“Anura Kumara Dissanayake: The Sun That Awakens Sri Lanka’s Soul”

* ‘Anu’ derived from Sanskrit, meaning ‘atom’ or ‘essence’

* ‘Ra’ symbolizes the Sun

Anura, the dawn carries your name,

Sri Lanka rises on the cusp of change,

where the palms sway not to the whispers of old,

but to the chorus of a people unchained,

their hearts beating in unison,

hoping for skies clear of corruption’s clouds.

We seek no magician,

          no conjurer of instant dreams,

but a man, grounded in soil and struggle,

who knows the weight of history’s shadow,

yet carries the future in his calloused hands.

Anura, they call you the flame,

the one to burn away the rot,

to sweep aside the ancient chains of greed - 

nepotism’s hollow throne,

self-aggrandizement’s brittle mask,

all crumble beneath the eyes of a nation

that dreams of justice,

that craves the warmth of equality.

You stand not as king,

          but as one among us,

lifting the veil of division,

where race is no more than the echo of yesterday,

and today, every name rings with the same worth.

Sinhala, Muslim, Tamil, Burgher - 

we are threads in the same flag,

woven together by hope, by resilience.

But, Anura, the road is not paved with ease,

          and we know it too.

We stand patient,

knowing that the tree does not bear fruit

the day it is planted.

A Marxist’s heart beats with the rhythm of toil,

and we, too, must labor,

hand in hand, for this promised land.

A nation’s hope is a delicate thing,

          fragile, like the first touch of rain

on the parched earth.

It demands time,

and so, we give you time - 

to shape this island into the home we dream,

where power bows before the people,

and equality stands at every door.

Anura,

          be the essence, the atom of new beginnings.

We will wait,

for the sun that bears your name.