Music, song and dance

Ruwanthi ABEYAKOON

WHEN 2006 dawned, Mazenodians knew that it was going to be a year of joy for them. This year De Mazenod College celebrates its diamond jubilee. For 75 long years this college has produced many personalities who have brought glory and honour to the country as well as their alma mater.

A line-up of events were drawn to celebrate this event with splendour. One of the grand events came to an end last Sunday at Bishop's College Auditorium. It was a concert of performing arts organised by the talented students of the college.

After their enchanting performance they expressed their ideas to Daily News Teen.

A group of boys who captured the hearts of the audience with their lovely voices said they sang two songs from contrasting periods.

"One was a Latin spiritual belonging to the Barroc style called Panis Angelicas meaning bread of angels. The other one was the song We are the world," they explained.

Jude Joseph, 16, the choir leader said they had participated many competitions before and this wasn't a difficult task.

"There were 15 choristers in this item. We sang four parts. We enjoyed this a lot. With a perfect trainer like our western music teacher Priyani Rajakaruna we knew it was going to be a wonderful performance," he said.

Shihan Vinod, 18, has done dancing from Grade six and took part in a dance item trained by dancing teachers Kanchana Tissera and Lakchira Tennakone.

"This dance was a new creation. It showed the steps of the rubber industry. Every step of making rubber was shown in the dance. I have participated in Kala Mangalya and this concert enhanced my experience," he said.

"We had two groups in the dance. There were 22 children in the dance. The idea of sharing was also brought out through the dance. It was a lovely experience.

I took part in the pooja dance also. I enjoy dancing," said Ludmilla Moses,18, who took part in the same item.

Praneeth Priyadarshana, 16, and Nisal Thiwanka, 17, together with their friends participated in the native orchestra trained by Thushara Sandakalum, their master.

"We played many native instruments. The dance was a combination of all three traditions- up country, low country and Sabaragamu. We practised after school and we were able to give a good performance," Praneeth said.

"All members of the eastern band participated. All were dedicated so it was beautiful. The dancers made added more colour to the item," said Nisal.

A group of girls dressed in colourful costumes came up on the stage. They did a ballroom dance which won a huge applaud from the audience. This dance was trained by Christine Palmon, an English teacher and Nick Jayamaha.

Sewwandi Jayamanna, 16, said they worked hard to make this a success. "We put in a lot of effort. We practised very hard. We had only a short time to do everything but somehow we managed to perform well," she explained.

Shahelika De Costa, 15, Manisha Samarasinghe, 14 and Malka Palliyaguru, 15, also participated in the same dance.

"We were chosen by the teacher. We all worked together and it was fun. I enjoyed every bit of it," Shahelika said.

"We dedicated ourselves because we had a short time and some of us took part in other items too. With all the hardships we are happy that we were able to have a lovely performance. Everybody enjoyed our dance and we are very happy," exclaimed Manisha. Malka also added that they had beautiful costumes and she had fun with her friends.

There were several other breath-taking performances. All the teachers together with their principal Rev. Bro. Camillus Silva worked hard to make this a success. It was a memorable evening for both the students and the audience.

The Clever King

ONCE upon a time, in an extremely large and famous country called Damton there lived a great and generous King called Lord Gustav and his most beautiful wife named Queen Victoria. They were kind and helpful to everyone; even the animals loved them dearly.

One pleasant summer day, Victoria gave birth to the most charming and gentle baby Prince and so they named him Prince William.

There was great rejoicing all over the country. People from all parts of Damton came to bless the baby Prince but not all were happy about the arrival of the baby Prince.

Some people from the Northern side wanted their master who was a millionaire named Hector to be King after Lord Gustav and his wife Victoria but knew as they had a son it would be Prince William who would take over the throne after Lord Gustav and Hector wouldn't have a chance.

Hector was furious so he ordered one of his cleverest men named Matthew to make a deal with Lord Gustav. Angrily he said, "If Gustav loses, he should give up the throne but if Gustav wins I would promise never to bother the royal family ever again".

Hector sent for his faithful messenger and ordered him to deliver a message to Lord Gustav's magnificent castle. The messenger eager to deliver the message travelled as fast as he could. Through the forests and towns and finally reached Lord Gustav's magnificent castle.

The guards took him into the throne room were Lord Gustav himself sat on his golden throne with his wife Victoria. The messenger bowed low and read the message to them.

Everybody was shocked. What if the king answers wrong? However, the King remained calm.

Then that very evening Matthew was thinking of a clever question. He wondered and wondered. All sorts of questions came to his mind. How many stars are there in the night sky? How long will it take to climb the highest mountain in the world? Is there such a thing as magic?

Finally, he decided that he should hide a jewel in a pot along with some salt and ask Lord Gustav what was in the pot.

So, the next evening he set of with a large pot with him. They had to cross a large forest. As they came to a deep part of the forest where nobody dared to go near they stopped and slowly and quietly slipped the salt and the jewel thinking nobody had seen then but unluckily for Matthew and Hector a little bird had seen him pour in the salt and the blue diamond inside.

Since the King and Queen had always been kind to the little bird and his family even in the cold winter nights the little bird decided to tell Lord Gustav what he had seen. He flew as fast as he could to the royal palace where the King and Queen sat sadly thinking of their fate.

The soldiers, jesters, animals and country people were also depressed. The kind King and Queen smiled at the bird as he entered the magnificent castle. The bird bowed low and quickly whispered what he had seen in the forest this evening. A happy grin spread over their faces.

The drawbridge was opened for Matthew and Hector. They entered with a nasty grin on their faces. Matthew slowly took out the pot and shook it hard.

Then smiling he asked Lord Gustav "What do you think is in this pot" and without hesitation Lord Gustav replied "Salt and a blue diamond, Hector". The grin spread on their faces faded at once.

Hector shouted out at once "How is it that you know the answer" but Lord Gustav replied "in your message you had promised if I give the correct answer you would leave without a word, go now!" Hector obeyed.

As soon as they were out of the palace, they started arguing about how the king knew the exact answer. "He might have sent spies," said Matthew thoughtfully.

He and Hector thought of an even harder question. This time they thought of telling a few riddles. They had almost read all the books in the library until they were satisfied until they found one they liked.

The next day as darkness began to fall they set off through the woods. At the palace, the royal family was wondering about the next test. The king suddenly felt like reading one of his favourite books, so off he went to the library to pick a book.

He found one old book and on the front cover, there were the words Riddles by Harry Thomas so off he went back to his comfortable throne.

When he had reached the last page, the door opened and in came Matthew and Hector. Matthew cleared his voice and spoke loudly and clearly.

He said, "Sir I shall ask you a simple riddle try your best to answer it"

A box without hinges, key or lid,

Yet golden treasure inside is hid

But luckily, for Lord Gustav it had been one of last riddles he had read, and the answer was right at the tip of his tongue. "Eggs I suppose, that was easy my friend".

Once again, Matthew and Hector stamped out of the palace angrily. This time they thought of the hardest one they could possibly ask him.

The next day Hector arrived with a group of young men including Matthew. This time Lord Gustav did feel a little worried. What was Hector going to ask him now? Hector said, "Let's go out my friend" so Lord Gustav followed by Queen Victoria accompanied by Hector and his men walked out.

Then Hector stood under a pine tree and with a mocking face, he said, "How many leaves do you estimate is in this tree, since it is quite difficult I shall give you 15 minutes to think".

The little bird who had helped the king in the first task heard the conversation. Once again, he decided on helping Lord Gustav so with a lot of chirping he called all his friends to help him so one at a time the needles were finally counted top to bottom, side to side, every single leaf was counted and none were left or over counted.

The little bird fluttered over to the king's ear without anyone seeing and whispered the answer. It was 8,286.

Then Hector said "All right Gustav, time's up, what's the answer?" Gustav said with a small smile "8286" Hector looked at his men. They shook their heads laughing. Lord Gustav was worried, but he stayed calm.

"The answer is 8271," they shouted and rolled on the ground laughing Hector also laughed but as the men rolled on the ground some thing tumbled from each of their pockets.

The missing pine needles!, they had been in the thieves' pockets the whole time! Everyone was delighted except Hector and his men of course but Hector had something to say, his voice trembling with anger he shouted, "Since my men cheated you, I want to ask another question. How did you manage to find the correct answers to all my questions without any problem?" Lord Gustav laughed and said "By my kindness, love and knowledge."

I won and now it's my turn. Please leave my family alone and with another grin he said, "Go or be killed" as you said in your own letter, then he chased Hector away. Then with all his town people, he had a royal banquet and all the animals were welcome to it and they had a splendid time together.

Lord Gustav and Queen Victoria lived happily ever after and when they died their son Prince William ruled after and they never heard of Hector again.

Some people say he killed himself by drinking poison and some say he is still living in his fine house with Matthew and his men but the truth is that he ran away in shame and died alone but we never found out what had happened to Matthew and the rest.

Raveena Amani Weerabahu , Gateway College.

Shaping the Planet

Though the Earth's 'Outer crust' seems very solid to us , it is made up of several massive 'rigid plates (15) which makes up our continents and major oceans. These plates are not "Permanent features" and continuously move in a very slow motion.

Earthquakes are the result of "friction" between two major plates passing each other. This certainly is never a "smooth affair" The pressure that gets build up underneath, releases itself, all of a sudden with such "Vengeance" and overwhelming power causing 'havoc'.

This Article emphasises the significant changes to the 'geological features' of the Earth due to various "Forces of Nature".

Shapers of Earth

The major ways that shapes the Earth can be categorised as follows:

Earthquakes, Action of glaciers, Volcanic eruptions, Eroding mountains, water in motion, ozone layer, and deserts Vs. forests.

Earthquakes having a nice and quiet day of relaxation..? No excitement? watch out! The very ground you are standing on can bring about a "Nightmare" which you will never be able to forget.

Though these earthquakes spell disaster of "High Magnitude" they also help to make "dramatic changes" to the Earth's surface.

"What? you must be out of your mind"! you might say. But it is nothing but the 'truth'.

One 'good' example for this was the huge earthquake in 'Wellington' in 1855

Location: Wellington - New Zealand

Date: January 25, 1855

Time: 2115 hr

While the locals were having what they thought it to be a good night's sleep, an earthquake of 8th magnitude rocked the capital of New Zealand letting only a few buildings to survive to tell the tale.

Then for about eight hours the 'tide' kept rising (about two to three mts) and receding (about one mt) continuously.

Next morning, the locals could hardly believe their own eyes. The sea has seemingly receded to a level far beyond the usual 'tidal limits'

But, No! It certainly is not another "Tsunami"!!

In fact, it was the land that had received a massive 'up-lift' of about three mts from the normal sea-level.

Thanks to the power of this earthquake today the famous "Wellington International airport" stands on that very strip of land which was below sea level 150 years ago.

The winter wonderland - The Glaziers

We Sri Lankans cannot quite experience the 'wonders of a glazier' as ours is a 'tropical country'

The 'snow capped mountains' blending with the clear blue sky can keep us spellbound with its sheer beauty - but they are not 'long-lasting ones'. for glaziers are the fastest "geological feature" which can get changed in a relatively 'low period' as it is very sensitive to 'temperature'.

Carving valleys

Location: New Zealand, Franz Josef - Glazier

Ice does tremendous things. They may appear smooth and soft, but it is capable of shaping an entire landscape.

This famous glazier is a mere "dwarf" today compared to what it was '140 years' ago.

The glaziers respond to the slightest increase in temperature which is enough to get them moving.

Retreating Glaziers (Franz - Josef)

140 years ago

55 years ago

40 years ago

Today

Franz-Josef Glazier used to cover the entire lower valley starting from the mountain tops.

But today the glazier can only be seen only on the top of the mountains. The pressure created by these heavy moving glaziers is enough to carve 'pot-holes' and channels in the bed-rock. It can bulldoze rocks off the mountains. In fact 'glaziers-in-motion can make huge alterations to the earth's surface.

Chill-fact

The average speed of moving ice is about '15m' per day but some glaziers record an astounding '100m' perday-speed.

What is an Ice-age

Many of us know that the last 'ice-age' occurred almost about 10,000 years ago 'Ice-age' comes after every 12,000 years and when it happens.. whoosh!.......There goes our warm climate! In fact our warm climate 'shuts down temporarily' making the entire 'Northern Hemisphere' to be invaded by huge glaziers after some time, these glaziers start gradually retreating back to the 'North-pole'

Notice: This may take a several hundred or may be thousands of years unlike the happenings shown in the famous science fiction movie The Day-after-tomorrow

But tody, we are witnessing even a more pathetic situation, we are accelerating this process of 'receding glazier stage' through which we call 'Global warming' due to man-made activities.

This can even melt down "Polar Ice-caps" which will bring about a very serous consequence to all land and sea dwellers on earth.

Buddhika Daluwatte - Ananda College, Colombo 10