Hi folks, this time I'm coming to you with something indeed important. Therefore, please try not to allow yourself availed with whatever negative impressions you might have against me, and read through with the best neutrality you can offer. The choise of English language is also to appeal to a more knowledgeable crowd than people who usually follow me, since, I stress again, this is really important!
Veteran Actress Yashodha Wimaladharma seems to be getting significant amount of flack for appearing to behave abnormally on social media. Yashodha, as you might know, is no stranger to new technologies, and is usually capable of handling herself in the utmost professional fashion. It is a well documented fact that she's the first Sri Lankan artiste to have a webpage for herself. Throughout her long career, she has remained steadfastly capable of navigating the latest of technologies in a way that is becoming of a celebrity of her stature.
Recently, however, Yashodha seems to have delved into a different way of communicating with her loyal followers, one that is characterised by assuming a slightly narcissistic way of thinking. As one of the most recognizable icons of Sri Lankan popular culture, this is certainly a position she can very much claim if need be. However, the nature of how this is expressed is creating a significant buzz among social media users, and personal attacks, varying from lighthearted to somewhat serious, are being directed at her.
One wouldn't need a professional qualification to understand that this is causing her a great amount of distress. While she might appear to be behaving irrationally on the surface, there's reason to believe that there are certain underlying causes for it, especially with circumstantial evidence relating to her situation. This write up is written to provide some additional insight into what most people going after her don't seem to understand.
Yashodha Wimaladharma, as anyone could find for themselves, is currently a quinquagenarian. (yes, that's some deliberate jargon out of respect to her to not say the fact too openly) As age progresses, every biological female will be going through the natural process of decline in the reproductive ability, and hormonal changes associated with it. While this knowledge should be common enough, the social media reaction to Yashodha's recent changes calls into question whether that is indeed so.
We as a society are more than welcoming when a woman goes through behavioral changes attributed to pregnancy, but sadly we don't seem too keen on bestowing a similar understanding to what happens with Menopause. This can cause a significant change in normal conduct and thought patterns, and it's perfectly natural. Women who have borne children are less susceptible to the extreme changes of it, and since they are in the far majority, our society seems to have come into perceiving that as normal.
Yashodha made a choice earlier in life not to marry or have children, which is of her own private accord, and we as a society should respect her right for personal judgement. We should also try to understand the emotional aspects of going through Menopause with possible personal doubts on this choice, which is in addition to the extreme distress caused by associated hormonal changes, and digest the fact that while Yashodha is certainly a larger than life character in the celebrity space, she is no less human than us all. She is entitled to be a living breathing human being after all.
Therefore, I hereby implore you to treat this personal bout of change from Yashodha in an understanding manner, and not to have any hand in prolonging or amplifying her distress. No one will ever be able to fully grasp the effects of Menopausal hormone change without actually going through it, so please try to empathise with her and not make fun of her, since this is indeed a serious issue.
Even if all of this is Greek to you, perhaps you can understand this. She is of a similar age to the Mothers of most people trying to poke fun at her, so try to emphasize on that fact and perhaps extend a similar amount of respect when interacting with her on social media. Yashodha has faced unspeakable horrors as a victim of bullying in younger years, so please don't make her go through a similar situation once again.
Thank you if you took time to read upto here, and if you see someone making fun of Yashodha's recent interactions, make it your duty to educate them about this and discourage them from acting in a disrespectful manner towards her. You can freely use this write up, and the fact that I took it upon myself to write this long without any personal benefit might inspire you in that regard. I hope this will put an end to those causing distress to her unknowingly.
Cheers.
Indrajith Gamage
(Disclaimer : I'm not a health professional or in any way associated with Yashodha. She did not put me to task on writing this in any way either. I'm just doing a citizen's duty to educate people who don't seem to understand what's going on. If the heading and image associated with this seems a bit brash, please understand that it was intentionally made so, just to be utilized as a hook to give this write up more exposure, so that more people will be inclined to read this through)
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You can see a copy of it on my Facebook profile too.
එහෙමත් බැරි අයට අර ලොකු අකුරෙන් දාලා තියෙන අම්මගෙ සීන් එක කියෙව්වාම හරි. 
