Arugam Bay - A paradise in Sri Lanka by Sai Shivdutt

ARUGAM BAY- A PARADISE IN SRI LANKA

               ARUGAM BAY IS DEFINITELY A PARADISE IN SRI LANKA. IT IS LOCATED IN THE EASTERN COAST OF SRI LANKA WHICH IS DUE 320 KM EAST FROM THE COUNTRY CAPITAL COLOMBO.  IT ATTRACTS TOURISTS FROM ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD. PEOPLE COME HERE FOR HOLIDAYS AND TO MAKE WONDERFUL MEMORIES.

                 ALONG THE MAIN BEACH OF ARUGAM BAY THERE ARE PLENTY OF SHACKS TO CHILL OUT. THE STREETS ARE FULL OF SOUVENIR SHOPS TO BUY SOMETHING FOR YOURSELF OR TO GIFT SOMEONE.THESE SOUVENIR SHOPS OFFERS A WIDE RANGE OF PRODUCTS WHICH WILL MAKE IT VERY DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO DECIDE WHAT TO BUY. THERE ARE PLENTY OF 

RESTAURANTS WHERE YOU CAN HAVE YOUR MEAL. THESE RESTAURANTS OFFER YOU A WIDE RANGE OF MOUTH WATERING FOOD. BEING LOCATED AT A TOURISTIC LOCATION THESE RESTAURANTS PROVIDE FOOD OF ALL TYPES. YOU CAN HAVE A WALK ALONG THE STREETS AND EASILY CHOOSE THE RESTAURANTS AND ALSO COMPARE THE PRICES. THERE ARE SEVERAL BEACHES WHICH OFFER YOU A GOOD SURFING AND SWIMMING EXPERIENCE ALONG WITH MAGNIFICENT SIGHTSEEING.

                           ARUGAM BAY IS CONSIDERED AND INDEED IS THE BEST PLACE TO HAVE AN AMAZING SURFING EXPERIENCE. IT PROVIDE THE BEST WAVES ANY SURFER IN THE WORLD WOULD DESIRE. IT'S WAVES ARE CONTINUOUS AND DOES'T BREAKDOWN IN BETWEEN WHICH GIVES AN AMAZING SURFING EXPERIENCE. IT HAS A LOT TO OFFER TO THE BEGINNERS SURFERS. YOU GET TO HAVE SURFING LESSONS HERE.  BESIDES THAT YOU CAN RENT THE SURF BOARD FOR THE WHOLE DAY.

                    ELEPHANT ROCK BEACH AND PEANUT FARM BEACH ARE THE TWO MOST FAMOUS DESTINATION FOR THE SURFERS IN ARUGAM BAY. THEY ARE CONSIDERED AS THE BREEDING AREA FOR THE SURFERS AS THERE THE WAVES ARE NOT ROUGH AND IT IS OF NOT MUCH DEPTH. PEOPLE VISIT HERE A LOT TO PRACTICE AND LEARN SURFING.

 ARUGAM BAY FOR SURE WILL HAVE AN EVERLASTING IMPACT ON YOU AND YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO ERASE IT FROM YOUR MEMOMY. INDEED ARUGAM BAY IS A POPULAR DESTINATION IN SRI LANKA AND IS A MUST TO VISIT. I BET YOU WILL END UP STAYING THERE MORE DAYS THAN YOU PLANNED FOR IT.

Sai Shivdutt

     

Train Journey to Ella by Sai Shivdutt

TRAIN JOURNEY TO ELLA

Ella is the most beautiful, attractive and picturesque city you can find in this island country Sri Lanka. You are bound to fall in love with this place. Ella is a hill station surrounded by mountains and forests all over. You will definitely have the best time of  your life here.

Due to the geographical location of Ella in the highlands of the central part of this island country the most convenient way to reach this majestic destination is through the train journey from the Colombo Fort station which is the main station of the country capital Colombo. The train journey may extend to nine hours and the best time to travel in this train is during the day time. The main reason behind this is that the train journey to Ella is going to take you to a dream adventure with the train moving up the mountains. 

You are going to get struck in the natural beauty of this place to that extent that you will not get to know about the time of your journey and would want it should never end.

The journey is full of picturesque view which gives a very joyful feelings to your eyes and also cherishes your soul. Your soul will definitely connect to the nature and you are going to feel as an integral part of the nature. The journey from Colombo station starts with passing through small remote villages where you can see the farms and witness the interior parts of Sri Lanka natural beauty. You get to see big trees passing through you on both the sides of the railway tracks. You can see the trees and bushes all over as the train moves in the interior parts of the forest which are of various diversities. These forests are full of natural vegetation.

As the time progresses we get to realize that we have entered the mountainous regions. From the window and door of the train you witness beautiful scenic beauty of mountains, rocks, natural vegetation. The trees are so attractive and seems to be waving by the wind in such a rhythm that its influence will get your heart beat audible to your ears. Seeing this magnificent view with your heart beat audible to your ears makes you a captive of the environment. If you are not travelling in a first class AC compartment you get to breathe the most freshest oxygen ever inhaled by your lungs. You will automatically start inhaling more and more of the fresh oxygen and will allow the breeze in the environment to enter your mouth by keeping them wide open. When you see the beautiful view from the door or window of the train you will definitely remember the poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost and now realize how difficult it would have been for that person not to stop and admire the beautiful forest and to carry on with his journey.

As the train journey proceeds you get to witness more and more of marvellous scenery which struck your heart at a single glance. Your eyes will get more wider to capture all it can witness through the window and door's of the train. The entire train journey will be full of never-ending scenery with a different view. You will definitely put your head out of the window with your favourite song in your lips trying to hear your own voice along with the sound of the air. You are bound to get into a romantic relationship with the nature. You are definitely bound to fall in love with the elegant and tempting nature. Despite the long journey the fresh air when touches your skin will revive energy back to your soul. You will never realise the duration of your journey and would want never to end it.

When the train passes through the Kandy we realise that we are in-between the mountains and have reached a high altitude. You also start to feel cooler and may close your windows. It is very much essential to carry winter clothes in your bag as you may require them for sure from now onwards. The view has become more awesome. You are now carrying your mobile and camera in your hand and capturing the beautiful scenic beauty of the mountains. As you are now in a very high altitude you get to have a view of the valleys below the mountains. There are farms, grasslands and houses which you witness inclined vertically downwards. You get to see the the high mountains touching the clouds. You get to see the tea plantation farms. With the every moment of the train moving upward there is a decline in temperature. You now get to see great depressions with green mountains all around you and also witness several waterfalls. Seeing the waterfall in between the two mountains with the environment full of green trees is definitely a treat to your eyes



Journey to Ella through the remote areas of Sri Lanka, semi- urban areas, dense forests, down the mountains, between the mountains, around the mountains and numerous scenic beauty which refreshes your soul everytime you capture them through your eyes will be the most memorable part of Sri Lanka.

Enjoy your train journey as you are never going to have that kind of experience anywhere.

Sai Shivdutt

Mirissa beach ( Sri Lanka ) By Sai Shivdutt

MIRISSA BEACH ( SRI LANKA )

 Mirissa beach is Sri Lanka which is located along the south coast of this marvelous island country in the town of Mirissa which is about 150 km south of the country capital Colombo is a perfect example of a beach which can be considered both as a rocky beach as well as a sandy beach and no doubt one of the best beaches of Sri Lanka.

It is one of the best beaches in Sri Lanka especially in the south with top tourist attraction because of it's beautiful scenic beauty, white sand and clear water. There is a very big rock little bit inside the ocean known as Mirissa rock where people can climb and have a marvelous view. You will find a lot of tourists from different different countries in this beach swimming in the ocean, enjoying the heart melting scenery of the ocean, blue sky, palm trees spread along the coast line all combined together in a single frame from the Mirissa rock and definitely chilling and having a fun time.

The waves inside the ocean are mild which gives you a feeling of relaxation and the presence of salt gives you a very very refreshing feeling. You can definitely spend hours swimming in the ocean. Definitely having a walk in this beach with water passing over your feet and eyes struck admiring the natural beauty of this place will be a marvellous and amazing experience.

Mirissa beach will definitely turn out to be one of the best part of your beach holidays in this paradise country.



Sai Shivdutt

AIESEC 'APE AVURUDU'

The Sinhalese and Tamil New Year is an occasion where all of Sri Lanka puts aside their differences and gets together to celebrate the dawn of a new year in harmony. Even though LC's in our country work separately and are a little competitive when it comes to AIESEC's functions, we all work towards the same goal and this new year was the perfect occasion to bring everyone in AIESEC together to celebrate an Avurudu filled with fun and games as one family.

For the first time ever AIESEC in Colombo South took up the responsibility of organizing this event in a national scale and the organization committee comprised of a very dedicated set of people who put their heart and soul into making this event a success and the fruition of their effort could be seen on the 22nd of April when AIESECers dressed in colourful sarongs and lungis gathered in
the Colombo University Ground to take part in AIESEC Ape Avurudu.

AIESEC Ape Avurudu opened with the lighting of the oil lamp and after the kiri ithiraweema a welcome speech was given. After opening the head table and eating the tasty avurudu kevili we dived right into the avurudu games.
Everyone cheered on as people hilariously tried to break the pots in the game if kanamutti and when trying to draw the eye in aliyata asa thabima.

An entertainment item was performed by each LC and in the usual AIESEC fashion we didn't fail to include dancing to roll calls in the middle of the avurudu uthsavaya. Anyone could take part in the games that were conducted  that day and the true spirit of AIESEC came through when we got to share this occasion with a bunch of foreign participants from an LC in Netherlands.

Special thanks had to be given to Now You See Me our photography partner who co hosted our event and Pizza Hut who we decided to tribute by carrying out a pizza eating contest.
Finally the much awaited event of choosing the avurudu kumaraya and kumariya arrived and this was the highlight of the day as the contestants had to go through many trials and tribulations to receive the crown.

The event concluded with the awarding ceremony and the vote of thanks and the happiness on everyone's faces because of the day and the friendships and bonds forged between the whole LC reflected that this event had been truly successful in bringing AIESEC in Sri Lanka together as one family.

Lead CS 4.0 was the annual two-day residential leadership development seminar of AIESEC in Colombo South. It was held for the fourth consecutive time at Sanctuary House Negombo on 3rd and 4th of April 2018. Lead CS is all about developing leadership qualities, getting to know fellow AIESECers, getting to know the AEISEC way and having fun.
The accommodation, Sanctuary House at Negombo was the ideal locale with comfortable air-conditioned dormitories separately for boys and girls, spacious dining area and a well-maintained lawn for outdoor activities with the beautiful Negombo beach in the vicinity.
On arrival we were checked in and provided with name tags and goodie bags sponsored the British Council and the Coca-Cola company. The morning plenary was mainly about the chair for the event miss. Ela from AIESEC in Poland. We were acknowledged about the AIESEC way, the meaning of our vision and mission and most importantly what AEISEC delivers to the world; how AEISEC reduce conflicts among nations by promoting cross cultural exchanges among different countries.

Afterwards the organizing committee and the FACI team of LEAD CS 4.0 were introduced. We divided into groups and did a small presentation on several world issues and solutions for them. Finally, the end of the morning plenary was energized by famous AEISEC roll calls.

Outdoor games were held after lunch and afternoon plenary. We were divided to groups by random numbering. Each group had to come up with a unique shout out and a haka. These weren’t mere fun games, each game was created to test and make us comprehend about morale values such as team spirit, endurance, efficiency and productivity. As an example, the game that checked productivity was done by passing wheat flour in a container from hand to hand and finally putting it back to the original container, to check the amount of flour wasted, which made us understand that it isn’t always about speed when completing a task, it should be productive too.  Final games were held in the Negombo beach, ended with us building sand castles.

We refreshed after the games for the evening plenary, which was warmed up by Nescafe thanks to Nestle Lanka. The gala night was an outdoor event filled with glamour to see everyone dressed up in elegant gowns

and tuxedos. Special thanks goes to official food sponsor, Water’s Edge for the scrumptious dinner at the gala. The awards night for functions and best performers of AEISEC in Colombo South was held after the dinner. After party of the gala night was energized with a DJ for fellow AIESECers to dance under the disco lights.
The next morning was about AIESEC functions and other significant teams such as the business development team and the marketing team. We were acknowledged about the part of each function and teams in AIESEC, followed by inspiring stories from people who went on exchange programs abroad and their video documentaries.
After lunch, AIESECers were divided into functions; Outgoing Global Exchange (oGX), Incoming Global Entrepreneurship and Talent (iGET), Incoming Global Volunteer (iGV), we were given practical training to how to interact with exchange partners, volunteer organizations and companies. After evening tea, we had the evening plenary, and closing session. Finally, there were envelopes assigned to AIESECer in LEAD CS 4.0, and we had to fill sugar cubes for anyone we like.
After the ending session we packed up and left the premises. Special thanks goes to CBL for giving us small a small hamper of ‘YAHAPOSHA”. We had the dinner buffet at a restaurant in Negombo. Finally, we reached back to University of Moratuwa willed with appreciation, perception and memories about AIESEC in Colombo South.