She is fast becoming a Youtube icon with her story channel receiving over a hundred comments daily. Aruni Kalupahana started her Youtube channel Stories by Aruni in March, 2019 and has many followers clamouring for more of her stories just after a few months establishing her channel.
A strong and independent personality, Aruni is a many faceted young woman with a clear vision of what she wants from life and willing to work tirelessly and endlessly to achieve it. An out- of – the –box thinker, she strives to be different and loves adventure and travel.
She is also a very caring person deeply concerned about her fellow beings. One of the reasons that led her to become a story teller on Youtube was her compassion towards those of us who are handicapped visually. It caused her much pain to realise that the world of books which brought her much joy was inaccessible the visually impaired and the hearing impaired. So, Aruni hit upon having a Youtube channel to bring books to these people. The visually impaired can listen to the narration and the hearing impaired can read the text. Another reason for Aruni to have a Youtube channel is to provide infotainment and guidance to the young as many parents are too busy to have quality time with their children and to really supervise their TV watching or Internet surfing. This channel is also a means of preventing childrens from going astray on the Internet or on TV. Even though, currently her channel is for the young she gets much of her comments from teens and twenties. Up to now, Aruni has uploaded four videos, Lost in the woods, Gamburu Muhudey Diya Kinduriya Sarah ( Sarah, mermaid of the deep sea)Lissie ge hondama yaluwa, Snoopy( Lissie’s best friend, Snoopy) Kele Atharaman vunu punchi Isabella(Little Isabella who got lost in the woods).
The script, video editing, voicing, in fact everything is done by Aruni. Her cousin Niluka Sarathsekara supports her in the dubbing of the English versions.
Aruni hails from Wennapuwa on the North western coastal belt and attended a well known convent there, Holy Family Convent, Wennappuwa.
Aruni is an only child, but both her parents are avid readers. From her early days, she grew up among books and cultivated the habit of reading as a toddler. By the time she started attending a Montessori little Aruni had read much more than a toddler of her age had done. This she firmly attributes to the influence of her parents and extended family on both maternal and paternal sides. “All my relatives loved reading and wherever I went there was always books, magazines and papers for me to read,” says Aruni.
Reading and writing go hand in hand. Therefore, through her reading Aruni began to think about becoming a journalist and working for a newspaper. Unusual thoughts for a child at Montessori level.
For a while, Aruni’s wove stories only in her mind. Then the passion and urge to put down her thoughts on paper took over her and she began to take pen to paper. This was during her primary school days and her readership comprised her peers and her teachers. Her stories took up four or five pages.
“When I was in grade five or so, my teachers were surprised at the subject matter and the depth of my writing. This was because I was a voracious reader and had assimilated much knowledge. I am also very lucky to have parents and have had principals and teachers who recognised and appreciated my talent for writing even as a young child and gave me all encouragement. I am what I am today because of them,” says Aruni.
Recognising her talents, Aruni’s mother enrolled her at the Lionel Ranawala Foundation which nurtured her talents.
With the writing fever gripping her Aruni used to go into the Physics and Chemistry Labs in school and write while being there. She also used to write with papers being hidden between the pages of her Physics and Chemistry books. It was a selection of these poems that she later published as a collection in Kaviya Numba Sulanga se avith.
Around the age of seven Aruni wrote a fairy tale Punch Lily Kumariya (Little Princess Lily) and dedicated it to her beloved nieces Dinara Kavindi and Isuru Amasha, her cousin’s daughters. However, this delightful fairy story with a moral lesson in it was not published. In 2015, Aruni’s cousin Ashoka who owns a publishing house named Gurukula Publishers published it as a birthday surprise for her.
In grade seven, during holidays Aruni created a mini newspaper Topson Top, the name of one of her pets. In grade nine, she was invited to join the Convent’s media circle.
Around the age of 17/18 in 2013, while doing her A’s at Holy Family Convent, Aruni wrote her second book, a collection of poems titled Kaviya Numba, sulanga se avith. Then in 2017 Aruni published ‘ Rasthiadukara Cinderella, a story set in the tea gardens of Sri Lanka and those who live there. This book got much social media attention and it was given to Prof. Sunanda Mahendra by well known journalist Daya Dissanayake.
The Professor’s favourable reaction to the book has been a great encouragement to Aruni.
In school, Aruni was the editor of the School magazine and President of the Photographic Society. She works with a Sony D 7 camera but often takes photographs with her I phone.
While still in school in 2011, Aruni followed a course in Radio and TV announcing at the Institute of Media and Performing Arts.
For this out-of-the-box thinker carees like medicine or law had no appeal. She wanted something different and she has got it! A Youtube storyteller!
Aruni got a unique opportunity to compose the theme song for her school’s Science day. To hear her lyrics set to music by her teachers and have her peers sing it made it a very emotional and proud moment for Aruni.
After schooling Aruni worked at two national newspapers. After this, she started her Stories with Aruni and continued to write.
She is currently following a Higher Diploma in Mass Communication at the University of Sri Jayawardenepura.
Aruni turned blogger in 2013.
As a very caring person Aruni is heavily involved with charity work and works closely with an organizstion called International Movement for Community Development (IMCD) which is group of undergraduates helping needy students. This work takes Aruni to all corners of Sri Lanka.
A travel buff, Aruni traverses through Sri Lanka, enjoying her natural beauty and gathering new experiences. She loves the hill country and has much empathy for the plantation workers. She is a keen protector of the environment and loves to capture natural beauty with her camera and i phone.
At 24, Aruni has achieved much. Married to childhood sweetheart Avishka Silva, Aruni says that he supports her in everyway as does her parents Indraratne Kalupahana and Krisenthi Fernando.
Aruni is a silver medalist in Karate. Her mother enrolled her in karate classes to learn self-defence. Though an only child, her parents never mollycoddled her but gave her independence with trust in her. Needless to say, Aruni has never broken that trust.
With her busy schedule Aruni now makes time to learn the violin and guitar. She is also an excellent organ player.
This multi-talented, versatile and compassionate young woman considers discipline essential for a writer. It is the key to a successful writer and will help draw up parameters and limits essential to writing. She herself is a disciplined writer and applies this same discipline to everything in life.
Aruni’s ultimate goal is to reach the top in the mass communication sphere and write stories which will be catalysts in effecting changes in people’s lives.
Youth Observer wishes this versatile and daring young lady all the best in her future ventures.