Well, at this point let’s go back in time to the sixties in Sri Lanka (it was know as “Ceylon” then). It was a time of relative civil stability (the war was not heard of then in the island). It was a time when people wear beginning to think radically, the time of the ‘Hippie movement’ – a time when bright pastoral coloured shirts were ‘COOL’ – when ladies thought that ‘short skirts’ were too long and (em, ergh… a wee bit too conservative!). It was totally a period of cheerful chaos when John Lennon, ABBA, BoneyM and the Beatles were the new Black. A period that is very fondly reminisced by Austin powers(aka. Mike Myers) in the nineties and the zeroes (this decade)!

That was the period when I was born as the youngest of three children to Mr. And Mrs Rajaratnam in Colombo 6 (wellawatte to those who are yet to cut their teeth in the Colombo city), on the 19th of September 1966 at 10:40 am. I was the youngest and my two elder siblings being sisters- just imagine the pampering (when I managed to look my cutest as a baby) and suffering (when I began to loose on my cute factory as I started growing up) I must have had!

During my school year I was very keen in sports and was kind of very popular with my friends for my adventurous ways! My father being a very outgoing and flexible person (a freethinking personality) never tried to constrain my ‘nervous creativity’ (well childish and teenage adventures and misadventures (or shall we say pranks?) to those of us who would like to hear the word in plain English). He in a way – encouraged me to experiment with things and even bought me a lot of expensive stuff (honestly a Racing 12 gears bike by Colombo standards in 1980’s!). Looking back, I sometimes think that it was those kind of exposures that have played a very important part of shaping my personality.

My family being a devoted follower of the Ramakrishna Mission encouraged me to spend time at the mission in Wellawatte, and every day I pluck flower and keep in the mission before going to school at 6:00 o’clock in the morning as a small boy. I also received many awards there.

When I was about 12 years I went to Jaffna and lived at the Nallai Gnanasambanthar Adheenam, Nallur till I was 15 years and studying at St Johns college. It was a very disciplined and peaceful environment unlike that of the noisy, dust-bowl we call Colombo.As a 15 years old I became a ‘cadet’ and spent about four years in the outdoors. The life in the great outdoors (not to mention snakes and the mosquitoes that come as extras!) made me realise the sufferings the poor Sri lankans (no matter which caste, creed or ethnic group they belong to) undergo for basic survival – where as the privileged middle- classes and upper classes live in a life of relative comfort. Then came the year 1983…. then the BLACK July .

All of a sudden everything began to change in Sri Lanka . Everyone ceased to be Sri Lanka and started to become Sinhalese, Tamil or Muslim. People started carrying identity cards in their pockets and the political machinery began to install ethnic hatred in the community. It was altogether not a very suitable environment for a 19 year old with my views and character (well, the sense of adventure). Then, my parents decided to send me to United Kingdom in the early 1985.

London in the middle part of the eighties was a cold dreary place adjusting to the economic slup of the early eighties and survival for a young immigrant was hard. Through determination and hard work I managed to rise up and start working in a managerial position. As in the case of every young man (young person to be politically correct!) I have had my own fair share of broken hearts and tears! However, being involved in a caraccident in 1989 due to upset with my girl friend totally changed myoutlook to life. The car accident and the after effects left me in a COMA(vegetable state??? – can’t help pulling the odd pun!) for 18 days. I began to think about what I wanted in my life and during that time my girl friend apologised for what she have done to me! My heart couldn’t resist her love (“Well, for real finally!” I thought). In 1990, I married and settled down to the life of a family man with a good job in the IT industry.

The early periods of my marriage were spent touring in North America and around Europe. Our gorgeous daughter (Nivedita) was born on the 3rd of July 1995 at 5:58 am in Epsom hospital, Surrey. By that time the relationship between me and my (then) wife had begun to deteriorate. After a difficult and painful period of a year the relationship became so unstable, to such an extent that divorce followed through to the middle of 1996. Believe me, divorce is a very painful thing… and the funny part about this is you’ve to start playing the third party to the person whom you’ve loved all that time! That was a time of real mental turmoil, where the person who suffered the most was our (or should I be saying ‘my’?) daughter.

I was apparently over worked (my way of dealing with the situation regarding the relationship) and with the difficulties at home, I fell ill. I was diagnosed to have developed a condition of Osteo- arthritis and Fibromyalgia. Around January 1996 I had to retire from work due to illness. I was almost reaching the point of becoming an alcoholic.

With all this great difficulties of the ongoing divorce case and multiple illnesses, I have successfully completed my higher studies and was awarded with a BSc (hons) in Computer science in 2001, even for the graduation ceremony a special Court Order was taken for my daughter to attend, and she really enjoyed it and she keep saying that ‘I will be in that stage one day wearing that robe and hat, daddy’, that made me very blissful. The degree and the exposure I’ve had to knowledge at Kingston University have left me bitten with the ‘bug’ and I surprised myself by starting to study for the Legal Executive (Member of ILEX) certificate and a graduate diploma in child psychology ( and to think that as a teenager, or even in my early twenties I was a lad who hated to sit behind a desk and study!).

The reason behind me following these two courses is that I want to develop my knowledge further in legal matters pertaining to divorces and the possible disturbances that they would impose on the psychology of the children that are affected. Relationship blossom, flourish and may eventually fade away (as in my case) but the children who are the product of such coalitions shouldn’t be affected at any cost! Nowadays, I try my best to patch up things between couples who are about to break up and eventually end in divorce by telling them about my personal experiences and make them think in terms of their children who’ll end up getting hurt and affected.

I realised the need for foster parents for the homeless, orphaned children on my visits to the sub-continent. Now I am the proud foster parent of 604 bright children in Jaffna, Batticaloa, Trinco and Mannar. I was extremely pleased when the eldest passed with flying colours in his A/Levels. I sincerely hope and pray that they’ll do the same to needy young kids when they grow up. Good deeds and charitable actions should continue to grow like a chain reaction. I pray to god that my young charges will not let me down in the (near) future.

All these interests mean a five letter word ‘MONEY’. And, I am trying to establish myself as a techno marketer (visit www.vithu.net) in order to fund my charitable activities. My hobbies in the past were writing short stories, fitness training, car Racing and practicing martial arts (Kung Fu & Tae-Kwan do). My present health condition prohibits me from engaging in active sports nowadays. Yet, I still try to have good time. I am no saint (even though I wouldn’t mind being next to an ‘All Saint’!)- I have made my mistakes, been forced to undergo hardships and mental trauma. Yet, I still try to see the positive sides of life. I am not trying to be philosophical- but there’s more of life if you look at it with a much more open frame of mind. There’s nothing wrong with the world (most of the times), what is wrong is in the way that we are looking at it… I try to be cheerful and strive to make the days that I get to live happy.