CHILDREN

Sunny Stories:

A new friend

Sandun got onto his bike and started to peddle as fast as he could. The wind blew on his face. He saw the trees and the flowers in the park whiz past him. He turned his head to look at his father and mother who were seated on a bench watching him. "Be careful," said mother. "Let him be," said father.

Sandun realized his weekends in the park would soon come to an end. Next week when schools reopened he would not have time to come to the park to ride his bike. This year he would be sitting for the grade five scholarship exam which meant he had to do a lot of extra studying.

The bike: 1 SRI 1

As he turned the bike and returned to the bench Sandun realized someone else too was watching him. He looked a year younger than Sandun. He wore a faded pair of shorts and an equally worn out t shirt twice his size.

Suddenly the old woman seated at the entrance of the park raised her head and called the boy to come and help her arrange the betel leaves she was selling, on the small wooden table in front of her. "Ravi, what are you doing standing there? Come and help me" she said to her grandson.

When they came home from the park Sandun began to wipe the bike with a piece of cloth. This was his usual routine during the holidays after he returned from the park. Sandun loved his bike so much he took great pains to make sure the bike was always clean and in good shape. He even had a name for his bike. He called it 1 SRI 1 because his father had once told him this was the number of the Cadillac owned by Sir John Kotelawala.

As he wheeled 1 Sri back into the garage Sandun recalled the look on Ravi's face as he stared at Sandun riding the bike in the park. Sandun also recalled his mother telling father that Ravi was and orphan who lived with his grandmother. Ravi's grandmother earned a living by selling betel leaves at the entrance of the park. Sandun realized she would never be able to buy a bike for Ravi.

Next Saturday Sandun was quiet as they made their way to the park. Father thought Sandun looked sad because this was the last Saturday they would be coming to the park till next August when Sandun would be having his holidays again.

"Cheer up, son," said father. "Next August I will buy you a bigger bike to ride in the park."

Sandun remained silent. He was still thinking of Ravi. Suddenly his face brightened.

"Will you say yes if I ask you something?" He said to father and mother. "What is it?" asked mother.

"If you are going to buy me a new bike I would not be able to ride 1 Sri anymore.

Besides after school reopens 1 Sri will have to stay in the garage all alone without anybody to look after him or ride him."

Sandun started to explain.

"What are you trying to tell us? father asked.

"It is like this..." Sandun paused. "Remember how both of you always tell me I must help those who are not as lucky as I am?"

"Yes" said mother.

"Well... can I give 1 Sri to Ravi - the boy at the park?" Sandun said the words in one breath.

He was afraid his parents will say no. Mother and father looked at each other.

Father shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

"But you love 1 Sri so much. Are you sure you want to give him away" said mother. "Yes, mother" replied Sandun. "I know Ravi will take good care of 1 Sri. From the way he looks at the bike I know he loves 1 Sri even more than I do."

When they reached the park Sandun walked up to where Ravi was sitting helping his grandma sprinkle water on the betel leaves. When he saw Sandun, Ravi got up from the bench he was sitting. Sandun smiled and pushed the handles of the bike into Ravi's hands.

Ravi stared at the bike with wonder. He stroked the handles lovingly.

"It is yours," said Sandun. "I will not have time to ride it when school starts. Please look after him. He is called 1 Sri."

Ravi stood still unable to believe what was happening. He smiled through the tears that filled his eyes and streamed down his cheeks. "Yes" he said almost in a whisper. "I will look after 1 Sri" he promised.

Sandun ran back to the car where his parents were waiting for him.

He felt sad he had parted with 1 Sri. But as he turned to take one last look at his beloved bike he saw Ravi gazing at 1 Sri with a face brimming with joy.

Sandun no longer felt sad. He felt even happier than Ravi. He knew 1 Sri was safe with his new friend. Aditha

[email protected]

Visionary innovators

Intellectual property has the shelf life of a banana. - Bill Gates

Dear children,

Today, April 26th is the World Intellectual Property Day and the theme for this year is 'Visionary innovators.' Please do remember that this day was named by the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2000 to make people aware of the impact made by copyright, trademarks and designs and to celebrate creativity, and the contribution made by creators and innovators to the development of societies around the world.

It is important to have such a day as it helps us understand the necessity to protect the intellectual property rights in order to promote creativity and innovation.

I am sure you all are innovative and creative. So it is good to know your valuable innovations will be well protected one day! Now itself, try to awaken the budding innovator inside yourself!!!!

Bye for now,

Sanju: [email protected]

The tragedy of the Titanic, a century later

Titanic was one of the major ships made in 1908 by the white star liner company. It was made in Great Britain.

The builders used the labour of 15,000 people to build it. During its make, about 246 people were wounded by sudden accidents and nine people died. After a heavy load of work this great creation was completed in September 1911. With the aid of thousands of dollars, blood, tears and labour of many men, Titanic was introduced to the world in 1912. Edward John Smith was the captain of the Titanic. Titanic belonged to J T Togann. He was slated to attend the maiden voyage but could not make it due to urgent personal reasons.

With a very skillful staff, Titanic had a rehearsal for 12 hours before embarking on the maiden voyage on April 2, 1912 from Southampton in England. Many wealthy men of the time joined the maiden voyage mainly because of the luxurious facilities of the ship and also for prestige. Titanic was divided in to three sections, the first, second and third classes. First class was for noble men and it was more comfortable than the third class. There were swimming pools,indoor playgrounds,restaurants and highly furnished bedrooms.

The great day of the maiden voyage arrived, and at 1.30 pm the ship departed from Southampton port in England. The journey was from England to New York across the Atlantic Ocean. The passengers never thought that the journey would end up in the dark depths of the sea.

Titanic continued her journey until April 14th . It was a moonlit night and the sea was calm. The temperature had decreased up to 2°C. Fredrick Fleet and Rejinold Lee, the two navigators who overcame by sleep did not see that the ship was going right to a glazier. By warning the staff they tried to save the ship, but it was too late. It went right to the glazier and crashed. They signaled to a ship nearby for help called 'California' but they could not understand it properly.

'Carpathia' which was near them at that moment went to the rescue of the passengers. They were able to save 710 passengers out of two thousand.

The others died in the sea due to drowning and also because of the extreme cold weather. The Titanic did not take much time to sink. It just broke down into two and at last rested in the sea bed opposite each pieces. The distance between those pieces was 600 meters. It has to be noted that most of the travelers in the third class died in the accident.

After that many people who were interested tried to investigate the ship ruins but as the technology was not adequate, it was quite impossible.

For the first time in the 80th decade a wealthy man investigated the Titanic again. Afterwards many scientists from America and France started experiments using the high technology. The history of Titanic, was made into films, novels and so many other such work. A very popular film which was made on it in 1958 was 'A Night to Remeber.'Afterwards came the film 'Titanic' in 1997 by David Cameron breaking box office records.

Titanic tragedy would be embedded in our hearts for ever. Even after a century of years, the disaster yet evokes strong memories.It is a century for the sinking of the unsinkable ship, the largest to float. It is a tragedy of tears and pounds and for one of the greatest man made creation the 'Titanic.'

Lakmali Nanayakkara , grade 8-A, Vidura College

A duck	A lion	A bike
Ometh Sonitha, Upper Kindergarten (UKG), Pathway Pre School, Colombo - 8	Avishka Yohan, grade - 4, Kingston College International Mount Lavinia	Damien John Jayatilaka, grade - 6E1, St.Peter's College, Colombo - 4
A village	My home	Swans in a lake
Chiran Abilash, Lower Kindergarten (LKG), Pathway Pre School, Colombo - 8	Rahma Rushdie, Rising Stars Montessori, Mount Lavinia	Tharani Wijesuriya, grade - 2H, Musaeus College, Colombo - 7

The king and the queen looking at the sky	My pet
Aarkifa Asger, grade - 6B, Sailan International School Negombo	Nethmi Thathyana, grade 5 - A, Sujatha Vidyalaya, Nugegoda