Life style
Walking down aisle of success
by Zanita Careem
Nelum is a self-motivated individual, marked by her single-minded quest for success and achievement.She is breaking stereotypes with her talent, and inspiring countless women. Nelum’s strong determination to be independent, influenced her to be an entrepreneur. A fashion icon, who makes statements in any outfit at any place.
Nelum Haththella is the founder and editor of “Brides Of Sri Lanka” magazine, the premier bridal and wedding magazine is Sri Lanka. A graduate of Edith Cowan University, Australia with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and IT, Nelum started exploring her many talents from a very young age.
As the daughter of film producer Florence Haththella, she acted in films and teledramas as a child and moved on to modeling for TV commercials. At the same time she also explored her writing skills and won Young Writer of the Year in 1995 for her poetry. Soon after graduating, she got married to Viraj Rajapakse, a pilot and moved to the Maldives, where she worked as a manager for an IT and software development firm.
05Upon returning to Sri Lanka for her confinement, she completed a Diploma in HR and soon after formed her publishing company and hence the birth of Brides Of Sri Lanka, HealthWise and Mangalyaa. She proved her excellent entrepreneurial skills she inherited from her mother when she won Woman Entrepreneur of the Year in 2015, in the medium business category.
With such accolades, this inspiring lady is still continuing her explorations of talents and is now using her spare time to share her passion for food and travel via Food & Travel Escapades by Nel – a Youtube channel and social media blog. She uses this platform to share her exquisite recipes, food reviews, travel destinations with videos and photos.
How did your business come into being
I founded my company in December 2006 with the website www.bridesofsrilanka.com which was designed to bridge the gap between Wedding Planning and Technology. At the time, the use of the World Wide Web for planning a wedding was novel to Sri Lanka, but was widely embraced by young tech savvy couples. They found the features of my website to be time saving and extremely useful; especially the prospective brides and grooms living overseas. Then six month later, I decided to release a printed version of the website in a magazine form (Brides Of Sri Lanka magazine), which too became a favorite among brides and grooms. And ever since, we’ve been growing and now are proudly onboard Sri Lankan Airlines, is the media partner for reputed wedding expos in Sri Lanka and overseas and the two-time Gold Winner at the Sri Lanka Print Awards (2019 & 2020). We are also the only wedding magazine available for worldwide readership on all digital media platforms including Magzter, Online, Android & iOS Apps.
A few years ago, we also released Mangalyaa, a wedding magazine to satiate the Sinhala readership.
What has been the best and hardest thing about being an entrepreneur
There best things would be how I am able to create job opportunities to many and empower them with my expertise and knowledge, how am I able to aspire many youngsters to follow their dreams and venture into businesses and mostly importantly how I am able to be a part of the success story of my clients who are our advertisers.
The hardest thing would be to decide when to take a break, as you can get quite addicted to doing what you love.
Your passion and advise to young entrepreneurs
My passion is to be of help to others. My advice to young entrepreneurs is to start business with innovative ideas and products which makes you unique and indispensable. As a youngster, it is very easy to get carried away with what your heart believes in and overrule what your head tells you, but if you whole-heartedly believe in your business model, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Be persistent, resilient and take every hurdle as a learning experience. You are the only one standing your way to success!
Can woman have it all? Share your takes on this
Of course a woman can have it all! The biggest mistake most people make is think that being a woman is a disadvantage to becoming successful – on the contrary, women by nature are gifted with far more better characteristic such as endurance, resilience, tolerance, empathy and ability to multi-task, to name a few. Woman or man, having it all totally depends on how badly you want to have it all and what you are going to do about it.
What do think of women in sri lanka how do you think it can be better
I think of Sri Lankan women are extraordinary creatures – especially if you look at our history, we’ve had some remarkable women. We’ve had the first woman prime minister and president in the world; so we really can’t say women are oppressed or lack social representation in this country. If we stand our ground for what what we believe in, we are definitely heard. Sadly, however, I feel women in this country don’t maximize their potential due to various reasons. Most often they end their careers to prioritize family soon after marriage making them depend on their husbands for financial support. And funnily enough, most often it is women who encourage women to do this and make them feel that it is a woman’s duty to give up their dreams and careers for the family’s sake. The duty of maintaining the wellbeing of the family has to borne by both husband and wife, not wife alone. As long as we don’t change the mindset of people to treat a woman as an equal in marriage, we will not develop as a nation! We need to empower our daughters with education and financial independence. It is only then a woman can live with her head held high and never have the reason to feel inferior to any!
With so many magazines around what is that thing which separates your magazine from others
Novelty and the use of modern technologies from graphic design, pre-press to printing. Over the years I think we’ve mastered it to the point our printer won Gold twice consecutively at the Sri Lanka Print Awards for Brides Of Sri Lanka magazine in 2019 and 2020 in the magazine and periodicals category. We’ve always been trendsetters and kept ourselves far ahead of competition, because our challenge has always been to better ourselves from where we are.
Why a bridal magazine?
A wedding in Sri Lanka is a greatly celebrated milestone in one’s life. And I know the dilemmas I faced as a young bride when I was planning my own wedding many years ago. Wedding planning period is a very trying time for a young girl as she is new to the whole experience and is caught in a web of opinions of parents, relatives, friends and wedding professionals. I wanted the best information resource for such young brides where they are guided to choose the most unique ideas and best vendors to plan their most memorable day. And with our international exposure, I am able to showcase the great talents we have in Sri Lanka to the rest of the world, making our island nation the best wedding destination.
Your husband’s role in supporting you
Right after God, he’s my go-to for advice, support and help. Being the youngest of four, I was very strictly raised by my mother who was a young window. I always say I earned my freedom the day I got married. Viraj and I started our courtship at a very young age and he’s become my best friend. He extremely supportive and believes in everything I do and that has given me the utmost freedom to do take up any challenge or risk without fear. It is very important to find a life partner who embarks on life’s journey, not in front of you or behind you, but right next to you, holding your hand along the way.
Courtesy: Outfits by Aslam Hussein of GeeBees Designer
boutique
Institute of Hospitality Sri Lanka
The 32nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the UK-based Institute of Hospitality’s Sri Lanka Chapter was held recently at the Ramada Hotel Colombo,.The event provided an evening of camaraderie , reflection of the past and present achievements,setting new benchmarks for the future
The AGM had the presence of two distinguished guests, the Chief Guest Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, and the Guest of Honour British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Andrew Patrick. Their inspiring speeches were lauded by all hoteliers who were present at the occasion
A special thanks was extended to Robert Richardson, CEO of the Institute of Hospitality UK, along with his team, sponsors, committee members, and all attendees for making the event memorable.
Dr. Harsha Jayasingh, Past President of the Institute of Hospitality (UK) Sri Lanka Chapter, emphasised the Institute’s longstanding history and the strength of its Sri Lankan branch. “The Institute of Hospitality (IH) UK has a history of 86 years, and we are proud to be the Sri Lanka Branch. IH Sri Lanka is much stronger now with many members from all areas of the hospitality industry,” he stated.
Dr. Jayasingh highlighted the significant role of tourism in Sri Lanka’s economy,. He said tourism it is the third-largest source of revenue for the country. “Tourism accounts for about 13.3% of total foreign exchange earnings and employs 450,000 people directly and indirectly. The hospitality industry in this island of pearl holds tremendous potential for economic growth, job creations, and cultural exchange,” he added.
He also pointed out more women should be attracted to the industry and advocated for the use of technology in hospitality sector to attract the younger generation.
The newly appointed Chairman Ramesh Dassanayake spoke about the challenges faced by the industry, including the reluctance of youth to join the sector. . Dassanayake expressed concerns over the migration of staff between hotels and the overall ‘brain drain’ in the sector. ” We must maintain high standards in the hotel We must try to attract tourists to Sri Lanka, we must have with many facilities Hence, hotel schools and other professional institutions involved in skills development mustincrease their intakes,” he pointed out.
Chief Guest Sajith Premadasa emphasised the importance of eco tourism and said “We need to have an environmental policy related to tourism in place,” . .
The 32nd AGM of the Institute of Hospitality UK, Sri Lanka Chapter, was a testament to the strength and potential of Sri Lanka’s hospitality industry. The insights and commitments shared during the event set a new benchmark for the future.(ZC)
Pix by Thushara Attapathu
Life style
He recognizes human identity beyond boundaries of gender, race, nationality and religion.
Visit of Sri Gurudev to Sri Lanka
Humanitarian, spiritual leader and Global Ambassador of Peace Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (Sri Gurudev) was in Sri Lanka on a three day tour on the invitation of the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Dinesh Gunewardene. Gurudev who inspired a wave of volunteerism and service to moot one of the largest volunteer-based organisations in the world – The Art of Living – visited the various projects under the aegis of the foundation and launched twelve vocational and technical centers around the island. He was accompanied by thousands of followers from Sri Lanka and around the world.
Gurudev who visited Sri Lanka for the sixth time also had a first day cover launched in honour of his visit. He is a strong proponent of spreading happiness, using the unique Sudarshan Kriya, yoga, meditation and practical wisdom to unite people, empower individuals and transform communities. His programmes provide techniques and tools to live a deeper, more joyous life, while his non-profit organisations recognize the human identity beyond the boundaries of gender, race, nationality and religion.
The Art of Living which has more than 30,000 teachers and over one million volunteers across 180 countries has touched in excess of five hundred million people around the world. CNN called it “Life Changing” and The Washington Post headlined it, “Fresh air to millions”.
In Trincomalee, Gurudev met with war victims and had a heartwarming engagement with the children from the children’s homes run by the Foundation. He also visited the Koneswara Temple in Trincomalee and graced the Kumbhabhishekam at Seetha ecogPnize the human identity beyond the boundaries of gender, race, nationality and religion. Amman temple at Nuwara Eliya. He held discussions with the trustees on the progress of the foundation’s social service projects, while also holding a special event – Ekamuthuwa – attended by a large number of dignitaries and his devotees from around the world.
His time with the Prime Minister was spent discussing the prospects of unity in diversity and uniting Sri Lanka by adding happiness into the formula of living. In addition he had discussions with the Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, prominent business stewards and civil society leaders.
by Zanita Careem
Envison your dream wedding day come to life at the Epitome Hotel, a prestigious city hotel in Kurunegala offering an unrivalled luxury rendors experience for weddings.
The venue is designed to embody opulence and luxury from all quarters for a spectacular wedding in kurunegala,Thier ballroom is the largest banquet facility in Sri Lanka It can be divided into six luxurious pillarless wedding halls on the ground floor and 25pax smaller banquet halls.
It can be easily named as a five star heaven in the heart of the city contributing to a myriad of immense experiences tailored to inspire and delight wedding experiences.
From opulent décor set up to exquisite table decor, lavish food, every detail is meticulously curated to spark your imagination and ignite creativity for a perfect wedding. The previous prestigious wedding shows season one and season two attracted large crowds
were unique events which gave the wedding vendors and potential clients had an opportunity to connect and interact with each other. Beyond being a showcase it was a chance for the wedding vendors to unite and contribute to the vibrancy of the wedding industry. The wedding show covered all area of the bridal industry providing a comprehensive variety of bridal supplies from Sri lanka and became the most popular bridal exhibitions in Kurunegala.This bridal exhibitions allowed brides and grooms to experience first hand the products and services available from suppliers in Sri Lanka
These wedding shows held at The Epitome created a benchmark and gave an opportunity for vendors to create connections to the utmost satisfaction said Harshan Lakshita Executive Director. of the magnificent Hotel
Our wedding shows featured experts and professionals in every field‘ It covered all areas of the bridal industry provided a comprehensive variety of bridal supplies from Sri lanka and became most popular bridal exhibition in this region.We are always open to everyone to join us at our wedding shows in the future. It is an opportunity to discover the incredible talent within our local wedding and bridal vendors to make meaningful relationships and plan thier special day at our breathtaking hotel The Epitome said General Manager Kavinda Caldera
The Epitome Hotel’s bridal show which will be held end of June will buzz with great ideas,advice and inspiration for all those who plan thier dream wedding
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The Hotel Epitome’s Wedding Season 3 will marked excellence, celebration and inspiration for those in the wedding industry. The exhibition halls will resonate with ideas on exquisite bridal wear to decor, florists , photography etc and showshowcase the rich tapestry of talent within the local wedding industry. .
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