Corporal punishment for children

The standard response for bad behaviour in boys schools in the 1940s and 50s seems to have been a caning - usually on the spot, sometimes during assembly. I wonder how long this practice prevailed and how prevalent it is today in Sri Lanka?
I know a teacher of a girls school who used to punish wrong-doers by hitting them on their palms with the sharp side of a foot ruler - ouch! This was in the '80s.

Someone to Love Us

It's hard to imagine that until 1948 there was no systematic safety net for children in care. Not in England anyway - I don't know how it was in Sri Lanka. It took the death of 13 year old Dennis O'Neill at the hands of his foster parents - and the testimony of his 10-year old brother Terry - to stir up the nation.

In 2010 Terry wrote 'a non fiction' account of his childhood experiences and the book appears to have got some very positive reviews. It's on my wish list of books to read.

ARP Warden

During World War 2 we had air raid precaution wardens in Ceylon too. They were responsible for ensuring that people in their area knew where to go to if there was an air raid. They were also responsible for setting up first aid centres and ensuring that no lights could be seen on the ground to enemy aircrafts flying overhead at night.

There are many pictures of ARP wardens in England on the internet but none of those from the colonies. I seriously doubt that our ARP wardens wore dark blue overalls. An eye witness who was around 10 at the time remembers them wearing khaki shorts, short-sleeved shirts, wide brimmed hats and shoes with socks up to the knees! And the ARP arm bands of course.

I'll need to do some serious digging to find out.

Second story done!

I've written my next story and sent it off to the publisher!

This doesn't mean of course that we will see it in print any time soon. Assuming it is liked we then start on the long process of editing...

The narration in this book is a lot more complex than that of Mythil's Secret. The story too is a lot darker. So I think this book will be more suited for a readership of 13+ but lets see...

Meeting Mythil

I met a 10-year old called Mythil earlier this month and I was blown away at how strikingly like the character he was! Looks-wise they were almost identical. The Mythil I met also likes reading books and reads fast. He thinks a lot about stories and what goes into them. But there the similarity ends.
Whereas the Mythil in my book is a bit of a loner and an introvert the Mythil I met was a real live wire. He was leading the other boys in a series of experiments on a large fish in a glass tank. I think they were checking the fish's reaction time - much to its owner's dismay!
I think, that faced with the yaka on the tree this Mythil would not have run away. He would have climbed up the tree after the yaka - either chasing it away or cornering it to learn more about it!