Maria Dinashi Silva, wears several hats. This young beauty is mother, housewife, entrepreneur model and part time teacher all rolled into one. Her life is hectic but she multi tasks with aplomb and is not fazed by the tremendous volume of tasks she has to get through daily. Her key to facing a challenging life is POSITIVITY.
“I always think positively and this gives me energy “says Maria with a smile.” I always count my blessings and thank the Lord for it.”
Maria Dinashi Silva truly embodies the independent and self reliant spirit of the twenty first century young woman coupled with the essence of feminity.
As a child Maria loved to act and dreamt of being an air hostess soaring among the clouds in a big jetliner. However, fate decreed otherwise and today she shines at her chosen, diverse careers.
Commercial advertisements
The lovely face of Maria is familiar to Sri Lankans as she appears in commercial advertisements. Ritzbury, Coca cola and Pizza Hut are among the major brand names she has represented. Maria was drawn into the field of commercial advertisements by a friend and her first appearance was for the Pizza Hut. After this, the young model became a popular choice among the advertisers.
Maria’s mother Jessica had a baking business Jessie’s Kitchenette in Malabe when Maria was a child and this was how Maria became interested in baking at a very young age. “I used to bake cookies in a small oven” recalled Maria with a laugh.
Her own business
Thus, it was natural that after her secondary education at St. Bridget’s Convent, Colombo, Maria chose to qualify in Hospitality Management. She has Diplomas from City and Guilds in UK and the Prima Hotel School, Colombo. She also did two stints at Angel’s Cup Cakes in Battaramulla and Dolce Italia and values the experience she gained from these two establishments. She also free lanced as a baker.
Ever the independent spirit and eager for challenges Maria was eager to venture into her own baking business and thus ‘Bakes by Beesalt’ was started as a family business by Maria and husband Adisha Gurusinghe. It is virtually a ‘one woman show’ with her husband giving support when he is not busy with his own business. Asked about the unusual name Maria said she wanted a unique name and after much thought hit upon Bakes by Beesalt.
Bakes by Beesalt’s signature cake is Death by Chocolate, a very moist chocolate sponge with a chocolate ganache – it is Maria’s own special recipe and is a firm favourite with her large clientele.
She also does bespoke wedding cake structures, birthday cakes and mash up cakes for the tinies which are created out of carefully chosen gluten free and organic products. Cup cakes are another client favourite along with butter and chocolate cakes. Maria also does savoury platters and therefore is a ‘Baker for all occasions’.
Asked about the current trends in cake decoration, Maria said that clients now favoured fresh flowers more than sugar paste flowers with roses topping the list of favourites. The rustic, simple effect with minimal colouring has also gained popularity says Maria.
Always meticulous, Maria does not trust her products to outsiders but does all her deliveries by herself criss crossing the city when necessary. She laughs saying that her two toddlers help her in the delivery.
Maria joins her cousin Sandali Batuwanthudawe to handle events under the banner of Events by Magical Hands. They handle weddings, corporate events and others of their ilk. Maria says the responsibility is great and that the work is hard but she enjoys it especially the creativity.
Multi tasking
Multi tasking seems to have been a part of Maria even as a child. Apart from her studies she studied the piano and did the Royal Schools of Music Exams upto grade six. She also studied ballet at the Russian Cultural Centre. She has also obtained a Diploma in IT from the Open University of Sri Lanka.
One of Maria’s multi tasks is teaching part time at the Wendy Whatmore Academy of Speech and Drama, Nugegoda Branch. She also qualified in elocution at the Wendy Whatmore Academy of Speech and Drama.
Like many a young woman of today, Maria is very conscious of her security especially as she lives alone much of the time with husband. Maria has turned to boxing as her form of self- defence and attends sessions at The Shed in Nugegoda.
Relaxation
Maria has two toddlers, Akeira aged four and Akein aged two.asked how she managed to factor in all her work with the tremendously responsible task of mothering two toddlers Maria calmly replied, “Oh I manage. I give them a lotof activities like colouring and online activities.” They help her in her work in their own little ways.
Relaxation is not a word really in Maria’s vocabulary. Always on the go from the time she wakes up at 5 a.m. till she goes to bed time management is of vital importance to her. She is house proud she uses the early morning hours when the toddlers are sleeping to tend to her house. She does some of her work when the children are asleep.
Maria’s mother Jessica visits her on Monday’s and this gives her a respite from her hectic schedule. She is very grateful for the support from her mother, husband, siblings Roshan and Romaine and other family members. She is also very thankful for her circle of good friends.
“I read to keep myself sane,” says this awesome young lady. She enjoys interesting books in both the fiction and nonfiction categories.
The environment and women’s issues are of great concern to Maria and she always tries to contribute to these issues. “Sri Lankan women need to come out of their shells and be their own person” she says.
Role models
Otara Gunewardene and Dr. Asha de Vos are two people Maria Looks upto. She admires Otara as a successful entrepreneur and is inspired by the work of Dr. de Voas and her stand on environmental issues. Oprah Winfrey and Emma Watson are two other women that Mariah admires. She admires Oprah for the way she has overcome her circumstances in life and Emma for being’ a voice for change and her feminism.
Time management is also of essence to Maria in her daily life.
