Sri Lankan Male: Milestones 2009

Images from the blog, lanka express.
(Blogger issue: to view full-sized, click on image then refresh page.)

It is not only the end of a year at this time but also the end of a decade. The only thoughtful thing to do at a time like this is to take stock of the past and look ahead to the future--one that our actions might hopefully influence toward the better.

2009 has left us~
...a mix of incredibly good, but also tragic and worrisome events to reflect on:

End of 30 years of war in Sri Lanka!!

So momentous an event and one that many (myself included) thought they would never come to see. But the funny thing is that no matter how great the achievement, once it has passed, every manner of other issue manages to emerge and obscure it. Does anyone remember the Cold War?
Global economic meltdown... the saga continues.

image source

It started in 2008 but totally dominated the economic picture throughout the world and through the whole of 2009.

Despite the banks getting saved, the rest of us are left with hardship and dark clouds to ponder.

For what they are worth, the banks and their like should have been left to tumble into the abyss.
Commencement of Barak Obama’s term of office, and hopes for a more peaceful world.

Maybe more a 2008 story, but the taking of office by the first black president of the world's leading political and economic power could well represent one of modern history’s most important pivotal events.

It is not without some merit that the Nobel committee chose Obama as their man of peace, even if his mission is yet to be accomplished.
Passing of a pop-culture supernova, who proclaimed...
If you wanna make the world a better place take a look at yourself then make a--change!

Through his music and persona he touched perhaps more people on the planet than anyone else dead or alive.

As controversial as Michael Jackson had become over his 50 short years, one only need hear the music and see the dance to understand why.

I hope, now, that the positive messages in some of his songs begin to resonate in a world badly in need of change and salvation.

image source

And what about the decade?

The burst of the dot-com bubble.
The continued evolution of the Internet—-into blogging, networking & twittering.
The 2004 tsunami.
The emergence of China as an economic superpower.
The ubiquity of the mobile phone.
9-11 and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
The legalization of gay marriage in countries and locales far and wide...

On a global scale there were so may noteworthy events, both within the past year and over the decade.

Any one of these, whether good or bad, could be taken and reflected upon before deciding what new plans to embark on.

There are the personal milestones, too, no less important.

On an individual level these may have included deaths, births, achievements and failures, accidents, illneses, opportunities seized and lost...

What, at the end of the decade, will be the most important milestone for a public figure like Tiger Woods?

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Will it be one of his magnificent achievements on the golf course or the accumulative effect of them all? ...the passing of his father? ...the birth of a child?

Or will it be his tragic fall from grace?

No doubt it will be that, but what a pity for such a talented, accomplished and admirable sports figure. Isn't he no less human, despite his superhuman talents on the golf course?

(The) Sri Lankan Male ...

And where does (he) it figure in?

Sri Lankan Male, this website, is looking for Sri Lankan men who are willing to share their images with the world. You need not be a model, but you need the confidence that says...

"Look at me! I've got what it takes."

Become a Sri Lankan Male model.

Sri Lankan Male is well and truly a part of the Internet’s continuing evolutionary power and reach.

Sri Lankan Male has become a place where fans of Sri Lanka from around the world can get their occasional fix of male beauty.

Some may call it eye candy, but that would trivialize it. Its value is more than that. It serves both a personal and a cultural function.

The book Fantasy Men, recently featured in SLM, has as part of its aim to transport the reader into a world of fantasy, all inspired by the men on its pages.

Sri Lankan Male may serve a similar function as it seeks to present the real Sri Lankan and south Asian men (not celebrities or media faces) that one is likely to encounter on the streets of Sri Lanka or south India.

These are handsome, alluring, and exotic young men in various walks of life.

Sri Lankan Male also offers a showcase for the aspiring young Sri Lankan or south Asian man to promote his looks, style and image.

We quite frankly don’t see enough of them, either in the media or in the sphere of the World Wide Web.

Whether that image is of a soldier, a bodybuilder, a model, a beach boy or the boy next door, it is an image that I feel the world needs to see, and these young men need a platform.

In Australia and New Zealand, and perhaps other parts of the southern hemisphere, there is a desire sometimes to imagine the world turned upside down, with the down-under becoming the top.

image source
In a way, that is the kind of world I would like to see when it comes to our understanding and depiction of male beauty.

We see enough of the fair looks of the European or that so-called Aryan Indian look.

But what a world it would be if we could turn it upside down and our greatest icons of male beauty would be recognized as the beautiful, dark, sultry men of Sri Lanka and other parts of south Asia.

That would be a wonderful world.

The heart depicted here is my own,
which beats for the handsome young man on the right.
Just a simple man, I'm sure--a farmer or a fisher, but his eyes are rich with charm.

For me, the goal for 2010 and the coming decade is to promote just such a vision. In that spirit, may Sri Lankan Male and the Sri Lankan male prosper, and hopefully more young, aspiring men of these southern regions will come to share what they have with the world.

Which is your favorite image in this post?

I'm Not a Gay, p2 also features some images from the blog lanka express.

The images in this post were obtained from lanka express and no claims of ownership are being made by this author. Many of the images have, however, been digitally modified for artistic purposes in accordance with the theme of this post.

Postscript:
50 Words (this author's aside)

New Year's resolution. Something not in the cards, not easily done but achievable, which will not only make my day, but make the year 2010.

Marriage? Ha, ha... Are you kidding! How about one, new SLM post every 4 days and one podcast a week? Achievable? I'll sleep on that.

50 words, No. 012 (←/--)

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