Rector's Message
I congratulate the staff of the department of English & Modern
Languages of SIBA Campus on the issue of IRIS volume II. IRIS is the SIBA forum for creative
writers. It offers a top-notch platform for creative writers to display their writing skills and
hone their creative competencies. The department of English & Modern Languages of SIBA does not
promote conventional language teaching. Our mission is to promote English language learning for
communicative purposes. As we know, today, Commercial, industrial and service sectors are in the
dire need of creative people and good communicators. As such, IRIS is yet another step towards
producing graduates with creative thoughts and excellent communication skills. Though SIBA is
relatively a small university college, we have a clear vision of rendering quality education for the
21st century.
I am happy to see that IRIS has produced a bunch of enthusiastic writers who show high
potentials of becoming full-fledged poets, short story writers and essayists in the future. I take
this opportunity to thank the editor-in-chief, the award winning, veteran writer Ms. Kamala
Wijerathne for her efforts to fine tune the creative capacities of our writers by conducting
creative writing workshops. I also thank the members of the academic staff of the department of
English & Modern Languages headed by Ms. Buddhi Ariyratne for bringing forth the second volume of
IRIS Volume 2, despite the hindrances caused by the epidemic situation in the country. All the
writers who contributed to the second volume of IRIS deserve acknowledgement, too. The encouraging
hand given by many others who supported in many ways to make IRIS volume 2 a reality is much
appreciated.