An unbeatable schoolgirl at Viyaluwa

Eeshani who did not lose ... 
by bringing joy to those who were successful 
with the money in the till

   How pleasant a place the world would be if people make it a habit to accept defeat as victory and with a joyful heart and also give respect to those who gain victory ... with of course no jealousy in heart? Unfortunately, such a thing can be seen in Sri Lanka only once in a way.

   Though much talk was published across the media about 'small' winners of the past scholarship examination ... a story of a girl who won 'with her feelings' is heard from a remote area in Viyaluwa. This girl who was successful in term tests and became one of the most capable students in class however managed to secure only 144 marks at the scholarship examination. She was lagging by a few marks where the pass mark rating was concerned. As such, she failed to join the other 6  who passed the scholarship exam in her class.


   Though she was sad about her failure, it soon vanished; but she was proud about those who were successful in such a remote school and even thought of doing something where she could be happy about. At once what she remembered was the cash till where she used to collect her coins from small days. She then silently thought of giving some gifts to her friends who won the scholarship from the money that she had collected in her till ... so that they would be happier.

  Her parents as well as her teachers gave her permission for it. This fantastic thought originated in the mind of student Eeshani Dhanushka of Viyaluma Taldena Primary School.

 On behalf of this, a ceremony was held in her school and it was in this manner that her teacher spoke about this extraordinary student who expressed her happiness by bestowing her heartfelt joy over her classmates.|

 "We didn't think that Eeshani would fail the scholarship ... she got good marks in all the question papers given to her in the class. She was a very innocent and capable child. But when we saw the exam results we were surprised ... and at the same time we felt sad   because she got just a few marks less.

 A few days later Eeshani came alone and spoke to me. She said that she likes to give presents to those who were successful ... and that was from the money in her till. I was surprised .. of how such a thought came to her mind. This type of thing is something that nobody has so far thought of   and it was indeed exemplary. I spoke about this to the lady principle also and afforded an opportunity to Eeshani at the school assembly".

  When handing over the presents to her friends, this is how Eeshani described what she did:
   "When I failed the exam I felt a bit sad ... but because my friends passed ...  became happy. I thought that I must give them a present ... and I told about this to my mother. Then she lovingly said, 'good girl ... do anything ..., I'll help you'.

   After that I took the money I had collected in my till and also with the money my mother gave I bought some books and came to school and after telling teachers and sirs, I presented those gifts to my  6 friends who passed the exam. Because nobody had given any presents to them by that time, they felt very happy. Our class teacher Amitha, our lady principal and other teachers all stroked by head with affection and valued what I did ... and so I'm more happy than having passed that exam. These things I did not because anybody told me to do so ... only because it came to my own mind".