Pilgrimage to India (Jambuddhepa)

Latha and I went on a pilgrimage to India, in other words to Jumbuddeepa, to venerate and worship the holy Buddhist sites from 12 October to 22 Ocotober 2011.

There are four places that a Buddhist layman should visit and look upon with feeling of reverence according to Maha Parinibbana Sutta. We were blessed to worship the following during our stay in India:

* Lumbini, where the Thathagatha was born;

* Bodhgaya, where the Thathagath attained the supreme Enlightenment;

* Saranath, where The Buddha gave his first discourse which set rolled the Wheel of Damma !, Patticca Samuppada Dhamma, a unique concept in the Buddhism

* Kusinara, where the Buddha attained Parinibbana.

Apart from the above, we visited Jethavana temple in Savasthi, Sankassa where Buddha came back to earth from Tavatimsa heaven having preached to God Maha Maya, his mother. Gijjakuta and Durgeshwari mountains and the Taj Mahal.

We formed a society of the sixteen families who participated in the pilgrimage for subsequent association , the name of which is " The Society of G16".

Customer's Rights in the Warranties are at Stake With Sense Micro Distributors in Sri Lanka

I purchased a TP-Link 4 port router from Telecom at Gampaha on 23 April 2011 with a 1 year warranty. The box in which the router is packed clearly indicates that the unit is ‘Better-Protected’ against lightning.

As the router was malfunctioning after two months, I handed over it back to the Gampaha Telecom on 7 June 2011 and they notified me that they would get the unit inspected/ repaired by their supplier within a week. As I did not get any positive feedback, I visited the Telecom Gampaha again on 21 June 2011 and they told me that the unit was damaged due to a lightning and it is beyond repairs and I need to deal with their supplier to claim the damage under the warranty.

I contacted the supplier over the phone and they told me that they would not replace the damaged router with a new one neither they would do the repairs.

In my opinion, the damage to the router is covered under the warranty and I shall be appropriately compensated with a new router which is non-negotiable under the law of the land.

However, Telecom Gampaha is in the position that the supplier should resolve this matter urgently in terms of their obligations towards me as a customer because the intentions of the parties at the time of selling/ purchasing this item are very clear that it is better protected against lightning.

The manager of the supplier subsequently contacted me no sooner he received the mail sent to him and offered to provide me with a brand new router as agreed between ourselves where 50% of the basic cost of the unit to be borne by me but I expressed my displeasure for not providing the same free of cost under the warranty.

I need to stress the fact that I don’t want to make a bad precedent by depriving customers right enshrined in Direction 10(1) under Sri Lanka Consumer Affairs Authority Act No. 3 of 2003 with regard to their right to claim damages during the warranty period.

I further wish to emphasize that the trader can absolutely cover the risk due to lightning

a) by having appropriate insurance by the trader to cover the damage

b) allocating the cost of such premium equally among the number of units within the overheads/mark-up the selling price of the trader

c) Any damage after the warranty period is the risk of the customer.

This settlement is purely personal merely to mitigate the impact of non-availabilty of the 24 hour internet facility provided to my residence by the Telecom.

Some Photographs taken in Sri Lanka

We are at Matale on our way to Kandy

On top of the Athagala in Kurunegala

Induruwa Beach is wonderful

Daesha Putha & Lakshika Duwa,s Wedding

We wish all the best and good luck to Daesha putha and Lakshika Duwa for their wonderful wedding which was held with grace at the Galadhari Hotel on 9 September 2010, some photos of which are appended.

Sehansa in Japanese Dress

Our 30th Wedding Anniversary

Having entered the holy estate of matrimony and exchanged wedding wows 30 years back on 19 June 1980 to live together as husbund and wife taking care of each other by loving, comforting, honoring in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better or worse, in sadness and in joy , cherishing each other as long as we both live, Latha and I celibrated our 30th wedding anniversary on 19 June 2010 surprisingly together with my colleage mates of the Galahitiyawa Central College.

The company with my class mates both girls and boys is something I always cherish wholeheartedly. All of us are now rather old nearing around 60 years of age and I could not make out some of them as they have had changed a lot with the age during the past 40 odd years from my leaving the school.

Our math teacher, Mr. Arther Perera, honered me by visiting our home for the get-together. Being a very nice teacher, he has had earned our love and respect during school days.

Among the friends, Mallika living in the UK, Upali Siriwardane, being a Professor of the Illinois University in the States and Udeni Pathmaperuma working for the UNO in Italy also took the trouble to partcipate in the get-together to our delight.

The presence of my class teacher and most of my class mates at our home meant a lot to us and Latha and I from the bottom of our heart thank them profoundly. Here are some photographs taken at the get-together.

We need to thank my chuti mallie , Sriyanthi nangie and kids living in Melbourne for the beautiful flower basket we received.

It was absolutely a very great occasion with lot of fun which we will remember always.

Our Love, Sehensa

Sehensa is cute now, She is in the kindergarten of the Lycem International at Wattala, Sri Lanka. The photos were taken when she visited us last Sunday with her mother. She is our precious little baby.