Some ghost tales stem from moods and changes triggered by the monsoons. Shaped from the peculiarities of the rainy season, these horror stories take the form of urban legends and myths shared through verbal storytelling between friends, drinking circles, family and strangers who want to share a rush of adrenaline with warning. Here are two such monsoon ghost stories still in circulation as urban myths in Sri Lanka. One life every monsoon: the story of Samudradevi’s spirit hau
South Asia’s ancient reverence for rain, once sacred, communal, and interwoven with myth, ritual, and faith, has faded in modern life, and why remembering the monsoon’s cultural, spiritual, and ecological significance can restore our connection to nature and to each other.
Symbols don’t just represent concepts; they host stories. Take the swastika. In one story, it was auspicious, spiritual, ancient, and sacred. In another, it was contempt, nationalism and genocide. The symbolic drift of the swastika has always impressed me. For all my fellow designers, it’s a reminder of the entropy of symbols. Similar shape. Different stories. That’s the semiotic power of a symbol. They can host just about any story, no matter its complexity or abstract
Frequently asked questions
Commercial Stories membership
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Invoices are issued at the end of each month for that month’s membership cycle.
Memberships buffer allowances are typically 3 or 5 hours depending on the size of the plan. If actual usage is below or above the agreed buffer around the reserved hours, we bill hourly for the total time worked. If usage falls within the buffer, we bill the reserved hours.
Examples
Plan: 5 hours; actual: 2 hours
You’re under the buffer. We bill for 2 hours (total time worked).
Plan: 5 hours; actual: 9 hours
Within buffer. We bill the reserved 5 hours.
Plan: 5 hours; actual: 11 hours
Over the buffer. We bill for 11 hours (total time worked)
Deliverables vary depending on your needs. Flexibility is one of the key values of the membership:
A studio membership (similar to a retainer) is ongoing and gives you access to different story‑making tools and skills sets available in tour studio. It adapts to evolving challenges, allowing entrepreneurs to solve problems as they arise. Commissioned work is different, it has fixed deliverables and a set time period, best suited for one‑time projects with little to no moving parts.
We use a story pod system via a WhatsApp chat group:
Include in the group: Shamalee and Alain (story makers), key client decision‑makers, and an administrator.
Purpose: The group is open 24/7 for posting questions, sharing ideas, and coordinating tasks.
Response time: We typically reply within 24 hours (48 hours at the latest).
Roles: Each group has one lead story maker (Shamalee or Alain), but both are included to ensure continuity. The administrator tracks time and compiles monthly reports, keeping the process transparent and organized.
