, spreading into a clique of similar minded people-and ending up with the whole community or nation to battle-aroused from their otherwise normal and peaceful existence. This is well explained in a quote from Leo Tolstoy’s novel on War and Peace; he says-if everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war-meaning that if the innocent youth actually knew the accurate cause for which they are fighting, they would not face the battle cry for which they had been well groomed by the initial proponents-some are fed with the idea of a false patriotism and others clasp the invitation for battle because they are ...

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Valentine’s Day in the light of Christian admonishment on Love – by Oscar E V Fernando Valentine’s Day-VD-originated as a Christian feast of the early Church but later this was coined by folk traditions and now remains a cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world-especially of the Christian tradition. So is the meaning of VD described loosely on Google.   It is the writer’s opinion that over the long span of years of Christianity, some adherents have continued to believe in the original teachings of creation and love namely-that a human being was created in the image and likeness of the Creator and that the Creator is the very essence of Love-and some have swayed away from these traditional and Faith Filled beliefs mainly in the Creator and that of VD itself and society finds itself turmoiled in thought-word and deed!    ...

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Sawasangeetha – We Are Sri Lanka And We Stand Together by Oscar E V Fernando Sawasangeetha (SS) was a musical program initiated by the then Chairman of Sri Lanka Foundation (SLF)-H W Jayewardene QC, in 1982 continuing monthly and on occasions bi-monthly-until mid-nineties. Being a Queen’s Counsel with a penchant for many a British practice, Mr Jayewardene discussed with me what he described as ‘an initiative by SLF. I as Director Finance and a Board Member of this institute was very eager to find out more about the ‘Grand Initiative’ of this gentle giant, with whom I closely associated until his sudden demise whilst on an Indian tour. He said he was keen on introducing to our country the concept of Promenade Concerts of England-these concerts being musical performances in the 18th and 19th century pleasure Gardens of London, where the audience would stroll about while listening to the music. Realizing ...

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Sacrificial Love – by Oscar E V Fernando If you feel affection to your neighbor or your romantic partner-it is concluded as love-is it love flowing from the gentle nature of man-the very ingredient he/she is made of-in the creator’s stature and original design and accepted in faith by the so called unwise and the simple-following the admonition to be like children? is that divine plan of pure love-now contaminated-needing a determined effort to find this pearl of great price only at a price and sacrifice? they say they have fallen in love-whereas in many cases it would appear they are in a trance with self-hypnotism-adoring each other with a hypnotic make believe do we not see that some of these cooing love birds when faced with their first litmus test in bearing mutual sacrifices- stumble and fall-a common instance being the arrival of a child-when the molly coddled son/daughter now turned ...

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The Flow Eternal – by Oscar E V Fernando   My spirit waits still-my cells slither along-observing life in wisdom and prudence-flowing-flowing and flowing along-searching for the end eternal On and on mid dell and dale I slide-move and crawl-no harm to any spelled-even when provoked to stall-but no-I move along with no time in waste to win or bawl I see-I hear-I collect human drama both cruel and joy-rumbling-rumbling I keep rolling along-in self-esteem-washing-polishing stones to shimmer-for those who make it a price for their supper- the fish fauna and the flora within-I feed cloth and shelter as humans should-for those in need-to live better-but do not-due to human folly-greed-arrogance and violence so bitter Find my way with peace to all-singing-whistling melodies-to fall-mellow at times-at times roaring rough to bawl-when of a sudden my silvery shined face-distorted by toxic waste-drained on me by greed and industry’s pelf of waste-stop ...

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Memory – by Oscar E V Fernando Memory is defined as-ability of the mind to remember-the mind’s store of remembered events-impressions-knowledge-ideas etcetera-all linked to the mind And what is it to forget-is it to forget something-to forget about something-is it to fail or be unable to remember? Or is it stop being aware of something-neglect or overlook something-leave behind something accidentally-to dismiss something from one’s mind Does it boggle your mind to realize that all these are-our mind playing hide and seek with us? Haven’t we at any one time or the other in our life not faced the aforesaid states of mind None can say – we have not It was so from our childhood up to our later years-but gradually it became a problem to think of as we closed in onto middle age-when it’s frequency and duration increased-for some it has become a frightening prospect to deal with-battling with ...

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Poverty – by Oscar E V Fernando   Poverty is described as the condition of being poor and in want-poor in quality-in adequacy-in efficiency-imagination etcetera-and the most impactful of all to society, is the poverty of insufficient money-to-leave alone live comfortably, but having to live in squalor-misery-hunger and consequent malnutrition United Nations-(UN)-says-poverty is-the inability to have choices and opportunities-a violation of human dignity-not having-enough to clothe and feed a family-no school or clinic to go to-land to till-a job to earn one’s living nor have access to credit Poverty brings out hunger-an uneasy sensation-leading to exhaustion caused by want of food and water-causing malnutrition-leading to mental retardation and physical stunting of children-thus causing eventual death-and that-purely due to poverty Hunger and poverty are called-twins in a trap and is a pointer towards terrorism from early recorded history-we observe there was inequality of wealth and social status in the world-so much ...

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