There is no WAR
in my name, but there is a MAN in my
name.
That is how I snap at the people who misspell my name.
Fellow Toastmasters and guests!
I am Yasovarman, Yasovarman Perinpanayagam, spelled as Y A S
O V A R M A N.
I am fondly called as Yash by many as they find it difficult
to pronounce my name, but my mother was never happy about it!
My life can be divided into 5 different phases. Each phase
in a different place.
36 years ago I was born in a small farming village called
Mandur in the eastern province of Sri Lanka.
I spent the initial years in the village. Then my parents
decided to move to Batticaloa town to get us better education.
My next phase of life started in Batticaloa. I joined Methodist
Central College which is probably the oldest school in the island. It was established
in the early years of the 19th century by the Methodist mission
priests.
After getting through Advanced Level I decided to move to
our neighboring country India for my higher studies. I joined a private college
in Chennai for BSc Microbiology which is a study of creatures you don’t see by
your naked eye.
Chennai life gave me a lot of new experiences. I started communicating
in English as there were students from various states. I had an opportunity to interact
with girls and to make some good friends which I was deprived of back home as I
studied at a boys’ school and could not hang around the 2 most famous girls’
schools-my elder sister was a student of one and my mother was the vice
principal of the other. Therefore I had to get back home immediately after
school without any choice…
My 4th phase of life was back in Sri Lanka in
Colombo. I joined a private company that was handling textile chemicals. The
change of field from microbiology to textile was an accident indeed. There is a
saying that everything happens for a reason. In that accident hidden another
accident. Yes.. your guess is perfect. I met my future wife there. I emerged
unhurt.
Since I am a village boy I had been longing for a village
life. Out of the blue I saw an advertisement calling for applicants to work in
an apparel factory in Kilinochchi. I applied in no time. I got through the
interviews and relocated to Kilinochchi leaving my family in Colombo.
Three 3 years I spent in the north gave me a lot of exposure
to a different side of Lanka and its people who were badly affected by the
bloody war. It gave me an opportunity to help those people mentally and improve
their knowledge on various aspects.
My PSEUDO-BACHELOR life in Kilinochchi gave me a lot of
spare time which was very much utilized to explore book reading, internet,
music and novel subjects such as mnemonics and memory techniques.
“If there is a beginning there is an end”. I decided to come
back to rejoin my family because my son was starting schooling. I missed him so
much during these 3 years. Meantime I miss my people in Kilinochchi a lot.
My Kilinochchi life ended last year. “If there is an end there is a beginning”. This is the new beginning-joining this elite Toastmasters club.
