Hello, my name is Samantha Lelwala and I am from Sri Lanka. I am working as a Consultant General Surgeon at District General Hospital, Hambantota, Sri Lanka. The hospital is situated in the southern most part of the country.

First I would like to tell you something about my name. It is a common Sri Lankan male name and it is pronounced as Saman.tha/'samanθə;(θ - thin; ə - about ). The name "Samantha" which is pronounced in the same way as in UK, is a female name in Sri Lanka too. Although the two names are written and pronounced in different ways in Sinhala which is the main language used in Sri Lanka, its written with same spellings in English.

As I learned, the name came from India and its related to the "Pali" language which is now a dead language. However, "Pali" language is closer to Sri Lankans as the Buddhism had been preached in that language. The meaning of the name, as I understood, is "everything"

My wife is Surangi. She is a music lover and especially interested in classical music. She was giving piano lessons to junior students at Southlands College, Galle, in Sri Lanka earlier.  

Our daughter is Nipuni, who is 15years, studying in Southlands College, Galle, Sri Lanka.   

Dasun Awdarika, our son is four years at age now.