Gallery

Life here, as it actually looks

No stock photos and no staging — months of real mornings, festivals and small victories at our Battaramulla home. Take your time. Then come see it in person.

Forty seconds

Press play. Meet the founders.

Dr. Dinali and Dr. Vasika, on why they built this home. Filmed here — nothing hired, nothing staged.

A Tuesday, mid-morning

The quiet hours are full

Between breakfast and lunch you'll find half-finished puzzles, a keyboard being practised, and a carrom rivalry that never quite ends.

A smiling resident in a wheelchair raising a glass over a carrom board — A toast across the carrom board — visitors are welcome to challenge her.

An elderly resident working on a large jigsaw puzzle at a long table — A 500-piece afternoon. No hurry at all.

A resident solving a colourful block puzzle at the table — Brain games are part of the daily rhythm — this one's a current favourite.

A resident colouring flowers in a colouring book with markers — Colour inside the lines, or don't. It's his book.

A resident playing an electronic keyboard by the window — The keyboard in the lounge gets played, not dusted.

A resident in a wheelchair doing needlework on gingham fabric — Her own project, her own stitches, her own pace.

Seen from behind, a resident arranges puzzle pieces beside a cup of tea — Morning tea, and a puzzle that won't solve itself.

Most mornings

Gentle work, real strength

Guided movement happens most mornings — each resident at their own pace, a caregiver always in reach. And yes, garden cricket counts.

A resident doing a gentle bridge exercise on a green mat in the living room — Floor exercises, guided and unhurried.

Residents and caregivers exercising together in the front courtyard — Movement together, in front of the house.

A resident doing seated arm exercises on a balcony — Seated stretches on the balcony.

Dr. Vasika helps a resident hold a cricket bat at the wicket in the garden — Front-foot defence, with Dr. Vasika at his shoulder.

Dr. Vasika and a resident raise the cricket bat in celebration — The bat goes up — garden cricket gets competitive.

A resident with a walking frame smiling among bright garden flowers — The morning round of the garden. Flowers inspected daily.

Three times a day, plus tea

Cooked here, eaten together

One kitchen, one long table, and birthday cakes that are never optional.

Residents seated around a table laden with traditional New Year sweets — Sweets on the table, everyone seated together.

A plate of banana pancakes with treacle and fresh banana slices — Banana pancakes with treacle — an ordinary weekday, not an occasion.

A dish of shakshuka — eggs poached in spiced tomato sauce — with toast on a set table — Shakshuka, toast standing by.

Homemade chicken burgers and chips served on individual plates — Chicken burgers — made in our kitchen, like everything else.

April

Aluth Avurudda, the year turns

The oil lamp, the kiribath, the games in the garden — the whole house keeps the New Year together, and families come for the day.

The whole day, in half a minute

Thirty-one seconds of an entire Avurudu — the lamp lit, the pot broken, the races run, and a great deal of shouting from the sidelines. Sound on.

A woman lights the traditional brass oil lamp over a table of New Year sweets — The oil lamp opens the year.

A young woman and an elderly man light the oil lamp together — Three generations, one flame.

A resident in red lights a candle at the New Year oil lamp — Lit by resident hands — always.

A clay pot of milk rice boiling over a wood fire — Kiribath boiling over — exactly as it should.

A festive table spread of Sri Lankan New Year sweets and bananas — Kavum, kokis, butter cake — the Avurudu table, ready.

Children walking carefully with limes balanced on spoons in their mouths — The lime-and-spoon race, junior division.

A line of women in festive dress waiting to start with limes balanced on spoons in their mouths — And the grown-ups' heat, taken every bit as seriously.

A blindfolded resident in a wheelchair laughs as caregivers guide the pot-breaking game — Breaking the pot — with two spotters and loud advice.

A resident laughing into a microphone during the biggest-laugh competition, friends gathered around him — There is a competition for the biggest laugh. This is a serious contender.

A young dancer in traditional dress performs in the garden while a small child watches — A dancer for the New Year — and one very small critic.

May, at dusk

When the lanterns come on

Every Vesak, the garden fills with lanterns the residents made themselves. At dusk, the first flame is always lit by a resident's hand.

Residents and caregivers gathered around a table of lanterns in the lamplit courtyard at dusk — Vesak evening in the courtyard.

Preparing for Vesak

A caregiver and resident stretch orange tissue over a lantern frame — It starts at the work table, together.

A resident proudly holds up his finished orange Vesak lantern — Finished, inspected, approved.

A resident reaches up to hang his lit lantern on a tree at dusk — Hung by the maker himself.

The celebration

A resident in white holds a glowing orange lantern from her wheelchair — First light.

A resident in a wheelchair beneath a tree strung with glowing paper lanterns at night — Under the lantern tree.

The home's entrance at night decorated with Vesak lanterns and rows of oil lamps — The front door, dressed for Vesak.

A resident in white lights an oil lamp at a small Buddha shrine — Flowers and a flame for Vesak morning.

December

Christmas, at home

The lights go up, the families come in, and the living room stops being big enough — which is rather the point.

The home's entrance at night, framed with warm fairy lights and a wreath on the door — The front door, lit for Christmas.

A caregiver embraces a resident in a red dress beside the Christmas tree — Christmas here — carols, candlelight, and this.

Residents and visiting families gathered in the decorated living room at Christmas — Families join for Christmas — the more chairs, the better.

All year round

Every birthday, properly marked

Nobody here has a birthday quietly. There is a cake, there are candles, and there is usually an audience.

A resident blows out the candle on his birthday cake — Candles first. Cake immediately after.

Children watch closely as an elderly resident cuts his birthday cake — The youngest guests supervise the cake.

Six caregivers in team shirts pose with peace signs around a smiling resident — The whole shift crashed his birthday photo.

Any day, and out often

The door opens both ways

Families visit whenever they like — and the home itself goes out. Last trip: dinner by the sea, live band included.

An elderly resident walks hand in hand with a small child in the living room — Small hands, careful steps. Visits are open-door.

226/5 Robert Gunawardena Mawatha

And when the day winds down

A house with a garden on every side, rooms that catch the afternoon light, and a table that's always set for the next meal.

Aerial view of the red-roofed home surrounded by trees and garden — The house from above — garden on every side.

A bright twin bedroom with wooden beds, red bedspreads and garden windows — A twin room in the afternoon light.

The dining room with orange upholstered chairs, a floral tablecloth and fresh flowers on the table — The dining room, between meals.

A dining table with fresh fruit and teal placemats near open garden doors — Fruit on the table, doors open to the garden.

The ones who stay

The people who make it a home

A psychologist listens here every month. And the caregivers — they tend to end up in the family photos.

On being heard

Cheroni, our consultant psychologist, on what she listens for — and why someone moving in needs to be heard long before they need to be looked after.

Four caregivers sitting on the grass with three residents behind them in the garden — An afternoon in the garden. The shift sat down and stayed a while.

Caregivers in Golden Hands shirts smiling together at the Christmas celebration — The team, Christmas Eve.

Every identifiable resident appears here with consent. Nothing on this page is stock photography — and it never will be.

The real gallery

Photos are proof. Visits are certainty.

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