The First Scream

I have always wanted to blog but never had the patience to sit down and actually make one. As of late I keep finding my self without a voice. By nature I am not a person who would stand up, voice my opinions in a forum or argue a point. I have always preferred to jot things down in paper or leave a comment. But as of late this personal inability to stand up and voice my thoughts has left  feeling extremely frustrated, angry, helpless and utterly useless. I dont want to be one of those people who leave this world without doing something worthwhile. I dont want to look back someday and feel like I have been a waste of O2 and energy. I may not be able to speak up verbally but I can do one thing and that is write. Its my medium and comfort zone. This blog is my platform to scream, shout and make my voice heard.

I thought I would start off the first blog post about a book which has left me in awe and reduced me to tears. i have read books which enthralled one so much, you forget to eat, drink and sleep. #Reyna'sProphecy by #RadhikaPhillip is a refreshing novel and I look forward to more stories by this author. The book is published by #HarperCollins which is a first for #SriLanka. When I read the blurb I had a vague feeling it would be one of those books about the conflict, since most Sri Lankan authors have found it hard to move away from this theme. Yes we should talk about it and remember the lives lost, the trauma, the fear and the chaos. But when every other book by a Sri Lankan author has nuances and references to it and creates story lines which revolves around this it becomes a bit tiresome. Maybe it is a way of heeling and to be expected from a country recovering from a decades long war. Nevertheless Reyna's Prophecy was a breath of fresh air. The story is about a young girl in a quest to fulfill a prophecy. I am not going to go into detail but the story and spoil it for you. Let me just say that she transports you to a world which any animal lover may find easy to believe. The characters are dynamic and Philips weaves her story in a way which grips you. What I loved most was the world Philip created. It was so easy to enter it. So close to the real world, by its proximity to our daily lives and so simple in its events and situations. Our pets, the childhood memories, the anxieties of growing up, the family dynamics and the life changing, unexpected disasters/ events and experiences which shape us and are an integral part of us. The book attempts to tell us a lot of things. I could pick up nuances to the gap between the rich and poor in the country. The influence and power the Colombo Elite yield over the country. The lack of sustainable development and conservation of natural resources. The unpreparedness for natural disasters. The way normalcy is perceived by people in a country at war. The idea that nature can nurture and also destroy.