Hiranya Peiris

I didn't really like school.

I lived quite a lot in my mind.

I remember one maths exam in particular where I didn't notice several pages of questions.

I just stopped doing them and just sat there daydreaming.

And so I nearly failed that test.

But I do remember this wonderful teacher, Mrs. Mendes, and she had taught my mother before me.

She really tolerated the why questions.

And I must have been a very annoying kid, constantly asking why this and why that.

And some of them weren't so easy to answer.

That's right.

So I remember one particular occasion when the Buddhist monk came to the school assembly, and there were several thousand girls there.

And he was preaching to us from the Buddhist doctrines.

And I put my hand up and asked a really impertinent question, which was, you know, in Buddhism, there's a concept called reincarnation.

And I said, if there is a finite supply of souls in

that are being reincarnated, why is the population of the planet increasing?

I don't remember his answer, but I remember the deathly silence afterwards.

Absolutely.

My life's ambition was to become an astronaut.

It was only when I was about 16 when I became short-sighted.

It was a devastating blow.