Yippee-dee doo daa!!! Your favorite Sinhala blogger turns 35 today! And I’ve been told that I don’t look a day over 50… :)
Let me tell you about a little “Birthday” tradition I started a few years ago. Who knows? Maybe you might start to do it too…
Exactly 5 years ago on the eve of my 30th birthday around 11.30 in the night I remember sitting on my couch in Monaco, by myself, having just returned from a dinner. I knew that at sharp midnight, my parents would call me from Sri Lanka (despite the fact that it was 4.30 a.m. for them – so sweet, right?).
So with time to kill, I don’t know why but I opened up a Word document and just started making a list of all the things that I was grateful for, something that I don’t believe I had ever done before. And it had a real profound effect on me. I still remember that the first bullet point was “I’m thankful for having lived up until now and for having experienced everything I have”… (number 2 on the list probably may have been something to do with our awesome Sri Lankan cricket team :))
So since then, I’ve been updating this list every year. In a way, it’s also a great way to see the evolution of your life too. Going through the previous year’s list can expose you to a cocktail of emotions. For example…
You’re HAPPY to see that most of those things on your list are still there and that they don’t even need to be edited;
You’re THRILLED to see that you keep adding more lines to your list every year with more and more new things you’re thankful for; and
You’re momentarily SAD whenever you need to delete some things that are no longer part of your life (like my six-pack abs… just kidding, I’ve never in my life had abs. Instead I’ve had a one-pack).
Now, I’m not planning on sharing this list with you, trust me, it’ll be way too boring (I mean, how many times can you read “I am thankful for my million dollar smile and my oozing charisma” and not cringe, right? ;-)
No, instead, this morning I felt like taking some credit for the pleasant feelings I have today because let’s face it, I did make certain key (and dare I say “bold”) decisions along the way that have led to this moment. So I wanted to list them below, mostly for my own understanding, but you’re more than welcome to read it too, especially since you’re also mentioned in it somewhere :)
- The decision to move back to Sri Lanka (despite the fairytale life I was having in Europe): This has given me the opportunity to wake up every morning, come downstairs, and be greeted by my lovely parents whom I love dearly. I’ve got a mother who gives me the sweetest smile when I say “good morning” and a father who sings one line from a silly little Sinhala song “ma∙gḗ pu∙thu∙tȧ mal” (which translates to “flowers for my son”). Oh but don’t be fooled, it’s done less out of love and more out of knowing that I’m not a morning person and that it bugs the hell out of me…
- The decision to be emotionally vulnerable when it comes to both new and existing relationships (even though it scares the living daylights out of me!): I’m not just talking about romantic relationships but all kinds here including with my family and friends. The courage needed to open oneself up to another person is immense and the act of exposing oneself like that is absolutely terrifying! However, I’ve come to believe that this is what really enriches any relationship. You’re essentially telling the other person “I trust you to be able to handle, appreciate, and love the ‘real’ me”. And this gamble paid off because this has also brought me an additional source of happiness today ;-))
- The decision to say enough is enough when it comes to my yo-yoing weight: I hit rock bottom (or should I say “fat bottom”) around 9 months ago. Being unable to fasten the top 2 buttons on my jeans while taking a long 26 hour flight would do that to you, haha! So I started eating right and working out religiously. And guess what? This has so far made my waist shrink by a good 14 cm (or 5.5 inches) and my weight reduce by 13.5 kilos (or 30 pounds)! Still got some way to go but I am wayyyy better than yesterday.
- The decision to persist with my dear, darling, and adorable Lazy But Smart Sinhala Blog: Even when things became difficult, even when I felt stuck, even when self-doubt crept in and that annoying inner-voice sneered “What the hell do you know about teaching Sinhala anyway, you fraud”, I still kept at it. And it’s been totally worth it! The connections I’ve made with all of you has forever carved a special place in my heart. In a month or so I’ll be launching some new paid products that I plan to sell on my blog too. So, exciting times ahead for this little blog of mine!
- And oh yeah, finally, there’s my brother in Melbourne who’s more like my best friend: (I didn’t know how to link him to a “decision” as such but throwing it in since I need to be on his good side when his career hits it big and he becomes filthy rich).
I honestly don’t know what made me write all this in a blog post. I guess it’s just that I woke up today feeling like a very fortunate 35 year old man and I suppose I felt like sharing these emotions with my dear LBSS Tribe who has become a significant component of my life today. I’ve not been much of a religious man but these are those days where I would gladly use the word “blessed”.
(That’s great Dilshan, and happy birthday too, but do you think we give a ‘mee∙yaa’s pi∙ti pas∙sȧ’ about your birthday? When are we going to learn some Sinhala?)
Fair enough, I did promise you a birthday post, and yep, it’s another much-requested grammar post. Click HERE for that post.
Enjoy folks and once again, in case it wasn’t clear before, thanks for being an important part of my birthday! :)
Happiest birthday to you! I’ll confess, I don’t have time (or any reason frankly) to learn Sinhala but I love reading your posts anyway :) I am sure my one Sinhalese speaking friend appreciates the occasional Sinhala word I use (which I’ve learned from you!) Happy happy birthday…and enjoyed the post!
Thanks Mac! Glad you liked the post. I think it’s now time to move up to surprising your friend with the occasional phrase, rather than just a word, right? :)
happy birthday , wish u have a great day.
Thanks (again) :)
Happy birthday, Dilshan!
Thank for your effort to bring this blog to the world. I am writing this to tell you how miracle your blog is. I am Vietnamese and I am studying in Colombo. Sometime, when I go outside, I practise your Sinhala to talk with people. It’s made my day! I always received a warm welcome from everyone and they even want to teach me more. This place has become my second family and I have lots of friends.
Thank you so much and I hope you will remain this blog for a long-time.
Thank you Trang, that was a very touching message. I appreciate it very much. All the best to you!
hey happie birthday Dilshan, it felt so warm and delightful to read your birthday post … of your gratefulness and honesty to life :) thank you for sharing this to us!
Hey Janet, thank you so much for the birthday wishes! Very happy that you liked the post.
Happy Birthday Dear Dilshan
Thanks dear Sutharshani! :)
happy birthday and thank you for give us Impressions from srilanka and step by step little learning
have a geat day
budu saranai
Thanks Marion!
Happy Happy Birthday! On the picture I could tell that you lost wait. I wish you a wunderful birthday and I hope that you enjoy.
Thanks Savitra!
Happy birthday Dilshan! Thanks so much for all the effort you put into your blog as well as for conveying the richness of the Sinhala language with such passion and humour! Love it. I hope one day I will be able to put everything you have taught into practice when I move to Sri Lanka in the future. Keep up the great work and please don’t work on your birthday! All the best, Rob
Thanks Rob! Yes, I have already been asked very kindly (translation: I’ve been given strict orders) not to work today so I’ll definitely follow you advice too :)
Wait… Replying to comments is not technically “working”, right?
Yes indeed Dilshan, you can just say that you are replying to birthday wishes from your friends around the world ha ha! Enjoy!
Hey Dilshan,
Suba upan dhinayak veva!
(I hope that comes out ok, spell check kept trying to change it to something about a super open China yak!)
Alan
Hey Alan, that came out perfectly well! Thanks for the wishes.
Happy Birthday Dilshan, I wish you a great day !
Merci encore pour tout ce que tu fais… Bisous et à bientôt !
Merci Lulu! C’est tres gentille!
Hi Dilshan
Wishing you a very 35th birthday ,hope your ve had a great day .I just want to say thank you very much for your sinhala blog I really appreciate it.
Where abouts does your brother in Melbourne live?I live in Melbourne.
Kind Regards
Tina
Hi Tina, thanks for the kind wishes. About my brother, well, as far as I know, he lives right in the heart of Melbourne city.
Thanks again for the nice comment.
Suba Upandinayak wewa Dilshan!
Thanks Helga!
On this special day, i wish you all the very best, all the joy you can ever have and may you be blessed abundantly today, tomorrow and the days to come! May you have a fantastic birthday and many more to come…Well, you are another year older and you haven’t changed a bit. That’s great because you are perfect just the way you are.
Thank you Jayamathan. That was a wonderful comment. It made my day. Thank you so much my friend.
Bless you Dilshan, you almost made me cry :’)
Happy birthday! (eagerly awaiting for photos here :) )
Thank you so much for the care you put into this awesome blog!
Laura
Thanks Laura! Well, was not my intention to make anyone cry but glad that what I wrote had some impact :)
You’re very kind Laura.
Happy Birthday, Dilshan! (or La mulţi ani! –this is the Romanian expression :) ). Be blessed!
Thanks Petruta! That’s a new one for me! Thank you!
Wow! itz a great news,
Many More Happy Returns Of The Day My Dear Dhilshan, Have a wonderful birthday ;)
Thank you Abdur! I appreciate the nice wishes.
Happy Birthday Dishan!! Thanks a lot for your effort you put in the this wonderful Sinhala Blog!! i really appreciate it…thanks again. May God Bless You.
Mal
Thank you Malathi!
Hi Dilshan,
Many happy returns of the day. You don’t call “old man” a guy of 35 years old. You are viewed as an old man only when you are a soccer player. Even all cricketers don’t retire at the age of 35. I got married at your age.
By the time you open this mail you would have already finished your birthday party.
Many thanks for the Sinhala lessons. Please continue your good job,
Your fellow countryman
Jothy
Hi Jothy, thanks for the encouraging words about my age, haha. Thank you for the kind wishes.
Wowowowowowow…..my “old” Friend Dilshan…..special in my language……:)….Życzę tobie mój wspaniały przyjacielu samych radosnych chwil życia…..zdrowia….uśmiechu ….spełnienia marzeń, tych o których mówisz głośno ale i tych ukrytych w sercu….no i oczywiscie tysiace całusów…aby ten dzień był słodki :*****************
p.s.
u like when we all say u ” u re nt old man ” hahahahahahahah…..
but say u in secret…….jesteś młodym …przystojnym facetem (true)…hahaha else u must translate :P
Hi Ania! Yes, of course I love when people tell me I’m not old. Thanks also for what you wrote in your language although i haven’t translated it yet. Will do and let you know :)
Happy Birthday!
Thanks Reka!
must be pretty cool to get birthday wishes from all around the globe
hmm… No big deal… I’m kidding! It is an amazing feeling! :)
Happy Belated Birthday.
Glad to see that what you’re thankful for are the simple but most precious things in life.
Cheers.
Thanks Vel!
Happy, Happy Birthday Scorpio, now just knowing that explains a great deal. That passion and dedication :) Totally love your blog Dilshan, learning a lot along the way. I disagree with your comment about what do you know about teaching and being a fraud. Well all I can say to that is, you have discovered a an awesome, fun, entertaining and friendly way of teaching. Now imagine how all our children’s education would be if they all had so much fun in school, worth thinking about.
And young man 35 is most certainly not ‘old man’ LOL. Haven’t you heard life begins at 40!!
We all love you dearly, thank you.
Scorpio is a water sign, as am I a water sign also. We are all creative passionate people. You are my second favorite Scorpio (don’t be offended) Yanni has had that place for many,many years. The passion he puts into his music is amazing.
Hi Shirley, thanks for all the wonderful things you’ve written. I am truly touched.
I’m not an expert on the zodiac signs but I thought I was Sagittarius being born on December 1st, right?
LOL Oooops you are totally correct. I am an idiot, got my dates all muffed up.
PS; I want that T shirt!!!!
Don’t tell me I have to visit Sri Lanka to get one.
Haha, FYI, I bought it from ODEL, colombo.
happy birthday , wish you have a great day.
Thanks Khin!
Subah Uban Thinayak weva Dilshan.
Hope this day may give you a lot happy experience.
Thank you Shan!
Hello Dilshan, a very happy birthday to you and thank you for all your hard work and teaching us Sinhala! We just love the way you bring it, easygoing and always bringing a smile to my face with your small comments. Greetings from Belgium! Patrick and Angelina
Thank you Angelina & Patrick, I’m so happy that you like my style of delivering material. Thank you also for the birthday wishes. Speak again soon.
Happy belated birthday wishes!
Sorry couldn’t wish you yesterday.
Thanks Maryann!
Hello Dilshan
Many Happy Returns of your Birthday.
In my books, 35 or 65 is NOT old for a man. So remember, you are doing well.
Keep smiling, & the world will smile with you.
Best of luck!
Elizabeth T.
Thank you Elizabeth.Very kind of you.
suba upan dinayak dilshan..hope u had a great one..i myself turned 30 last week…nd to tell u the truth it feels great (dunno why)…feels like i m getting younger everyday(like curious case of benjamin button…LOL)…
ur blog was soo lovly…it felt like m reading a story…thanks for sharing ur joy and experiences in this blog:):)
Hi Nargis, belated happy 30th birthday!! I know, it does feel good, doesn’t it?
Glad you liked this post too.
Take care and thanks again for your comment and wishes.
Dear Dilshan,Wish you a very happy birthday ..forgive me please for delay to wish you.I really appreciate your sinhala lessons and thanking you a lot..
May all yur wishes and dreams come true!
Thank you Yano!
Happy Birthday To You!!!
Thanks Sergei!
Bon anniversaire Dilshan, je te souhaite un monde de bonheur et un univers de joie, tu es une vieille âme dans un jeune corps. Il really think you’re fabulous, kind and wise, after all a Sagittarius is the sign of the visionary and the eternal student. You have found your niche, think big and persevere.
And now my wishes to you in Arabic كل سنة و انت طيب يادلشان.
And lastly in Italian.. Buon natale
Leila xxxx
Salut Leila!
“une vieille âme dans un jeune corps”, oh wow! :)
Thank you for all the amazing things you’ve said!!! C’est très gentil.. And also, thank you for the multilingual birthday wishes.
Speak to you again soon. Take care.
Augh late to the party, but happy birthday! Thank you for this wonderful blog, and I hope you have more happy birthdays to come!
Thank you Charlene! Very kind.
Happy Birthday Dilshan! Your blog has completely changed the way I am able to interact with my Sinhalese friends. I went to Sri Lanka twice this year to teach conversational English at a University, but didn’t just do that. I fell in love with Sri Lanka, especially the people. They have a huge part of my heart. A few of them are my brothers now, or mallis (plural??). Anyways, I have endeavored to learn Sinhala now, and your blog is invaluable! I can’t say thank you enough for all you do! SO, Happy Happy Birthday, and I think your tradition is an amazing Idea and plan to start when I turn 30 this year!
Hi Clarissa, thank you for the kind wishes. Also, you seem to be smitten by Sri Lanka, even more than me :) That’s wonderful.
Glad you like my “birthday” tradition. Do let me know how you feel after you do the same on your birthday. Take care and thanks again.
late wishes dilshan happy birthday.
sorry i am very busy with works
Thanks Shafna.
Happy birthday to you!!! Your post make me cry..tks my sinhalese teacher…tks for all….i wish u all the best!! God bless you!!!
Thanks Adriana, that’s very nice of you to say. Take care and speak again soon.
Dude I read your birthday blog and it made me cry! Dude god bless you (I haven’t yet figured out the Buddhist way of saying that but I will soon) and your sweet family. I’m sure you have covered this in your lessons but how do u say I love sri Lanka in sinhala? My friends have this saying ‘yolo” your only Lankan once. Always makes me laf. Every day when I was in sri lanka I thought I absolutely can’t believe I’m here. I still can’t believe I was there. I want to go back in October. I just pray that the elections go well. Anyway, I will work hard on my sinhala so I can understand when I go back ! Peace!
Thanks erm… “dude” :)
“I love Sri Lanka” = ma∙mȧ shree lan∙kaa∙vȧ∙tȧ aa∙dhȧ∙réyi
Hope you make it back to SL in October. Glad you liked my post and sorry I made you cry ;-) Take care Sarah.
I am very excited. According to this blog post the paid products will be online soon. I am dying to know what you thought of. I am sitting here studying Sinhala with my boring text book (yeah, I am cheating on you) and therefore I am really looking forward to your latest ideas.
Thanks Savitra :) Believe me, I am also impatient to get these online too. Hopefully, soon.
And stop cheating on me!!!! :) :)
It never occurred to me that you might be equally impatient. Funny thought!
hi Dlshan,
much to late to give you some congrats for your birthday… next one is upcoming soon… :-)
Well, but your Idea of the list of grateful things is cool. I’m gonna start that too.
thanks for that, hehe… and have a great year with 35!
Thanks Julie, I appreciate it very much! Also happy that you might try out my “grateful things” idea.
Dear Dilshan!
“Happy Birthday” (Well, I know that I am TOO late…)
After staying four weeks in Sri Lanka I returned back home to Berlin, Germany yesterday (15th). Dilshan, I really LOVE what you do! Best regards and good luck!
André
Dear Dilshan
I live in the Netherlands and will travel to Sri Lanka for three weeks next month. I like to learn a bit of the Sinhala language before and visiting your blog helped a lot. I thank you for that and I hope you have entered this year in a good mood and will continue this blog.
Jan
thank you for your work. You are very help study the Sinhala language! I wish you prosperity and well-being!
Thanks so much, Zuli!
Happy birthday.
I heard about you from an American who is committed to learning Sinhalese from you via your blog. Nice going and thank you.
Oh wow, does that mean I’ve finally made it America? :)
Joking aside, thanks Suvendrini, I appreciate the encouragement. May I assume that you speak Sinhala?
Hello Dilshan,
Wish you a happy 35.5 birthday. Im new on your blog just a month through youtube, but now as i read more of your overflowing blog content i see your personality from different angle. Actually i think its various angles each time.))
I hope your waist is in line with your age 35.5 in inches by now after some hard work. Exercise and work on yourself is a hard work as we again learn from your lessons. I am russian living in Dubai and i admit that Sinhala is harder than arabic. Luckily i have few Lankawe friends that i can bother while learning. Glad to hear you made it back home and enjoying morning tea with sponge cake. Im good at bringing people’s 6packs back but with Amma’s Lavaria (pol pani) and dodols its quiet a challenge. Im lucky to be visiting Srilanka every 2 month and can’t get enough of it. Thank you for this quality push into learning Sinhala even though Pepiliyana doesnt even sound Sinhala, sounds like a place in Spain or something…
Anyways, Im thrilled to order my full audio and video content, i do a lot of driving every day and have no time reading from paper… Listening from smart phone is much easier.
I have a personal request to you if you dont mind kindly advise what would be the best radio station Sinhala to listen online, you might have done that while in Monaco to stay in touch. This was how i learnt english back in russia by just listening BBC and watching english movies and programs which were by the way highly illegal in russia back then.
I do read Gossip Lanka, but its in english and im tooooo far from understanding Sinhala spagetti letters…. Just kidding, i have great respect to your language and all those ancient kings that made it so complicated.
Thank you for your hard work. Its refreshing how much patience you have on this.
This message is to wish you a happy birthday!!! 35.5y.o.
Hi T! Thanks for the awesome message and the 35.5 birthday wishes :)
Unfortunately, I don’t listen to that much radio (sinhala or english), I’m more of a podcast addict instead. But let me ask around and find out some of the better sinhala radio stations you could listen to online (maybe try Sirasa FM? – it just came to mind). Or maybe there’ll be another LBSS Tribester who sees your questions and answers you.
That’s great that you visit Sri Lanka so often. One day please write to me about the different reactions you’ve got when you speak Sinhala to the locals. That would be fun to know.
Thanks again for the long and very thoughtful message.