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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WaterMelon" data-source="post: 23644044" data-attributes="member: 563796">අපට තවත් අර්ජුනලා සාදාගැනීමට නොහැකි ඈයි Why don’t we get Madugalles and Arjunas any more    <img src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-77f7Q1u3mK8/Vxb8uqZgZqI/AAAAAAAACBQ/JDQTiEegfJIZNf5KG7cynQsCPJ-M9sInwCLcB/s1600/z_p-23-A-lasting.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />   <a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-77f7Q1u3mK8/Vxb8uqZgZqI/AAAAAAAACBQ/JDQTiEegfJIZNf5KG7cynQsCPJ-M9sInwCLcB/s1600/z_p-23-A-lasting.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.elakiri.com//www.elakiri.com//4.bp.blogspot.com/-77f7Q1u3mK8/Vxb8uqZgZqI/AAAAAAAACBQ/JDQTiEegfJIZNf5KG7cynQsCPJ-M9sInwCLcB/s320/z_p-23-A-lasting.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a> …And it was 35 years ago.  As an early teen, I was so enthusiastic  about extra-curricular activities at school, thus, every season, I  participated at practice sessions of more than 20 different sports. I  neither wanted nor I had the talent to be a sporting star, so that I  never represented even the school team in any of those games. I was so  happy and proud of practicing alongside the big names.     My parents never bothered about what I  stayed after school for. They knew that I was involved with one thing or  the other in the right spirit. My mother’s only condition was that I  never go even close to the college swimming pool. Few idiots have  convinced her that as I have two vortices (සුළි දෙකක්) in my hair, I will have a high possibility of facing a tragic accident in water.     We have never seen a parent in the  peripherals of the ground, courts or ring, watching how their kids play.  The only time that I remember a parent stepping across these boundaries  was when a mother of a fellow mate (was it Kishan George?) brought a  big cake into the basketball court for us to share as it was his  birthday.  <a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4n0PitOFMas/Vxb81f10GXI/AAAAAAAACBU/b2nIma8juQwTcu5l_QWXlx49eJoXkDZ2gCLcB/s1600/Young-Muttiah-Muralithara-002.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.elakiri.com//www.elakiri.com//2.bp.blogspot.com/-4n0PitOFMas/Vxb81f10GXI/AAAAAAAACBU/b2nIma8juQwTcu5l_QWXlx49eJoXkDZ2gCLcB/s320/Young-Muttiah-Muralithara-002.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a>    …And 25 years later.....,     I used to go to the same school, once in a while, on Saturdays, to pick my sons after their scouting sessions.     The scouting room is located at a corner  of the junior-school ground. About 10-15 kids were usually seen  practicing cricket in the ground. And double the number of parents were  sitting on the short concrete seating area beyond the boundary line, in  small clusters.     For every shot that reached the  boundary, every ball that hit the wicket or every catch that is taken, a  certain cluster of parents were cheering and clapping. Those kids were  not even playing a practice match. They were just practicing.    Among these parents, several were those  mates who played together with me during those good old days. Chatting  casually with them I understood that many of these guys, who were once  very close buddies, are no longer even looking at each other. Their  wives were even more aggressive. Everyone has a story to tell.    “He used to offer many gifts as a  bribe to the coach so that his son was selected to open the batting last  season although the kid is the lousiest batsman in the squad”.    “That bitch is too close to the  master-in-charge (then a wry grin), so that her son is always selected  as the leg-spinner of the team ahead of our kid who turns the ball like  Abdul Qadir”.  <img src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4n0PitOFMas/Vxb81f10GXI/AAAAAAAACBU/b2nIma8juQwTcu5l_QWXlx49eJoXkDZ2gCLcB/s320/Young-Muttiah-Muralithara-002.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />  “All my friends say that our son will be  the next Chaminda Vaas, so that all those stupid parents are so jealous  that they poison the coach”.    Arrogance, frustration, vengeance, shrewdness, stupidity, self-inflation……. Their voices are filled with all sorts of emotions.    Not only cricket, whatever the sport you  name, the issue is there. Not only in one school; from Royal to  Dembaraweva Central College, the situation is the same.    Parents poke their nose, fingers, and  everything possible into the kids’ affairs and spoil the whole picture.  Master-in-charge, coach, school heads and even the principal are in  utter stress.     Willingly or unwillingly they have to bow their heads to the influential parents. Once they do that they are pampered with many perks…... bribes that come in various forms.     If they try to swim against the tide,  their lives become extremely uncomfortable. The first bullet comes from  the almighty “old boys union”. The next one may be from a minister, the  prime minister or even the president; else from a notorious underground  kingpin. Thus, the vast majority will opt for the safer path; select the  sons of the most influential.    Gradually, the talents were diminished  and faded away. Parents with perseverance had to look for alternative  paths for their children, if they have enough money. Thus,  the affordable lot started playing for clubs and emerged into the  national levels much latter.    A couple of decades ago most of our sporting heroes were born in the school arena, thus they had many years of sporting career.     And now…………………<img src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oRGBAfvG-ew/Vxb88NHC8iI/AAAAAAAACBY/repBIYYL7cYg31FCAnuQzp_78aOOzMqpgCLcB/s1600/0602100856081997_ranatunga_azhar.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />  <a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oRGBAfvG-ew/Vxb88NHC8iI/AAAAAAAACBY/repBIYYL7cYg31FCAnuQzp_78aOOzMqpgCLcB/s1600/0602100856081997_ranatunga_azhar.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.elakiri.com//www.elakiri.com//4.bp.blogspot.com/-oRGBAfvG-ew/Vxb88NHC8iI/AAAAAAAACBY/repBIYYL7cYg31FCAnuQzp_78aOOzMqpgCLcB/s320/0602100856081997_ranatunga_azhar.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a> http://chandimagomes.blogspot.com/ </blockquote>

Verification: Hathara warak wissa keeyada? (Hathara wadi karanna 20)

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