WELCOMING

It started off as my own little Wordpress blog. However when you have ambitious friends around you, they make you aim for far greater things. Udara Jayawardene designed a website for the blog and as Co-founders we have been running IC since April as an independent news opinion site open for anyone to express their opinion on international and Sri Lankan issues.

Currently the site is focused on the Indian Ocean Region affairs, with an acute focus on

The competition was aimed at undergraduates in line with spreading the word about the Global Goals – SDGS. It combines marketing a Unilever brand while also conducting social work towards achieving one of the targets of the SDGS. In my case it’s Goal 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation – under Lifebuoy.

I got into the finals following an initial proposal prepared rather haphazardly by our three member team from RIC and then to semi-finals presenting a marketing campaign while having zero knowledge or experience in marketing.

Awards are simply rewards one gets for the small facets society sees of our much bigger achievements in life. For me the biggest achievement has been my transformation over the last few years. When I graduated from school I don’t reckon I was ready for the challenges of life. I was what I regarded as a shy kid lacking in self-confidence. Leadership was not an inherent skill. Social capital has never been my strength. Yet over the last few years,

I have been able to change that all around. Once a strict introvert, now people sometimes mistake me for an extrovert at times. I used to believe I was not much of a writer, but today I am running my own news opinion site and encouraging others to write. I was not someone who would raise my hand in class for any opportunity. But now I take up most of the best opportunities that come my way. It’s a personal transformation that has allowed me to achieve what I have recently and connect with the people I have met over the last few years.

Usually listening to some great music by Coldplay, Travis, The Beatles or The Who or any great rock/ alternative artists helps me unwind. But nothing beats having a good chat with a few friends over coffee or ginger tea in a nice cosy spot about the world, politics, development or philosophy in winding down.