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It was some fifty years ago. For ruggerite Maurice de Silva the evening started just as an ordinary day. Maurice warming up at Havelock Park. He was practicing throwing the javelin as a way of strengthening his arms. So he hurled the javelin a good distance and was happy with his throw.

His friend Carl Fernando was some distance away and Maurice called out and asked Carl to throw the Javelin back. Carl obliged! Maurice who was away from the line of sight stepped back into the arena and here was Carl with unintended geometrical precision making its way toward Maurice.

It took only a split second, and the javelin pierced—yes pierced-Maurice’s neck. Maurice fell down flat on the grass with the spear embedded in his neck. David Hoffman who was nearby ran towards Maurice and seeing the Javelin stuck in Maurice’s neck yanked the Javelin out.

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A more determined romantic is hard to find. He totally immerses himself in his mission. And his vision compels him to win any prize he sets his eyes on.

He has two heart throbs. His wife Yehali and the other Cricket! The affair started when she was at the Hillwood College hostel in Kandy.

The school’s conservatism made it near impossible to permeate the purdah-like restrictions which were imposed on boarders.

Even at that time Kumar knew how to spot the gaps, and they would meet somehow, somewhere! And then she had to move to Colombo while Kumar remained in Kandy.

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When I wrote about Thissara Perera in the Daily News on January 10, it would have been pretty presumptuous to have expected him to be picked in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction. After all there were eight Sri Lankans shortlisted and Thissara was one of many.

But, as I penned last week, Thissara Perera was in the National spotlight among the millions of TV viewers. He attached himself to the notion of audacity.

He walked in with Sri Lanka needing 54 off 39 balls and made sure that he waved his bat like a magic wand, and won the game for Sri Lanka. Little wonder then that he has now bagged the US $ 50,000 contract (over five million Sri Lankan rupees) at the age of 19 with the same audacity as his match winning strokes. So, to honour this young lad, what I wrote then bears repetition.

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From the very first moment Thissara Perera was in the national spotlight last Tuesday among the millions of TV viewers, he attached himself to the notion of audacity. He walked in with Sri Lanka needing 54 off 39 balls.

The Indian TV commentator did not hide his glee that India had broken the back of the batting order. Sri Lankan viewers, one must confess, had a sense of resignation to the inevitable fate that has become so commonplace: so near and yet so far! With typical “karmatic” expectation one asked rhetorically: what can Samaraweera do alone?

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